Kayla

"I remember mom always telling me that all in all in the end the only one you really have is God. I have come to a place in experience where, in every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to our creator b/c literally there was no else…. + by God + by your prayers I have felt tenderly cradled in freefall."
-- Kayla Mueller


News of Kayla Mueller's death was reported today. So sad to see this young woman killed by religious zealots. So many on facebook and elsewhere today praised this woman as a saint and a hero. The question no one else seems to be asking is: What in the world was she doing in Syria to begin with?

My passive investigation reveals ISIS kidnapped Kayla at a bus stop in Aleppo, Syria. She was there by herself. She apparently thought her god was looking out for her. If she did, it appears she was incorrect.

It is too much to observe the similarities between Kayla and ISIS? Deluded religious zealots, the lot of them.

Down on the Firm

1. The boss expects me to find my own cases, sign them up, work them single-handedly, and handle the collections/accounting in those cases ("my cases").

2. I am required to spend much of each day working on the boss's cases -- perhaps half my time. Many of the boss's cases are complete losers, financially and otherwise. (As my mentor said: why would the boss want to spend any time on those dogs? He wouldn't. That's why he has an associate.) This creates Problem #1: my cases have real deadlines and I do not have the time or the help to meet those effectively; I am busy working on the boss's cases. 

3. Problem #2: The firm cannot pay me any more than a modest base salary because I do not bring in enough revenue in my cases. But I do not have time to even work on my own cases, much less go out and find new ones. The boss's thought on that subject: that's what nights and weekends are for. Yes: work all day billing hours, then go home and in your spare time learn new areas of the law, draft content for the firm's web site, find clients, and profitably work their cases. Problem #2 is quite a problem, as I am just at the firm to make money.

This is the same issue my predecessor mentioned to me on her last day at the firm. If all goes according to plan, I will warn my replacement about this issue in about 4 months.

Perfection

The perfect plan to glorify oneself:

1. Create a species and a world for it to live in

2. Let a few hundred thousand years go by as they slaughter themselves in your name, starve, and generally suffer

3. Send son (who is actually you) to be tortured and murdered

4. Wait a couple thousand more years for effect - more slaughter and suffering in the meantime

5. Take your devoted flock to paradise for an eternity of them praising you

6. Send the rest - the vast majority - to burn alive forever

Cult of Human Sacrifice

Christianity is not a religion that refutes human sacrifice. Just the opposite: Christianity is a cult of human sacrifice. Christians believe one human sacrifice was effective for all humanity. While possible, this appears quite improbable, just as is the thought that any other human sacrifice could actually work.

God Is... Good?

Plaza Towers Elementary School

Monday, May 20, 2013; 3:00pm.  A tornado hits Moore, Oklahoma. It kills 23 people and injures 377.  7 children die at Plaza Towers Elementary school alone that Monday.  On the national news that evening, one local resident, when asked about how he managed to survive the storm, says without missing a beat: "God is good!"


Idea 1:
A loving god is in control and, in fact, he planned every detail of the universe from start to finish.  He knows how many hairs are on your head and loves you!

Idea 2:
Innocent people are slaughtered on this planet every day.

How can we justify those 2 ideas?  We cannot.  Either your god is unable to stop innocent peoples' deaths, or your god does not care to.  Those are the only two alternatives, and neither is good for god.

Some readers may be tempted to defend their gods here, saying "Who can understand God's will? We are just human and we have no idea what God's plans are." What is so remarkable about this attitude: their own human understandings are what they use to determine their god's goodness in the first place.  Do you have an intimate, personal relationship with this god of yours, or not?


And what about the survivor who said on national television, on an evening when 23 of his neighbors had been crushed to death, including 7 children: "God is good."  What kind of person would, if a mass murderer killed all those people, say the murderer was good?  The thought that our gods are good because they have the sense to spare us when they're slaughtering our neighbors... this is one of the most remarkable and disturbing ideas imaginable.

Washed in Blood

An acquaintance, when describing his religious beliefs, proudly claims to be "washed in the blood." I resist the urge to tell him just how disgusting a claim that is.

In many backwards cultures over the years, blood was spilled to make up for errors. And not just blood: innocent blood. How very revolting. How many virgins have we sacrificed? How many animals' throats have we cut? How many children have we murdered?  Washing things in blood is a disgusting and horrific concept people should be ashamed to accept.

Here's a related question, and an important one: Does washing things in blood really get the stains out? Or does it cause even worse stains? Think about it.

Confidence

"The vast global Church/Mosque/Synagogue/Temple conglomerate... is the biggest business on the planet, bringing untold funding from hordes of gullible people, many of them extremely poor. It is by far the biggest confidence trick of all time."

Harry Kroto

The Power of Religion

Blacksburg, Virginia: April 16, 2007. A mentally ill young man murders 32 innocent people and injures 17 others. What happened?

For years, Seung-Hui Cho displayed signs of serious and dangerous mental illness. His family and other acquaintances knew he was batshit crazy. His mother is an evangelical Christian. How did she deal with her son's mental health problems? She prayed. And she took him from church to church, looking for a church that could perform a proper exorcism.

Think about that. An atrocity in the making. A crazy, violent young man. A loving mother. What did this young man need? He apparently needed the help of mental health professionals, medication, and probably institutionalization. What did he receive? Religion. The mother's worldview is so trimmed down by her medieval religious views that, due to her actions and inactions, 32 people died horrific and unnecessary deaths.

Here's the amazing thing: you can't blame the mother. According to the Bible, the mother was right! Demonic possession really happens. And Jesus can heal it. Nowhere in the Bible are psychiatrists mentioned, or anti-psychotic medication. The Bible says this young man needed Jesus. That's what he got, and we see what that got us.


As an aside, where was the mother's loving, all-knowing, all-powerful god on the morning of April 16, 2007? The only honest answer appears to be: In the mother's imagination.

Failing the Ones We Love Most

"We must decline to tell our children that human history began with magic and will end with bloody magic, perhaps soon, in a glorious war between the righteous and the rest.  One must be religious to fail the young so abysmally—to derange them with fear, bigotry, and superstition even as their minds are forming—and one cannot be a serious Christian, Muslim, or Jew without doing so in some measure.

Such sins against reason and compassion do not represent the totality of religion, of course, but they lie at its core.  As for the rest—charity, community, ritual, and the contemplative life—we need not take anything on faith to embrace these goods.  And it is one of the most damaging canards of religion to insist that we must."

                                                                                 - Sam Harris

"We can be as honest as we are ignorant.  If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know."

                                                                                - Robert G. Ingersoll

Close Call

People and their worldviews are fascinating.

A now former Facebook friend posted something along these lines a while back: "FML! We totalled our car today after just getting it paid off last month and letting the insurance lapse.  Thank God we're OK."

I commented what seemed like a natural response: "I'm so glad y'all are OK.  Why do you suppose God caused the accident in the first place?".  She unfriended and blocked me.  This made be wonder a series of things...

• Why would my asking that question upset her so much that she would unfriend and block me?
• What about her faith makes her so sensitive to questions about it?
• More broadly, why would this god total her newly paid-off and uninsured car in the first place?  Doesn't this god love her?  If this god of hers really is in control and we're living out his perfect plan, why not spare her from the accident to begin with? 
• Or is it that this god can't stop accidents but can stop people from getting hurt in them?  If he can stop people from dying in accidents, why doesn't he help the tens of thousands of good people who die in accidents every year?  This is called "the arrogance of the spared" and it makes no sense at all.
• And if your response is "God is mysterious and unknowable," what's all this $#!+ about you having a personal relationship with him?

Long Distance Love

A dear friend and I were discussing religion recently.  She said "I can't imagine living in a world without Christ."  I replied "You realize you're talking about a Middle-Eastern carpenter and faith-healer who lived in Palestine 2,000 years ago, right?"

The idea that Jesus of Nazareth is alive and well in our hearts is astonishingly crazy.  As Sam Harris is fond of saying, it would be difficult to believe people actually believed such a thing if so many people did not actually believe it.  In the Bible itself, Jesus tells his followers the equivalent of "I'll be right back!" over and over again.  That was 2,000 years ago, and he has not been seen or heard from since.

I hope my friend likes long-distance relationships.

A Father's Love / Good Friday

Mardi Gras was last week, which is always a fun time of year.  The next day was Ash Wednesday, which signals the beginning of Lent, when good Catholics are supposed to give up things they enjoy for 40 days.  Funny how religions generally and Christianity in particular seem to view things we enjoy as terrible for us... while viewing things that would otherwise seem despicable - like eating Jesus of Nazareth's flesh and drinking his blood - as divine.  No human flesh or blood for me thanks, even if you call it symbolic.  Make mine a cold beer and some Tex-Mex: that's divine in my book.

The end of Lent is Easter Sunday.  Two days before Easter is so-called Good Friday, when Jesus was allegedly crucified.  If I understand things correctly, God's perfect plan - in an effort for us to glorify God - was to send his son to be tortured and murdered, and for this we are supposed to love and worship God?  Doesn't sound very "good" to me, even if it was a Friday.

The Ovarian Lottery

"He won the lottery when he was born
took his mother's white breast to his tongue
Trained like dogs, color and smell
walks by me to get to him
police man
police man
He won the lottery by being born
big hand slapped a white male american
Do no wrong, so clean cut
dirty his hands, it comes right off
police man
police man..."

- from "WMA (White Male American)" by Pearl Jam, as featured on their album Vs.


Warren Buffett is often quoted as saying he won the Ovarian Lottery before he was born.  He's right, and if you're anything like me, you did too.  The chances of being born in the USA are roughly 50-to-1.  The chances of being born "white" and in the USA: roughly 100-to-1.  I have amazing parents, who are smart, generous and loving.  They provided me with great genes, a solid though imperfect childhood, and 2 college degrees from American universities, widely regarded as some of the best in the world.  I drive a German sports car and sleep in a king-sized bed in a heated home with unlimited fresh water available from taps inside the house anytime I want it.  I eat better than I could ask for.  My job consists of reading and talking on the telephone while sitting in a big leather chair.  I won the lottery by being born.

The King

Elvis Aaron Presley is still alive. He is busy working on new music: his new album comes out soon and his comeback will be amazing. Are you ready? 

Elvis and I communicate daily. He hears me speak and even hears my thoughts. He sometimes grants my wishes: he can do anything, because, you know, he's Elvis.

We should all be preparing for the King's imminent comeback. The people in our lives who have passed on have gone to be with Elvis, and we will all be together someday... in My Blue Heaven.

My belief Elvis lives is not based on science. It is a faith-based belief. Believing Elvis is alive gives my life meaning. His music and films form my life's moral foundation. I can't imagine living in a world without Elvis. 

Scapegoat

In ancient Middle Eastern cultures, thousands of years ago, people transferred their wrongdoings to goats. People then set the goats free into the wilderness to die miserable deaths of thirst and starvation. This somehow cleansed people of their responsibilities and wrongdoings, or so they thought. This notion of the escaping goat gave us the English word we know today as "scapegoat."

The idea that wrongdoings could be atoned for by the murder of innocent beings was a central theme in many ignorant, backward Middle Eastern cultures. Given all we know today, can our wrongdoings really be cleansed away by murdering innocent goats or anything else? If so, and crucially, is it moral for us to attempt to avoid personal responsibility by having innocent beings tortured and murdered on our behalves?

It does not appear possible for us to cast our responsibilities onto goats or anyone or anything else. And it is a good thing it does not appear possible. Personal responsibility forms the basis for all morality. We must be responsible for our own actions if we are to live morally. The thought that we could somehow cast our own wrongdoings onto an innocent being to be tortured and murdered is both ridiculous and horrific. I do not authorize anyone or anything to be tortured or murdered due to my misdeeds. As an able and competent adult, complaints about my behavior should be addressed to me and me alone.

Justice?

Ali is a loving husband and father who lives in a small-town in India. Ali is a hard-working physician and philanthropist who gives his time and money to his family, to charities and to strangers. He has never seriously wronged anyone in his entire life. Like almost all Indians, Ali was born into a Hindu family. Ali worships Hindu gods and has several altars to Hindu gods in his family's home. Ali has heard of Christianity but has never met a Christian.

Bob is a confessed violent pedophile and child murderer. He spent his adult life preying on children before being apprehended by the police. Bob currently sits on death row in Texas. He is scheduled to die in 2015. Bob tells people he was recently "born again": he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

What if we view these 2 men in light of the Christian Bible (Hebrew Bible plus "New" Testament)? According to the Christian Bible, after death those with a belief in Christ's divinity have their sins forgiven and enjoy eternal paradise. Those without a belief in Christ's divinity burn alive in eternal hellfire. Ali burns in hell forever. Bob goes to Heaven to be with Jesus... and all the children Bob victimized.

One thing should be clear: Christianity is not concerned with moral accountability. Fortunately there is no evidence of eternal paradises, eternal hellfires or books written by invisible gods. There is only life and death, time and death being the ultimate change agents. Ali will live a long, comfortable life with his wife, children and grandchildren. Bob will suffer at his fellow inmates' hands and then die of lethal injection. And then, from everything we can tell, they will both be dead, just like everything else that has ever lived.

Family Values?

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:25-26

What Would Jesus Drive?

This beautiful Mercedes Benz CL500 was parked in Austin, Texas -- on a parking stripe, basically taking up 2 spaces. The after-market black wheels and tires were sharp and expensive. The lone bumper sticker read: Jesus, I trust in You.

The CL500's retail price is about $90,000. That people can justify wealth accumulation with Christian faith is fascinating. To me, the phrase "wealthy Christian" is a contradiction in terms. What do wealthy Christians think when they read a passage like Matthew 19:24: "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."? How can they miss one of Jesus's core messages: Love the poor? The New Testament makes it seem like Christians should be almost Socialist in their charity and service to the poor. And yet Christian Republicans are frequently those who most fiercely oppose social programs for the poor, citing the corresponding cost.

Horrific Violence Breeds Horrific Violence

What would you do if someone instructed you to murder your child as a show of loyalty? Grab your child and run? Call the police? Or would you be loyal and do it?

Christians young and old are taught to honor Abraham for being willing to murder his only son, Isaac, at God’s request. What kind of parent would really do that? 

Religious people so often say that violent scripture is just an illustration of the real point -- a parable -- and that we need to read deeper to get the real meaning. The problem with interpretation: everyone's is different. And the Bible and Quran are often interpreted by psychopaths as instructions to kill innocent people.

For example, Andrea Yates drowned her 5 young children in their bathtub in Houston, Texas in 2001. A devout Christian, Ms. Yates read the Bible feverishly, and she and her husband "home-churched" their children three times a week. Amazingly, Yates was on firm scriptural ground when she murdered her children. Just like Abraham, when Yates felt that God required her to kill her children, she did it without question. Yates apparently takes a literal view of Christian scripture, and who can blame her? If you really believe that the perfect word of the loving creator of the universe is right there in black and white, who are you to question it? Some devout believers will do anything they believe gods are instructing them to do.

Be Healed!

Demon possession and sin as sources of sickness are described as actual problems in the Bible, and it takes fancy intellectual footwork on a reader’s part to not recognize that. Most people laugh at Benny Hinn and other faith-healers, but the Christian Bible is on Benny's side.

It’s time we be clear: Jesus claimed to be a faith-healer, and much of his ministry allegedly involved casting out demons. Here are just two examples of the dozens of passages about demon possession in the Christian Bible (Hebrew Bible plus "New" Testament). Isn't it interesting that none of these miracles left behind any evidence that we can actually verify today? Is that the only reason some people still believe these myths? These days, why do we generally require evidence in order to believe peoples' claims about faith healing? 


[Jesus "heals" a young man apparently suffering from epilepsy:]
Matthew Chapter 17

14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.
15 "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
17 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me."
18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

Mark Chapter 1
23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,
24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"
25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"
26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.