On Arrogance

by josh

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt” - Bertrand Russell

Arrogance: ar·ro·gance [ar-uh-guhns] offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride.

I have been accused of arrogance many times, most recently because of my last post.  In the limited context of that one post, I can definitely see how one might think it arrogant.  The problem is that I have written about the doctrine of hell several times before.

I don’t throw around accusations of sadism, hate, and mindlessness whenever I feel like it.  I use them because I don’t know what else to do except call a spade a spade.  Most of the Christians I’ve spoken to about this ignore my reasoning and continue to spew their hatred.  That is the real arrogance here.  The idea that you are right in the face of all reason and evidence.  That is delusional arrogance driven by willful and prideful ignorance.

Are you proud of how much belief you can have in the face of over-whelming evidence?  You are arrogant.

Do you think you are holier when someone ‘attacks’ your faith and you don’t let it affect you? Their attacks should be meaningless to you.  True faith is something completely internal, that doesn’t rely on confirmation or disproof from the external world.

When you raise yourself above pesky facts and reasonable arguments, you are at the height of arrogance.  When you think matters of facts are matters of opinions you are at the height of arrogance.  When you hold unwaivering opinions about things you don’t understand, you are at the height of arrogance.  When you are completely unwilling to consider the possibility that you might be wrong, you are at the height of arrogance.

And quite frankly, I’m tired of dealing with you.  You are not looking to for reasonable conversation.  You are looking to either demonstrate just how holy you are, or for a conversion.  If it’s the former, you’re too lost for words.  If it’s the latter, the best way to go about it is with reasonable conversation.  Arrogance has no place in reasonable conversation.

Have you ever experienced being proven wrong about something?  Being able to admit you have a mistaken belief and then changing that belief - that’s humility.  Say the words, ‘I was wrong.’   It could have been about anything - the sports scores from last sunday, for example.  Or perhaps something more important, like global warming.

Going hand in hand with this accusation of arrogance is the accusation that I’m ’set in my ways’ and that I’m unwilling to consider the other side.  This is almost without a doubt projection.  I’ve changed my mind about so many things.  Here is a short list, formatted in what I was to what I became:

1)  Republican (staunch conservatism, a ditto head) -> Libertarian (Randian in every way)

2)  Libertarian -> Independent (to the left)

3)  Global warming skeptic -> Acceptance Global Warming

4) Christianity ->  Atheism

5) Creationism -> Theistic Evolution -> Naturalistic Evolution

Those are five really big issues.  Don’t accuse me of being unwilling to change.  I’ve demonstrated a remarked ability to change my ideas and beliefs.

So then the accusation is levelled: “See?  You’ll believe anything!  Show some thick skin, boy!”

At this point, there is no real point in replying, but I’ll do so anyway.  You can’t have it both ways.  Someone can’t be ‘unwilling to see both sides” and “willing to believe anything.”  Since you’re too lazy to figure out what that means, I’ll explain it to you.  I go where the evidence leads me.  When new evidence comes to my attention, I have to give up any ideas I have that contradict it.

So you want me to consider your side?  Offer me reason.  Offer me evidence.  Don’t ignore my rebuttals.

And please, don’t spew hatred.

If you believe in Hell…

by josh

Hey Christians! Will you please, for all the love you have for your god, please stop the ‘you’re going to go to hell’ thing?

Nothing says “I don’t bother thinking about my beliefs, I just go with what I’m told’ like a belief in hell. If you believe in hell, you one or more of the following:

A) An sadistic hateful person

B) A mindless twit who has never thought critically about your faith

C) A mindless twit who refuses to think critically about your faith

I’ve been there. For the majority of my life, I was completely in group (B). But you know what happened? One day I was thinking about Hell specifically, and I stopped. I had to stop because at that point I realized just how fucked up the doctrine of hell is.

The doctrine of hell has got to be one of the most idiotic ideas humanity has ever even conceived of. When someone tells me that I need to change because otherwise I’m going to hell, it doesn’t scare me. All I think is: “This person is to be avoided in the future. Either they’re a mindless twit, or a sadistic asshole.”

All in all, not a very good impression, is it?

EDIT:  Here I have located a sane Christian discussing hell in a way that is actually agreeable:

A person who spends every day getting drunk, will ruin their health, marriage, family and career; they will make their lives a living Hell. But that still falls far short of the chronic alcoholic being condemned by a just God to literally burn in Hell forever and ever.

For others it may very well be that the punishment merited by their sins is greater than what they receive in this life. For those people perhaps there will be some kind of punishment after death, but we believe that it will be remedial and corrective rather than just punishment for punishment’s sake. Exactly what that will be and how long it will last we don’t know. Will Hell for some people last 10 minutes or 10 million years… we don’t know. But this we do know; Hell will not last for eternity; it will not be endless… Don’t sin. Be reunited with God now, rather than after you have put yourself (and those you love) through Hell.

- Carlton Pearson

Obviously, I disagree with him on the subject of Christianity itself, but I’m extremely pleased to hear a Christian talk this way.  Too bad he was rejected by his church for his views.

It’s that time of the year

by josh

Holy crap, it’s busy. I’ve been running straight for about the last week, with a few spots here and there where I’ve been able to take a break. On top of my work duties, I’ve been getting materials together for my entrance into graduate school, and preparing to take the GRE. If you think you have a good vocabulary, try taking the the analogies portion of the GRE. It’s insane the words they come up with. The fact that the test costs $140 makes me very grateful for that tax refund I’m getting, even though I’m also simultaneously getting audited for two years ago. Woot!

My application is going to Missouri University where I’m applying to get my Masters in Educational Technology. Ok, so it’s not biology, and it’s not neuroscience, but it helps me where I am at the moment, and that’s pretty important. I’ve forgotten what’s it like to apply to college. There are transcripts, Resumes, curriculum vitae’s, letters of recommendation to get together. I’m still working on my ‘Statement of Purpose.’ The program takes a year to complete, and after that, I’ll be able to start teaching, and will be better prepared to meet the needs of people at my current job.
Last Sunday, I went to the local Buddhist Temple for their service. It was not what I was expecting, but keeping in line with the Buddhist philosophy, I went with it anyway. Over-all, it was very different from what I”m used to in a religious service, and they are much more accepting than Christians are. They don’t blink when I say that I’m an atheist, but still think Buddhism has something to offer. I don’t believe in karma, reincarnation, or a vast majority of other things they believe in, and that’s perfectly ok. I’m looking to cultivate mindfulness, and they are more than willing to help me along the way. I hope I’ll find something I’ll be able to share with them as well.

I was trying to imagine what would happen if I had done the equivalent at a Christian church. “I don’t believe Jesus Christ was the son of god, but I think some of the things he said was pretty good, although he also said things that I really disagree with.” I don’t think they would be very accepting. That’s why I’m going to a Buddhist Temple Sunday mornings and not the a Church.

Plus I’m really looking forward to the dharma talk on Sunday entitled ‘Curiosity Killed the Cat, but made the Buddha.’

The Ultimate Machine

by josh

After receiving a series of bad news over the last few days, I’ve been looking for something I can have fun with. Luckily, reddit has provided once again, with a link to the coolest, most brilliant machine ever:

(link)

There is talk of the creator making up a kit, and I would definitely be on purchasing list!

Hot Day

by josh

It was stifling hot today at work, a problem no doubt more pronounced by my irrational need to wear long sleeves everyday. Never-the-less, I had a nearly completely spectacular day.

It started off with another viewing of the movie in the previous post, which started things off right. Got to work and continued working on the next version of the website software. This version actually has some interesting problems to solve, and that’s always fun. In fact, I was having so much fun that I forgot to go eat lunch, so I was starving by the time I got off of work.

I had another interesting conversation with Shalini. I know I’m never going to play poker with her; I really can’t tell if she’s joking or not. If she’s joking, she’s takes things really far. If she’s not joking, then she holds radically opposing ideas in her head, and I don’t know how she takes the cognitive dissonance. Rationally, it’s got to be a joke, because the former is more reasonable than the latter, but as I said, she’s taken things really far. Still the conversations have been really fun, and I’m always looking forward to them.

When I got home, I watched Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial. It was good for the intellect after all this Expelled junk has been going on. I still can’t help laughing about certain parts, especially the Behe testimony about the immune system, and the ‘breathtaking inanity’ statement in the final decision. You couldn’t ask for a more complete victory for reason and science than that.

And now I’m baking cookies! I’ve had the dough around ever since my last oven melted (an exciting event to say the least), so I figured it was about time to use it. It really heated my apartment up, though, so I actually have the AC on tonight. This is the bad part about living on the ground floor and therefore not being able to open your apartment up in the evenings after a certain point. The warm chocolate chip cookies will certainly be worth it, though!

The World Is Awesome

by josh

Now I’m headed to bed.

Microsex and Macrosex

by josh

A commenter over at Pharyngula had this observation to add to the Sexpelled issue:

Of course we know that microsex (leads to orgasm) is true, but no one has ever seen proof of macrosex (leads to babies).

This demonstrates a poor understanding of what sex actually is.  The only difference between microsex and macrosex is time scale.  Well, that’s a bit of a simplification, so let me put it like this.

Some people have made the distinction between micro-evolution, and macro-evolution.  Just as in the theory of sex, this is a false distinction, because they are really the same thing, only evolution on a large scale, like speciation for example, takes many, many generations to manifest, and that means lots of time - hundreds to hundreds of thousands of years.

To draw the parallels even further, not all “micro-evolutionary” (i.e. small) changes eventually lead to larger changes in a population.  The parallel is clear.  While sex can lead to orgasm, it does not always lead to pregnancy.  Until more recently, it was, however, a necessary requirement (for the male participant at least).  With technological advances like artificial insemination, this is not as necessary, and the orgasm may occur outside of the sex act itself, if at all.

The Best Expelled Review

by josh

So it appears E! has reviewed Expelled. It is not complimentary:

A flunkout of a documentary, this features Ben Stein—still best known for his monotone “Anyone…anyone?”—advocating creationism, er, intelligent design, in science classrooms. Stein’s credibility is blown on this poorly constructed diatribe, and you’d be smart to save your bucks.

Wow. You know a movie has messed up badly when people who spend their time waxing about the latest celebrity rumors can see right through their overtures. A quick looks at the front page of E! Online gives the following headlines: Lawyers Trust in Britney’s Money, “Beckhams’ Night Out”, and perhaps most telling “New Couple Alert!”

What more needs to be said?

I don’t know why I’ve allowed myself to be drawn back into the debate with this movie, but I’ll attribute it to this.

Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

by josh

I know what movie I’m going to be holding out for: Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed!


(link)

This new documentary takes on the intellectual persecution suffered by those academics courageous enough to question the dogmatic Sex “Theory” of reproduction. They have offered up an alternative, what they’re called Stork Theory.

Basically, the idea is this: reproduction is not the product of sexual intercourse, but is in fact perpetuated by the avian species known colloquially as storks who deliver babies in nice cloth packages to parents at the hospital.

From a purely intellectual standpoint, I find this theory to be interesting at best, but if the academic and intellectual sniping is as bad as it appears in the trailer of this movie, something has to be done.

I heard there is a similar movie opening today called, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” I checked the local theater’s, as I’m going to be checking out ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’ tonight, and saw that there is only one local theater in the entire metro area that is playing it. I am a bit tempted to go see it, but I think I’ll purchase a Truth Ticket instead.

Lunch Break Flower Garden

by josh

During my lunch break today, I decided to take a stroll through the local flower garden we have here.

It was also an opportunity to take more picture with my iPhone.  The quality is adequate, but I really wish I had a better camera as well.  I’ll just have to be patient.

More photos here.

There were also these strange blue trees:

When you got closer, it appears as though they were painted that color, but the reason for doing so eludes me.

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