This kind of garbage makes my head throb.

For the record I really love horror movies, and in fact really enjoyed this one.

However I enjoy them in the same way that I enjoy super hero movies, or sword and sorcery movies, or films about alien invasions.

I don't actually expect to see Superman flying above me, a dragon snatching up stray dogs in the neighborhood, or aliens blowing up the White House.

And I also do not expect to see ghosts, goblins, or werewolves.

To be clear there is no such thing as the paranormal, the supernatural, or miracles.

Each of these labels are used to explain phenomena which have fact based explanations, but which some are too ignorant or superstitious to accept.

Take the word "supernatural" for instance.

In ancient times when people believed that the sky above them was an ocean, mental illness was the result of demonic possession, and sickness could be cured with incantations and charms, the idea of the supernatural was somewhat understandable.

After all everything about the world around these people seemed filled with terror and unseen danger.

But the word "supernatural" has no real meaning, because nothing that can be seen, heard, felt, or tasted can actually be categorized as supernatural once it has been perceived by our natural senses.

In other words the only things which can remain in the realm of the supernatural are those things which we only imagine, and which have no substance in reality.

And yes that line of reasoning does take us in a very obvious direction.

But I will leave you to explore that on your own.

As for myself I will continue enjoying these movies confident in the knowledge that I need no sorceress, shaman, or priest to protect me from their influence. And neither do you.

It's Easter so let's talk about another book purporting to disprove the existence of Jesus. (It's like an IM tradition.)

The author's name is David Fitzgerald, his book "Jesus Mything in Action" will be out later this year, and this is a portion of his argument courtesy of the Daily Mail:

'There is a paradox that Jesus did all these amazing things and taught all these amazing things yet no one heard of him outside his immediate cult for nearly 100 years. 

'Or it means he didn't do all these things at all. 

'The first gospel of Christianity appears to have been a literary allegory that were written decades after the time they portray. 

'I believe that Christianity started as one of the many mystery faiths that appeared at the time where old Gods and old traditions were rebooted. 

'Christianity appears to have been a Jewish mystery faith. 

'By the time of Paul there appears to have been plenty of different "Lord's suppers" as he complains about the existence of other gospels and messiahs. 

'It appears that early Christianity managed to take the stories from these other faiths and incorporate them into the story of Jesus.' 

Mr Fitzgerald said: 'There is nothing implausible to think that Jesus was a real person, but I just don't think that he can have been a single person if he existed at all. 

'We also have no mention of Jesus in other historical texts from the time. There were certainly people writing about Judea at the time like Philo of Alexandria. 

'During this period there were many other messiahs and wannabe messiahs who did far less exciting things than Jesus, but all of them managed something Jesus did not - to make a dent on the historical record. 

'Two billion people believe all these miracles happened yet there is no evidence they did.'

If you are anything like me you have probably heard most of these arguments before. In fact a number of them have appeared right here on IM many times in the past.

However there have been new discoveries since I first started writing here, such as the fact there is no archeological evidence to support the exodus from Egypt, Egyptians never even kept Jews as slave,  increased scrutiny of the Bible, and new questions about the historicity of Jesus, all of which is being disseminated at an ever increasing rate over the internet.

It seems that each new scientific revelation takes us further and further away from the Biblical explanations provided to us by our Sunday school teachers. 

I personally have been working on a post that would demonstrate the logical infallibility supporting the idea of the supernatural. In a nutshell since everything that can be observed, weighed, or quantified is by definition a part of the natural world, then everything, regardless of how miraculous or magical is may seem, is simply a natural phenomena that we have not yet managed to put under our metaphoric microscope.

Remember the Arthur C. Clarke quote, "Magic is just science that we don't understand yet."

With that realization in mind one can simply no longer entertain the possibility of a supernatural entity being responsible for ANYTHING. Therefore no gods, and of course no son of said gods.

I actually have no problem with the idea of faith, I just believe it to be displaced.

We are far better served to direct our faith not toward the gods of mythology, whether Christian or otherwise, but rather towards humanity. Because ultimately it is faith in what we can achieve together that will ensure our survival as a species.

And I believe to survive as a species we are going to have to suppress our need to identify our differences, be they gender, race, religion, or geographic location, and instead see ourselves as one people, on one planet, looking toward a shared vision for our future.

Theoretical Physicist Lawrence Krauss says that the end of religion may be only a generation away.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

People should not assume that religion will always be a part of human society just because it has existed for so long, according to theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss. Religion could disappear in the span of a single generation. 

“People say, ‘Well, religion has been around since the dawn of man. You’ll never change that.’ But I point out that… this issue of gay marriage, it is going to go away, because if you have a child, a 13-year-old, they can’t understand what the issue is. It’s gone. One generation is all it takes,” he said at an event called the Victorian Skeptics Cafe 2014. 

“So, I can tell you a generation ago people said there is no way people would allow gay marriage, and slavery — essentially — [gone in] a generation, we got rid of it,” Krauss continued. “Change is always one generation away… so if we can plant the seeds of doubt in our children, religion will go away in a generation, or at least largely go away. And that’s what I think we have an obligation to do.” 

Krauss was addressing whether religion should be taught to children in school. Though, as an atheist, he opposes religious education, he said he does support teaching comparative religion classes instead of completely “shying away” from the topic. 

“What we need to do is present comparative religion as a bunch of interesting historical anecdotes, and show the silly reasons why they did what they did,” he remarked. 

He said educators should force children to confront their own misconceptions. 

“But you don’t shy away from religion any more than you shy away from the claim that Earth is the center of the universe. We laugh at that now, and we get kids to realize why that might be wrong… and so we should take other falsifiable facts, which are at the center of our society, which is religious doctrine, and make just as much fun of that.”

I am not quite as confident that religion can be eradicated in one, or even two, enlightened generations, but I do agree that planting those seeds of doubt and offering classes that compare religions without lending credence to one over another, will surely have a positive effect on the ability of our children break free from the shackles of ignorance and superstition.

Not only that, but I firmly believe that doing so is necessary for the survival of our species.

Let's try this again.

Okay does this explain the atheist position clearly enough?

Not a religion.

Not a philosophy.

Just a group of people who do not feel the need to accept superstitious explanations for things simply because it comforts them.

Exorcisms on the rise. So nice when the 17th century stops by for a visit, don't you think?

Courtesy of Slate:

This spring, a new school for exorcists opened in Illinois. The Pope Leo XIII Institute for the “education & training of priests in the holy ministry of exorcism and deliverance” was launched at the Mundelein Seminary in February — when the first cohort of trainees arrived for a 10-day seminar. For just $1,500 (plus $960 room and board; check and credit card accepted; donations welcome and tax-deductible), priests received instruction from some top exorcists — using a curriculum that was reportedly pre-approved by a committee of credentialed bishops. 

The time was ripe. Just a month before the school’s quiet opening, headlines the world over broadcast news that exorcism is back. The Catholic Church is training a new class of priests to perform exorcisms: allegedly, to meet a growing public demand. “Diabolical possessions are on the increase as a result of people subscribing to occultism,” noted Father Francesco Bamonte, president of the Italy-based International Association for Exorcists. “The few exorcists that we have in the dioceses are often not able to handle the enormous number of requests for help.”

So to be clear, there are parishioners asking for help with mental illness, depression, or some other easily identified  malady, and in response priests are frightening them into believing they are possessed and then offering to traumatize them by subjecting them to a ritual that should only find acceptance on a movie screen.  

Catholic priests who have spoken openly about exorcism tout a predictable line, as reported by the Telegraph in January: “The rise in demonic cases is a result of more people dabbling in practices such as black magic, paganism, Satanic rites and Ouija boards, often exploring the dark arts with the help of information readily found on the internet.” Never mind that I haven’t seen a Ouija board since the ’90s — the church says, as the church has said for decades, that our spiritually plastic ways are guiding us into Satan’s den. 

Other observers point to the growing influence of Pentecostalism, with its direct and physical experience of Godc—cor films like “The Rite” (2011), which was based on a real American priest. 

Exorcism is “the practice of expelling evil spirits.” By popular accounts, crazy things happen when those demons are given the boot: “There are foul smells, vomiting, foaming at the mouth, foul language, psychological attack as well as a physical attack, languages you’ve never heard, items flying across the room (what we call poltergeist activity) … voices that sound like they came out of ‘The Exorcism’ movie,” Rev. Steven Maness, a New Jersey-based exorcist, tells me. 

In theory, only Catholic priests with permission from superiors can conduct exorcisms. But recent decades have given rise to gaggles of rogue agents — many of whom charge a hefty fee for their services, as opposed to affiliated priests who usually claim to exorcise for free. Some speculate that the church’s new exorcism push is an attempt to steal back authority from these unaffiliated mavericks. It’s “a response to public demand, but it’s also about quality control,” John Allen, an author and Vatican expert, noted in January. “A lot of it is fairly dodgy theoretically — they are self-appointed exorcists running around purporting to be acting on behalf of the Church.” In 2008, a senior Italian priest made £3 million ($5 million) by performing unsanctioned exorcisms at his “House of the Sainted Archangels” in Florence.

Oh I see. So the movie industry frightens impressionable people into believing in demonic possession and then religiously garbed charlatans make money off of their ignorance and pain.

The correct thing to do when you meet somebody claiming to be possessed by a demon is to get them immediate psychological counseling, NOT exacerbate their condition while profiting off of their illness.  

Go ahead, somebody ask me again what I find objectionable about religion.

Adults are always lying about this.

You would think that once you are passed the age of ten that you would no longer use magic, or the existence of supernatural forces, to explain ANYTHING.

And yet fully grown, seemingly reasonable, people do it everyday, in every part of the world.

I had a good friend in high school who used to do amazing sleight of hand magic tricks.

One day a fellow student, whose mind had just been blown by a disappearing balloon, said "That's impossible, it MUST be magic."

My friend looked him straight in the eyes and said "Just because you are not smart enough to figure it out, doesn't mean it's not something that can be learned."

If you think that a simple magician's trick could not make even the most intelligent among you at least briefly consider the supernatural, then you have not seen the right trick.

Half of Americans believe that God decides who wins the Super Bowl. I'm really gonna have to move out of the country soon.

Divine interventions certainly didn't help this guy.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail:  

Whether it’s with a good luck dance, whispering a curse or prayers sent directly to God, half of American football fans believe supernatural forces are at play right alongside their favorite quarterback. 

A study from the Public Religion Research Institute found that a full third of all football fans pray directly to God to help out their favorite teams. 

With Super Bowl XLVIII just days away, the study forces the question: Will God be rooting for the Broncos or Seahawks? 

No the study forces the question, how can so many people be so fucking stupid?

I always think it is such an insult to the athletes who trained so long and hard for this chance to believe the outcome is simply based on the whim of a supreme being who feels the need to meddle in the affairs of man.

After all if it is simply up to God to pic the winners why bother running drills, lifting weights, and taking all those steroids?

Well all i know is that I am looking forward to watching a bunch of over paid future Alzheimer's patients, playing a testosterone infused children's game, interspersed with expensive advertisements for products whose name I'll never remember, while drinking myself into a state of slobbering beer soaked euphoria.

And I don't want any supernatural interference to ruin that experience.

Go Seahawks!

Albuquerque, New Mexico becomes ground zero for the next big abortion battle.

Courtesy of the LA Times:  

Early voting is underway in Albuquerque for an election Tuesday, which will decide whether to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. 

Although similar bans have been passed by state legislatures, New Mexico's largest city is believed to be the first municipality in the country to place such an initiative on a ballot. 

The "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance," which needs a majority to pass, would have statewide impact because the only late-term abortion providers in the largely rural state are in Albuquerque. 

Women living out of state also fly to Albuquerque for this type of care, said Micaela Cadena, policy director at Young Women United. The New Mexico-based group is part of the Respect ABQ Women campaign, which is fighting the local measure. 

"Albuquerque voters are voting for the whole state of New Mexico and also for the rest of the country," Cadena said. 

The Supreme Court's ruling in Roe vs. Wade has been interpreted by lower courts as making abortion legal through 24 weeks of pregnancy, but antiabortion activists are pushing to ban the procedure after 20 weeks — a step in chipping away at the 1973 landmark ruling.

There is little doubt that these people will never stop until they have managed to overturn Roe vs Wade, or else have the laws allowing abortion so watered down so as to make them virtually useless.

Our only hope of protecting a woman's right to choose is to elect as many Democrats as possible to office, and to focus on putting secularists into positions of power.

Remember the entire anti-abortion debate is based on a biblical belief that life begins at conception, and that man has no right to interfere with God's wishes.

If we put rational politicians, who are not manipulated by superstition, into office, we can pass laws that strive to protect people instead of embryos, promote education instead of indoctrination, and who place their faith in science instead of the supernatural.

To my mind that is essentially our only hope of protecting our women, our children, and ultimately our planet. 

Final thought of the day.

Yet it should also be noted that when a person is told that the answer to a question lies within the realm of the supernatural, and is therefore unknowable to the human mind, it undermines our curiosity and sabotages our ability to explore our reality.

(H/T to Reddit)