Thought about Science and Religion.

23 05 2012

I have been wondering what makes a person religious, and push science away, when they could be a perfectly rational person.

And yes, there are various emotional reasons, but…

This occurred to me while I was cooking this evening.

If I want to be religious, and feel included with others (feeling included is a big thing with people) then all I really have to do is walk down the street and walk into a church… it’s not going to cost anything, or much, usually. and it’s fairly hands-on, fairly quickly.

Whereas, I’m not sure where I’d start If I had no internet access… The Library? A Museum? That’d be OK, but how do I become “enabled” within the science community, Meaning meeting people, doing stuff, I don’t really know.

I’d like to see a Church of Science started, where people could just get up one morning and walk down the street and mix with real scientists, ask and discuss the big questions… one on one… much like you’d do with a Priest.

And be given guidance, so that a person could be shown the way, so they could find answers to questions, or even more questions.

Maybe we’ve locked science up too much? could that be it?

Wolfie!





Atheistcon Melbourne

15 04 2012

A small group of Islamic fundamentalist turned up to #atheistcon. A gay couple Gregory Storer & Michael Barnett kissed.

Image

 

Aussies sing Monty Pythons “Always look on the bright side of life” in front of Islamic Fundamentalists at Melbournes Atheistcon.

Image





Little monster

7 04 2012

“It’s harmless” was the mantra for religion, it was the bottom line in this family for the reasons for marching kids off to sunday school.

Except it wasn’t harmless.

I lacked a lot of self confidence, and I found religion made it all the more difficult for me, and with the bullies I endured at school, did I really need one extra reason to feel ashamed of myself, or lesser than I felt that I was?

Undoing what religion did to my mind, took years. and mind you, I was never all that religious either… but it was here, in the home, sort of hiding in corners.

Now and then it would sort of leap out at me at unexpected times, or drift past like an almost unnoticed fart.

To untie all those knots and crawl ever so slowly out of that took time.

I didn’t spring out of bed one morning and run down the street in my undies, yelling that I was an atheist.

And with that personal experience, I can’t expect anyone else to either, although what tends to take others days, takes years with me, or seems to.

I suppose because I’ve had to do so much on my own, and never had a mentor or guide to show me the way.

If religion was harmless, then it wouldn’t be getting in the way of making decisions about big issues, such as climate change, same sex marriage and birth control. but it does get in the way.

And playing with the notion that God exists but Climate Change doesn’t is simply playing with fire, and that’s dangerous to us all.





It’s a Miracle.

2 04 2012

Sick to death of people using the word “Miracle” in NEWS stories.

Can’t Doctors, or Scientists or Rescue crews get their well deserved credit, instead of some invisible pretend deity?

 





Religion Vs Science (Science Wins)

26 12 2011

Via @LoveGod50: Why do people trust scientists? They have been wrong about evolution and global warming. Atheism is a pathetic cult.

Oh Yeah, Science… That evil thing which gave you Electricity, The Phone Service, Computers, Satellites, The Internet… Oh wait.

Wolfie!





How Atheists see Religion

17 12 2011

It’s a bit, no… a lot like this.

“The one true creator is Santa Claus”

“To Hell with your Santa Claus, it was Father Christmas who made everything”

“If You Follow Santa Claus you’ll live forever in His Kingdom”

“The Noble Grandfather Frost will take you into his castle if you are a worthy warrior”

“Seven virgin elves to those who follow Papai Noel after their death”

“Reincarnation will be the gift to those who cherish Babbo Natale”

I think you get the idea,

Merry Christmas and may there be many presents upon you, or at least, under your tree.

Wolfie!





Future Magic

2 12 2011

I have been told by relatives that even if you don’t believe in God, that religion won’t hurt you. But I refuse to believe that.

Religion pulls us back, restrains us from developing, from becoming what we could be, it takes people and creates a bonsai version of us, rather than allowing us to become massive trees.

It takes lives and allows us to wallow in faith, rather than fact, to follow whilst wearing blindfolds, rather than allowing us to think… faith is right, thinking is wrong.

It holds back Stem Cell Research, which could have allowed us to have cures for Parkinsons disease, or to have allowed people to abandon their wheelchairs and stand proud once more.

Religious people can feel that there’s no greenhouse effect, and the scientists are telling lies, and if you put faith in God then all will be well.

It causes people to be discriminated against… My Mother used to tell me that when She was a child, Protestant kids would make up nasty rhymes about Catholic kids and vice-versa, and of course you couldn’t marry a person of another faith. This is Melbourne, Australia in the 1940′s.

Right now it’s more obvious with Gay couples, It’s likely that most of the people against Gay marriage, are religious and feel that because they believe in a fantasy, that they are somehow better than anyone else.

Religion is also likely to be the cause of many wars over the years, So sad to think so many died because of made up stories.

Religion does hurt, it’s extremely damaging.

Even to myself it bought fear and guilt that a young person can do without, even though I wasn’t religious, it was embedded in the family like a virus, but I feel that I have finally been cured of the disease.

I have been wondering, What if at some point there’s a split between two groups… those who ruthlessly continue to be religious, and those who step into the future?

We have religious schools teaching that God made everything, and we have Science based schools teaching the truth.

Eventually we could have a situation where those coming from a Science based education get into jobs revolving around technology, while the religious begin to slip backwards.

And what if, The technology produced by people of science becomes too difficult for people of faith to use, and then someone begins to think that we’ve tried to make technology simple for them to use, at our cost, and they still can’t use it… so lets just give up.

So the next religious generation come along who don’t use technology, and begin to view those who deal with science as Wizards who perform magic, who speak into talking boxes and perform “miraculous” cures?

No I don’t think We’ll divide into H.G Wells Morlocks and Eloi, I think people will see reason and religion will simply die out, which it needs to do.

We need everything to begin falling into place now, with reason and understanding, not to be tied down by dogma, for the sake of ourselves and for the planet.





Pray for Japan? Really?

11 03 2011

I’ve been watching the terror which has overtaken Japan, there’s no need to review it, as images and news comes thick and fast via old and new media.

Twitter, as usual, is first with news from people who are right there, seeing it themselves, and this news is great to have, although I feel quite frightened for them when the situation is bad.

Then you start getting the weirdos.

The doomsayers who claim that a passage in the Bible or in a book by Nostradamus predicted the disaster and that soon it will wipe out the Human race.

And the other wing-nuts who tweet suggestions that perhaps if we all pray collectively, then somehow, with divine help, something good will happen.

Now pardon me, but this God, isn’t this God the same God who created the entire Universe and Everything?

Then if so, he should have the ability to stop something like this by thinking about it, right?

These religious people see how bad things are, and it’s an absolute tragedy, and somehow must think that it’s perfectly ok for this to happen, some insurance companies would call this “An act of God”, Yet somehow praying to this being will make things all nice and rosy.

What?

Admit it, God, if he exists, is a bit of a prick.

Wolfie!





My Short Fuse

12 02 2011

The PE teacher at high-school, who I almost bit on the ankle once, said that if we should ever feel angry, we should beat up our pillows… I was against that, for one thing, I’m a passive sort of fellow who rarely go angry… I think it’s because I’m large. You never see Clydesdale horses who are pissed off, they’re calm and together, while Shetlands bite. It’s the same with Dogs… Nine times out of ten it’s the little dog who’s full of agro, while your larger dog couldn’t care less.

And I am passive… oh you noticed that bit about taking a chunk out of the PE teachers ankle, eh? well yes, there was that, In the 80s Physical Education was a bit like boot camp, do this, do that, twenty pushups from you for doing the wrong thing… it was supposed to cultivate respect, or something… But I just thought he was a prick.

One day I was made to do these pushups for some crap I had apparently done, and he was standing, right there, within easy reach, and I was tempted, oh so sorely tempted to sink my teeth into his ankle, seriously too, drawing blood and all.

I was mostly angry with him, I hated sports and PE, and I hated wasting my time with it when I could’ve been laying around in the library, absorbing a book on inventions.

I stopped bringing my uniform, and kept saying “I forgot it, sir” which really meant “I didn’t bring it, you skinny cunt, I don’t want to join in”.

Once he bought me a huge pair of shorts, which would have fitted Dumbo, and asked me to put them on… I was torn between wearing them and having the balls to say that I wouldn’t… but years later realised what I shoud’ve done was streak naked through the high-school, who’s main building seperated each classroom with massive sheets of glass, making sure that everyone would’ve got a good view… and I would’ve been expelled, a good job too, I hated the place something fierce.

Sometimes I think that I am an angry person, that deep inside something is bubbling away like a sleeping volcano that may erupt.

I have no tolerance for religion anymore, it’s something that got in my way, stunted my views, tripped me up, blocked my path and basically made life difficult.

When I aired my views to my dear but brainwashed Mum, She yelled out “You’re a Heathen, Just like your Father”, What could a kid do? Although there were times that Mum raised her own doubts.

Dad used to say that he thought the Bible was “A big fish story”.

I highly suspect the reason I was packed off to Sunday School when I could have spent the day resting, was Mum was having problems with my emerging sexuality, and wanted to put the fear of God into me… not that the sunday school people were like that, they were pretty nice people, Not the fire and brimstone type.

Or it was to do with My Cousin who was going through relationship problems, so they’d send all the kids to sunday school to give them a free hours woman to woman chat.

There was a touch of tradition there too, Mum and my Sister had attended, and Mum had a family background with the Salvos and their band.

The first time I saw cancer, it was with Laddie, my very special collie x shepherd, who was my right arm, rather like Katie is today, it was always Laddie and I who did things together.

Laddie taught me responsibility.

Then the cancer came along, and he literally mented like an ice-cream in the sun, I prayed and prayed for him, but nothing could be done, and in the end he died at the vets surgery, just an hour before he got the needle.

I saw a tumour grow in Timothy, a lovely cat, this ball grew inside him at frightening speed, and there was nothing I could do about it, He was put down too.

The next was Dad, who writhed in pain in bed, he had tubes hanging out of him, and there was this smell, it’s always the same smell, like rotting wood, I know what cancer smells like now, I’m too familiar with it, it lingers in the room.

Dad would rush to the toilet and cry out in pain as he tried to move his bowels, there was a mess on his hands, on the walls, a pervasive odour of urine in stained Pyjamas. Dad was a giant, full of brawn and it whittled him down to this, there were prayers again, not that any of them did any good.

Benny, My lovely Malamute, which Dad gave to me after Laddie passed on, was out gentle giant, a loving being who adored everyone, including cats, especially cats, but never other dogs, even females. He taught me how to be open, and be myself, and not worry what others thought, Benny was the escense of Wolfie, had it not been for him, I would never have come this far. He could really let rip with his deep howls, which were useful as Mum lost most of her hearing in the weaving mills years before, She couldn’t always hear the phone ring, but Benny could, and it would get him howling… “What did the phone say?” We’d ask him, and he’d howl in reply… Visitors loved the show, and Benny was always very keen to show off to people.

Benny got cancer, and I prayed, I prayed a lot, but he withered away until eventually his back legs couldn’t hold him, he cried as the vet examined him in our Bathroom, He couldn’t move. His cries sounded like “Oh No!, Oh No!, Oh No!” It was like someone was mourning a child who had just been run over by a train, the sound stabbed me like a knife.

He was given the “green needle” and off he went, we carried him off in a bag.

There was myself, who I’ve written about before, so we’ll skip this.

Then I smelt that smell in Mums Room, That same musty odour, and I told her it was there, I knew that one of us had it, or the carpet was damp, I hoped for the latter, but it wasn’t long before Mum passed on.

Then the phone went one night and it was my Sister, She had Ovarian Cancer… She fought it for over a year, and I really thought she was gaining th upper hand, but she didn’t. Three lots of chemo I think she had, three lots?
I could barely handly one lot… I didn’t think She was as strong as that, and was amazed with her fight, but it was a fight that she lost, and she was cremated last September.

So don’t talk to me about how great your God is, how merciful, and how wonderful he is, there was no help from above. If God was so great, then why did we get cancer in the first place? why were we all forced to suffer? why was I allowed to remain alive even though all my family are dead?

Religion is my trigger now, it sets me off quicker than anything.

I despise it.

God botherers on twitter get a mouthful of abuse if they try to suggest that as an athiest, I’m wrong, I’m not wrong, I know from painful experience that I’m not wrong.

I hate being angry, I really do… there was a time that I was more tolerant, but I can’t be now.

In my opinion, religion has held back science to such a degree that had it been allowed, then perhaps medicine may have been decades ahead of itself, and perhaps there would have already been a cure, perhaps… my family would have still been alive.

I seethe with rage everytime some nut says that “Evolution is just a theory”.

Personally I think Science ought to be using a new word, call it a “fact” instead, get rid of that stupid word, why is science so precious about it anyway, If the whole of Australia suddenly feels that what we used to call biscuits are actually Cookies (Because as you know, The Americans are ALWAYS right, and as a second class country, we’re just not as good as them, they just know better) Then “Theory” can be changed to “FACT.

Science can do this, because unlike some people, we have that flexibility.

So I fight religion now, each and everytime I come up against it, I blog on athiesm, I retweet stories about how catholic priests rape kids and treat Homosexuals poorly, claiming they spread AIDS while simultaniously banning condoms, I post scientific literature on Facebook and discuss it in science forums, I add my voice to the many who are waking up from history and seeing the logical truth which we can clearly see in our age.

Religion is dying, allow it to die, it’s a sad relic of our tribal history.

So please forgive my little explosions on twitter and other places, I really hate being angry, but these days I am just a little more bitter than I’ve been before.

Wolfie!





What Religion does to People.

11 12 2010

I had the misfortune to discover this wordpress blog tonight, as you know, I am completely over religion, the threats of an eternity in hell, the promise of an eternity in heaven… but only if you’re impossibly good, and most of all because of bigots who call themselves patriots and think that they’re so much more righteous than you and I because they carry a book in their hand which was probably written by a gang of pot smoking hermits.

I have lived through cancer, I saw my relatives with it, several of my most wonderful animals and I had it myself, and I have talked about this fairly often on this very blog, you may search for it if you wish.

What I read in this persons blog, was cruel, thoughtless and downright mean, if that is what religion does to people, then I don’t want any part of it.

When I was diagnosed with Cancer, I had the best oncologist I could get, I had the best surgeon, and a wonderful dedicated bunch of doctors and nurses who got me through, it was science which has allowed me to continue living, not mumbo-jumbo and imaginary friends in the sky.

And although I am an Atheist, I am loved, by friends, family and my beautiful household animals, and their encouragement pushed me to keep going when I wanted desperately to stop having chemo, it was this, not prayers that I value.

I don’t care who you are, no book or made up faith should allow anyone to become the kind of person who would write anything like this, and I sincerely hope that the time will come when people will drop religion and walk into the future with those of us who are now free of it, instead of digging your nails into the dirt and trying to drag us all back into the 17th century.

Here is a transcript of the page, just in case it’s deleted, I want everyone to see this.

***

Obama implies he’s not a believing Christian
Posted on August 15, 2009 by GodsGadfly| 2 Comments

“I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it’s like to watch somebody you love, who’s aging, deteriorate and have to struggle with that,” an impassioned Obama told a crowd as he spoke of Madelyn Payne Dunham. He took issue with “the notion that somehow I ran for public office or members of Congress are in this so they can go around pulling the plug on grandma.”

I know people are going to call this a stretch, but one thing I’ve experienced first hand, and through many conversations, is how different the death experience for those who have faith and those who don’t.

One person’s “agonizing” death from cancer may be a time of family togetherness, all-night prayer vigils, hand holding and hugging and hymnody. Another’s death really is agony: dark-rooms, somber relatives, no one speaking, everyone standing at a distance.

We had a big conversation about this at my Carmelite meeting a few months ago. People told amazing stories of relatives’ deathbed conversions. Some talked about relatives who had no faith, whose deaths were *horrible.* “You could feel the demons in the room,” said one lady of her brother-in-law’s death experience. He was writhing in the bed, screaming. Suddenly, he asked for a priest. They got the priest who’d been waiting outside, blocked by the atheist relatives. The priest received the dying man into the Church, and the whole room changed.

When you hear liberals talk about death, they talk about the agonizing nature of it. And the liberals, and the media, just don’t get it. They think people have a “choice” about “end of life” care (to a certain extent, we do). They say that the Schiavo case was a matter of “choice” and “family decisions” in which the government had no place (even though it had been in court for years, and the federal involvement was merely giving the family a chance at an appeal to someone other than the corrupt judge who always ruled in Michael’s favor).

But you don’t have the choice not to accept basic nutrition. You have to the choice to refuse medical care, under certain circumstances . You do *not* have the choice to turn down basic nutrition or hydration, even to the point of refusing to provide nutritoin or hydration to a dying person when one has pulled the plug.

But his talk of the agonizing experience of watching his grandmother’s death–and how much did he actually experience? Was it agonizing because of his guilt of putting his own ambitions above family?–betrays the fact that he thinks death is something fearful.

Years ago, before my heart surgery, the topic was being discussed at a Cursillo Ultreya. Members were discussing their ailing parents and how sad it was they were dying in their 80s or whatever, and Dad said, “When John dies, it will be the happiest day of our lives. All he wants is to go to Heaven, and why should we be sad that he gets his heart’s desire?”

***

Here is the original link, you can comment on my page, as I’m sure the only people who will be allowed to post at their end will be those who agree with their twisted sentiments.

Wolfie!








Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 31 other followers