PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers approved yet another sweeping bill Tuesday aimed toward beefing up law enforcement efforts. Critics again complain that this new legislation may lead to racial profiling and other abuses.
The state Senate voted almost completely along party lines to send the bill to the governors office. Gov. Brewer has not taken a position on the measure championed by opposing progressives. The House approved the bill April 24.
"This bill does a lot to continue to establish an environment of law and order to the state of Arizona," said Jesus Medoza, citizen of Guadalupe, who cited costly crimes committed by the wealthiest citizens of Arizona and the recent economic collapse as the reasoning behind the movement.
The new measure would mark the latest in a series of drastic measures taken by the Arizona legislature, which has an estimated 460,000 white collar criminals in its ranks of higher class individuals.
Along with recently passed immigration laws that have caused a swirl of controversy across the nation, Arizona also passed legislation in 2005 making human smuggling a state crime and in 2007 passed laws prohibiting employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
The latest bill would make it a crime for upper class individuals to not have a white collar registration document. It also would require police to question people about their wealth status if there's reason to suspect they're purchasing designer or illegally obtained prescription drugs, cheating on their taxes or swindling investors on Wall Street.
When asked what measures or assurances law enforcement officials could take to prevent the racial profiling or the abuse of certain individuals due to this new legislation, citizen of Nogales and proponent of the bill Juan Escobar had a quick response, stating;
"It's got nothing to do with the color of their skin...we can target individuals for questioning and search based on typical white collar crime behavior," Escobar continued, "patterns such as driving expensive cars, dining at expensive restaurants and living in wealthy neighborhoods warrant taking an extra look at potential criminal behavior. If you're not cheating on your taxes, then you have no reason to fear law enforcement officials looking through your tax documention...if you're not using illegal prescription drugs, then you have nothing to hide in your medicine cabinet and have no reason to object to a professional search conducted by police...all we are asking for is that the law be upheld, why do you hate the law? Why do you hate America?"
Other provisions allow citizen lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of white collar laws, and make it illegal for people to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.
Hector Padilla, who also favors the bill, said it will take the constraints off the hands of police and put the handcuffs on white collar criminals. "Enough is enough," Padilla said.
U.S. Sen. John McCain said on Tuesday that the bill was a "tool that I think needs to be used."
[His office later said that wasn't an endorsement...]
Thanks for joining me, fireside.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Superman Ain't Black (but he shoulda been...)
**
For the past year or so we've seen a lot of angry faces, haven't we? Huffin' AND puffin'! Lots of signs being held up with ugly words on them, lots of harsh words and surly, furrowed brows...lots of fear...lots of hate. We've seen swelling movements of the majority culture in this country watching the status quo slip away, again...and like every time before, we've been watching them frantically grasp and clutch and flail about in their same sad way, desperate to maintain it (hopefully this time around they'll keep the white-sheet terrorism and the firehose and the noose and the bombs and the guns and all that viciousness in the dead hearts of the their rotting grandfathers, where all of that crap belongs...). I recently saw a picture of a man holding up a sign that read: "Obama's Plan = White Slavery"...
Wow.
But I gotta say, I'm tired of disparaging a fearful white majority culture in USA, Inc...let's talk about something else. Something better...
I was watching an NBA game the other night, and despite being a Phoenix Suns fan, I was admiring Carmelo Anthony's extraordinary talent. What an amazing athlete! His prowess on the court, his game IQ, his toughness...his awareness of everything around him and his uncanny, unhesitating ability to execute...fantastic! Except when playing against my beloved Suns, man! do I love me some 'Melo!
The whole thing got me thinkin'...
I am not color blind, nor do I try to be. Every one of us has developed in and are part of a culture and an identity here in USA, Inc, much of which, for good or ill, is the result of what color we are. Is this circumstance necessary, or even desirable? No, not really...but it's the way that it is due to unavoidable socially and historically influenced circumstances.
That's not to say I would judge a man by the color of his skin. Not at all. What it means is that I recognize that because I am a white male I've had more opportunities, fewer hardships and a social free pass in a myriad of instances and circumstances throughout my life than have many of my fellow minority citizens.
I also recognize that I do not understand what it feels like to see a man cross to the other side of the street as I approach him. I don't pretend that I understand what it's like to be a perpetual suspect, or to watch a mother pull her children closer to her as she sees me walk into a grocery store. I don't pretend that I relate to what it feels like to hear jokes being told about the color of skin I was born with, or to be expected by default by many to be an agent of servitude in this country, nor do I know what it feels like to open a history book or turn on the television and see that nearly every hero presented is a man that does not look anything like me.
Above all, I recognize that I have no idea what it must feel like to know that my entire existence in this country is the result of a terrible thievery...that my being, who and where I am today, is indeed a living, breathing legacy of centuries of the worst crime against humanity short of total genocide...chattel slavery. I also do not relate to the sense of pride and honor that must come from knowing that my forefathers overcame and attained liberty from such a persistent and long-lasting tragedy.
So to you, Angry White Guy, shaking your "Obama's Plan = White Slavery" sign in our faces...allow me to remind you that no matter what your prejudices are, no matter how badly it burns you up, no matter how insipid, shallow and insulting it is to carry such a sign, allow me to remind you to what extent this country is black... remind you what the African American means to this nation, to what degree that Black culture and history is America's backbone, to what extent the heart and soul of this country would be empty and hollow without the African American, and remind you of a REAL American Dream...one realized from the very depths of an oppression the likes of which should make you as ashamed of that sign you're waving as you justly should be...
How would America sound without the the sweet, smooth voice of Billie Holiday singing Strange Fruit? It would seem to me to be a nation without a voice. The way she could wail out with those closed eyes and that tortured heart...Lady Day in a smoky club, New York City, 1936, being that song...When I hear that magnificent voice singing that song today, I can hear it shining like a beacon, in harmony with the cries and the struggles of millions through centuries of a horrible darkness.
The words of Fredrick Douglass are written on the face of America. He wrote many wonderful things, but my favorite is his impassioned autobiographical account of the humiliation of slavery, his struggle, escape and eventual passage to freedom. It's a read that should not be lost on the millions of Americans today, many of which have grown in a world of privilege and comfort while decrying some fictional loss of their own "freedom". For those that make this claim it would do them well to visit this heroic and true adventure of refusing to live the life of an animal, possessing the true will of humanity and emerging triumphantly from the dark catacombs of a life unimaginable and into the light of liberty.
What would America look like without the art of Aaron Douglas? What masterful hands created the masterpiece Building More Stately Mansions...those hard-edged images, the African launching the towers in which history's fat Lords rest their backsides, raising the palaces up from their backs, boldly reminding the world just who it was that built so much of it...
Would America have the heart it has today were it not for Langston Hughes' beautiful poetry? Consider his words from Freedom's Plow:
Again, those words say a lot about to what extent the African American truly understands the term, "freedom" and holds it close to her heart, and cherishes it completely.
I can't imagine this country without men such as the good Sgt. "A", a soldier I knew while stationed in Baghdad. He was a man that would risk his life for mine (and did so), without hesitation and without question. Through the longest hours and most maddening terror, he was my friend. When the only thing in the world I needed was to smile, he made me laugh, and when the only thing in the world I needed was to cry, he offered his shoulder.
Black is beat, the cool jazz and genius of Miles Davis blowin' on that horn from the bottom of his guts...it's the smell of the sawdust in the air of shanties throughout the deep South where music and dancing pressed away the poverty and the hunger, even for just a few hours...it's the complete reinvention of the guitar many times over, given birth to by the Great Robert Johnson and perfected by the hands of Jimi Hendrix and at best, only duplicated by those that followed...it's the timing of Dave Chappel's punchline, the deep insight and bitter satire of Aaron McGruder's Peabody Award Winning the Boondocks...it's the friendly charm of the wonderful man outside of University of Phoenix Stadium after the Cards took a trouncing to the Colts last Fall, and let my 6 year old daughter sit on his lap and play his bongo drums to her absolute delight...
But most of all, it is the tightly woven threads of beauty, honor, strength, perseverence and liberty as expressed through the art, literature, poetry, music, comedy and content of character of the African American that make up so much of the beautiful tapestry that is this country. It would be a lessor place without it.
Thanks for joining me, fireside...
For the past year or so we've seen a lot of angry faces, haven't we? Huffin' AND puffin'! Lots of signs being held up with ugly words on them, lots of harsh words and surly, furrowed brows...lots of fear...lots of hate. We've seen swelling movements of the majority culture in this country watching the status quo slip away, again...and like every time before, we've been watching them frantically grasp and clutch and flail about in their same sad way, desperate to maintain it (hopefully this time around they'll keep the white-sheet terrorism and the firehose and the noose and the bombs and the guns and all that viciousness in the dead hearts of the their rotting grandfathers, where all of that crap belongs...). I recently saw a picture of a man holding up a sign that read: "Obama's Plan = White Slavery"...
Wow.
But I gotta say, I'm tired of disparaging a fearful white majority culture in USA, Inc...let's talk about something else. Something better...
I was watching an NBA game the other night, and despite being a Phoenix Suns fan, I was admiring Carmelo Anthony's extraordinary talent. What an amazing athlete! His prowess on the court, his game IQ, his toughness...his awareness of everything around him and his uncanny, unhesitating ability to execute...fantastic! Except when playing against my beloved Suns, man! do I love me some 'Melo!
The whole thing got me thinkin'...
I am not color blind, nor do I try to be. Every one of us has developed in and are part of a culture and an identity here in USA, Inc, much of which, for good or ill, is the result of what color we are. Is this circumstance necessary, or even desirable? No, not really...but it's the way that it is due to unavoidable socially and historically influenced circumstances.
That's not to say I would judge a man by the color of his skin. Not at all. What it means is that I recognize that because I am a white male I've had more opportunities, fewer hardships and a social free pass in a myriad of instances and circumstances throughout my life than have many of my fellow minority citizens.
I also recognize that I do not understand what it feels like to see a man cross to the other side of the street as I approach him. I don't pretend that I understand what it's like to be a perpetual suspect, or to watch a mother pull her children closer to her as she sees me walk into a grocery store. I don't pretend that I relate to what it feels like to hear jokes being told about the color of skin I was born with, or to be expected by default by many to be an agent of servitude in this country, nor do I know what it feels like to open a history book or turn on the television and see that nearly every hero presented is a man that does not look anything like me.
Above all, I recognize that I have no idea what it must feel like to know that my entire existence in this country is the result of a terrible thievery...that my being, who and where I am today, is indeed a living, breathing legacy of centuries of the worst crime against humanity short of total genocide...chattel slavery. I also do not relate to the sense of pride and honor that must come from knowing that my forefathers overcame and attained liberty from such a persistent and long-lasting tragedy.
So to you, Angry White Guy, shaking your "Obama's Plan = White Slavery" sign in our faces...allow me to remind you that no matter what your prejudices are, no matter how badly it burns you up, no matter how insipid, shallow and insulting it is to carry such a sign, allow me to remind you to what extent this country is black... remind you what the African American means to this nation, to what degree that Black culture and history is America's backbone, to what extent the heart and soul of this country would be empty and hollow without the African American, and remind you of a REAL American Dream...one realized from the very depths of an oppression the likes of which should make you as ashamed of that sign you're waving as you justly should be...
How would America sound without the the sweet, smooth voice of Billie Holiday singing Strange Fruit? It would seem to me to be a nation without a voice. The way she could wail out with those closed eyes and that tortured heart...Lady Day in a smoky club, New York City, 1936, being that song...When I hear that magnificent voice singing that song today, I can hear it shining like a beacon, in harmony with the cries and the struggles of millions through centuries of a horrible darkness.
The words of Fredrick Douglass are written on the face of America. He wrote many wonderful things, but my favorite is his impassioned autobiographical account of the humiliation of slavery, his struggle, escape and eventual passage to freedom. It's a read that should not be lost on the millions of Americans today, many of which have grown in a world of privilege and comfort while decrying some fictional loss of their own "freedom". For those that make this claim it would do them well to visit this heroic and true adventure of refusing to live the life of an animal, possessing the true will of humanity and emerging triumphantly from the dark catacombs of a life unimaginable and into the light of liberty.
What would America look like without the art of Aaron Douglas? What masterful hands created the masterpiece Building More Stately Mansions...those hard-edged images, the African launching the towers in which history's fat Lords rest their backsides, raising the palaces up from their backs, boldly reminding the world just who it was that built so much of it...
Would America have the heart it has today were it not for Langston Hughes' beautiful poetry? Consider his words from Freedom's Plow:
Some were slave hands
Guarding in their hearts the seed of freedom
But the word was there always:
Freedom
Again, those words say a lot about to what extent the African American truly understands the term, "freedom" and holds it close to her heart, and cherishes it completely.
I can't imagine this country without men such as the good Sgt. "A", a soldier I knew while stationed in Baghdad. He was a man that would risk his life for mine (and did so), without hesitation and without question. Through the longest hours and most maddening terror, he was my friend. When the only thing in the world I needed was to smile, he made me laugh, and when the only thing in the world I needed was to cry, he offered his shoulder.
Black is beat, the cool jazz and genius of Miles Davis blowin' on that horn from the bottom of his guts...it's the smell of the sawdust in the air of shanties throughout the deep South where music and dancing pressed away the poverty and the hunger, even for just a few hours...it's the complete reinvention of the guitar many times over, given birth to by the Great Robert Johnson and perfected by the hands of Jimi Hendrix and at best, only duplicated by those that followed...it's the timing of Dave Chappel's punchline, the deep insight and bitter satire of Aaron McGruder's Peabody Award Winning the Boondocks...it's the friendly charm of the wonderful man outside of University of Phoenix Stadium after the Cards took a trouncing to the Colts last Fall, and let my 6 year old daughter sit on his lap and play his bongo drums to her absolute delight...
But most of all, it is the tightly woven threads of beauty, honor, strength, perseverence and liberty as expressed through the art, literature, poetry, music, comedy and content of character of the African American that make up so much of the beautiful tapestry that is this country. It would be a lessor place without it.
Thanks for joining me, fireside...
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sarah Palin for President
Sitting around getting from one day to the next can be boring.
As a very wise person once said, "the years go fast, and the days go so slow"...
I'd like to talk about how I'm personally tired of the crappy movie that the world's been showing me lately.
I've been thinking, out of boredom, that likely one of the most exciting things that could happen...really...would be for Sarah Palin to get elected president of the USA, Inc.
I'm fuckin' serious.
[hahaha, no I'm not]
Think about it...
All new and different, decidedly exciting events would happen for all of us! They would without question finally peel all of us away from American Idolt and the Desperate Survivors of Orange County and give us some real REAL drama...
...which is precisely what we ALL need. Drama. Humor. Action. Excitement. These things truly do make everything bearable and tolerable. I mean, Jesus Christ, if I hear the phrase, "today, another uber-rich billionaire on Wall Street has been given billions more to rescue said billionaire from becoming a mere millionaire...meanwhile, child in Alabama starves for no reason..." ONE MORE TIME on MSGBC, I'm going to actually die of complete monotony and boredom.
Palin '12!
I'm not kidding.
[yes, I am]
Consider for a moment what Faux News could do with a war or three commandeered by Sarah Mutha Fuckin' Palin...
...it would be like, as cool as Striptease meets Rush Limbaugh's little red Corvette...crossed with Commando (starring Arnold) mixed with Birth of a Nation greets NASCAR with a dose of Star Wars.
[because I'm certain that Sarah would end up involving outer space somehow...don't ask me how I'm so certain, but trust me...I am]
Just imagine...Alaska would take on a whole new, twisted identity among all of us. What we all once considered to be merely a State found in the corner of a map (likely within viewing distance of Russia, by the looks of it), would suddenly represent a morose and dark source of bad things...kind of like "Mordor" from the Lord of the Rings.
Now, I'm sayin...I've read the Lord of the Rings books AND seen the movies, and hear me when I tell you that a world full of poisonous swamps, giant-spider infested caves and a gargantuan, menacing flaming red eye over-lording out upon all the land is definitely a more exciting world than the bullshit we actually have.
I have no doubt that Ms. Palin would bring all of that and more to the table.
Bonus!: Saturday Night Live would be funny and relevant again!
SO...I'd like to begin personally campaigning for Sarah Palin to be elected President of the United States in 2012.
Just little me, from my blog...
Now you may ask, "what difference is a voice as small as yours going to make, Greg?"
...and I'd respond like a true American, "It won't."
(lol)
Thanks for joining me, fireside. See you next time...
As a very wise person once said, "the years go fast, and the days go so slow"...
I'd like to talk about how I'm personally tired of the crappy movie that the world's been showing me lately.
I've been thinking, out of boredom, that likely one of the most exciting things that could happen...really...would be for Sarah Palin to get elected president of the USA, Inc.
I'm fuckin' serious.
[hahaha, no I'm not]
Think about it...
All new and different, decidedly exciting events would happen for all of us! They would without question finally peel all of us away from American Idolt and the Desperate Survivors of Orange County and give us some real REAL drama...
...which is precisely what we ALL need. Drama. Humor. Action. Excitement. These things truly do make everything bearable and tolerable. I mean, Jesus Christ, if I hear the phrase, "today, another uber-rich billionaire on Wall Street has been given billions more to rescue said billionaire from becoming a mere millionaire...meanwhile, child in Alabama starves for no reason..." ONE MORE TIME on MSGBC, I'm going to actually die of complete monotony and boredom.
Palin '12!
I'm not kidding.
[yes, I am]
Consider for a moment what Faux News could do with a war or three commandeered by Sarah Mutha Fuckin' Palin...
...it would be like, as cool as Striptease meets Rush Limbaugh's little red Corvette...crossed with Commando (starring Arnold) mixed with Birth of a Nation greets NASCAR with a dose of Star Wars.
[because I'm certain that Sarah would end up involving outer space somehow...don't ask me how I'm so certain, but trust me...I am]
Just imagine...Alaska would take on a whole new, twisted identity among all of us. What we all once considered to be merely a State found in the corner of a map (likely within viewing distance of Russia, by the looks of it), would suddenly represent a morose and dark source of bad things...kind of like "Mordor" from the Lord of the Rings.
Now, I'm sayin...I've read the Lord of the Rings books AND seen the movies, and hear me when I tell you that a world full of poisonous swamps, giant-spider infested caves and a gargantuan, menacing flaming red eye over-lording out upon all the land is definitely a more exciting world than the bullshit we actually have.
I have no doubt that Ms. Palin would bring all of that and more to the table.
Bonus!: Saturday Night Live would be funny and relevant again!
SO...I'd like to begin personally campaigning for Sarah Palin to be elected President of the United States in 2012.
Just little me, from my blog...
Now you may ask, "what difference is a voice as small as yours going to make, Greg?"
...and I'd respond like a true American, "It won't."
(lol)
Thanks for joining me, fireside. See you next time...
Thursday, April 8, 2010
On Atheism; Part Two
Chapter four of Richard Dawkins' brilliant book the God Delusion is titled "Why There Almost Certainly is No God".
As I stated in the Part One of this essay, what it is that really gets me about that statement by Dawkins is the inclusion of the word "almost".
Atheism is nothing more than a declaration to remain within the boundaries of reason.
There is a vast difference between the statement, "there certainly is no god" and the statement, "there almost certainly is no god".
That single word, "almost", is instrumental in illustrating the ways in which an atheist thinks, and is quite powerful in its context. It represents the line that is drawn between reason and absurdity, in that it is indeed absurd for anyone to claim that there "certainly is no god". It's also absurd to claim that there "certainly is a god".
No one knows with complete certainty whether or not there is any sort of god. Neither the most devout clergyman nor the most ardent atheist could make such a claim within the boundaries of reason.
Reason and absurdity.
Atheism and faith.
There are those that believe completely in the existence of dragons. Though they have never actually seen a dragon, believing in them fulfills some kind of emotional void...they cling to their belief in dragons without blinking, without questioning and without a shadow of a doubt, so help them Smaug.
Why? Well, perhaps as children they were enchanted by the idea of dragons...perhaps they read a book or a heard a story told to them in which dragons were presented as such amazing, fantastic creatures that they were sold one hundred percent on the concept. Perhaps the idea of dragons brought to them such dramatic splendor, such a thrill and wonder that the impact the event had on their susceptible, fragile and easily manipulated little minds was nothing short of tremendous, and therefore the idea that dragons may not exist would to them be devastating and heartbreaking, even into their adulthood.
There are also those that don't necessarily believe in dragons, but consider the jury to be still out on the matter. They, just as the dragon faithful, have seen no evidence one way or the other as to whether or not they actually exist. Maybe these individuals, too, were enchanted by the idea of dragons as children. Maybe they had read the Hobbit or played a role playing game of some kind; but as they grew older, alas! their faith in the existence of dragons was shaken. They consider the existence of dragons to be quite possible, and may think to themselves, "how nice it would be if they were really out there somewhere", but for the most part they reside atop a fence of faith regarding the existence of dragons, waiting for the winds of whatever it may be to cast them onto one side of that fence or the other.
Then there are those that don't really ever consider the existence of dragons at all. While even these individuals may have had an extraordinary experience as children in regard to dragons, they just don't really think about dragons at all anymore. While they, too, just as everyone else, have never seen a shred of actual evidence indicating that dragons may exist, this type of person considers it to be a complete waste of time in general to even consider the matter. They know that in all likelihood, dragons almost certainly do not exist...and the question of the existence of dragons is not ever going to impact their lives in any way. To them, their time is better spent thinking about things that verifiably exist within the observable, living world around them.
Now, those in this latter category, when pressed with the question, "do dragons exist?", what you will likely receive as an answer is the following:
"Dragons almost certainly do not exist."
Let's stay on the topic of dragons, here...
Let's pretend for a moment that someone has given to me their newborn infant to care for for the rest of its life for the sole purpose of conducting an experiment..
Let's pretend that I immediately begin to rear this infant to believe in the existence of dragons. I center it's life around...let's call it "Dragonism"...and bestow upon this infant a structured and dynamic belief system featuring an endless string of dramatic, scary and wonderful stories about "the Great Dragon". The Great Dragon is everywhere. The Great Dragon watches over you. The Great Dragon made all of us and created the world from its fiery breath. The Great Dragon loves you and watches over you. The Great Dragon punishes those that don't believe in the Great Dragon. The Great Dragon will cast you into the Dungeon of Suffering if you have not devoted your life to the service of the Great Dragon.
I think that there's a pretty good chance that said infant is going to reach puberty and early adulthood with a rock solid belief in Dragonism.
This is especially likely if as much as possible I decide to isolate the child in an environment in which he or she is exposed to "non-Dragonists" as little as possible. After all, exposing the child to the unfaithful may influence them to become Dragon-less heathens...which of course would be tragic, right?
Yes, I think my audience gets my point.
There's no difference between god and dragons. There are those that believe faithfully in "god", and there are those that believe faithfully in "the Great Dragon".
Both are equally absurd.
As an atheist, when considering the world around me and how or why it exists, I simply place both the idea of god and dragons, jesus and outer-space teacups, yahweh and jim jones, mohammed and the flying spaghetti monster, ganesh and the magic toaster all on equal footing with regard to the possibility of their actual existence and relevance to the living, observable and verifiable world around me:
Each of them almost certainly do not exist.
Part III to come...
As I stated in the Part One of this essay, what it is that really gets me about that statement by Dawkins is the inclusion of the word "almost".
Atheism is nothing more than a declaration to remain within the boundaries of reason.
There is a vast difference between the statement, "there certainly is no god" and the statement, "there almost certainly is no god".
That single word, "almost", is instrumental in illustrating the ways in which an atheist thinks, and is quite powerful in its context. It represents the line that is drawn between reason and absurdity, in that it is indeed absurd for anyone to claim that there "certainly is no god". It's also absurd to claim that there "certainly is a god".
No one knows with complete certainty whether or not there is any sort of god. Neither the most devout clergyman nor the most ardent atheist could make such a claim within the boundaries of reason.
Reason and absurdity.
Atheism and faith.
There are those that believe completely in the existence of dragons. Though they have never actually seen a dragon, believing in them fulfills some kind of emotional void...they cling to their belief in dragons without blinking, without questioning and without a shadow of a doubt, so help them Smaug.
Why? Well, perhaps as children they were enchanted by the idea of dragons...perhaps they read a book or a heard a story told to them in which dragons were presented as such amazing, fantastic creatures that they were sold one hundred percent on the concept. Perhaps the idea of dragons brought to them such dramatic splendor, such a thrill and wonder that the impact the event had on their susceptible, fragile and easily manipulated little minds was nothing short of tremendous, and therefore the idea that dragons may not exist would to them be devastating and heartbreaking, even into their adulthood.
There are also those that don't necessarily believe in dragons, but consider the jury to be still out on the matter. They, just as the dragon faithful, have seen no evidence one way or the other as to whether or not they actually exist. Maybe these individuals, too, were enchanted by the idea of dragons as children. Maybe they had read the Hobbit or played a role playing game of some kind; but as they grew older, alas! their faith in the existence of dragons was shaken. They consider the existence of dragons to be quite possible, and may think to themselves, "how nice it would be if they were really out there somewhere", but for the most part they reside atop a fence of faith regarding the existence of dragons, waiting for the winds of whatever it may be to cast them onto one side of that fence or the other.
Then there are those that don't really ever consider the existence of dragons at all. While even these individuals may have had an extraordinary experience as children in regard to dragons, they just don't really think about dragons at all anymore. While they, too, just as everyone else, have never seen a shred of actual evidence indicating that dragons may exist, this type of person considers it to be a complete waste of time in general to even consider the matter. They know that in all likelihood, dragons almost certainly do not exist...and the question of the existence of dragons is not ever going to impact their lives in any way. To them, their time is better spent thinking about things that verifiably exist within the observable, living world around them.
Now, those in this latter category, when pressed with the question, "do dragons exist?", what you will likely receive as an answer is the following:
"Dragons almost certainly do not exist."
Let's stay on the topic of dragons, here...
Let's pretend for a moment that someone has given to me their newborn infant to care for for the rest of its life for the sole purpose of conducting an experiment..
Let's pretend that I immediately begin to rear this infant to believe in the existence of dragons. I center it's life around...let's call it "Dragonism"...and bestow upon this infant a structured and dynamic belief system featuring an endless string of dramatic, scary and wonderful stories about "the Great Dragon". The Great Dragon is everywhere. The Great Dragon watches over you. The Great Dragon made all of us and created the world from its fiery breath. The Great Dragon loves you and watches over you. The Great Dragon punishes those that don't believe in the Great Dragon. The Great Dragon will cast you into the Dungeon of Suffering if you have not devoted your life to the service of the Great Dragon.
I think that there's a pretty good chance that said infant is going to reach puberty and early adulthood with a rock solid belief in Dragonism.
This is especially likely if as much as possible I decide to isolate the child in an environment in which he or she is exposed to "non-Dragonists" as little as possible. After all, exposing the child to the unfaithful may influence them to become Dragon-less heathens...which of course would be tragic, right?
Yes, I think my audience gets my point.
There's no difference between god and dragons. There are those that believe faithfully in "god", and there are those that believe faithfully in "the Great Dragon".
Both are equally absurd.
As an atheist, when considering the world around me and how or why it exists, I simply place both the idea of god and dragons, jesus and outer-space teacups, yahweh and jim jones, mohammed and the flying spaghetti monster, ganesh and the magic toaster all on equal footing with regard to the possibility of their actual existence and relevance to the living, observable and verifiable world around me:
Each of them almost certainly do not exist.
Part III to come...
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
On Atheism; Part One
"...there almost certainly is no god..."
-Richard Dawkins
What it is that gets me about that fantastic sentence is the word "almost".
Recently, a friend emailed me (someone that I respect tremendously), and asked if I would write for them something regarding the "virtues of atheism".
I am an atheist. So the request made complete sense.
I read the email and was flattered to have received such a request. I jumped on the idea of having an opportunity to share what I perceived to be the "virtues of atheism" with the general public, especially when the request was coming from such a valor source.
So, I responded to this email with an amiable agreement to do precisely what had been requested:
"I would be happy to write something up. Just give me a couple of days and I'll send something to you..."
(that's paraphrased, I'm sure...)
It's been WAY more than "a couple of days."
The reason it's been "way more than a couple of days"...is because once I received the request and so hastily responded to it, I was almost immediately faced with the task of having to begin thinking about what indeed were the "virtues of atheism".
Here's something about atheists:
When you ask an atheist, "what are the virtues of atheism?", what you have done is you have unwittingly and almost certainly without malice (but quite unfairly, nonetheless) triggered a series of cerebral events...a series of events that are neither interesting nor worth going on about in this essay.
What ends up being interesting and actually worth sharing, though, to be sure...are the consequences of having asked an atheist such a question...
First of all, there isn't any such thing as any sort of "virtue of atheism".
I wrote:
"There are no 'virtues' of atheism. That would be a misnomer, at best. Atheism is nothing more than a personal declaration to remain within the boundaries of reason...Atheism neither demands nor is defined in any way by what anyone would ever consider to be a 'virtue'..."
Now, that's one hundred percent true, right there. Seriously, that's an honest statement.
People find and live by morals and virtue (with AND without religion!), everywhere. Those that live by moral values and virtues are represented thoroughly in this world by:
Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhits, Wiccans, Christians, agnostics, Satanists, Outer-Space-Teacup-ers, 12-steppers, Mormons, Scientologists, Catholics, and...believe it or NOT...atheists! (not to mention the countless OTHER religions, questions, beliefs, non-beliefs, creeds, races, cultures etc....)
SO...there's good guys, right?...I mean, just look at Mohammed Ali, Stephen Spielberg, Gosāla Maskarin, Buddha, the guys that put together "the Blair Witch Project", Jesus, my brother 5 years ago, Ozzy, ????, Doctor Bob, .5% of the Salt Lake City Population, John Travolta, Robert DeNiro's character in "Sleepers" and...believe it or NOT...Thomas Jefferson! (not to mention representatives of the countless OTHER religions, questions, beliefs, non-beliefs, creeds, races, cultures etc....)
Unfortunately, because of to what degree the above paragraphs are TRUE, you must also consider that those that stray away from a life of any sort of morals or virtue are also well represented thoroughly in this world by:
Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhist, Wiccans, Christians, agnostics, Satanists, Outer-Space-Teacup-ers, 12-steppers, Mormons, Scientologists, Catholics, and...believe it or NOT...atheists! (not to mention representative of the countless OTHER religions, questions, beliefs, non-beliefs, creeds, races, cultures etc....)
SO...there's bad guys, too...Just look at Osama Bin Laden, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Ranvir Sena, Tiger Woods (just kidding!...lol), Godsmack, Jerry Falwell (not kidding), Dave Matthews, Peter H. Gilmore, Glenn Beck, Bill W , 99.5% of the Salt Lake City population, Tom Cruise, Pope Benedict XVI, and...believe it or NOT...Josef Stalin!
The one thing that all of the above have in common is that they each have very little in common...
...the only thing they have in common is that every one of them feature some of history's biggest assholes...
...and some of history's biggest heroes.
Not one comes close to cornering any market in terms of either "virtue" or "sin".
And for me, it takes understanding that before any understanding of atheism can be realized.
Basically, the point here is, that there's no evidence that believing in anything makes anyone on Earth any less of an asshole. Those fuckers are EVERYWHERE.
So let's first toss out completely the ridiculous idea that some kind of religion or otherwise structured belief in a "god" (and of course, what I mean by that is, "whatever it is according to whatever it was that YOUR parents indoctrinated you into believing"...[if you haven't gotten offended yet, now's the time!]) is required for anyone anywhere to be a GOOD or a BAD person.
All jokes aside...
-51-
*dedicated to and written for seekingintoungues
http://seekingintongues.blogspot.com
-Richard Dawkins
What it is that gets me about that fantastic sentence is the word "almost".
Recently, a friend emailed me (someone that I respect tremendously), and asked if I would write for them something regarding the "virtues of atheism".
I am an atheist. So the request made complete sense.
I read the email and was flattered to have received such a request. I jumped on the idea of having an opportunity to share what I perceived to be the "virtues of atheism" with the general public, especially when the request was coming from such a valor source.
So, I responded to this email with an amiable agreement to do precisely what had been requested:
"I would be happy to write something up. Just give me a couple of days and I'll send something to you..."
(that's paraphrased, I'm sure...)
It's been WAY more than "a couple of days."
The reason it's been "way more than a couple of days"...is because once I received the request and so hastily responded to it, I was almost immediately faced with the task of having to begin thinking about what indeed were the "virtues of atheism".
Here's something about atheists:
When you ask an atheist, "what are the virtues of atheism?", what you have done is you have unwittingly and almost certainly without malice (but quite unfairly, nonetheless) triggered a series of cerebral events...a series of events that are neither interesting nor worth going on about in this essay.
What ends up being interesting and actually worth sharing, though, to be sure...are the consequences of having asked an atheist such a question...
First of all, there isn't any such thing as any sort of "virtue of atheism".
I wrote:
"There are no 'virtues' of atheism. That would be a misnomer, at best. Atheism is nothing more than a personal declaration to remain within the boundaries of reason...Atheism neither demands nor is defined in any way by what anyone would ever consider to be a 'virtue'..."
Now, that's one hundred percent true, right there. Seriously, that's an honest statement.
People find and live by morals and virtue (with AND without religion!), everywhere. Those that live by moral values and virtues are represented thoroughly in this world by:
Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhits, Wiccans, Christians, agnostics, Satanists, Outer-Space-Teacup-ers, 12-steppers, Mormons, Scientologists, Catholics, and...believe it or NOT...atheists! (not to mention the countless OTHER religions, questions, beliefs, non-beliefs, creeds, races, cultures etc....)
SO...there's good guys, right?...I mean, just look at Mohammed Ali, Stephen Spielberg, Gosāla Maskarin, Buddha, the guys that put together "the Blair Witch Project", Jesus, my brother 5 years ago, Ozzy, ????, Doctor Bob, .5% of the Salt Lake City Population, John Travolta, Robert DeNiro's character in "Sleepers" and...believe it or NOT...Thomas Jefferson! (not to mention representatives of the countless OTHER religions, questions, beliefs, non-beliefs, creeds, races, cultures etc....)
Unfortunately, because of to what degree the above paragraphs are TRUE, you must also consider that those that stray away from a life of any sort of morals or virtue are also well represented thoroughly in this world by:
Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhist, Wiccans, Christians, agnostics, Satanists, Outer-Space-Teacup-ers, 12-steppers, Mormons, Scientologists, Catholics, and...believe it or NOT...atheists! (not to mention representative of the countless OTHER religions, questions, beliefs, non-beliefs, creeds, races, cultures etc....)
SO...there's bad guys, too...Just look at Osama Bin Laden, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Ranvir Sena, Tiger Woods (just kidding!...lol), Godsmack, Jerry Falwell (not kidding), Dave Matthews, Peter H. Gilmore, Glenn Beck, Bill W , 99.5% of the Salt Lake City population, Tom Cruise, Pope Benedict XVI, and...believe it or NOT...Josef Stalin!
The one thing that all of the above have in common is that they each have very little in common...
...the only thing they have in common is that every one of them feature some of history's biggest assholes...
...and some of history's biggest heroes.
Not one comes close to cornering any market in terms of either "virtue" or "sin".
And for me, it takes understanding that before any understanding of atheism can be realized.
Basically, the point here is, that there's no evidence that believing in anything makes anyone on Earth any less of an asshole. Those fuckers are EVERYWHERE.
So let's first toss out completely the ridiculous idea that some kind of religion or otherwise structured belief in a "god" (and of course, what I mean by that is, "whatever it is according to whatever it was that YOUR parents indoctrinated you into believing"...[if you haven't gotten offended yet, now's the time!]) is required for anyone anywhere to be a GOOD or a BAD person.
All jokes aside...
-51-
*dedicated to and written for seekingintoungues
http://seekingintongues.blogspot.com
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