Hergest Ridge

Children in the playground below, concert at the high school down the road, police sirens in the distance. On a day less windy it might pass for background noise, but the gusts of wind have an effect that of a child playing with a volume knob.

Too long for a haiku, too short for a proper entry – just like life.

 
Question: Which of the marked areas is larger?
The answer will be posted in the first comment of Puzzle #4.

Sometimes I can’t help but feel that certain people need to be reminded that commercials are not designed to inform the customer – that their purpose is to drive profit for the maker, to sell the product to as many people as possible, to push it to anyone with the money to buy it regardless of need.

A bit of Friday humour. For some reason I find this image very amusing, and I hope you will as well. Although I don’t know who to credit for this piece, I thought it’s too good to just let it lay around on my hard disk.

Strange name, strange video. Enchanting voice with music that feels like deep water filled with wonderful mythical creatures swirling – just one of several good songs from Bat for Lashes.

The built in commenting system is for the time being replaced with an external one. It comes with the option for notification on new replies, and a few other neat features. If it ends up being more trouble than it’s worth, no comments will be lost when the built in system is again enabled. Feedback is welcome. Of course, so are comments. :)

1. What in your opinion is the biggest misconception about atheism?
Atheism is probably the most useless word – it says absolutely nothing. Understand that, and you just might grasp your neighbourhood atheist.

Atheism is a negation of theism. It tells you absolutely nothing about what I believe. Yet time and time again, theists lump atheists together under one umbrella of “the belief in non belief.” It’s absurd.

There is no belief in the non-belief of something. You make a case for an invisible god in the room, and somehow think that me not going along with the idea is a whole new belief system? Then you’re misusing the word belief. You’re rendering it useless to the point where it does not help identify any group in a meaningful way. You’re doing what religion does best – mudding the water. Making everything so blurry, no one knows the facts, and each is left to proclaim their own “truth.”

2. Do you think there is extra-terrestrial or extra-universal intelligence?
Yes. Has it visited us on earth? No, probably not. Basis? Drake Equation. I suggest you look into it when you get a chance.

3. What in your opinion is the poorest argument for religion and why?
Religion has no good arguments, not a single one. But if I could rid the planet of just one, I’d like for everyone to recognise that religions do not make us moral beings. When you read Deutronomy 22 and are told to stone the woman who’s not a virgin on her wedding night, you find no other direct counter verse. You are deciding which verses follow. The moral compass is inside you, but religion is trying to convince you that it was it that gave you this gift. Like hell it did. Pun intended.

4. What would would be your perfect society? Secular? non religious? Anarchic? Why?
Just as there probably is no god, there is nothing that is perfect. For some people the idea of mortality and secularism is hell, and I don’t think I’d find myself enjoying life in a secular society full of stressed out fellow men. I mean you can get the best job position in the world, but if everyone around you is going to pieces, you’re not likely to enjoy your work.

Forget one encompassing solution for everyone. Each to their own, without fear of persecution and imposed creeds. I’d personally be one miserable creature if evidence for god began surfacing. What I enjoy of my life I enjoy because it will end, “and nothing shall be left of me or my ego.” Nothing that is limitless has ever found any value in the hearts of men.

5. If when you die you find god, how would you justify yourself to him?
I will adopt Rick Moen’s Strategy: “In the unlikely event of losing Pascal’s Wager, I intend to saunter into Judgement Day with a bookshelf full of grievances, a flaming sword of my own devising, and a serious attitude problem.”

If despite being blessed with a brain I am told by god that I was to ignore everything it tells me, he is no king of mine. “To his credit, man has for thousands of years worked to fix the botched job god has done.” I don’t know who said that, but I have a feeling we’d see eye to eye.

If there is a god, the only sensible thing to do is to picket his gates – have him give some credit where it is due. No more free-riding. Give us a pat on the back and some perks for putting up with shit like cancer, violence, suffering, and the god damned Conservative, right wing politics.

Amen.

I present to you the Catholic Church’s Archdiocesan Youth Commission logo, designed by Gerry Kano in 1973.
Yes. It’s real. But for some inexplicable reason, it does not appear to be in circulation anymore.