The Reason for the Season . . .

As we enter the holiday season, I thought it appropriate to reflect on a few of the loving words of Jesus. Share these with your family as you enjoy the warmth of the season and all its blessings. Ahhh . . . good times.

"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

- Jesus (Luke 14:26)

"But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."

- Jesus (Luke 19:27)


Cheers.

-J

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."
- Thomas Jefferson

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use"
-Galileo

The Pale Blue Dot

It's Not All Bad Out There...

This is awesome! I love seeing folks get behind their team. I love seeing our team playing well on such a huge stage. They've worked their asses off.

Every American should give-up whatever they now do on Sundays, get out in the park and play some soccer. Our real sins are committed at the dinner table. Soccer could offer a real cure.


U-S-A !!!!!

You got to Respect the Mormon

Yes you do! With all the crazy religions in the world, and all of them are crazy, you have to clap your hands for the Mormon. Nobody gets hurt. And as ridiculous as the Mormon faith is with all its idiosyncrasies, i.e., Joseph Smith and his verifiable criminal record, The Word of Wisdom, which clearly defines a Mormonic diet, the allowance of polygamy, a dead person's spirit in prison, and Jesus visiting the Americas to name a few, still the lasting effects of being a Mormon are nominal at best. In truth the Mormon, and I'm speaking of the Mormons I've encountered in my life, stick to their beliefs. They don't end up on T.V. involved in some homosexual scandal, they don't rape little boys on a global scale, or sneak off and do crank for a weekend in a seedy hotel room with some guy made up like Tammy Faye Baker in a really bad dress.

The point is that we spend too much time saying one thing and doing another. Having come from a religious upbringing I do hold religious people to a higher standard, just as they hold non-religious people to a lower standard. "One without religion is bound to do evil things" is the dogma when all my life its been the opposite way around. The atrocities throughout history fall on the shoulders of the religious. Except for the Mormon, anyone remember the Mormon Wars? Me neither. While, to me, they may be the silliest of all religious systems in America, they are pretty harmless. I just can't get passed the fact that they are always in close proximity to a public school.

Otherwise....Bravo Mormon, Bravo!

The Project Reason Video Contest

This is one of the finalist from the Project Reason video contest. This is an amateur video created by reasoning folks like you and me. It's a hopeful glimpse at a post-religion existence of humans. Please check it out.

Andromeda Society Meeting 7:00PM

A couple of us attended a meeting of the local Andromeda Society recently because of an advertised video and discussion about the Big Bang Theory. I thought it would be an interesting break from reading about religion. Imagine my surprise when I found myself in a discussion with a member in which each time the science behind the theory reached an area it wasn't sure about, he immediately interjected God. I though it was hilarious. Scientist - as egotistical and cocksure as they can be, are perfectly comfortable saying "I don't know". Ignorance is often honesty. The religious guy was absolutely sure God caused the unexplained questions in the theory. I finally had to tell him statements like that were not only ridiculous, but they are conversation stoppers.

I have to wonder, what would we know about our universe and ourselves if we could leave this nonsense out of the equation? Science has been forced to operate - not in light of religion, but in spite of religion. Why are people comfortable interjecting ideas for which they have no evidence and couldn't possibly be sure of, as if they are? Religion holds this immunity in conversation.

It could be that spirituality in the absence of religion is a good thing. I happen to think there is evidence of this. There could be spiritual truths that could be reconciled with scientific truths - and could be held at the same time. It's probably through getting to the core of this that we can finally discover Universal Truths. The idea gives me goose bumps. It sounds like a world in which I'd like to live. Not to sound trite, but can you imagine a world where we can finally admit to ourselves that God doesn't write books, promise little sections of beach to certain chosen groups, or answer prayers about your illness or the promotion at work? That God doesn't always side with the nation in which you happen to be born for all matters (including wars), that God doesn't take away your sins and only you are responsible for the relationships you create around you?

Could it be that Love, Peace, and Harmony are the Universal Truths we seek? Could it be that they are the basis of all morality? Could it be that we hold these truths - and always have?

Could it be that freedom from bad ideas is all we need to make us aware again?


Cheers.