Tolerating Prayer

So I was at the Marine Corps Ball this weekend. I love the Marine Ball, it is always amazingly fun and in Albuquerque they have it at the Hard Rock Casino which makes it double badass. The Marine culture and ceremonies really put me in my insignificant little fucking place being just a paper pusher in the Navy. These guys are all over the world bleeding and dying (these two things are their job) and I truly see them all as selfless heroes.

All that being said...why the literal FUCK does some crazy old man who talks to the air have to give a 15 minute condescending, douche' baggey, we all lub Jebus prayer!?

To be honest the prayer actually started off very nice and he touched some solidly heartfelt topics about brothers in arms and morning the dead and things EVERYONE in the room agrees on. But then he got to the part about how we are all in the service because God called us and it is his guiding arm that blah blah and the Holy Spirit makes everyone blah blah and we are nothing without Jevus blah blah fucking gag me blah. Seriously, I have had enough of this zombie like talkie talkie bullshit about make believe things that aren't remotely fucking true or remotely fucking relevant to what we are there to celebrate.

No, I didn't walk out of the room; no I didn't make a scene. I stood there, I was quiet and listened to that prick remind why I fucking hate religion so much. He made me feel like less of a person. He made sure to point out we are a superior people because our country is mostly Chriatian (so being an atheist I am not contributing to our greatness?). He made me feel like an outcast because I am not a Christian groupie trying to score with the good lord when he comes through town (yea, and by score I mean fuck, I hope that sounds insulting because it was meant to be).

Seriously, how much longer will we keep pretending to rest our collective hopes on some made up desert nomad torturer sky daddy?

"You mad bro? Just walk out next time and quit bitching; there is nothing you can do about it."
No and fuck that. I shouldn't have to leave the room. I shouldn't have to cover my ears. What if they invited a Klansman to give a speech and he talked about how putting our trust in white power is the only way to keep our country and military strong? Would the African Americans just be expected to leave the room if they don't like it? No, because as a society we have come to a point where most of us realize that it is irrelevant prejudicial bullshit.

So how come when a preacher says putting our trust in Gerd is the only way to keep our country and military strong we can't acknowledge, as a society, the other irrelevant prejudicial bullshit that is being spewed?

To all the other selfish preachers out there..get bent.

Boy Scouts...you are still doing it wrong.

Made this today at lunch.
No matter how pretty you try package it bigotry is still bigotry.

My letter to Republicans since they got handed their asses.

Letter to a Republican Nation,

 We are women, the poor, the jobless, racial minorities, atheists, gays, and people who care more about taking care of others than lowering taxes. Our numbers are increasing, our voices are getting louder and like it or not our votes actually count and we will continue to vote in record numbers. We are not going away and you have to deal with us. The Democratic Party has welcomed us with open arms and has actively been finding common ground with the things we find important. Things more important than your oil prices, your wars, your Christianity, your “traditions”, your economic policies and your hideous ideals of manifest destiny you seem to think still apply to the world today. If you can’t drop your archaic beliefs that oppress and divide then you will never win another presidency and rightfully so. Drop your bibles and pick up a shovel…we have work to do in our country and you are NOT helping.

BeaumontTexas

So this story came out about Beaumont Texas:
http:/  /www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/09/14/principal-shuts-down-cosmetology-class-because-one-of-the-students-looked-gay/

Then browsing reddit I find out that the entire town is shite:

Beaumont, TX. Ah yes. Who would have guessed this existed there. A brief intro the armpit of Texas. More backwoods Louisiana than it shares with the rest of the Lone Star state.
Flanked by the KKK capital Vidor, TX and site of dragging death of James Byrd, Jr, Jasper, Beaumont likes to think of itself as "the city" surrounded by all these silly Rednecks. It's a delusion.
Beaumont is shit. BISD is the shittiest school district you can imagine. It's full of corruption, racism, and bribery.

Examples:

                               Highest paid superintendent in the state of Texas? BISD: http://www.texasbudgetsource.com/blog/thomas-likely-will-retire-highest-paid-superintendent-texas More than Houston, Dallas, or Austin -- a guy in a city of 110,000 that destroyed school after school and is the epitome of "teaching to the test". Tax dodger and still makes $340,000 a year.

                               Contractors steal money and take bribes from the school district??? Keep your job!!http://www.kfdm.com/shared/news/top-stories/stories/kfdm_vid_1613.shtml

                               Employees and students together in a secret sex club to fuck young girls?? BISD!http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/investigators-looking-into-secret-sex-t23925.html

                               But they still hadn't learned years later when a couple of students sexually assaulted a freshman, videotaped, and then passed it around school. Good culture at that school. http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Two-Ozen-football-players-indicted-for-child-3862495.php

                               Administration is drunk driving school vehicles and gets pulled over without a license?? No big deal, call the SCHOOL POLICE DEPARTMENT and they'll give him a ride home without a ticket or arrest. No investigation until the public uproar and then he keeps his job!http://www.cbs19.tv/story/13204102/bisd-issues-statement-since-guillory-dash-cam-video-released?redirected=true

                               What as the man above drunk driving when stopped??! One of the district's $50,000 leather interior, sunroof, King Ranch trucks bought with grant money that was supposed to help the school district buy ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY vehicles. These get 15mpg and are obvious waste. http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/BISD-truck-has-fancy-package-gets-14-17-mpg-701811.php

                               Let's not forget the county purchasing agent who resigned after using the county equipment and funds to print all of her private business materials ( http://setxhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=9891 ) who was then quickly hired by the school district ( http://blog.beaumontenterprise.com/bayou/2008/07/29/bisd-revisited-some-more-info-comes-to-light-on-the-bisd-hiring-controversy/ ) -- personally vouched for by the Superintendent as "over-qualified" for the position. And what do you know, she was the purchasing agent writing the checks and clearing the orders for all the work that was never done by the aforementioned corrupt contractor (http://beaumontenterprise.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1375261&CategoryID=65676&ListSubAlbums=0 )

Fuck BISD. Fuck Beaumont. Fuck this principal . But this is no surprise at all.

 

Via this fine gent : http://www.reddit.com/user/beaumonttxsucks

Analogy for my Atheism

My Poster - by Vikingmattress

It seems like when I was born my parents put a poster over the only window in my room. The poster depicted the outside world and as a child it was ok. It's what I've always known so I like the poster and I don't worrying about what's behind it. As I grow older I barely notice it anymore because it has become so commonplace but my parents still like to tell me how important the poster is. As I get older the poster seems a bit childish and, from what I understand of what's really going on, it's almost completely wrong and outlandish. When I ask my parents about the poster they tell me not to worry about it, just trust that the poster tells you everything you need to know. I don't like the poster anymore because I'm fairly convinced its total bullshit so I finally glance around it. What I see is so magnificent that I slowly peal the poster back absent mindedly. The poster lays on the ground now and I look through the window at everything soaking it all in like a lustful sponge. Through my window the universe is at my fingertips and completely outside of my grasp at the same time. Now everytime my parents come over I have to put that damn poster back up. But all I really want is to show them the window.

Neophyte care package

A "Neophyte care package" I found on reddit (user: Dudesan).  Use these resources to help someone who is questioning and wants good starting places for the questions they have.

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Some resources regarding the bible:
The entire KJV is indexed and cross-linked, line by line. Deuterocanonical books are also included (along with the Quran and the Book of Mormon). If you only ever go to one counterapologetic site, make it this one.
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/
List and analysis of biblical contradictions:
http://errancy.org/
Lists and analyses of atrocities commanded, committed, and condoned by the god of the Bible:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/atrocity.html
http://www.evilbible.com/
Comprehensive counterapologetics wiki, including common arguments for and against the existence of god, and common refutations (and attempted refutations) of those arguments:
http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
Fifty or so thought experiments demonstrating that most Christian beliefs are absurd.
http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm
Just about every commonly made creationist claim, and several well-cited refutations:
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/list.html
Most of these are addressed in the FAQ, of course, but no one ever actually reads the FAQ, so I may as well repost them in a simpler and more organized form.  Said FAQ:
http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/faq

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Videos:
Why I am No Longer a Christian, Evid3nc3.
This is a very even handed, well put together, and well-researched story of one man's journey from born-again christian to naturalist. It's very emotionally moving, and I'd recommend watching it. It totals about two hours and change in length. His story is very similar to mine, but as I don't have beautiful music or illustrations, I just point people at his videos.
Specifically, I'd recommend this video and this one from the series, explaining where the modern conception of the Biblical God came from.
Dealing with Religion, Gods, Skepticism, and Epistemology
PhilHellenes

• Science Saved My Soul [14:59]
• Playing God: The Loving Psychopath [8:59]
• God: The Love Born From Terror [10:58] A lesson about pareidolia and overactive agency detection (why people see monsters in every shadow).
• How to Fight a God [8:59] by philhellenes. Extremely reassuring for former theists with lingering fear.
• Why Scientists Don't Fear Hell [10:55]
• I Know More Than God(Mirror) [10:14] An example of what a creation myth full of metaphors for reality (rather than bronze-age bullshit) would actually sound like.

QualiaSoup and TheraminTrees

• Betting on Infinity [6:00] Eviscerates the idea of Pascal's Wager.
• Hell: An Excessive Punishment [7:00]
• Putting Faith in its place [10:06] A simple explanation of faith and the Burden of Proof.
• Lack of Belief in Gods [10:00] Explains the basic concept of atheism and deals with some common objections.
• Open Mindedness [9:40] It does not mean "uncritically accepting any claim anyone makes to me".

FishHeadSalad

• If There is a Painting [9:37]
• Hell is for Children [4:16]

Darkmatter2525

• The Real God: An Epiphany [7:00] Describes the difference between rejecting an actual god, and rejecting a story.
• Christian Justice [6:29] Explains why the doctrine of subsitutionary atonement is absurd and barbaric.

Miscellaneous

• Carl Sagan on "God" or "gods", from the 10th episode of Cosmos. [8:34]
• Why are Atheists so Angry, by Greta Christina. 48 minutes. Also available in blog form.

Dealing with Evolution/Creationism is specific:

• The Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism, by AronRa. 17 videos, totaling a little under three hours.
• Evolution: Proven Beyond Reasonable Doubt, by DonExodus2. About 38 minutes.
• Why do People Laugh at Creationists?, by Thunderf00t. 37 videos, totaling several hours. Contains numerous tangents and digressions, and is more useful for amusement purposes than educational ones.

Nuclear Fusion and Israel

Nuclear fusion: combining lighter elements together and creating a new heavier element in a process which releases amazing amounts of energy. 

Stars use this process to burn for billions and billions of years creating heavier and heavier elements until they explode in a beautiful brilliant light. 

When the dust settles from a star’s death new solar systems and planets are made. 

Planets like ours with people like us made of the same atoms fused in the belly of the same star.  This awesomely powerful and wonderful process of fusion can be duplicated, by us, in a lab.  Sometimes we can be truly amazing creatures.

But when it comes to human rights…  Most of us are still fighting over which ignorant old book has the answers.

Seriously, fuck you Israel and Palestine and would you please stop fighting over a shitty piece of desert.