Posts tagged: Humanism
Merry Christmas
And Remember…
Tour the known universe in 6 minutes
The AMNH has put together this amazing tour of the entire known universe based on the most up-to-date astronomical data. Every object is in its correct location, with proper scale and movement.
Here’s the full article to go with it.
Via: Pharyngula
Nell McCafferty gives the church a piece of her mind
Nell McCafferty lashes out at the catholic church, questioning their continued use of titles like “Father”, “Your Grace” and “Lordship” in response to the Vatican’s cover-up of sexual abuse of children by catholic priests and how the reputation of the church was deemed more important than the welfare of children.
I love when she goes off on “What’s holy about the Vatican?” and “What’s holy about the Pope in this context?”
Via: Pharyngula
You only live one life
You only live one life and you make all your mistakes and learn what not to do and that’s the end of you. – Richard P. Feynman
Don’t Diss Darwin
The NCSE has created a new site, Don’t Diss Darwin, to combat Ray Comfort’s mutilated copies of Darwin’s Origin of Species to be given away at “100 top universities” in the US (19 18, Nov. 2009) and Canada (24, Nov. 2009).
I thought someone should do the same thing to some of Comfort’s books, but if you added an introduction and cut all the nonsense out, you’d be left with nothing but the introduction.
Via: RichardDawkins.net
UPDATE: Comfort changed his plan in an attempt to counter some rationalist’s plans. He’s giving the books out TODAY. (Via: Pharyngula)
Surrounded by ignorance
Just watch this… as the video progresses, try to NOT let your mouth hang open in disbelief.
Oh… My… God! Now, I know many people are genuinely ignorant of things that don’t really affect them in their day-to-day lives. But really, America? This level of ignorance is just absurd. Apparently there are people living among us who don’t know how many sides a triangle has and don’t see something wrong on a map where the entire country of Australia is labeled “Iran” or “North Korea”.We also seem to have had THREE world wars and Hiroshima and Nagasaki are only famous for sumo wrestling.
Wow.
Via: Unrelated TechCrunch post.
Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort are giving away copies of ‘Origin of Species’
So, banana man and his right hand guy will be giving away some 50,000 copies of Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ at universities across the country. There’s only one problem.
Each copy will include a 50 page intro attempting to explain how evolution has never been proven and how Darwin helped inspire the Holocaust.
This is sad and pathetic at the same time. But something good can come of this.
If you are in college, then you are in a good position to help. Check your campus on November 19th, and if you see a group distributing copies of the book, then get as many as you can. Get a copy for yourself, ask if you can have extra copies for your friends, ask your friends to go ask for copies, and ask other people you see carrying the book if you can have their copy. Remove the 50 page intro, and then donate perfectly good copies of ‘Origin of Species’ to schools, libraries, and Goodwill. We can actually make this into something positive.
I guess the banana wasn’t enough proof after all.
You can watch this video for more information.
Via: Richard Dawkins
UPDATE: The NCSE has created the Don’t Diss Darwin site to combat Comfort’s copies of Origin.
Bill Maher: Biblically Incorrect (Audio)
What constitutes a Bible-based marriage?
Mrs. Betty Bowers makes it easy.
Via: Atheist Media Blog
God: The Computer
A very humorous take on Genesis as a 1980’s computer program.
Whoever created this, it’s hilarious. Day 6 is particularly brilliant.
Via: Daily Cup of Tech
Isaac Asimov – The Answer for Humanity (1989)
Isaac Asimov delivers a keynote speech for the Humanist Institute’s 1st Annual Meeting on January 14, 1989. The topics lay an interesting parallel with current events. It’s almost like nothing’s happened in all this time.
The Arrival Of Homo Evolutis
In this humorous and inspirational talk, Juan Enriquez discusses the present state and future advances awaiting the human species.
Via: TED
2009 Cultural Humanism Awardee: Joss Whedon!
Joss Whedon will receive the 2009 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism.
I never really knew Joss Whedon considered himself a Humanist but always enjoyed the humanistic values, morals and lessons portrayed in his TV shows and projects. I never got into Buffy, but Firefly was particularly important to me with a near-openly atheist lead character, Malcolm Reynolds. (“You’re welcome on my boat, preacher. God ain’t.”) And we all know how I feel about Dr. Horrible.
So, congratulations Mr. Whedon. Well deserved.
Via: The Friendly Atheist
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. And remember…
Being godless in the workplace
This is more of a rant than a well-thought out post.
In just a little over one month into my new job (more on that in a bit), the issue of and concerns about my humanism/atheism has already come into conversation twice. I live and work in Tennessee. Every night I’m subjected to christian propaganda in the form of general conversation and apparel (i.e. t-shirts with such witty wording as “Not perfect, just forgiven”). I carry a book with me almost every night to have something to read during my breaks and lunch. So far I’ve steered clear of taking such blatant titles as “The God Delusion” and “The Portable Atheist” with me mostly because I feel the issue of my non-belief is not an appropriate area of discourse for the workplace so I usually take a general science book with me. But “science” itself, it seems, is enough to get the dusty cogs in their brains going.
Twice I’ve had the question put forth to me, “So, do you believe in God?” And twice I’ve answered, “No, I really don’t believe in anything supernatural.” The first person asked an interesting follow-up question, “So.. are you, ya know… happy?” … The second was more down-trodden, “Man, that kind of makes me sad to hear that. Everybody has to believe in something.”
In the two brief discussions I’ve had with these two people, I’ve tried to entertain their personal beliefs without stepping all over them. (I save the stepping for the intertubes.) I’ve even held back a few questions and laughter that would serve no good purpose. One of them kept coming back to the “debate” with questions like, “So how do you explain good and evil?” to which I replied, “What else would there be?” and “We just made all that evolution stuff up.” To which I quickly replied, “No, we just figured it out. There’s a big difference.”
Both seem to be very fond and ignorant of the Bible… “The words in red are what Jesus said.” … as well as ignorant of other religions and modes of spirituality. It’s pretty obvious they’ve never experienced a spiritual moment from anything other than the religion they were brought up in. They’ve never explored the topic of religion in an academic sense and are oblivious to other culture’s religions. I keep wondering what our country would be like if we had comparative religion studies in our high schools. I’ve explained to both of them that I’m a very spiritual person, just not a religious one… I find my spirituality in the awesome mysteries and wonder of the universe. Pictures like this evoke a spiritual response from me. Hell, just thinking about how massive our universe is evokes a spiritual response. I’m reminded of one of my favorite Carl Sagan quotes…
Many religions have attempted to make statues of their gods very large, and the idea, i supposed, is to make us feel small. But if that’s their purpose, they can keep their paltry icons. We need only look up if we wish to feel small.
Putting “Life” into perspective is a humbling and empowering experience that everyone should take part in. It allows you to see life for what it truly is. An amazingly rare and wondrous thing worth saving and worth making it better for all. Viewing the Earth from space allows you to see the made up lines we’ve created to separate ourselves from one another and to see our little insignificant planet as a single organism that must work together in harmony if it is to survive. Realizing there is no supernatural afterlife awaiting you when you die begs the venture of making all there is to make of this life. As Richard Dawkins put it…
The ‘here and now’ is not something to be endured before eternal bliss or damnation. The ‘here and now’ is all we have; An inspiration to make the most of it.
As it stands, I’m going to continue trying to avoid the ‘I’m a godless heathen among you’ conversation while on the clock.
I’ve now broken two principles because I need this job so much at the moment … damn you U.S. economy. Granted, larger paychecks are nice, but they don’t make me feel any better about myself. The whole situation is a bit loony. I’m attempting to be a nobody that stands out amongst the crowd. Does having a contradictory goal affect the outcome? Hmmmm.
Okay… my little rant is over… When I write a real post regarding my new job, some of this will make a little more sense. Right now, after a 12 hour shift… I’m pooped. Lights out.
