So yesterday I attended my first meeting at IIG (Independent Investigations Group) West, which is a division of the Center for Inquiry West. Before yesterday I hadn't quite realized the history of the CFI. It encompasses several sub-organizations, the original of which was CSI (The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, formerly CSICOP), which was co-founded by Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov. I got quite the chill when I realized the history of the place I was in at that moment. Exciting stuff. It also houses the Steve Allen Theatre where they put on some fascinating products I hope to attend in the future.
Anyway, the meeting itself was interesting enough, although mainly just your standard committee meeting of sorts, discussing ongoing and upcoming investigations and events. It's not the sexiest stuff, but as a skeptic it was interesting to see the process that goes into planning the investigations that we later only hear the results of. They've pulled a lot of great stunts for the sake of education, like the fake continuing education course for the CBRN (California Board of Registered Nurses) that they were licensed for containing such things as Chinese shéyou (literally translates to "snake-oil"), anthropomancy (fortune-telling via human entrails), and canupiary flexibility (canupiary exists in no language anywhere in the world). Their point was that after years of trying to point out the flaws in the CBRN's system and getting no response, they decided to prove via a stunt how poor their standards are. There's a lot of tricks they pull like this, and finding out how much work and planning go into them is fascinating.
One thing that did stand out was the attendance and subsequent joining of our group by Anita Ikonen, who was the previous paranormal challenger at the IIG, being tested on her ability to see inside the human body by having her figure out which of 12 people, facing away from her, was missing a kidney. She claims to have since realized her history of woo (such as her reliance on Breatharianism, the belief that we get all the sustaining nutrients we need from the air, making water and food unnecessary) was misfounded, and her new pursuit of degrees in physics and chemistry have given her a better perspective on science and the way the world really works. While some expressed skepticism (no joke intended) at this change of heart, when it comes to humans striving to improve themselves I try to keep the most open mind of all, and I wish her the best of luck.
I also had the good fortune of meeting Mark Edward, a world-renowned magician, mentalist, and reformed psychic who now fights on the side of good and honesty. He's appeared on Penn & Teller: Bullshit! at least once (pilot episode), and is great at proving the tricks and trades of mediums, psychics, palm-readers, etc. by giving the exact same types of readings they do, with the same results, and then explaining how he did it. He's one of the best forms of proof we have that the amazing revelations people believe they've been provided by these charlatans can be easily repeated by someone who makes no such claim to have those abilities, using good old-fashioned trickery and deceit. He was there to lend his expert oversight of the test and hopefully to catch any parlor tricks being pulled by the challenger, although as you'll see later that was probably unneeded.
Mark wasn't the only exciting person I met there, although the others are less of a celebrity to the average person. Derek Bartholomaus is a well-known skeptic and creator of the deeply valuable Jenny McCarthy Body Count, and has been interviewed on various podcasts. He's another person I've definitely known of, and although I've conversed with him on Twitter and Facebook, this was the first time I got to meet him and hang out with him. As well, I met SurlyAmy of the incomparable SkepChick blog which is hugely valuable within the skepticism circles. She and I share a birthday, and it was agreed that this makes us both awesome. While that claim may have little substantiating evidence beyond mere coincidence of birth, I'm quite comfortable that the results are accurate without requiring further investigation. I also met several people from the CFI who I later realized were already familiar to me from having appeared on Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, such as Jim Underdown who also appears in the pilot.
One truly amazing thing about this group of people is how comfortable they are with one another as well as newcomers such as myself. I was instantly welcomed, with people introducing themselves to me, asking me questions about myself, and carrying on in-depth conversations with me as though I had been a member of the group for years. It was an instant and trusting connection, and something I feel honored to be a part of. These are truly good, honest, caring people who want nothing more than to help cut the bullshit out of the world and make some progress in letting people focus their health and resources on reality.
Anyway, after a nice lunch at Bamboo House (a very good Thai place within walking distance), we returned to where the test circumstances had been prepared. The challenger, Regen, had come in from Seattle via bus the day before with a buddy of his. His previous scheduled challenge had to be delayed as he was in jail at the time. I made a conscious effort not let this prejudice my opinion of him. People make mistakes, and it doesn't always reflect them overall, not to mention it should have no bearing on whether they have supernatural powers.
Speaking of which, Regen's claim (or at least the aspect of the claim being tested yesterday) was that he could project images telepathically to another person (hence the buddy) through walls. So the test was pretty simple. Deck of cards, shuffled, and displayed to him one by one while his buddy in another room, visible to him via a CCTV, "received" each card and noted it, with each card being numbered and documented on the other side. Afterwards the results would be compared and if he got 7 out of 52 matched (somewhere in the 13,600:1 odds range), they'd consider the preliminary test passed and move on to the final test with stricter standards at a later, and far more publicized date. Logical enough.
My first sign that something wasn't quite right was when Regen walked into the room. His limbs were all over the place, he was muttering to himself, and as he sat down in his chair he reached up and yanked off his shirt. I initially suspected he may have been mentally challenged in some way, but it quickly became apparent that he was merely drunk and/or high. He later confirmed on more than one occasion throughout and after the test that he was drunk. So much for taking this seriously.
Thing is, though, he did seem to take it quite seriously. Throughout the test, despite occasionally forgetting the card he was just looking at, saying the card out loud (against the rules), forgetting how to spell "spades," talking in general, and occasionally forgetting whether he was supposed to be sending or receiving the card, he would get quite upset at the fact that his buddy didn't appear to be moving on-screen. He expressed concern that we might have frozen the feed and were cheating in some way. While a rule had been clearly set in place that there could be no form of communication between the two of them in either direction, Jim (the person officiating the test in a sense) did go ahead and radio back to have his friend raise three fingers or give another signal occasionally. Regen seemed pleased with this result each time before paranoia set back in.
Eventually the test concluded, his friend was brought out, and the results were tallied in front of everyone. First the actual cards that had been drawn were put up on the board. Everyone in the audience had also been given score sheets so we could play along. Some, such as myself, tried to also receive his signals, but those signals seemed to come in the form of me thinking about cards and randomly picking them, and carefully re-reviewing my list and making sure I didn't repeat any. Near the end of filling out my sheet I noticed I had left out 10s completely and had to shoehorn them in the remaining slots. Others, such as Mark Edward himself, went ahead and predicted the entire thing ahead of time. Although they asked us officially at the end what our results were, we were pretty much calling out our hits as we went along. I actually had one match, as did several other audience members, and even Mark Edward. Apparently the odds of that are 1.75:1.
Next they pulled out his friend's sheet and put those results up on the board. Although the results were clearly posted, Regen gave his own audible play-by-play of the results as he read his sheet, trying to claim hits when one half of the card (suit or number) was a match, or commenting on how drunk he must have been when he made his notes as what he wrote made no sense ("on that one I just wrote 'okay.' I don't know why."). I decided for the heck of it to track my results against his friend's, just in case Regen really had been transmitting results, just the wrong ones. Sure enough, I matched TWO of his buddy's results, which must mean... something... ... ? Yeah.
Anyway, the long and the short of it is that Regen has no telepathic transmission abilities, or his buddy sucks at receiving them, or he should have laid off the sauce, as they got a perfect 0 out of 52. Not a single card matched. So yes, even I and Mark Edward and several audience members managed to do slightly better by guessing. When confronted with this, the guys mostly just laughed it off, blaming it on being drunk (calling themselves Cheech and Chong, although initially reversing the ethnicities before catching their error), referring to it as "just a game," and taking it as no big deal. An interesting juxtaposition from his earlier concern over everything being done properly. Either way, he and his friend seemed to have a good time and said as much, and it was definitely entertaining for the rest of us, although not necessarily in the ways we expected.
btw, one person suggested that his friend learn to count cards so he could be a bit more convincing. I'd have to agree, as reviewing the results showed a lot of obvious patterns. He passed on two three, and used 10 5s and 11 3s in his results, and almost no face cards. Definite signs of the human mind's attempt at random guessing. As well, when asked if they had practiced at all under the test conditions they had agreed upon ahead of time, and per the recommendation of the center, they admitted they had not. I wasn't surprised as I had learned earlier that this answer could pretty much be predicted with almost flawless accuracy in all challenges. Over-confidence can be a killer.
You can find the full video of the event here, although it did run a couple of hours. That said, if you're into drunk guys getting confused while telepathically transmitting playing cards, I think it may be the only show in town. Enjoy!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Skeptical challenges - I want to believe!
So tomorrow I'll be attending my very first skeptical challenge, held at IIG West in Hollywood. If you don't know what a skeptical challenge is, read on for a basic explanation.
The most well-known challenge is the Million-Dollar Challenge by the James Randi Educational Foundation. The principle is simply that if someone with paranormal abilities can prove themselves to the judges of the challenge, they win a million dollars. The IIG challenge I'll be witnessing tomorrow is for "only" $50,000, which would certainly pay off my debt and give me more money each month to spend on enjoying myself, so you can see the appeal in applying.
Thing is, though, not that many people apply. Certainly not the big fish, like the television psychics, or the people who push their books and videos and such in infomercials and online, or hold live events. People like John Edwards, or Sylvia Browne, or Uri Gellar are all held in such high regard by their believers, and claim without a shadow of a doubt that they're the real deal, really knowing things they shouldn't be able to know, talking to the dead, telekinetically affecting the world around them, etc., and yet they all avoid these challenges. When asked, they'll make up excuses such as, "I don't need the money" (bet you a charity could use a donation in your name if you're really that rich), "I know what I can do and my followers know what I can do, so I don't need to prove it to anyone else" (imagine how many MORE followers you'd have to pay for your services if you did prove it), or "the challenge is rigged to prevent a person from winning because all the skeptics really want to do is disprove your abilities." And THAT's the sticking point I want to discuss in this post.
This isn't an uncommon belief, and I suppose I can see where it's coming from. It's hard to believe anyone would actually want to fork over a million dollars, and when the people doing so have spent their entire careers consistently disproving supernatural phenomena, it's easy to assume that's all they do, that's their focus and goal. But it's actually not entirely true. Yes, one of our main angles as skeptics is to help prevent the public from being hurt by hucksters, scam artists, thieves, and charlatans who are out to take their money in exchange for false promises. We expose lies in alternative medicine to prevent people from avoiding REAL medicine that could actually solve their problems. We expose people who will do anything to separate you from your money and give you nothing in return. But that's not all we do, and it's not the entire purpose of the challenges.
See, deep down inside, many skeptics WANT to believe. I know, this seems contrary to everything I've said above as well as our image, but bear with me for a minute here. Skeptics are people just like everyone else, with interests and hobbies and fascinations, one of which happens to be an intent focus on scientific exploration of the world, and making decisions based upon that. But something that goes alongside a love of science is that most of us tend to be geeks to some degree or another (the cool, lovable modern geeks, that is). And as geeks, we tend to have certain specific interests, although they're slowly becoming more mainstream. Things like speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy), horror, magic, comic books, and science are all part of the stereotype. And the stereotype has some truth to it. No, this doesn't fit each and every individual in the group, but each of these concepts is much more popular among the geek segment, and likely among the skeptical circles. So what's my point?
Having grown up with these concepts and loves, us geeks spent much of our lives, and probably still do, fantasizing about a world where these things were all real. We've dreamed, we've written stories, we've wished and hoped that some of these things might actually exist out there. Sure many of us have grown jaded as we've gotten older and accepted that they don't, but that doesn't stop us from wanting them to. And every last one of us would be excited beyond belief to discover that just one of these loves was actually true.
Sci-fi geeks would kill to find out that quantum mechanics allows for technology beyond our dreams that defies the laws of physics. Fantasy dwellers would love to find out that mythological creatures really do exist and are hiding in the world among us. Horror aficionados disappointed by the lack of dark corners in our world to be freaked out by would go ga-ga to learn that ghosts and hauntings are real. Magic nuts would trip out if a magician came about who did tricks that had no grounding in sleight of hand, but really were beyond a normal person's abilities. Comic book-lovers would kill to find out superheroes really exist among us, with crazy abilities that they have to hide from the world. And scientists dream of discovering new principles beyond the current rules of science that could open up entire fields to explore and research, also opening up research funds, Nobel prizes, and the like.
See, all of these types of people would love to find out that our world encompasses these very things we geek out over in a very real sense. And if there's even a slim chance they could exist, we want to find them. And THAT's another place these challenges come into play, as a tool to find the unknown.
Currently our world is full of the liars I mentioned earlier, and they ruin our chance of finding anyone who might really, truly have something to show us that fits the bill of an amazing discovery. They distract us with their tricks and hoaxes, and take up valuable time that could be spent researching the real deal, if it so happens to exist. So if we just opened up a center of sorts to look at anyone who claimed they had special abilities, we'd get pretty much only people wasting our time. But the challenge acts as a filter. We're willing to put up the money if you're willing to meet the rules to PROVE you can do what you say you can do. The liars and cheats look at this, read the rules, and realize there's no way they're getting that money, and they walk away. This leaves only the people who actually BELIEVE they can do what they say they can do. And this is a much, much smaller group, making it a lot easier to weed through them to possibly find something promising.
Another question asked is why would we WANT to give up the money? Even if they had the abilities, and assuming we genuinely DO want to find those abilities, isn't it still in our best interest to cover it up so as not to have to shell out a large amount of money? Who's got $50,000/$1,000,000 to just give away? Well, there's a simple answer to this one, too: Those dollar figures are PEANUTS compared to the money that could be made promoting someone who passed the challenge. If you found the first person truly proven to have supernatural abilities, can't you imagine all the ways in which you could make a fortune off of it? There'd be tours, talk shows, book deals, television appearances, advertising, and more. Not to mention likely awards (Nobel being one of many possibilities), positions involved in further testing of the ability and the scientific research that would go into it, etc. There would be far more money, fame, notoriety and excitement to be had from awarding the prize than ever to continuously turn it down.
Now I'm not going to lie and tell you there isn't a certain expectation that the people participating in the challenge are going to fail. Let's face it, nobody's ever passed, we have a pretty darn good understanding of the laws that govern our world, and the pattern's pretty firmly fixed. Nobody's surprised when someone fails because the reality is that's exactly what's expected. But my point here is to explain that despite that expectation, despite that assumption that there is nothing supernatural in this world and nobody's going to win that prize, that doesn't stop us from wanting it to happen. As skeptics we're not immune to excitement, and it's not our goal to pee in people's cornflakes. We just value honesty and reality more than lies and cons and self-delusion. But like everyone else, we root for the underdog, and we all hope to be involved in an incredible discovery that changes the world. And that's one of the opportunities these challenges provide, and it's one I'm going to try to keep in mind tomorrow. Regardless of what I expect to happen, I WANT the person being tested to truly be someone special, and it would be a hell of an experience to get to tell my grandkids about in the off-chance it happens. So I'll go in tomorrow as open-minded as I always am and root for the underdog, all while carefully paying attention to reality and preventing myself being fooled. Either way, I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun.
The most well-known challenge is the Million-Dollar Challenge by the James Randi Educational Foundation. The principle is simply that if someone with paranormal abilities can prove themselves to the judges of the challenge, they win a million dollars. The IIG challenge I'll be witnessing tomorrow is for "only" $50,000, which would certainly pay off my debt and give me more money each month to spend on enjoying myself, so you can see the appeal in applying.
Thing is, though, not that many people apply. Certainly not the big fish, like the television psychics, or the people who push their books and videos and such in infomercials and online, or hold live events. People like John Edwards, or Sylvia Browne, or Uri Gellar are all held in such high regard by their believers, and claim without a shadow of a doubt that they're the real deal, really knowing things they shouldn't be able to know, talking to the dead, telekinetically affecting the world around them, etc., and yet they all avoid these challenges. When asked, they'll make up excuses such as, "I don't need the money" (bet you a charity could use a donation in your name if you're really that rich), "I know what I can do and my followers know what I can do, so I don't need to prove it to anyone else" (imagine how many MORE followers you'd have to pay for your services if you did prove it), or "the challenge is rigged to prevent a person from winning because all the skeptics really want to do is disprove your abilities." And THAT's the sticking point I want to discuss in this post.
This isn't an uncommon belief, and I suppose I can see where it's coming from. It's hard to believe anyone would actually want to fork over a million dollars, and when the people doing so have spent their entire careers consistently disproving supernatural phenomena, it's easy to assume that's all they do, that's their focus and goal. But it's actually not entirely true. Yes, one of our main angles as skeptics is to help prevent the public from being hurt by hucksters, scam artists, thieves, and charlatans who are out to take their money in exchange for false promises. We expose lies in alternative medicine to prevent people from avoiding REAL medicine that could actually solve their problems. We expose people who will do anything to separate you from your money and give you nothing in return. But that's not all we do, and it's not the entire purpose of the challenges.
See, deep down inside, many skeptics WANT to believe. I know, this seems contrary to everything I've said above as well as our image, but bear with me for a minute here. Skeptics are people just like everyone else, with interests and hobbies and fascinations, one of which happens to be an intent focus on scientific exploration of the world, and making decisions based upon that. But something that goes alongside a love of science is that most of us tend to be geeks to some degree or another (the cool, lovable modern geeks, that is). And as geeks, we tend to have certain specific interests, although they're slowly becoming more mainstream. Things like speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy), horror, magic, comic books, and science are all part of the stereotype. And the stereotype has some truth to it. No, this doesn't fit each and every individual in the group, but each of these concepts is much more popular among the geek segment, and likely among the skeptical circles. So what's my point?
Having grown up with these concepts and loves, us geeks spent much of our lives, and probably still do, fantasizing about a world where these things were all real. We've dreamed, we've written stories, we've wished and hoped that some of these things might actually exist out there. Sure many of us have grown jaded as we've gotten older and accepted that they don't, but that doesn't stop us from wanting them to. And every last one of us would be excited beyond belief to discover that just one of these loves was actually true.
Sci-fi geeks would kill to find out that quantum mechanics allows for technology beyond our dreams that defies the laws of physics. Fantasy dwellers would love to find out that mythological creatures really do exist and are hiding in the world among us. Horror aficionados disappointed by the lack of dark corners in our world to be freaked out by would go ga-ga to learn that ghosts and hauntings are real. Magic nuts would trip out if a magician came about who did tricks that had no grounding in sleight of hand, but really were beyond a normal person's abilities. Comic book-lovers would kill to find out superheroes really exist among us, with crazy abilities that they have to hide from the world. And scientists dream of discovering new principles beyond the current rules of science that could open up entire fields to explore and research, also opening up research funds, Nobel prizes, and the like.
See, all of these types of people would love to find out that our world encompasses these very things we geek out over in a very real sense. And if there's even a slim chance they could exist, we want to find them. And THAT's another place these challenges come into play, as a tool to find the unknown.
Currently our world is full of the liars I mentioned earlier, and they ruin our chance of finding anyone who might really, truly have something to show us that fits the bill of an amazing discovery. They distract us with their tricks and hoaxes, and take up valuable time that could be spent researching the real deal, if it so happens to exist. So if we just opened up a center of sorts to look at anyone who claimed they had special abilities, we'd get pretty much only people wasting our time. But the challenge acts as a filter. We're willing to put up the money if you're willing to meet the rules to PROVE you can do what you say you can do. The liars and cheats look at this, read the rules, and realize there's no way they're getting that money, and they walk away. This leaves only the people who actually BELIEVE they can do what they say they can do. And this is a much, much smaller group, making it a lot easier to weed through them to possibly find something promising.
Another question asked is why would we WANT to give up the money? Even if they had the abilities, and assuming we genuinely DO want to find those abilities, isn't it still in our best interest to cover it up so as not to have to shell out a large amount of money? Who's got $50,000/$1,000,000 to just give away? Well, there's a simple answer to this one, too: Those dollar figures are PEANUTS compared to the money that could be made promoting someone who passed the challenge. If you found the first person truly proven to have supernatural abilities, can't you imagine all the ways in which you could make a fortune off of it? There'd be tours, talk shows, book deals, television appearances, advertising, and more. Not to mention likely awards (Nobel being one of many possibilities), positions involved in further testing of the ability and the scientific research that would go into it, etc. There would be far more money, fame, notoriety and excitement to be had from awarding the prize than ever to continuously turn it down.
Now I'm not going to lie and tell you there isn't a certain expectation that the people participating in the challenge are going to fail. Let's face it, nobody's ever passed, we have a pretty darn good understanding of the laws that govern our world, and the pattern's pretty firmly fixed. Nobody's surprised when someone fails because the reality is that's exactly what's expected. But my point here is to explain that despite that expectation, despite that assumption that there is nothing supernatural in this world and nobody's going to win that prize, that doesn't stop us from wanting it to happen. As skeptics we're not immune to excitement, and it's not our goal to pee in people's cornflakes. We just value honesty and reality more than lies and cons and self-delusion. But like everyone else, we root for the underdog, and we all hope to be involved in an incredible discovery that changes the world. And that's one of the opportunities these challenges provide, and it's one I'm going to try to keep in mind tomorrow. Regardless of what I expect to happen, I WANT the person being tested to truly be someone special, and it would be a hell of an experience to get to tell my grandkids about in the off-chance it happens. So I'll go in tomorrow as open-minded as I always am and root for the underdog, all while carefully paying attention to reality and preventing myself being fooled. Either way, I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Mr. Deity and... me again!
That's right, folks, Timmy's back! And check out what a headache he's got on his hands...
This one was a doozy to film, because the dialog was so tight and the timing had to be so perfect that we had a lot to focus on. Plus I had worked late the night before, and Jimbo and Brian had spent the day filming another episode first, so none of us was as well-prepared as we would have liked. But that never stops a Mr. Deity, and better yet, some of the funniest things that come out of our mouths are born from sheer delirium.
As well, I was deeply honored to learn (and confirm upon reflection) that I am officially the first recurring character in Mr. Deity history (obviously not counting the four principle players). It means so very much to me to have been so openly and warmly accepted into this group and brought on-board such an amazing project. To go from a rabid fan (thankfully the doctors got that taken care of) to a recurring role as the head of R&D for the entire universe is a literal dream come true. I couldn't be happier to be involved in something so clever, witty, original, and meaningful.
Well, enough blubbering. The next episode is one I managed to operate cameras and sound for, and it's damn funny, despite me not appearing in it. Look forward to it in a couple of weeks. And word is I may appear in at least one more episode this season. Stay Tubed...
This one was a doozy to film, because the dialog was so tight and the timing had to be so perfect that we had a lot to focus on. Plus I had worked late the night before, and Jimbo and Brian had spent the day filming another episode first, so none of us was as well-prepared as we would have liked. But that never stops a Mr. Deity, and better yet, some of the funniest things that come out of our mouths are born from sheer delirium.
As well, I was deeply honored to learn (and confirm upon reflection) that I am officially the first recurring character in Mr. Deity history (obviously not counting the four principle players). It means so very much to me to have been so openly and warmly accepted into this group and brought on-board such an amazing project. To go from a rabid fan (thankfully the doctors got that taken care of) to a recurring role as the head of R&D for the entire universe is a literal dream come true. I couldn't be happier to be involved in something so clever, witty, original, and meaningful.
Well, enough blubbering. The next episode is one I managed to operate cameras and sound for, and it's damn funny, despite me not appearing in it. Look forward to it in a couple of weeks. And word is I may appear in at least one more episode this season. Stay Tubed...
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Why atheists care about religion
I don't believe in God. That's no secret. If you've read my blog or had a conversation with me on the topic, you're aware of this. I work hard to be respectful of the people I know and love and their right to believe what they wish, and I avoid arguments with them simply because I like to maintain the relationships I have with them. But that doesn't keep me quiet everywhere, and that doesn't stop me from caring.
But why DO I care? After all, if I don't believe, then what does it matter? Why do I as an atheist, or all atheists, seem to spend so much time talking about something we don't believe in? Religious people seem to find this concept silly, and on the surface I can see why. I don't put a title on my lack of belief in fairies, nor do I write blog posts about it, have heated discussions online, join activist groups, attend conferences, or read books about it. And since I respect each individual's right to those beliefs, what does it matter?
I've wanted to answer this question for quite some time, honestly, and get into the nitty-gritty of it. But today, my Twitter friend @natheist favorited a new (well, maybe just new to me, I didn't check the date) video by the AWESOME @gogreen18 (who is awesome, to clarify, for being brilliant and well-spoken, all while happening to prove the stereotype that gorgeous women can't be either is complete bull) that just so happens to say everything I wanted to say better, more compactly, and with prettier eyes. Take a look:
That's it, in a nutshell. That's why I care, why it all matters. Historically, and currently, religion tends to impact my life and those of the people I love more than most other forces, and it's my opinion, and that of a consistently growing number of people, that it does so negatively. Now perhaps you're one of those who believes in a god or spirituality in some more generalized or personal sense, and one who doesn't buy into this organized religion thing. Then perhaps you're one of the people who doesn't directly harm me. But when you believe your holy text overrides my rights as someone who hasn't bought into it, you impact my life. And that's when I have to start doing something about it.
[[MORE]]
Now Laci's video was prepared in response to the following video by imrational which covers some of the same issues, as well as some others. I thought it only fair to include his video which started this chain. It does a good job of clarifying further some of the issues that we, as atheists, face in a so-called Christian nation, led by people who now claim to be persecuted for being Christian, with no sense of irony over how much unreasonable control they've held for so long.
And there you have it. Two people who managed to do the hard work for me, all with better audio/visual skills, and one of which who's much more pleasant to look at than my ugly mug.
Questions? Comments? Bring 'em.
But why DO I care? After all, if I don't believe, then what does it matter? Why do I as an atheist, or all atheists, seem to spend so much time talking about something we don't believe in? Religious people seem to find this concept silly, and on the surface I can see why. I don't put a title on my lack of belief in fairies, nor do I write blog posts about it, have heated discussions online, join activist groups, attend conferences, or read books about it. And since I respect each individual's right to those beliefs, what does it matter?
I've wanted to answer this question for quite some time, honestly, and get into the nitty-gritty of it. But today, my Twitter friend @natheist favorited a new (well, maybe just new to me, I didn't check the date) video by the AWESOME @gogreen18 (who is awesome, to clarify, for being brilliant and well-spoken, all while happening to prove the stereotype that gorgeous women can't be either is complete bull) that just so happens to say everything I wanted to say better, more compactly, and with prettier eyes. Take a look:
That's it, in a nutshell. That's why I care, why it all matters. Historically, and currently, religion tends to impact my life and those of the people I love more than most other forces, and it's my opinion, and that of a consistently growing number of people, that it does so negatively. Now perhaps you're one of those who believes in a god or spirituality in some more generalized or personal sense, and one who doesn't buy into this organized religion thing. Then perhaps you're one of the people who doesn't directly harm me. But when you believe your holy text overrides my rights as someone who hasn't bought into it, you impact my life. And that's when I have to start doing something about it.
[[MORE]]
Now Laci's video was prepared in response to the following video by imrational which covers some of the same issues, as well as some others. I thought it only fair to include his video which started this chain. It does a good job of clarifying further some of the issues that we, as atheists, face in a so-called Christian nation, led by people who now claim to be persecuted for being Christian, with no sense of irony over how much unreasonable control they've held for so long.
And there you have it. Two people who managed to do the hard work for me, all with better audio/visual skills, and one of which who's much more pleasant to look at than my ugly mug.
Questions? Comments? Bring 'em.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)