Camp, Jesus.

So this new, movie Jesus Camp scares the, well, bejezus, out of me. If you haven’t seen the trailer for this frightning look into the the camp where kids are told that they are the future of God’s army, check it out here. When you come back, don’t forget to put your jaw back in place, mine fell to the floor.

In order to keep from getting tumor from all this stress, the The Satirical Political Report saves the day:

Contrary to the horror stories you’ve heard, as dramatized by the movie of the same name, Jesus Camp is really a harmless, very normal summer experience for All-American kids. Just to demonstrate how all the hysteria is overblown, here are the Top Ten activities of Jesus Camp:

10. Color War: All sides wear white, including the hoods.

9. Archery: Using non-Christians as the target.

8. Tug of War: Using non-Christians as the rope.

7. LaCross: Raiding neighboring camps armed with crucifixes.

6. Multicultural Sensitivity Training: Speaking in Tongues.

5. Whitewater activities: Looking for Vince Foster’s remains in Whitewater, Arkansas.

4. Arts & Crafts: Building giant urns to burn non-believers.

3. Rocketry: Learn how to build and fire rockets into your local Family Planning Clinic.

2. Campfire Night: Scary stories about “activist judges” protecting Constitutional rights.

1. Waterskiing, and Water-walking.

I bet you want to know where you can sign up, huh. I can’t wait for my addmissions letter. You want to know the best part of the movie is? Do ya? I bet you do. Let’s just say that seeing children worship the 43rd president of the United States brings chills to by body.

On a lighter note, those clever folks at The Satirical Political Report churned out a sing-along to Allan Sherman’s Camp Granada. It’s most entertaining, so entertaining, in fact, that I decided to sing to it myself.

And may Jesus continue to brainwash the youth of society. Cheers!

The 21st Century of Reason.

A new article in Newsweek presents the public with the arrival of three men. All scholars in their own right, but also scientists, and non-believers.

                                    

These men Sam Harris(left), Richard Dawkins(center), and Daniel Dennett(right) are on the forefront of a new way of thinking, and they all have thoughts of a new kind of society, one that rejects the idea of god.

“They ask: where do people get their idea of God? From the Bible or the Qur’an. “Tell a devout Christian … that frozen yogurt can make a man invisible,” Harris writes, “and he is likely to require as much evidence as anyone else, and to be persuaded only to the extent that you give it. Tell him that the book he keeps by his bed was written by an invisible deity who will punish him with fire for eternity if he fails to accept its every incredible claim about the universe, and he seems to require no evidence whatsoever.”

As one who is striving for this same idea, it makes me feel great to see that this kind of article is featured in such a well-respected magazine. This may be the catalyst to get people to start talking. I do believe that the world is reaching a breaking point. Tensions are high, and nerves are even higher. Right now the most dangerous people in the world believe in a diety (the same one, ironically). And it is very easy to conclude that the current sad state of affairs in the world are due to these deep held belief in the supernatural.

“As for the Bible, Harris, like the fundamentalists, prefers a literal reading. He quotes at length the passages in the Old and New Testaments dealing with how to treat slaves. Why, he asks, would anyone take moral instruction from a book that calls for stoning your children to death for disrespect, or for heresy, or for violating the Sabbath? Obviously our culture no longer believes in that, he adds, so why not agree that science has made it equally unnecessary to invoke God to explain the Sun, or the weather, or your own existence?”

It seems that 21st century reason and logic may be on the rise, as well as supernatural belief. But as I’ve since been assured in college from my ‘belief and reality’ class, knowledge is prized much more higher then mere opinionated belief beacuse it’s justifiable. That’s Socrates by the way. Belief is the ignorant and stubborn little brother to knowledge.

I’m very curious what kind of attention these men will recieve in the comming years, it’s obvious to me that they are well aware of the dangers that religion is playing with these days and how important it is to speak reasonably and scientifically, for reason and science is prized higher then belief and faith.

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In other news, my on campus group is having a difficult time re-establishing itself, we had important members graduate last year so I’m trying to round up any an all interested in striving for this cause. It’s like trying to heard cats…

More updates as they come.

Peace & Love.

Atheists aren’t real, they burn in hell.

I found this on yourgoingtohell.com. Thought I’d share it with you.

“There is no such thing as an atheist because no human being knows everything and has all knowledge as we’ve seen above. Neither can any person be everywhere at the same time. For a person to be able to confidently say, “There is no God, ” he’d have to know EVERYTHING that existed EVERYWHERE–and no human being fits that bill. There is no atheist. At the very BEST a person can say, “I’m agnostic” although this is not true either…“

I kind of agree with this asshole,(asshole because, he doesn’t realize that he calls himself a christian yet doesn’t not follow his own reasoning) that in fact we are just agnostics and but atheists take the knowledge they have a make an educated prediction made on reason, logic, and science. This guy ought to do the same for himself, if we are agnostics then alternately he should be do…thuse So, like that quote: I contend that we are all agnostics, just some of us choose not to make a prediction that lack more knowledge than we as humans have.

Hello, dear agnostic, the strong and the weak.

In reality everyone is the same, but just trying to be diffrent.

The Calm Before the Storm

It’s quiet. Very quiet. Nothing but the sound of distant traffic. My roommate is at work, and my neighbors aren’t making a peep. I know it’s a Sunday but this just doesn’t feel like college.

But tomorrow should.

As I sit here I find myself less than 12 hours away from my first class. Now, never mind what that class is…I think it’s some silly geography class. I’m sure we’ll have field trips where we go out to see how much global warming it takes to give you sunburn. I know I’ll get an A then.

I really don’t know what to expect this year, I have an idea of what may transpire in the next 4 or so months… I know I’ll be a lot smarter at that time, than now. I’ll be well-versed in the musings of Philosophy, Broadcasting, Stage Performance, and the stylings of Documentary Films… oh joy is me. I can handle contain myself. (I say this with some sarcasm and some seriousness.

Knowledge and Learning aside, living like a bachelor isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, It’s not that it’s difficult, but just not that exciting. I just settled down the other day and already I’m moaning of boredom and heat (I don’t want to use the A/C too much). I shouldn’t be complaining now compared to what it’s going to be like come January here in Moscow, ID.

You know, waiting to start school is a lot like waiting for the clock to strike midnight on New Year’s Eve; you think it’s going to be some amazing, spectacular event where everyone is ready to celebrate as you are… but once it comes, all you can really do is say, “well that’s that.” Rather anticlimactic. It’s kinda like that.

Ok, well, I ought to get back to doing nothing…I really want things to pick up around here. I’m sure tomorrow will pick up just lovely.

“In quiet places, reason abounds” – Adlai Stevenson

Good ‘Ole American Irrationality

Friday, I leave for school. I sent off the apartment money yesterday. It’s just me and my buddy Ben. We plan on talking of many things, of shoes and shirts and ceiling wax and whether rational beings can co-exist in an irrational culture. I don’t think that last part was part of Wonderland. But irrationality is part of many, many people.

On a related topic, lately I’ve been watching a four-part BBC called The Century of the Self. (Why is it that England makes all the best documentaries?) It’s the history of psychoanalysis, patented by Freud, and worked upon by others wanting to know what makes humans human. My personal favorite is Abraham Mazlow, but I digress. You can find all four parts of this amazing documentary here.

One part stood out. Professor Martin Bergman, who conducted psychoanalysis of soldiers coming back from WWII said this: “The ratio between the irrational and the rational in America is very much in favor of the irrational.”

And this got me thinking of belief and faith (as I often do). Mostly, a recent study that shows how far Americans lag behind in the acceptance of the theory of evolution, seen here:

So, as it appears, this country is less educated than others… 32 other countries to be exact. Now, really there’s only one explanation for this and it’s something that is becoming less and less accepted throughout the world: divine faith.

I don’t know how long it’s going to take for Americans to realize that this world is natural, and that supernaturalism is just a figment of their imagination, but what I do know is that slowly, very slowly, there’s an underground movement resting its own faith in something tangible: reason. I like to call it the rational movement, and I’m proud to be a part of it. I can only hope that rationality will be enough to overcome all the crazies out there. I can only hope…

Peace & Love.

Check, Check, Check…

So, finally a home for my musings.

I’ve been looking for a place to harbor the things that roll around in my mind, and I finally the USB keyboard I ordered for my laptop to make all of this typing possible (I’m still getting used to the tiny keyboard).

I started this blog as to be able to have a (better) way to chronicle my events and happenings during my sophomore year in college. So, as with a collegiate student you’ll get to read everything that goes on at this party school, though the eyes of a freethinking mind.

That’s actually the biggest reason I’ve tried to enter the blogosphere once again. I decided that there weren’t enough freethinking, atheist/agnostic that dealt with a college campus…or at least they are hard to find.

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As I sit here I have one week until I’m back in college, Moscow, Idaho to be exact. This morning I thought I was going to get a check from school today that would help me pay for rent and other things, but as I found out I wont be seeing those bucks for another week…

Man, there is just too much waiting in life.

Other than playing the waiting game I’m making lists and checking things twice, (don’t believe in Santa Claus kids) I didn’t think it would be this time consuming just to get an apartment ready, but alas, I’m checking the ads for everything i need. I found a blender for $15!! I bet that’ll make a good margarita. Mmmm.

That’s it for now, I’ll be posting something up if I find it interesting or relevant to anything I find amusing or humours.

Hasta luego amigios. (I’m part Spanish, I can say that)