Africa is a mortally wounded skull, and other stories

Have you ever wondered why Italy is shaped like a boot? This is just one of the many mysteries that I try to uncover as we search our heavenly Father’s creation and His written word. There are many other recognizable shapes as well that we will look at, especially animals. I hope you’ll enjoy them.

So begins God’s Geography, where the shape of each and every continent is explained with reference to the Bible. Africa, for example

is the most obviously shaped continent on Earth. It’s shaped like a gigantic skull that is mortally wounded, and sporting a horn on its forehead.

Bet you hadn’t spotted that!

I’m hoping this is a fake – if so, very clever. But if not… Well, at least it’s a bit of entertainment. Discovered via Seaneen…

Atheist or agnostic? Or both?

Happy Blasphemy Day everyone! September 30th 2005 was the day the whole Muhammad cartoons controversy kicked off (here he is!), so since then there’s been the campaign to commemorate the day as a way of promoting, and protecting, free speech and the freedom to mock and insult religion without fear reprisal. So here’s to blasphemy!

Anyways, it leads to a regular rant I seem to have with people – the difference between being theistic and gnostic. [You may say the fact so many people disagree with me may suggest that I am wrong, though I prefer to see it as a difference in opinion that should be debated, sometimes with the aid of a large stick...]. I identify myself as an agnostic atheist – I don’t believe in god, but I don’t believe I can know this. What do I mean?

Most would say you’re either theistic, agnostic, or atheist. But technically, at least as far as language is concerned, that’s incorrect. Because there’s a difference between the two – it’s a epistemological question, the difference between belief and knowing.

The word “theism” implies a belief in a god. So those who believe a god exists are theists, those who don’t are atheists. If you’re an “agnostic” in the traditional sense of the term, you’re also by definition an atheist. You do not hold to a belief in a god as you do not accept the claims of theists. You hold a position of non-belief in god. So that is a-theism.

However that isn’t everything when it comes to views on deities. “Gnosticism” is the belief that a human being can possess knowledge about a god. It’s a term about the possibility of knowledge in regard to god claims, nothing to do with a statement of belief in the object itself. Agnostics are holding to the epistemological position that humans can’t actually know anything about something “supernatural” such as the god concept, it’s something beyond “nature” and what is testable. And in fact, many theists agree would agree with this viewpoint, that there’s no way for a human to know anything about a god, only whether they believe or not. They would be an agnostic theist.

A biggy here is the celestial teapot of Bertrand Russell:

If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time

The point is, you can believe or not believe in the teapot (theism), but you also need to decide how well you know it’s either there or not there (gnosticism). Most would say they were didn’t believe, but (when pushed), would probably admit that they couldn’t know if it was there or not – it’s unobservable! So why not apply these same two criteria to god?

The ever brilliant Jesus and Mo

I’m in far too foul a mood to write anything insightful or even anything other than an incoherent rant about how much I hate the world, so instead, I link to the always amazing Jesus and Mo comic’s commentary on the new Irish blasphemy law (otherwise known as “welcome back to the Middle Ages, guys”).

Jesus and Mo (click for original comic)

It’s a miracle!

“Chase survived in part because hundreds of people prayed to Father Emil Kapaun to intercede on his behalf. It was absolutely a miracle.”…  Prompted in part by what the Kear family has said publicly, and partly by a preliminary investigation begun by the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, a Vatican investigator named Andrea Ambrosi will arrive from Italy in Wichita on Friday.

He will investigate on behalf of the church in Rome whether 20-year-old Chase Kear’s survival qualifies as a miracle; whether he survived a severe head injury last year in part because his family and hundreds of friends successfully prayed thousands of prayers to the soul of Father Emil Kapaun, a U.S. Army chaplain from Pilsen, Kan., who died a hero in the Korean War. (Wtchita Eagle)

Erm, what? Let’s review…

Chase Kear fell on his head while pole-vaulting, and was knocked clean out. 911 was called immediately, and rapidly evaced to hospital. This, to me seems like the appropriate first steps in saving Chase’s life. No, apparently, what started him on the road to recovery was his family praying, not to God, but to a dead chaplin.

By the time a helicopter delivered him to Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus, his family was already frantically praying as they watched the helicopter land… And she was calling Sacred Heart Church in Colwich, asking people there to get everyone in the church praying to Father Kapaun for help.

The pressure in Chase’s brain was relieved by removing a section of his skull, and an agressive antibiotic treatment was started to prevent infection in the hole left. It was touch and go, as it always is with traumatic brain injuries, but weeks later Chase walked out of the hospital.

“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind in our family that Father Kapaun helped save our son,” Paula Kear said of Chase, who is making a full recovery. “We were told at least three or four times in those first two days that Chase wasn’t going to make it.

Of course, that’s exactly what happened. Nothing to do with the excellent care and assessment by the first on-scene, the skill of the helimed crew and ER doctors, the surgeons and anaethetists who handled his swollen brain, and the nursing staff who oversaw his recovery. It was only through the power of prayer that he survived? That power of prayer which has on multiple occasions been shown to not have an effect on recovery.

Sure, the doctors said it was “a miracle”. But this is a different definition of the word, one which means unexpected, against the odds. Not due to divine intervention. Just because you don’t understand how something worked doesn’t mean that God needs to, or was, involved. Personally, I say if you want to claim this, then prove that your prayers did the job? Because my money is on the skill and hard work of the medical staff, and they’re the ones who should be getting the credit.

Don’t say He didn’t warn you

Via Ninja Medic, we bring you WARNINGFROMGOD.COM

This letter will stand in the historical records as both an offer of assistance and a request for help from God the Almighty. The United States of America is being offered a chance to be allied with Our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, and to go to war with our enemies. Do not regard this proposal as a hoax or a contrived story, there will be someone there with access to a classified archive that will be able to verify my story and identity. Please read this letter in its entirety, your life and the lives of your loved ones may depend on it, your soul and your future in the Universe may depend on it. This is the most important letter you will ever read. This letter is also a deadly serious warning and millions upon millions of people may end up being bulldozed into mass graves if our nation does not stand up and fight our enemies. This letter is filled with many warnings and for those of you who choose not to read it or heed them, the most important message I can give you is not to curse God in your last moments as you find yourself and your children dying in a terrible way. Ask for forgiveness of your sins and endure it as best you can in prayer. You must never curse God or call him a coward under any circumstances. God gave me these warnings and I pass them on to you. God the Almighty is not the one who betrayed you. (Shawn Riddick)

I can’t decide if this is for real or not. If it’s comedy, which I sincerely hope, then someone has gone through a lot of effort to make it so convincing, including the picture of the great American meathead in front of his truck. If it’s not, then I want to cry at the stupidity and ignorance of people who actually believe this shit.

Unfortunately, evidence points to the latter of those two options. A quick look at the source suggests that this was made in Microsoft Office – noone who was going to write a parody of this calibre would use Word to write a webpage. The number of Bible references seems right for a “serious” nutjob,  as a few sweeping statements are used rather than actually citing individual passages for each of the racist, sexist and homophobic points raised. And just the overall writing style has the Timecubeish vibe of someone who’s escaped the detection of the mental health system. A whois on the domain yields little information in either way.

In which case, the whole thing upsets me greatly (and provides further amunition for my “people shouldn’t be allowed on the internet until they pass a strict IQ, common sense and computing ability test”). Why in this modern age are there still people out there who believe this stuff so strongle? I don’t know – for starters, try all the arguments over teaching evolution vs creationism intelligent design; mandatory prayer in schools; the dumming down of science education.

It’s not that I take issues with the teaching of religion in schools. It’s the overtly Christian side that I hate, that and the fact it’s confusing a belief structure with evidence based teaching. Tell kids about religion, please do – it can be a great thing! But teach them about all the different religions equally, how they can all be friends and get along, and most importantly keep it away from science.

Darth Ratzinger at it again

Christ (intended) the Pope is pissing me off at the moment. The Catholic stance on contraception is annoying at the best of times, but I can see where it’s all coming from. Have lots of babies, who are Catholic from the moment of conception. The best way for the Catholic meme to propagate, given the clergy aren’t supposed to. It sure as hell isn’t a good idea, but it’s explainable.

But Benedict XVI is really pushing my patience. I’ve tried to avoid ranting, I really have, but he just refuses to engage brain and it’s putting millions of lives, current and unborn, at risk.

Spot the difference

For those of you who’ve missed it, his message at the moment. “Science” (probably the same style of science as intelligent design) has shown that condoms have tiny holes in, which although stopping sperm, allow the HIV virus through. Apparently the WHO back this up. The WHO say WTF? The answer, according to his holiness, is that people should be abstinent and monogamous. I know he’s not really in touch with the people, but that’s not how humans work. Or any other ape for that matter… Oh yeah, wait…

Now I’m not that (relatively) bothered if you don’t want people to use condoms, or any other mode of contaception for that matter. It’s a fucking stupid idea, but at least be honest, every sperm is sacred and all that. But claiming that condoms worsen the AIDs epidemic in Africa is a blatent lie. And one which leaves me fuming.

Holy war

Monks brawl at Jerusalem shrine

Dressed in the vestments of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian denominations, rival monks threw punches and anything they could lay their hands on

I’m pretty much speechless, though not sure I could say anything due to laughing too much. The video is one of the most amusing things I’ve seen all year, like WWE in holy vestments and with real violence, and is made better by the interspersed interviews with members of both sides trying to defend their actions. Priceless.

The C word

Apparently, the word “cult“ will get you prosectued under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986. A 15 year old member of Anonymous taking part in an anti-Scientology protest in London earlier this month was handed summons by the City of London police. The act reads

A person is guilty of an offence if he:
(a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or
(b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.

The problem? He was holding a sign that said

Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult

There’s a video of the young man being approached by the police on YouTube. Apparently, despite numerous nation’s judicial systems declaring Scientology a cult, the common people are still not allowed to say it, just in case you offend cult members.

Oh yeah, and the City of London Police aren’t in bed with Scientology at all…

I forsee a huge phone bill…

A couple of my otherwise very intelligent friends believe in the power of psychics. So much so that they’re prepared to pay upwards of £40 for a conversation on the phone with one. Finally, that’s about to change. A new law (following an EU directive) is forcing psychics to prove that their claims are true.

I’ve often wondered what it is about psychics that draws people to them? What makes people want to believe in the power of a clairvoyante, so much so that they’ll pay through the nose just to hear them say what they want to hear. And then the answer hit me reading that article:

Spiritualists are delivering a mass petition to Downing Street and complaining that a genuine religion is being discriminated against.

I would start with “it’s not a religion, it’s a con!”. But then, what really distinguishes it from say Scientology, a cult of people who pay money to hear something that will give them peace of mind? Or Catholisism (to pick a random theistic religion), who some could argue is just a similar cult that’s been around a bit longer? On the other hand, how different is it to “herbal v1agra” or St John’s wort – people pay lots of money and get peace of mind out of it, but I wouldn’t call either of them a religion.

So what’s the answer? Is the government legislating against religion, or are they just protecting gullible consumers? And if the answer is the former, do you pick and choose which religions are sacred and which can be legislated against? Where does belief in other forms of dodgy “self help” end and belief in a religion start? It’s all getting a bit messy…

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

This is one movie I desperately want to see. It looks awesome!

On a more serious note, this could actually be quite a dangerous thing. The movie, in the style of a bad Michael Moore film, seems to suggest that ID is a a viable scientific theory, that should be taught alongside, if not in place of, evolution in schools. The gullible, already relatively religious public, are likely to be swayed by this – if they already believe that Abu Hamza is a four fingered bomb maker living in Saudi Arabia due to the movie The Kingdom, they’ll believe anything they’re told on a big screen.

Ok, tenuous link, but I like laughing at that film, plus any opportunity to use a picture of Abu Hamza is awesome. But the point remains – the public believe what they’re told. And if ID can muscle it’s way into American schools due to a movie built on the most rediculous of pretences, it will be very dangerous for both science and humanity in general. And it’ll pretty soon end up over here, like other undesirables such as rampant obesity, the litigation culture, and House.

What we need is a similar film in favour of evolution. Not something by a stuffy academic, but a pop science show like Expelled in which we find a movie star who is prepared to stand up for Darwinism, or even better a Christian movie star who will say “ID is bogus” and present a sensible argument that the common public will understand – even if like in this case it has to resort to dodgy camera angles to make the proponents of ID look like ogres and very creative editing.

[Or maybe just a rip-off of Evolution featuring the FSM - though I doubt the majority of America wil get the joke]