We can think (and sing) such messed up things if we add god to the mix.

Yesterday I heard Pearl Jam's version of "Last Kiss":

While I had always liked the song, I found myself bothered by the lyrics:

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

While I don't believe the original songwriter was trying to make a theological statement, I think it shows how deluded we can be as a society that accepted the idea of a murdering god who holds people hostage with the threat of no reunion to their loved ones .

If the singer had written about lovers eating one another, or murdering puppies, or torturing people in their basement, there would have been an outcry to ban the song from the radio. Put the gun in god's hand and let him turn the thumbscrews on the survivor and it's considered a lovely sentiment of true christian love.


It boggles the mind.

Proof against Intelligent Design: The 80's

Would an all-powerful and all-knowing deity have built his greatest creation in his image and provided it with the cognitive ability and natural resources to create technology and capture information to share worldwide so that we could fulfill his plan for us by producing this:



I love the silly quirks that define the 80's and enjoy both Tracey Ulman and the song "Breakaway", but even the most diehard IDer can't explain the existence of silliness. With design, purpose, destiny and god's will, there's no place in the ID cosmology for it.

Nontheists don't have to explain away silly-given that our mental software has been developed "on-the-fly" to meet needs as they arose, it makes perfect sense that it produces thoughts and actions that are "out there".

Think of it as error checking or a self-diagnostic-as long as silliness is still silly to you, the mental mechanism is working properly. It's only when silliness makes you angry or intolerant that you've likely gotten a defective meme in your head (like religion) that needs to be flushed. South Park anyone?

The Pod People Finally Got Him :(

Body Snatchers actor Kevin McCarthy dies

Conspiracy theorists everywhere are mourning (and speculating) on the death of Kevin McCarthy, the "hero" of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. His highway dash to warn people about the alien menace was referenced in Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Big Bang Theory among others.

It was a great campy movie to watch with friends and he should be recognized for contributing to American pop culture (but not in any way that will get noticed when the actual alien takeover happens). An example of the undying human will to live and an example to all Humanists (who typically follow his example of resisting sleep as long as possible) I hope he was aware of our enjoyment and gratitude while he was alive.

*note to self* rewatch movie with friends on weekend I don't need sleep.

Steve Martin (part 2)

I just recieved a note from someone regarding my last entry, who pointed out that there's a great clip on YouTube that perfectly describes the dilemma often faced by skeptics when trying to disprove religious claims.



(props to Liam Neeson for a great portrayal of a skeptic)

How would you have convinced the crowd that the evangelist was a fraud? What would you have done differently?