Is Reality the best Religion?
Current mood: aggravated
Category: Life

If religion isn't real, what good is it? Not much. Admittedly, believing in something that isn't real can make you feel better and offer consolation when life is tough. It is easier to accept a tragedy if this is taken to be "God's will." And instead of feeling powerless to change an unfortunate situation, many people embrace prayer as a way to call a higher power into action.

Similarly, children ask Santa Claus to bring them presents from the North Pole. They also put newly lost baby teeth under their pillows and expect that the Tooth Fairy will reward them. What difference is there between a childish belief in beings for whom there is no evidence of reality, and an adult belief in a God who can't be proven to exist?

As we grow older, we should become wiser. The essence of wisdom is knowing the difference between reality and unreality. There's nothing wrong with embracing fantasy—this is a creative wellspring for artists and writers—but let's not call this wisdom. Socrates was fond of pointing out that a wise person knows when he doesn't know something, while a fool is ignorantly confident of his false conceptions.

I recently watched a Bill Moyers interview of the renowned zoologist Richard Dawkins. Dawkins spoke eloquently about how the richness of reality is sufficient to keep us enthralled for the rest of our individual lifetimes, and likely for the lifetime of humanity as a whole. Science has learned much about reality, but with every step forward on the path of knowledge more mysteries come into view.

I love this quote from the physicist John Wheeler: "We live on an island of knowledge surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does our shore of ignorance." Human ignorance is going to expand naturally as our ability to contact reality in more breadth and depth grows. When the first interstellar explorers begin to survey the 100 billion or more stars in the Milky Way galaxy, the truth that we know astoundingly little about even our own immediate environs in the universe will hit home.

It is crazy, then, that so many Americans choose to deny what is already known about reality. If someone starving were to throw away the few morsels of food in his possession because he believed that the mirage of a banquet could sustain him, we'd say "That guy is out of his mind." So what should we say about the 55% of Americans who, according to a recent poll, believe that God created humans in our present form?

Obviously, they are out of their minds, at least in this regard. The scientific evidence for evolution is unquestionable. To call it a "theory" is the same as calling the law of gravity a theory. Significant details remain to be worked out in each case (for example, no one knows how to meld quantum theory and relativity theory when it comes to gravity), but there is no doubt that life has existed on Earth for some 4.5 billion years and that Homo sapiens is a twig on a marvelously branching evolutionary tree whose root is a common single-celled ancestor.

If people's unfounded religious beliefs about creation stayed within their own deluded minds, that would be tolerable. It would be injurious to American society to have over half the population so misinformed about the nature of reality, but as long as this ignorance didn't broadly spill over into our nation's politics and culture, I'd say "everyone to his own opinions, even when they are ridiculous."

But this same poll showed that Bush voters are much more gullible than Kerry voters. Only 47% of Kerry voters believe that God created humans in our present form, while 67% of Bush voters do. Similarly, 45% of Bush voters believe that creationism should be taught in schools instead of evolution, while only 24% of Kerry voters hold this extreme unscientific opinion.

This is scary. Two thirds of those who voted for Bush are woefully out of touch with some basic facts about reality. Many, if not most, of them also believe that the Earth is less than ten thousand years old, an error of a mere five billion years or so. Dawkins pointed out that a majority of Bush supporters also are convinced that evidence for weapons of mass destruction has been found in Iraq.

Not surprising. If you take your religion on faith, then you will find it easy to take your politics on faith also. This is the secret of Bush's success: he has tapped into a goldmine of American fundamentalist credulity.

If Karl Rove prays at all, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he regularly gets on his knees and says, "Dear God, thank you for rendering inoperative the critical thinking of those who have blind faith in you. This is what got us over the top on November 2. It enables us to pursue policies that would be rejected as out of touch with reality if, god forbid, a majority of the American electorate cared about what is real."

The more a religion is based on unreality, the more dangerous it is—both for its followers and the unbelievers who are affected by what the followers do in the name of their fantasy God. My own prayer is that more and more people will come to accept that any religion which requires a rejection of physical reality isn't worth following. Spirituality has nothing to do with matter; it has everything to do with spirit. There is no reason why scientific knowledge about the material universe should conflict with any truly spiritual practice.

Being open to the possibility of knowing things unseen shouldn't blind us to the truth of what is right before our eyes.

4:20 PM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Ekim Despijouis <- or whatever
Current mood: amused
Category: Friends

He was killed by French gangsters, they attacked him in France while he was running from a rolling trash dumpster.

*This is not true by the way!

3:34 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Texas Girls!
Current mood: amused
Category: Blogging

TEXAS GIRLS

Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had given their
new wives duties.

The first man had married a woman from Alabama and bragged that he had
Told his wife she was going to do all the dishes and house cleaning. He
said It took a couple days but on the third day he came home to a clean house
And the dishes were done.

The second man had married a woman from Florida . He bragged that He >had
given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and
the cooking. On the first day he didn't see any results, but the next
day it was better. By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done
and he had a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married a Texas girl. He boasted that he told
Her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn
mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said
the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything
but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he could see
a little out of his left eye. Enough to fix himself a bite to eat, load
the dishwasher and telephone a landscaper.

Got to love them Texas Girls

12:26 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

I could have lost a dear friend tonight
Current mood: crushed
Category: Friends

Usually on nights when me and my friend Salome are bored we go do something to cure our boredom. I was waiting in the Wal-Mart parking lot when I get a call that my best friend was in a wreck. I almost had a heart attack, it took me 5 seconds to get over to her and she was ok. No broken bones, she was ok! I looked at the damage to her car and it was a miracle that she was alright, the Jetta had airbags coming out of both the steering wheel and passenger side plus on the sides of the doors up above the head area. The entire front of the car was totaled, there was broken glass everywhere and the gas tank was leaking. When everyone came over to ask if she was ok it was good to know she was. I saw her crying and it broke my heart but for some reason I couldn't stay sad because I am the one who tries to make the situation a little bit lighter, but I couldn't help but feel happy because I didn't want to think about what could have happened. The situation was not light though, not under any circumstances, because the person who hit her ran 2 stop lights and was a drunk driver. I heard word from a tow truck driver that the guy was "puking all over himself". That is when my heart sank. I couldn't believe that that could happen to anyone close to me, I was so thankful she was ok and I kept letting her know that she had a guardian angel by her side. When we passed the guy who hit her, he was in custody and didn't have any emotion on his face whatsoever. That made me sick! Just to know that he didn't even care, it wouldn't have even fazed him if she was hurt or anything worse. When her mother came I was so angry I started saying things like people die from drunk driving accidents every day! I was just so angry! Her mother looked over at me and told me not to say things like that. Her mother's sister was in a drunk driving accident and she was killed, and that's who she named Salome after. I felt so horrible. I am just glad Salome is ok, I am even more glad that he was caught and taken to jail, what would have happened if it was somebody else and they weren't as fortunate as Salome? The tow truck driver told us that he was trying to get away, if he wouldn't have landed in the median he would still be on the road, without justice served. Somebody blessed her tonight thank god and everyone else on the roads who are not drunk drivers, and for that I am thankful. I don't even want to think about it, I am just glad he is off of the streets tonight. There is one less reason to worry tonight. I never want to see a situation like that again with a friend or me. It was hard for me to imagine what she went through in those 5 minutes because it has never happened to me. I am just glad she is ok.

12:32 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

My Life as a Movie
Current mood: touched
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

Sometimes I feel like I'm in a movie

Sometimes I think that my life should be a movie

Everything is so boring all of the time

At least for me

I want to dance the waltz to a hauntingly beautiful song

With a hauntingly beautiful person

I want to save everybody who needs to be saved

If I never love; I want to give up my life for someone who wants to love

I want to be taken to another place that is unheard of

And when I get there I never want to leave

I want to love passionately

If I cannot love passionately, then I do not want to love at all

I want to experience everything I've felt in dreams

Because I want to experience the realness, touch, and feeling

3:31 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Funny Quotes! Hillarious! =D
Current mood: rejuvenated
Category: Life

I found these quotes on the internet, they are so funny!!

Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself,

where the heck is the ceiling

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.

The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.

Guys: No Shirt, No Service - Gals: No Shirt, No Charge

When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity. - Albert Einstein

When there's a will, I want to be in it.

"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." -George W. Bush

Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.

If you die in an elevator, be sure to push the Up button.

The road to success is always under construction.

It's 11PM, do you know where your pants are?

Who are you and how did you get in here? Frank: I'm a locksmith. And... I'm a locksmith...

A penny saved is ridiculous.

Gene Police: You!! Out Of The Pool!

What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.

Currently listening : The Cure - Greatest Hits By The Cure Release date: 13 November, 2001

9:57 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

I'm glad to report!!! :D
Current mood: bouncy
Category: Life

It's Wednesday night.... morning, 12:15 to be exact and I have class in the morning, aerobics to be precise (Yay!) I am actually excited to go because it gives me something to DO! I am taking class OVERLOAD this semester, just so that I can graduate in the Spring, May 07' coming to my graduation? You'd better! :o) Oops, I just remembered Heather I forgot to call you! I will remember tomorrow. Anywho, whoa I got sidetracked... I am thankful for my best friends which I am glad that I have otherwise, who knows where I'd be?? In Mexico working for peanuts? Without a sense of direction. I HAVE to have a sense of direction, I need to know where I am going at all times (only pertaining to important life situations, driving does not count) unless I'm on a road trip, but hopefully I don't get sidetracked enough in my car and end up across state boundaries, let's just hope. Well enough rambling, I must use my insomnia for more important things... watching tv, staring blankly at a piece of sketch paper for hours at a time thinking of what I am to concoct next? We will see.

I leave you all with one quote from Mark Twain, "A naked man does little or nothing for society"

Happy Wednesday all and to all a good night!

10:15 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

KIMISMS
Current mood: giggly
Category: Friends

 These are KIMISM's

A  KIMISM  is a saying that I say that doesn't make any sense, or is re-worded in a totally different context, if you know any 

 KIMISMs  from the past, I would LOVE  LOVE LOVE for you to share them with my friends! C'mon it will be fun! Yeah!

I'll go first...

*Andrea, you're making a mole hill out of an ant hill

8:26 PM - 9 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment