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It is thoroughly amusing to watch discern4 commentate on a pair of thoroughly delusional Chick Tracts. The tracks focus on the topics of rock and roll music and a topic that apparently has me hellbound for sure, and that would role playing games aka Dungeons and Dragons. It is amazing what deluded people think is toxic and horribly wrong. What is even more scary is seeing it codified and distilled into a pure form of fear based propaganda.
I found the last part of the video disturbing as discern4 relates a story about how he had his own cleansing bonfires in which he burnt the works of Satan – video game advertisements from a gaming magazine, and a Christian book about Witchcraft(!). I generalize this episode to the horror inflicted on children who are taught stories of hellfire, demons and damnation; as if they actually existed. These so called “Biblical truths” are such a grand collection of half-baked pigshit encrusted goose-featherings – that on their very best day they make not a whit of sense – it is this delusional mendacity of these “truths” that has the power to ruin peoples’ lives.
It is unconscionable.
And for what? Propping up a creaky system of beliefs that does not conform with reality? Laying claim to ignorance as if it were some sort of meritorious badge of honour? My mouth dries with disdain when I see the biblical language crop up, my blood pressure rises when the religious, with that infuriating supplicating temerity, dare to lecture on the topic of morality. Gaaah!
But enough of my rant , enjoy the video. :) (bonus points if you catch the racism regarding rhythmical instruments.)
I’d like to recommend reading this particular book as it offers a laypersons guide to how our minds evolved and the inelegant solutions and workarounds that are now standard in the homo sapiens brain. Consider this summary of why sometime we become angry and that anger dominates our rational capacities.
“What occasionally allows normal people to spiral out of control is a witch’s brew of cognitive kludges: (1) the clumsy apparatus of self-control (which in the heat of the moment all too often gives the upper hand to our reflexive system); (2) the lunacy of confirmation bias (which convinces us that we are always right, or nearly so); (3) its evil twin, motivated reasoning (which leads us to protect our beliefs, even if those beliefs are dubious); (4) the contextually driven nature of memory (such that when we’re angry at someone, we tend to remember other things about them that have made us angry in the past). In short, this leaves “hot” systems dominating cool reason; carnage often ensues.
– Gary Marcus. Kluge – The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind, p. 156.
When I learned Lilith was dying, I felt like my heart was going to implode. The only thing that seemed to keep enough outward pressure was knowing that there would be another cat to love after she was gone, so I became the cause of probably 25% of the web traffic for the local Humane Society, looking for just the right cat to be next in my heart. There were two candidates originally, both selected because their profiles mentioned them getting along well with other cats. One got adopted in less than a week, long before Lilith vacated her position; the other just lingered and lingered and I couldn’t figure out why when she was so pretty and was described as totally sweet.
After Lilith died, I went to the Humane Society and met this candidate, and she snuggled into my arms and scent marked my cheek with hers. I fell all googly-eyed in love. Arb sighed melancholically because more cats means more vacuuming, and this one is long-haired and all white. Love prevailed, and I brought her home last night and named her Fiona.
Here are her first moments exploring the room where we’re keeping her while she and V-Kitten get to know one another by hissing under the door.
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It is nice every once and awhile see how religious thinking, in this case, opposing contraception (let’s not mention abortion because women in control of their reproductive destinies really is just satanic) looks like if we follow through on the policy.
Wow.
Just wow.
Because marginalizing our First Peoples isn’t enough.
Because imprisioning our First Peoples isn’t enough.
Is erasing First People’s historical narrative enough Mr. Harper?
It is fascinating to browse the wordpress reader and see all the posts that start with God says…and the bible sayeth and all of the other faux-flowery shards of bullshit that immediately marks the contents of the following paragraphs as absolute bollocks. Unfailingly, magic is consulted, mythology is taken as real, and we the reader, are supposed calmly accept this vacuous nonsense and not ruin yet another keyboard by spitting tea/coffee into its delicate innards in a vain attempt not to laugh.
The problem religion has is that knowledge now, is just so darned easy to come by. Coupled with the fact that you can’t easily burn internet heretics at the stake makes beliving in the grand-ooga-booga a tough proposition at best. Furthermore, a great deal of what is out there points to the glaring fact that religion is nothing more than a shady pyramid scheme based on fear and delusion.
With those happy thoughts in place, lets explore yet another argument illustrating the absolute failure of creation ‘science’ of possessing any sort of expliciative power other than the usual high polished turd of “godidit”. Enjoy.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…