And with a total of 0/3 of the votes, the subject of God has won!
...what? Whatever, I'll do morals some other time.
Many a year ago, I went over to my neighbor's house. We did all the things two child boys do, fighting and playing and such. And eventually, we went to play video games, and that was when I discovered Age of Mythology. This was a game that had to do with Greek myths and their gods.
Long story short, I got it and loved it. I also went through a period of time when I believed that the Greek gods were real.
You may laugh, snicker, chuckle, snigger, chortle, crack up, shriek, titter, or any other synonym for laugh you can find on thesaurus.com, but I did. And why is it so ridiculous?
Think what the difference between the Greek gods and the God of Monotheism is. Come up with anything tangible? Both, in my humble opinion, were created to explain something in the natural world that wasn't previously explainable. And that is where modern science comes in.
I'm going to lay my cards on the table (An ace, jack, and three) and admit I am an atheist, as I may have done before. I don't know if there is a God, but I'm not going to pretend I believe in Him. I haven't seen any proof tangible enough to convince me.
But I'm not going to spend this whole post bashing God.
I think many people simply believe in God because what is the alternative? If there is no God, there is no grand plan for your lives, no assured happy ending or forever after. A lot of people wouldn't want to admit, not even to themselves, their lives are insignificant. And what is the point of this life is there is no next one to be rewarded for?
I'm not telling you to become atheist. I'm not telling you to worship God. I'm telling you to look at the world from your own eyes, and not that of any mother or father or priest or monk or atheist leader.
And if there is a God, I'm not sure I want to be in a Heaven where people are excluded for thinking differently than others
Thanks for reading and considering,
J. Valett
5.20.2011
We Gonna Party 'til the Rapture! (or My God Could Beat Up Your God)
Note: This entry will not deal with God specifically. I don't want to tread those waters until I have dipped my toes in. If I offend anyone, I am sorry.
Today at school, a child came up to me and told me that he wouldn't be in school Monday. When I inquired why, he responded by saying that the Rapture was May 21st and that all of the good Christians will go to heaven. Being Jewish, naturally, I would stay here. I told the kid that I would tell the anti-christ I said "whassup"
I don't have a problem with religion in general. As one very wise writer for a TV show put, "Religion is like Billy Joel. I see the appeal, and I wouldn't take it away from anyone, but I also wouldn't stand in line for it." My biggest problem with organized religion is the subtle touches of brainwashing. NOTE: This is the part where you will want to sharpen your pitchforks and oil up your torches.
Most people don't belong to the West Baptist Church. Most people disagree with their message, which includes condemning anyone who isn't them, picketing funerals of gay people and soldiers, and teaching their children to do the same. People moan and groan about them: The children should be taken away, they say, they are being brainwashed.
To a certain degree they are. To a certain degree, we are.
Most of the more accepting or more liberal religions don't do that kind of stuff. The only subtle touches of brainwashing you see is in things like Jewish kindergarten or Christian kindergarten. Where they teach you that God is God, he made everything, end of story. On the plus side, you could eat an Oreo and take a nap.
I was raised Jewish, but I was always free to believe what I wanted to believe. When I asked my parents what they believed, I got responses followed by, "but you can believe whatever you like."
Being the idealist I am (see the title of the blog) I intended to raise my kid religion free. When they were of age, let's say ten, I would present to them all of the religions that were prevalent or accepted, including atheism, and letting them choose what they believed. But of course, this is no idealized world. The presents would likely determine which side of the religion fence they ended up on.
Organized religion has a valiant message, even religions that seem perverse to some, like that of the West Baptist Church. Most want to get you into heaven, whether it be by blowing up a hospital or confessing your sins to a mystery man. Some just want you to be a good person.
But one of my biggest problems of organized religion is that it makes everyone think that they are better if they are in their religion. NOTE: Huge generalization.
When I tell people that I am atheist, to an extent, some try to convert me to their religion. Not a huge number, maybe three in my life. They wanted me to go to heaven, a valiant thought but ultimately meaningless.
Some people believe a lack of an organized religion makes someone a bad person. They don't have any governing forces, so they can do whatever they want. There are no Ten Commandments that tell them not to kill, so they can kill. But atheists kill, Christians kill, Buddhists kill, Jews kill, Agnostics kill, all religions house killers.
My big problems with organized religion lie here on the table. Comment if I am wrong (which I most certainly can be), or with your views.
The point that I'm trying to get across here is that a lot of kids don't have a choice in what they believe in. If they are taught and choose Christianity, fantastic. If they are taught and choose Daoism, great. But brainwashing is not something I can just stand by and watch.
Thanks for reading and considering,
J. Valett.
Today at school, a child came up to me and told me that he wouldn't be in school Monday. When I inquired why, he responded by saying that the Rapture was May 21st and that all of the good Christians will go to heaven. Being Jewish, naturally, I would stay here. I told the kid that I would tell the anti-christ I said "whassup"
I don't have a problem with religion in general. As one very wise writer for a TV show put, "Religion is like Billy Joel. I see the appeal, and I wouldn't take it away from anyone, but I also wouldn't stand in line for it." My biggest problem with organized religion is the subtle touches of brainwashing. NOTE: This is the part where you will want to sharpen your pitchforks and oil up your torches.
Most people don't belong to the West Baptist Church. Most people disagree with their message, which includes condemning anyone who isn't them, picketing funerals of gay people and soldiers, and teaching their children to do the same. People moan and groan about them: The children should be taken away, they say, they are being brainwashed.
To a certain degree they are. To a certain degree, we are.
Most of the more accepting or more liberal religions don't do that kind of stuff. The only subtle touches of brainwashing you see is in things like Jewish kindergarten or Christian kindergarten. Where they teach you that God is God, he made everything, end of story. On the plus side, you could eat an Oreo and take a nap.
I was raised Jewish, but I was always free to believe what I wanted to believe. When I asked my parents what they believed, I got responses followed by, "but you can believe whatever you like."
Being the idealist I am (see the title of the blog) I intended to raise my kid religion free. When they were of age, let's say ten, I would present to them all of the religions that were prevalent or accepted, including atheism, and letting them choose what they believed. But of course, this is no idealized world. The presents would likely determine which side of the religion fence they ended up on.
Organized religion has a valiant message, even religions that seem perverse to some, like that of the West Baptist Church. Most want to get you into heaven, whether it be by blowing up a hospital or confessing your sins to a mystery man. Some just want you to be a good person.
But one of my biggest problems of organized religion is that it makes everyone think that they are better if they are in their religion. NOTE: Huge generalization.
When I tell people that I am atheist, to an extent, some try to convert me to their religion. Not a huge number, maybe three in my life. They wanted me to go to heaven, a valiant thought but ultimately meaningless.
Some people believe a lack of an organized religion makes someone a bad person. They don't have any governing forces, so they can do whatever they want. There are no Ten Commandments that tell them not to kill, so they can kill. But atheists kill, Christians kill, Buddhists kill, Jews kill, Agnostics kill, all religions house killers.
My big problems with organized religion lie here on the table. Comment if I am wrong (which I most certainly can be), or with your views.
The point that I'm trying to get across here is that a lot of kids don't have a choice in what they believe in. If they are taught and choose Christianity, fantastic. If they are taught and choose Daoism, great. But brainwashing is not something I can just stand by and watch.
Thanks for reading and considering,
J. Valett.
5.16.2011
Chocolates and Flowers (or The Love of Love)
Love is a curious thing. You are taught from the day you are born that you love your family. You love your mother, your father, your sisters and brothers, your uncles and aunts, grandfathers and grandmothers. And for the most part, you get good little children who mimic what they are told and tell everyone that they love them.
But then there is the love of others, which is far stranger and a little less easy to talk about. Love is something that is hard to describe, but dictionary.com simplified it to "an intense feeling of deep affection"
As I travel the halls of my asylum (see: school), I hear the word love a lot. Thrown out casually for something that was just funny, or just nice, or just...average. And I personally have received a lot of flack for my one little issue:
I refuse to say 'I love you'. To anyone. Family included.
Why is this? I don't know quite honestly. And that is probably the reason I don't say it ever. I just don't know what love is. Sure it may feel good to hear someone declare their love for you, but in the end, it is the same as telling a fat women that she is skinny: At the end of the day, she is still a size 6 (or whatever is large for women. I honestly don't know.)
I think that love is a rare natural resource. And I plan to conserve mine, so I won't have to mine off the coast of Alaska for it. I don't say it to people, it isn't because I hate you: If I talk to you at all, it means that my disgust for you is slightly lesser than my disgust for others. I don't say it because when I do say it, I want it to mean something.
Thanks for reading and considering
-J.Valett
One could attribute the delay between posts as a deep consideration of the following topic. One would be wrong. I am lazy.
But then there is the love of others, which is far stranger and a little less easy to talk about. Love is something that is hard to describe, but dictionary.com simplified it to "an intense feeling of deep affection"
As I travel the halls of my asylum (see: school), I hear the word love a lot. Thrown out casually for something that was just funny, or just nice, or just...average. And I personally have received a lot of flack for my one little issue:
I refuse to say 'I love you'. To anyone. Family included.
Why is this? I don't know quite honestly. And that is probably the reason I don't say it ever. I just don't know what love is. Sure it may feel good to hear someone declare their love for you, but in the end, it is the same as telling a fat women that she is skinny: At the end of the day, she is still a size 6 (or whatever is large for women. I honestly don't know.)
I think that love is a rare natural resource. And I plan to conserve mine, so I won't have to mine off the coast of Alaska for it. I don't say it to people, it isn't because I hate you: If I talk to you at all, it means that my disgust for you is slightly lesser than my disgust for others. I don't say it because when I do say it, I want it to mean something.
Thanks for reading and considering
-J.Valett
One could attribute the delay between posts as a deep consideration of the following topic. One would be wrong. I am lazy.
5.02.2011
A Life For X Lives (Or Life in the Abstract)
The other day I came up with a problem that I think is a very good question in that not only is there no solution, but any answer that someone comes up with is automatically wrong in everyone else's eyes.
Let's imagine that you were kidnapped by someone. They gave you a choice, between your life and the life of X random people. What is the value of X for which you would sacrifice your life? Now keep in mind that you don't know these people. They could be serial killers, saints, or civilians plucked from their life that is as normal as yours likely is.
It brings up a question that no one really likes to adress, one about your self-worth. I haven't heard a single response in my time asking this question that someone said that a single life was worth saving if it meant giving up their own. I've heard 20, I've heard 2, but no one seems to be in agreement over the correct answer.
I put my number at three. I don't know why, but if 3 people's lives were on the line and I was on the other end, I would like to think that I would sacrifice my self for the greater good.
But I acknowledge that I am a coward and I would have trouble giving my life up for fifty lives, as much as I hate admitting it.
There is an interesting conondrum that this question brings to light. If you are a king or noble with a high sense of self-entitlement, you may choose a high number, 300 or 400 because of the position you command and the power you wield. A saint in the flesh would likely choose 1 however, as any life is a life worth saving. But wouldn't you rather have the saint who is selfess?
Thanks for reading and considering
-J. Valett
Let's imagine that you were kidnapped by someone. They gave you a choice, between your life and the life of X random people. What is the value of X for which you would sacrifice your life? Now keep in mind that you don't know these people. They could be serial killers, saints, or civilians plucked from their life that is as normal as yours likely is.
It brings up a question that no one really likes to adress, one about your self-worth. I haven't heard a single response in my time asking this question that someone said that a single life was worth saving if it meant giving up their own. I've heard 20, I've heard 2, but no one seems to be in agreement over the correct answer.
I put my number at three. I don't know why, but if 3 people's lives were on the line and I was on the other end, I would like to think that I would sacrifice my self for the greater good.
But I acknowledge that I am a coward and I would have trouble giving my life up for fifty lives, as much as I hate admitting it.
There is an interesting conondrum that this question brings to light. If you are a king or noble with a high sense of self-entitlement, you may choose a high number, 300 or 400 because of the position you command and the power you wield. A saint in the flesh would likely choose 1 however, as any life is a life worth saving. But wouldn't you rather have the saint who is selfess?
Thanks for reading and considering
-J. Valett
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