Long Time No Offend!

Hey guys,

It's been awhile since Corey or I have offended the pants off of you. Or whatever it is we do.

I've been having a crazy semester, but I have a feeling that once it winds down you will once again be reading things and crying.

P.S. DFA is moving to SoCal in a few months with Kyle.

peace!

We're still alive.....thought I would share some more humor

Humor is good on Thursdays.....

...courtesy of Alia...

Atheist Student vs. Religious Professor

My professor (who is a Catholic deacon) spent the first two days of class bashing atheists and specifically, some well-known scientists and skeptics (Galileo and Dawkins to name a few), so in my first homework assignment, we had to write a "Spiritual Autobiography" this is a clip of what I included in it:

"I have to say that I respectfully disagree with the slides you showed the first day of class in regard to atheism. Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Chiang Kai-shek, Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Lenin, and Pol Pot did not kill people because they were atheist. They killed people because of their own radical dogma. Atheism does not have a dogma, a text, or a mission statement. There is no Church of the Atheist. Just as radical religious views can be deadly, so can radical non-religious views. Additionally, I highly doubt that all of the people who helped to carry out their atrocities were atheists as well. And, often times these leaders would invoke the name of "God" in order to get people to follow them. Religion can be a very helpful vehicle to perform both good and evil.

As for the chart you showed that seemed to say that religious people were morally superior to atheists and less religious persons, I must respectfully disagree once more. I think there is something to say about those who do good things for the sake of doing good things, and those who do things so that they can avoid punishment in the "afterlife." So overall, I must respectfully disagree. I think that you may have given atheists and agnostics an unfair shake on the first day of class."

Anyway, I turned in that paper today. But GUESS WHAT!!!

The ongoing assault continued today...

For starters, here's a quote he showed the class on the big screen:

"Science is much closer to myth than a scientific philosophy is prepared to admit. It is one of the many forms of thought that have been developed by man, and not necessarily the best. It is conspicuous, noisy, and impudent, but it is inherently superior only for those who have already decided in favor of a certain ideology, or who have accepted it without ever having examined its advantages and limits." ~ Paul Feyerabend

Immediately, I thought to myself... well that would sound right if you replaced the word "science" with the word "religion."

Let's have a look shall we:

"Religion is much closer to myth than a religious philosophy is prepared to admit. It is one of the many forms of thought that have been developed by man, and not necessarily the best. It is conspicuous, noisy, and impudent, but it is inherently superior only for those who have already decided in favor of a certain ideology, or who have accepted it without ever having examined its advantages and limits." ~ Me

Continuing on (It gets MUCH worse)...

Although the course I am in is titled Religion, Media & Communication and falls under the Journalism and Mass Communications title at the University I attend, I have yet to hear anything other than religious indoctrination, bad science, and unfounded opinion from my professor. Keep in mind that I attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. This is NOT a private school.

After taking the first two days of class to bash atheists and force his moral beliefs on us, my professor continued on today with more preaching (he is an ordained deacon in the Catholic church after all).

Today's offensive topics: God is the only way to peace, abortion is always wrong, and gay marriage leads to polygamy, incest, and pedophilia. I am paying to hear this crap?

Today my professor uttered the following words and immediately thereafter drew this diagram on the board:

"Because I am Catholic, I believe that human beings have a deep obligation to search for truth." Then, continuing on moments later he stated, "God is truth, so anyone searching for truth is trying to find God. God is love."

Diagram:

Humility & Love ---> Truth --->Justice--->Peace

He says that humility and love lead to truth. And truth (if you are paying attention here), as he said above is "God." Thus part of the lesson today was to tell the kids in the class that God is the only vehicle that can take us to justice and peace.

It gets worse.

Next he told us that the majority of Americans think that there should NEVER be an abortion, under any circumstance, once the baby's heart starts to beat. He continued on to say that there should be no debate over when life begins because "science has said for 100 years that life begins at conception."

It gets worse.

He then clearly ignored any instruction on logic or logical fallacies as he applied a slippery slope argument, while lecturing to the class of 45 students, to say that same-sex marriage is something that we can not allow. Continuing further, he likened same-sex marriage to that of polygamy and even a incestuous and potentially pedophilia-centered marriage between a father and his own daughter.

In an ominous tone, he asked the class if they truly wanted polygamy, incest and pedophilia, because that's what they would get if they were in favor of same-sex marriages.

For those of you who don't know me. I am openly homosexual. I have been in a relationship for almost 1 year. We plan on moving and getting married. And my heart almost exploded when he said this.

I tried to calm down. I raised my hand and said, "I have to disagree with you because what you just used to make your point was a slippery slope which, in a philosophy of logic course, is considered a logical fallacy. So I have to say that I disagree." What I really wanted to do was either walk out, or just punch the man in the face.

He essentially ignored what I said and continued on telling the class that he was right. I stopped listening to him for the rest of class. I should have walked out.

The God Virus: Worth a Read

I recently stumbled upon a book called The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture. The synopsis intrigued me and I ordered the book online.

As it turns out I was the 3rd person to ever order and receive the book.

As a result, the author and PR persons have asked me to spread word about the book.

Here's what the cover looks like:

The book is a new perspective on religion, that is for certain. An interesting read no matter your faith (or lack-there-of).

This isn't a call to religion and this isn't a book that will read like Richard Dawkins' previous novels (although he is a good read).

The author's insight and new perspective on religion is startling, intriguing, unique, and worth reading.

And, apparently it keeps selling out on Amazon.com now!
========================================================
Here's the Press Release:

From: Jeffrey Sussman, Inc.

Marketing Public Relations

249 East 48 Street FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY 10017

For: The God Virus

Contact: Jeffrey Sussman

212-421-4475

marketingpro@aol.com

www.powerpublicity.com

IS RELIGION A VIRUS INFECTING OTHERWISE HEALTHY MINDS?

New York, NY --- Is religion a virus that infects otherwise healthy individuals? That is a question raised by a provocative new book entitled, The God Virus. It is by noted psychologist and student of religion, Dr. Darrel Ray.

In a cogent and highly readable analysis, Dr. Ray traces the contagion course of religion as it enters the lives of countless individuals, beginning in childhood and infecting their behavior, professions, sex lives, and virtually every aspect of living. And Dr. Ray knows whereof he speaks, for he is the child of fundamentalist, evangelical parents, who frequently took their young son to Bible thumping religious revival meetings.

“At the time that my parents began taking me to hear ministers, I was just old enough to understand the words that they preached at us,” said Dr. Ray. “From those experiences, I learned who was good and who was bad: people of other religions or of no religions were sinners who would wind up in Hell. Such teachings infected my young mind and had a profound effect on my life, at least until I outgrew my impressionable teenage years and was sufficiently determined to think for myself. The degrees that I earned in religion and psychology immeasurably helped me to see through prejudice, myth, and superstition. My situation is not uncommon, but my book is. And I believe that people who want to think intelligently and rationally about religion, whether they are believers or non-believers, will find my book a useful resource.”

The God Virus carefully details the practical consequences of fundamentalist religious beliefs, infecting personalities, families, and cultures. It deals with the superstitions of religion propagated by clerics who, for example, told congregants that cancer and other diseases were the results of sinful living. As science became more sophisticated and was able to explain the causes of past diseases, such as the Black Plague, religious figures had to back off their initial pronouncements. Such a paradigm continued as researchers discovered the non-divine causes of yellow fever, polio, small pox, pneumonia, tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea, influenza, etc. Such discoveries, unfortunately, did not prevent religious leaders from condemning evolution, homosexuality, aspects of astronomy, anthropology, psychology, and even economics. Blind belief in the righteousness of one’s beliefs have caused fundamentalist Christian leaders to claim that that the attacks of 9/11 were caused by the sinful behavior of Americans. Such a pronouncement was not different in intent or origin from fundamentalist Muslim clerics who declared that Hurricane Katrina was sent by God as a punishment to America.

Dr. Ray, as a resident of Kansas, has seen first hand how fundamentalist religious beliefs have a negative effect on education, for it was in his state that members of the board of education wanted to ban the teaching of evolution and substitute the teaching of creationism, which propounded that the Earth is only a few thousand years old.

As Dr. Ray has written, “Religion seems to inject itself into schools, courts, legislatures, presidential politics, and local school boards, detracting from rational conversation about real-world problems, such as science, education, economics, economic development, disaster relief, and war.”

Dr. Frank Schaeffer, the celebrated author of Crazy for God, wrote: “I am a religious person, a churchgoer. Nevertheless, this one-of-a-kind book [The God Virus] is a vital reminder of the fact that we think objectively at what religion does to us.”

And Earl Doherty, author of the best-selling book, The Jesus Puzzle, wrote: “Dr. Ray’s approach is non-confrontational. He advocates understanding and tolerance. He gets inside the American fundamentalist movement in ways which show that such entities have a collective life of their own, functioning as large-scale organisms which their individual members may not themselves understand or be aware of.”

Whether you are a believer, an atheist, or an agnostic, you will find The God Virus an exciting and challenging experience, especially if you are not frightened or timid about being a being a rational, thoughtful, and compassionate human being. One has nothing to lose but the mental chains of superstition and intolerance that can keep one in a perpetual state of fear.

“By writing The God Virus,” stated Dr. Ray, “I have attempted to inoculate my readers against a viral infection that results in terminal ignorance and fear.” Many grateful readers agree.

For further information, please visit www.thegodvirus.net