Humor

I couldn't help it.
This is just too funny....for all you "The Office" fans.

Petition for Revered Elder: Neil deGrasse Tyson

I can't pretend to understand what goes through the heads of religious people. There must be some excitement that they can only get through revelation. What I can say is that I get the same heightened rush (now this is huge for me to say) from music, reading, Super Bowl XXXII, all of those things provide the same rush for me that I get when Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks. I get excited. I want to jump up and scream Amen. I want to touch the hem of his garment. It isn't the science or the passion (both of which are just amazing), it's him explaining how we descend from a higher order. The higher order he speaks of is an order of the cosmos. And he's right. Look at the basic elements on the periodic table. Everything that we see, taste, feel, and and everything we are is made up of those elements.

We can trace these elements to the cosmos, and the cosmos brought forth life, but there is something profound and deep that connects us, and as long as we keep putting up barriers that separate and label us as Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Atheists (and the list goes on...) we keep ourselves from discovering the true nature of the universe and potentially the great life force (and maybe even a G/god) that connects us. I just can't help but feel we're missing something here. And it's not that these religions are wrong (though logically speaking if one of them is right, then all the others are wrong), or that people should stop finding new ways to worship. It's just that we need to start making what makes us the same more important than the things that make us different. And to quote the great Bill Hicks, when we do that "we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever in peace."

I'll shut up and let the great Neil deGrasse Tyson do his thing.



EDIT: More Tyson Awesomeness!!!

Today's Hymn...

This is something I've been thinking about for some time. Basically it's just a chance for me (or other parishioners) to post music videos. The first installment features Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and Old Crow Medicine Show doing the Band classic "The Weight." This is a truly beautiful song performed by truly beautiful people. Enjoy!

Another Death by Ministry case

As with yesterday's post, "Death by Faith," this is a case where the apparent need for God's ego stroke destroyed a child's life. Full Text Here.

Javon's food was stopped in December 2006 - when he was about 15 months old - partly because he refused to say 'amen' after dinner, investigators were told by two children who had been taken away from the cult by Philadelphia police.

Members viewed Javon as 'a demon', the children said.

No medical care was sought for the toddler when he stopped breathing, and he died in his mother's arms, according to court records of police interviews with the two children and another informant.

You know, I have kids. My kids are not perfect, and have done some stuff that makes me question whether they can properly think things through and make a decision without thinking about the ramifications. But what kind of person would it take to just assume that a toddler is evil? And worse yet, when a five year old does something repeatedly while being told not to do it, you get frustrated, sometimes to the point where you really want to teach them that you mean what you say (in my case it usually involves taking a toy away, or reneging on a promise to do something fun, not starvation). But there's a huge difference between my kids and this kid that died of starvation. This kid was a toddler. A toddler. Knowing the thought process of a toddler rather well, I can only assume that the adults freaked the fuck out every time he wouldn't say 'amen' and thereby were reinforcing his ability to control situations. It was probably little more than a game to him (at least the first couple of times it happened).

But apparently this cult decided that a sacrificed toddler would be a glory unto God. Not only did they sacrifice him, they put his remains in a suitcase.

Now I'm not going to compare this cult to Lutherans (the congregation that I grew up in), I have seen first hand their goal of showing compassion to all walks of life, believers or not. And I'm not going to compare this cult to Catholics, Jews, or any other religion. It is clear that this cult let this situation get way too far out of hand, and a toddler paid the ultimate price.

But really, can someone explain to me the difference between letting a child die by withholding food, and letting a child die by withholding medical attention? Why will someone in this cult pay for this child's death, when the couple from "Death by Faith" will likely get off without any punishment at all? They both believed that what they were doing was right because of their faith. I can see why they are not the same thing, but I see a stronger connection to their relation than I do their differences.

Now I'm not blaming this on G/god, the bible, or established religion in general. I'm not trying to make the case that belief in God is an inherent evil (as many atheists do). I'm saying that complete faith in God without a touch of reason, or intelligence (using that thing that God put in our heads) is the complete opposite of what every major established religion stands for.

At Least I think so...

Death by faith...

There was an article in the 8-8-08 Isthmus about a family that opted to let Jesus handle the healing when their daughter was faced with ketoacidosis (in its simplest terms, it is an abundance of acid in the body as a result of, in this case, untreated diabetes). Full Text Here.

In the days, perhaps weeks, before their daughter died of diabetic ketoacidosis — an illness authorities contend could have been readily treated — Dale and Leilani Neumann refused to seek medical care. They did so despite the girl's worsening condition and despite the urging of family members and friends. Instead, they insisted her body was a battleground in a spiritual war between Jesus Christ and the forces of Hell. Only by resisting worldly medicine, they believed, could she be saved.

Go ahead and read that again. I'll wait. This eleven year old girl, that should have been worried about whether an awkward pre-teen boy liked her, was instead a pawn in a spiritual movement. All the while, relatives and friends alike were begging the family to seek medical attention for the poor child. And the parents will likely avoid prosecution because in Wisconsin (and many other states) there are provisions that say parents are free from charges of neglect and abuse if they are using faith as an alternative to medicine.

Now I realize there is nothing in the article about whether the little girl had asked her parents to seek medical help (we can only assume that she didn't), but what if the tables were reversed? What if her parents had insisted that they immediately go see a doctor, but she instead wanted to test the "holy waters?" The state would then, assuredly step in, or bring charges forth if death had occurred. Don't believe me? There's a case of a child being treated for leukemia in Canada in which a boy who refused medical attention was taken into custody by the state who was going to make sure the boy saw the treatment through to the end. Just in Canada? Not so much. If these children were seeking faith heeling as an alternative, would they still be brought into custody for their forced treatments? It astounds me that people can look at some of these cases and deem that children must undergo these treatments but will look the other way when it comes to faith healing.

These people believe that faith healing is sound, they have to believe it, I have no doubt. The seemingly dark-age ritual is only around in modern times because of the Christian Scientist movement, a movement that goes back to the late 1800s. I'm not saying that this powerful organization with lobbyists and lawyers galore (if your God is so powerful, why would he need lobbyists and lawyers?), doesn't believe in its objectives, I just feel that if these people can convince others to seek healing as an alternative to medicine (which is clearly the case) then these churches should be held responsible for the deaths of the people that seek divine intervention as opposed to medicine. How many deaths by faith would we see then?

Children for Sale

I love being a parent. The joys, the challenges, the constant surprises that come when you raise children.

Like your daughters playing with your keys and then locking them in the car. After you told them to unlock the doors. After they've been told multiple times that keys are not toys and they are not allowed to play in the car.

I love being a parent. I just wish my kids didn't have brain damage.

i think i am, at least i'm pretty sure i'm an agnostic. part 1: beer & cheese

While most evidence and common sense and the burden of proof all point towards a Godless Universe (at least God in the big G sense of the world, and I will avoid the little g in the quantum or sacred/poetic sense), I am an Agnostic. Even though I am pretty sure that all the God stories and narratives are bunk, if not beautiful, comforting, and sometimes enlightening.

If I sound wishy-washy it is because I am an Agnostic. Wishy-washy, namsy-pamsy, flip-flopping and so on and so forth are common characteristics of Agnostics. The sort that can't committ to a consistent, while also a contradictory world-view-the type that's written into stone.

But, the real reason I can't committ my life and my choices to G(g)od is not because my brain is ssssoooo rational that I can't take a leap of faith or because logic or truth charts cannot prove or disprove belief. No, I don't always apply logic. I try hard to believe in every conspiracy. While enjoying most, I believe in few. A terrible leap of faith, but I try.

Nor do I hold a tenuous, if not trepidatious grasp to the possibility of G(g)od. I do not fear Hell. A place of eternal reality show snuff film where all your faults are flogged and boiled in Hellfire and sulfur.

Nor is Heaven a big enough carrot to dangle in front of me. The promise of golden streets and crystal mansions where all one does is praise the perfection of G(g)od and G(g)od's creation does not force me into buying any religion's particular narrative.

I believe in the possiblity of G(g)od because of beer and cheese.

I find beer and cheese, besides tasty and worth living for, to be completely mysterious. Just how in the hell our most ancient of parents figured out how grains and water and spices/hops/flowers and such can be fermented by invisible yeasts to create an intoxifying/nurishing beveridge. Amazing.

As modern humans we to often misunderstand and mock our ancient parents. How could they believe in magic/witchcraft/pagan what-have-yous? We have miscroscopes and germ theory and partical accelorators.

They figured out how to make cheese, a way to preserve milk, probably accidently.

When i drink a well-crafted beer, its smell, appearence, taste-the warm comfort of alcohol remind of mysterious things. The way starchy grains can be roasted and boiled, transformed into sugars and with the introduction of yeast it is all transformed into something completely different. Wonderful.

Then, during my rambly, if not somewhat drunken diatribe, I think, "Well man, you're in Wisconsin, heartland of Beer & Cheese."

Am I a product of my environment? I'm sure wine has inspired many-a-French(wo)man towards faith. And the Trappist monks....beer-making is a portion of a sacred duty.

Or, if I am not a product of my environment could I merely be in Beer & Cheese Heaven? The perfect place for me, I have merely chosen to go where I belong and be happy and prosper. Madison is an excellent beer-town in my and many other's estimation. Is this Heaven? asks the ghost of a long dead baseball player. No, it's Wisconsin.

Cheers to all my friends. Let's lift a few cold ones whenever we gather together. Heck there might be a G(g)od, but G(g)od sure as Hell doesn't drink Miller/Budweiser/Coors.

"We the Nation need to ask ourselves what's going on"

This is probably the best thing ever. Sorry for the lack of updates. All three of you...

There is no telling how much this video made me laugh. My face hurts...
The FFD