Call to Action

As we approach the year two thousand and ten, we approach the year of the Personhood Amendment. With activity in 32 states, at least one is likely to pass, but fight vigorously anyway to make sure.

But don't let this very important issue mak e you loose track of the bigger picture. Fight for the unborn, yes, but also fight for the poor, the young, the old, the gay, women, et cetera. Fight for free speech, freedom of religion, for the separation of church and state, for school reform, for a more reasonable language (Esperanto), for a more reasonable numeral system (dozenal), and for logical arguments.

Fight against euphemisms, restrictions on freedom, and unequal treatment.

This sort of crap makes me sick.

Look, debate the effectiveness of a vaccine all you want, but...

Well, just read this.

Merry Christmenos!

Happy HumanLight!

Religious Power

The things often cited as religious freedom fall under liberty in general. Your brain is your own.

There is no right, however, to coerce because of one's religious beliefs. One may not, for example, perform human sacrifices or lynch people or kill your unborn offspring because of your beliefs. You may also not force your beliefs directly upon others, even your children.

This demonstrates that there is no such thing as religious freedom.

Convo

Connecting to server...

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You: hi

Stranger: hey :)

You: wanna have a pointless political debate?

Stranger: sure!

You: gay marriage: for or against?

Stranger: for

You: me too

Stranger: good :)

You: im an atheist

You: u?

Stranger: i'm catholic...sorta. My family's catholic.

You: okay

You: why are you catholic?

Stranger: because... my family is?

You: but do you have any logical reasons to believe in the existence of a supreme deity?

You: any empirical evidence?

Stranger: nope. just makes you feel better to think that there's something helpin you along.

You: that doesnt make it true

You: a man may be happy at the thought that there's a diamond the size of a refrigerator in hi backyard

You: but hes still crazy

Stranger: no it doesn't. who says i say it's true? reincarnation'd be pretty sweet too. anything that means there's more to life than just this one.

You: but a notion that makes you happy isnt necessarily true

You: so thats no reason to believe

You: assuming u care about the truth

Stranger: like a said before, it doesn't have to be true. if there really is no life after this, i'd rather be happy now then spending my life dreading the end

You: but if you recognize that this is the only life you;ve got, you'll more likely live it to the fullest

You: instead of counting on a pipe dream

Stranger: but if you recognize that this is the only life, that's on your mind and you realize you can't do much with yourself, because you're not going to live to see the results.

You: its not about living to see the results

You: its about making life better 4 every1

Stranger: by preaching that there is no hope?

You: no by preaching that this is your only life, so live it to the fullest

You: by fighting for equality, social and economic

You: by fighting to give food to the starving

You: by fighting to embetter medicine to make our lives longer

You: by fighting violence in all its forms

Stranger: you can do that and be religious. Mother Theresa? Ghandi?

Stranger: Martin Luther King Jr?

You: by fighing bronze-aged superstitions that cause attrocities like the holocaust, the inquisition, the mistreatment of women, 9/11

You: but anyway, a comforting belief can be wrong

You: you're commiting the fallacy of wishful thinking

You: an argumentum at consequentiam

Stranger: you can't prove that things like love and happiness exist, so they could be untrue. Those emotions still make us happy, don't they?

You: no we actually can prove that love and happiness exist

You: weve studied the brain and know exactly what chemicals signal and cause them

You: the difference is that emotions THEMSELVES make us happy

Stranger: you can prove that there are hormones in the brain. but there are hormone imbalances that exist. the people and brains that have been tested could have had imbalences

You: not the CONCEPT of emotuon

Stranger: and who is to say that it isn't god HIMSELF making us happy when we feel joy?

You: we already know what causes joy

You: enorphins for one

You: thats why drugs are pleasurable

Stranger: endorphins? cause the feeling of joy, not actual joy.

You: joy is a feeling

You: you're now commiting the no true costman fallacy

You: ^scotsman

Stranger: no, it causes the guise of joy. Drugs don't acutally make you happy, they convince you that you're happy by causing imbalances in your brain.

You: happiness IS an imbalance in the brain

You: if it werent for those chemicals that your brain releases and the firing of neurons, happiness would not exist

Stranger: why not "fire off those neurons" by believing that there is a better life out there, rather than killing yourself and ruining the one you have with drugs?

You: so you think we should believe anything that makes us happy, regardless of its veracity?

Stranger: why not?

Stranger: i'd rather be happy than wallow in self pity

You: if believing there's an invisible pink unicorn in my shoe that wil give me a cake after i die for every woman i rape, thats okay/

You: ?

Stranger: that's the dumbest shit i've ever heard, that's not even a legitimate argument. THAT would be what we call the crazies and it would be time to lock you away

Stranger: time out. Obama or McCain?

You: but an invisible sky daddy that controls everything and will let you live forever and torture ppl 4ever but loves everyone is sane?

You: i dont like either

You: but obama is better i guess

Stranger: good man! :)

You: i dont like his position on prenatal rights

Stranger: you don't like abortion?

You: no i dont

You: y?

Stranger: just makin sure. that's one issue i don't really like to get into ever.

You: oh

You: y not?

Stranger: Because of my religion and my family, basically.

You: explain?

Stranger: Catholicism (and living in super conservative and religious Kansas) has pretty much ruined my points of view on most of the major issues. I can't really lean either way for fear of being rejected.

Stranger: the only issue i'm sure and certain on is that I support gay marriage wholeheartedly.

You: oh okay

You: thats another benefit of atheism

You: freethought

Stranger: true. i don't entirely believe in god. I'm more of a deist (i think that's how you spell it)

Stranger: so that's why i'm only sort of catholic

You: oh ok

You: deism says nothing about an afterlife

You: I'm a humanist, so I oppose abortion on the grounds that human life has value.

Stranger: yeah, that's the reason why i'm sort of catholic too? i dunno what i am really.

You: maybe unitarian?

Stranger: whas that?

You: not sure

Stranger: lol

You: more liberal christian denomination

Stranger: cool? haha, i don't really know how that'd go :P

You: id have 2 look it up

You: but may you find the denomination that fits you

You: :)

Stranger: yeah. well, i have a choir concert to go to! peace, mann! had fun talkin to you :)

You: ok

You: :)

Your conversational partner has disconnected.

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GET TO IT PRO-LIFERS

I look on Youtube and search for atheist videos. What do I find? A bunch of logically sound arguments in against the existence of a supreme deity. Sometimes dissecting, line-by-line, another video.

I search for pro-life videos what do I see? A bunch of videos with slow zooms and pans on pictures of babies overlaid with sappy music and titles like "Abortion? No; life is precious". Videos that just scream "Oh, look at me. I figured out how to use Windows Movie Maker!" Nobody cares you figured out the star wipe transition.

THEY'RE ALL PRACTICALLY THE SAME FREAKING VIDEO.

Pro-lifers, I know you're capable of it. Post more than touching slideshows and "from the heart" commentary.

SHOW NO MERCY!

Interesting conversation

I'm okay with ZJemptv on most things, but we're having an interesting conversation at this video's comments.

He seems to think that customers have a right to force their morality upon business owners and that not wanting to kill another human being is a "completely arbitrary and unnecessary basis" upon which to decide how to excercize your liberty.

Let's say there's a restaurant that refuses to serve veal for ethical reasons. What do you do if you want veal? Don't eat there! You have no right to force anyone to sell a product that they do not want to sell, regardless of the reason they refuse to sell it. You have no right to force them to comply to your morals.

Them not selling BC is no more forcing their morality on you than a store closing on Sunday forces their religion on you.

If I run any sort of business, I have the right to choose what products to sell. I could open a candy shop and refuse to sell Jujubees because I think they're part of an evil plot to turn toddlers into smores. You still have no right to tell me what products to carry. If I'm looking for jujubees, I loose you as a customer.

I could sell clothes and arbitrarily not carry blue socks.

I could close on Sunday even if "cultural homogeneity" means every other business in town is closed on Sunday too.

"Wait, there's a debate over ______?": circumcision

This is probably one of the only places where a debate is entirely unnecessary. Whether or not there are certain advantages and drawbacks is certainly important, but the decision must ultimately be left up to the person who's penis would be affected. It doesn't matter if your religion mandates it for the same reason we disallow human sacrifice and stoning; you have no right to force your religion upon others.

To end on a lighter note (and pad this post's length), I'd like to end with a joke.

~~~

Two 10-year-old boys are using consecutive urinals - one looks over at the penis of the other and says, "Oh no! What's wrong with your penis?"

The little boy replies, "I've been circumcised.".

His friend says, "You poor guy - when did that happen?".

"When I was born", came the reply.

"Yuck, it looks aweful - what did they do to it?" askes the first boy.

"They cut off my foreskin.".

The first little boy was shuddering as he imagined the pain his freind must have gone through. "I bet it hurt?", he said.

"HURT!!", exclaimed the boy, "Hurt - I couldn't walk for a year!"

Happy Labor Day!

You know what today is (if you somehow don't, read the title).

As a communist, I will now discuss...

RELIGION!*

Muslim teen fears for life after changing religion

Wait, she converted to Christianity. Why does the article keep saying "Muslim teen"?

Anyway, this is to be expected. We need to insist that our beliefs be backed up by evidence and shun anyone who tells you to believe for the sake of belief. We need conversational intolerance. We need to stop giving religion a free ride.

Or else this happens.

*If you want discussions on organized labor there are plenty already.

Omegle

("..." means I've deleted an irrelevant comment.)

Stranger: Wouldn't u rather live happily for all eternity than just big black nothingness?

You: Believing something different isn't going to make an afterlife materialize

You: that's an argumentum ad consequentium

You: aka wishful thinking

Stranger: Except there really is afterlife. If there wasn't what's the point in being born and created?

You: Who says there has to be a point?

You: I was conceived because a sperm happened to fertilize an egg

You: Life began because Carbon likes to bond into long chains

Stranger: How do you think you were created? And the universse? Where'd it come from?

You: When a mommy and a daddy love eachother very much...

Stranger: They don't have to love each other

You: I know

You: it's just a cliche'

Stranger: But into the world. Where'd ppl come from?

Stranger: I know that

You: what do you mean by people?

Stranger: Humans

You: We evolved from simpler lifeforms. duh

Stranger: Where'd the simpler lifeforms come from?

You: Like I said, carbon likes to form chains

Stranger: Where'd the carbon come from?

You: Stars

Stranger: And stars, where are they from?

You: Stars are formed when clouds of gas are pulled together by gravity and are compressed enough to begin fusion

Stranger: Where'd all that stuff come from. Something had to create everything

You: The gas?

You: It's just hydrogen atoms mostly.

Stranger: But who created that?

You: Who?

You: Nobody.

Stranger: Then how'd it get there?

You: When gamma rays cool down enough, they become matter

You: e=mc2

You: forces like electromagnetism and the strong and weak forces pull together and maintain the atoms

Stranger: ...

You: The gamma rays were cooled by the expanding universe

You: ...

You: Anyway

Stranger: ...

You: The gamma rays and universal expansion came from the big bang

You: ...

You: ...

Stranger: ...

You: brb, don't disconnect

Stranger: Ok

Stranger: ...

You: ...

Stranger: ...

You: ...

Stranger: ...

You: ...

You: ...

Stranger: ...

You: yes

Stranger: ...

You: kk

You: Anyway

You: back to universal history

You: The gamma rays came from the Big Bang

Stranger: Alright

Stranger: I'd still think it's scary to live life thinking this is all you have. A fucked up life and then nothing after u die. Not too comforting

You: It'd be an awful life to live finding out that I live in a celestial dictatorship

You: that there's no way out of

You: And that there's a god who punishes people for not guessing (s)he exists when the universe was made in such a way as to suggest the Big Bang

You: and when we were given the power to reason

You: Plus everlasting life would get boring eventually

Stranger: No I don't think it would

You: and I'd never be able to rest knowing that billions of souls are burning forever

You: and that I couldn't communicate with those on earth

You: I'd probably stage an uprising against God

You: Because he's a dick.

Stranger: But it's their fault. Plus in heaven u can't feel pain so either you wouldn't know or it doesn't bother you

You: Then that's plain manipulation

Stranger: I'm sorry you think like that

You: I wouldn't want to be happy if it means mindcontrol

You: It'd be like being drugged

Stranger: Wow. You're ... difficult ...

Stranger: I'm drugged right now.. Vicodin plus pot equals fantastic

You: lol

You: It'd be like being drugged against my will

You: I'd rather keep my brain thankyouverymuch

You: and my reason

Stranger: Arghh I got chocolate on my blankets

You: and freewill

You: Yum

Stranger: Well you're entitled to your beliefs and opinions so I'm nor gunna push u into Christianity

You: But, anyway

Stranger: I don't like when people do that

You: If God drugs people into complacency

You: Then I don't want to worship him

You: If he exists, I hope he gets overthrown

You: I'd replace him with a democracy

You: a constitutional democracy

Stranger: ...

You: He'd go in jail for mass murder and property damage

Kosher?

For me, the choice between not eating bacon or cheeseburgers versus not going to heaven is basically "do you want your eternal bliss now or later?".

If I die and God tells me eating animals is a sin and I should've been a vegetarian or a vegan, I'm telling him that it's his fault for making animals out of meat.

America has finally lost it.

This kind of puritanical ageist bu-... er, nonsence, is getting on my last nerves.

The video itself is not important, but I'm calling on everyone to mirror the video. We have to show that censorship will always backfire, especially incredibly stupid censorship.

SPLASH site

SPLASH has a domain, but ockraz needs a template for the site.

SPLogo

Introducing the new logo* for the Society for Pro-Life Atheists and Secular Humanists!

*drumroll*

...

*I hope ockraz accepts it....

Woman to stand trial for pants.

Aren't there, like, international laws against this kind of human rights abuse?

Though, this is not surprising.

Ireland FTL

At first, I was outraged. Europe has shown a lack of testicular fortitude when it comes to religion, such as making polygamy legal (but only for Muslim males!). But, really, you're delusional if you think this makes America better. Our constitution just forces us to pick the installment plan.

At least Ireland just came out and made it illegal to offend religious people.

A pro-life ______? Who knew!

All political and/or moral philosophies have a common thread of pacifism. This states that it is generally wrong to harm another person. "Person" here refers to a member of your moral community.

Some philosophies have a small moral community, often restricted to one race, creed, nationality, or religion. Others expand their moral community to all living things (though they often ignore the fact that a living thing can be a non-animal). Another philosophy falls somewhere in between, stating that each species is its own moral community, and that every organism has a moral obligation towards its own kind.

Another thing that makes moral philosophies is how lax they are on the "generally wrong to harm another person". Sometimes, violence is allowed if it supports some kind of greater good. Sometimes, violence is never justified.

Sometimes, "harm" is defined very narrowly to physical harm. Sometimes, emotional abuse is thrown in. Still other ideologies (such as communism) see economic exploitation and/or denial of basic services (police, fire station, health care) as a form of harm.

Whichever one of these you subscribe to, the common thread of "do no harm" is there. But what defines a philosophy such as left/right, libertarian/authoritarian is not the scope of the moral community, but the scope of "generally wrong" and "harm". The definition of "person" is more or less up to the individual. Whatever the scope of the moral community, that determines the definition of "person". The definition of "person", combined with the scope of "generally wrong" and "harm", is then plugged into the combining thread of pacifism to determine the application of a belief system.

Because of this, the anti-prenaticide position is compatible with any belief system. This is why you see such groups as Democrats for Life of America, Libertarians for Life, Feminists for Life, the Society of Pro-Life Agnostics and Secular Humanists, the Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League, the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians, and others.

On a more casual note

The taboo against nudity harms the suspension of disbelief if the "naughty bits" are always hidden by some convenient object. It also leads to any joke becoming funny if you reference the human body.

Indecent Exposure

Laws against nudity are expressly religious in nature, curtail liberty, and have no secular purpose. The purpose of the law is to protect the populus from violence and exploitation, and to provide basic services such as police, fire, health care, etc., not to protect the delicate sensibilities of the populus.

If there was a law against gay couples holding hands in public, or a law against purple socks, there wouldn't be such support for it.