Free your Mind

Atheism was up first (Here's a FAQ on the Subject: GOD FAQ [Frequently asked Questions]) but now the gloves are coming off. There are three shackles that imprison the mind of every breathing human. These shackles need to be cast off to get us back into a fast forward state of evolution. The three shackles are the 3 great lies or more accurately the three great myths. They are: Immortality, God and Free will.

I covered atheism although I would add based on some of the people who have questioned my ethical beliefs based on atheism I would add: The belief in god has nothing to do with ethics. I find it insulting that I need to be threatened with various religion's representation of hell or afterlife or be baited with each religion's version of heaven to force me to be ethical. Ethics is essentially a belief of how things should be and not a belief in what is. If you think of your environment and reflect on how to make things better and how everyone can co-exist in peace and still prosper then your are treading down the path of non-faith based ethics. It reminds me of Einstein:

A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death. (Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science", New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930)

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. (Albert Einstein)

Immorrtality should be self evident but simply put... You don't have soul or spirit and when you die you die. The process by which you percieve the world is a chemical reaction that is occuring in your brain, when the reaction ceases, so do you. (Atleast so far as it's you that is concerned.)

Last up, Free will. All social behavior can be modeled as an emergent process, and the perception of free will external to causality is essentially a gift of ignorance. You percieve that everything your doing is because you are choosing to do it and hold the illusion that at any moment you could just change anything you wanted about yourself. Free will is an illusion and we are all essentially robots following predetermined code based on our current environment with our current upbringing code. Don't generalize too much, two brothers can be raised in the same household and go to the same schools yet have completely different experiences and radically different equipment.

Our brains are constructed of synapses that process our input signals and then trigger a reaction and work much like a modern computer. We have desires because those desires were imprinted from some external source. For example you may want to go to Chili's more often then other restaurants and would still believe you chose to go there while denying their monthly blitz ad campaign had anything to do with influencing you to go there.

Here's a quote from Spinoza on the subject:

“The mind is determined to this or that choice by a cause which is also determined by another cause, and this again by another, and so on ad infinitum,” Spinoza wrote. “This doctrine teaches us to hate no one, to despise no one, to mock no one, to be angry with no one, and to envy no one.”

As a complete sidetrack, why do so many christian's believe in the death penalty. Their bible teaches that no matter what man does so long as he asks forgiveness he will be forgiven and can go to heaven. (I can't seriously believe people still believe in this stuff btw... It is pretty old world as in 'Olde Worlde' beliefs hehe...) Their studies teach them to forgive yet they rally forth behind execution and imprisonment. Prison today is basically publically accepted torture and breeds more hard criminals then any other system today. I can't find the scripture that says thou shalt murder and torture.... Did I miss it?

9/11 and Religion

The people who flew the planes into our buildings did so for their own religious reasons. They believe that by killing themselves in sacrifice for their beliefs they would go to heaven. Their targets were picked by a politician who used their religion as a tool to accomplish his goal. He used them as easily as I swing a hammer. He did so with one clear purpose: To strike terror into the hearts and minds of the american citizens.

He knows that the americans will freely give up their rights and migrate towards a police state if their scared enough. They want to feel secure even when they are not. The passing of the Patriot Act was the beginning of their migration. (And if you haven't read it yet, I HIGHLY recommend you do before you blabber on about how it is good for America.)

Religion is a tool and the cause of many of the problems in the world. Simple disagreements over interpretation generate conflict which over time will escalate. Politicians will use religion to control the masses and to get them to say and do what they want them to do. When you see such a clear cut case of people killing themselves for their religion, you may start to ask yourself are you being controlled by your leaders via religion?

Is religion the gateway that allows the blinders to be pulled and the eyes to be shut? The republicans are running a scare campaign in Connecticut this year. They would have us believe that if we take our troops OUT of Iraq that we will be facing a new 9/11. Attacking Iraq was never about the security of this country, weapons of mass destruction or the war on terror. I could venture a few guesses as to what it was about though. Iraq is going through a Civil war and our Troops are over there to make sure that the side we want to win, wins. It doesn't matter. Let Iraq settle its own internal differences. Give the side you want to win weapons, money and intelligence but don't give them american soldiers. American soldiers are charged with the noble task of defending our country and our people. Fighting Iraq's civil war has NOTHING to do with americans or its lands.

I have no problem with religion or religious people but question sometimes whether they confuse their religion with their politics... I do however have a problem with a government that would risk the lives of our troops needlessly. Bring the troops home.

More American then Middle class

I had a friendly discussion regarding Bush's Eggtra (EGTRRA) act of 2001 and the acceleration of that act in 2003.

Appearantly there are people in this country more American then the middle class. 51% of the benefits of this bill are going to just 1% of the country. (The wealthiest) I wont get into Gift/Estate taxes nor what its going to do to interest rates... (Remember is a phased approach). It adds castrophically to our deficit but gets around the Byrd law because its only 10 years long... Yeah... Loopholes suck. The question is what happens in 2011?

Anyways I'd sure like to know why 278 Million of us americans don't deserve the same fininacial benefit as the other 2.2 million Americans. Perhaps their just more american then us. Strange how people don't riot it in the streets, I guess ignorance is bliss. Everyone did get some benefit so maybe thats what is keeping the masses satisfied. I mean Georges friends are all rich and hes gotta take care of them first...

See the numbers here: http://www.ctj.org/html/gwb0602.htm

Everyone is an Atheist?

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours" Stephen Roberts

That smacks of truth now doesn't it? If you wanted you could couple that with the fact that most people spend more time deciding on a new car or choosing a new home then they spent on choosing their god. Most people don't even know all of their choices. I mean their are A LOT of gods and lots of different religions. Ahh well. Here's some more quotes that got me smiling again:

Terry Pratchett: The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.

Anonymous: Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer

Richard Jeni: “You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend”

Albert Einstein: Since our inner experiences consist of
reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning

Gene Roddenberry: They said God was on high and he controlled the world and therefore we must pray against Satan. Well, if God controls the world, he controls Satan. For me, religion was full of misstatements and reaches of logic that I just couldn't agree with

Justin Brown: An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist believes that deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished and war eliminated.