Am I better than you?

The question is rhetorical. I honestly do not believe I am better than anyone.

I may be better at some things than someone else, does that make me better overall? No, different, not better.

My train of thought goes to this due to some of the comments I have received here; am I upset or irritated by them? No.

Do they warrant a response? Yes, I think they do.

1. - Do I think Atheists are better than Theists? No, I don't. Do I think that they are different and that there are differences? Yes I do.

2. - Do I think that religious folks are a bit sensitive when I point out obvious flaws in their logic? YES I do! It's funny how when I point out something simple and they fly off the handle accusing me of attacking them when all I did was point out something obvious to everyone BUT them.

3. - Do I find the contradiction in a 'christians' behavior entertaining and hypocritical? Yes, I do. A prime example is some of the comments I have received where someone who purports to be "christian" attacks with curse words and insults rather than simply defending their position. Everyone is welcome to defend their position of course I have only run into a couple people that are actually literate and intelligent enough to attempt a debate. Most of the "defenders of Christianity" or religion that have commented here are of the illiterate variety and resort to throwing insults rather than arguing their point. That probably has more to do with the FACT that their position is untenable and cannot be defended so they resort to playground tactics.

4. - Will I stop voicing my opinion? Nope, sorry all you illiterate morons that throw insults. I won't. I do welcome intelligent debate, sadly you are few and far between.

5. - Do I see anonymous posters as weak? Not necessarily, the only weaklings I see are the anonymous posters that attack and throw insults. Very weak in my book.

6. - Is religion a scam and cult like? Yes, I think it is. Correct me if I'm wrong, and I don't think I am; Religion has done nothing to promote the well being of the human mind. Only efforts to retard our growth and intellect.

7. - Does religion have some validity? From the standpoint of teaching good values like being kind to each other, yes it does. Does that mean that I think religion is good? No, I don't think it's good. Religion closes minds to exploration and thought. That is NEVER a good thing.

All in all, I am all about INTELLIGENT discussion and debate. Insults and whining while entertaining don't endear you to me in any way. It only VALIDATES my point that religion breeds hate, closed-mindedness, bigotry and intolerance. Not the qualities I want my child to learn.

Until religion and religious folks in general can see it and themselves for what they are, my opinion won't change.

There is nothing, I repeat, nothing redeeming about a group of people that hate and teach their children to be intolerant of others. Nothing at all.

Mormon group still using discredited 'gay cure' therapy

Mormon group still using discredited 'gay cure' therapy

The initial scientist, who came up with this disavows it as not good science, they are still using it?

Flies in the face of logic I think?

Should you leave your church?

A recent comment got me thinking about this;

Should you leave your religion?

Honestly, I don't know if you should or shouldn't. It's not really my call to tell you to leave, it would be extremely arrogant of me to presume that I can tell you what you should or shouldn't do.

Did I leave the LDS faith? Yes I did. Why did I leave? I left simply due to the fact that I could no longer reconcile the contradictions and falsehoods perpetuated by the faith. These falsehoods and the corresponding hypocrisy was more than I could take. I couldn't see how I can call myself a believer in something that I found patently fraudulent.

Am I saying that religion doesn't have it's place? Yes, I am. It is an outdated, set of beliefs founded on the premise that there is a magical being in the sky that created the universe yet refuses to leave any PROOF whatsoever of said beings existence. The only 'proof' that anyone can offer is the ramblings of cave dwelling folks that we would have called lunatics writing in a mystical fashion about current events of their time.

Is that a valid reason to follow the words of the worlds first broadly circulated work of fiction? I didn't think so, so I walked away from religion. I didn't just stop believing in the Mormon way of looking at things, I investigated and researched every religion that I could, Hinduism, Islam, Satanism, Paganism, Mormonism, Christianity, Judaism every 'ism I could find. What did I learn? I learned that they were ALL THE SAME. Same stories, same philosophies, same everything! The only differences? The names and dates and sometimes the locations changed, the stories? They essentially for all intents and purposes were the same, leading me to the logical conclusion that they all come from the same place. That place is IMAGINATION.

Since I don't follow the Gingerbread man, I can't in all logical justification follow another fantastic individual like Jesus, Mohamed or Krishna. I just can't do it. I like fantasy stories as much as the next person. I read fiction all the time, I don't follow the philosophies of a fictional character. I don't belong to the First Church of Harry Potter or any other such drivel.

I work from fact, science and logic. Those three things have no place in religion since religion discounts them all as non-essential. Therefore; religion has no place in my life.

If you want to belong to a religion, if it fulfills you. If it gives you purpose, feel free and justified in believing it. All I ask is this; let me and others like me be who we are in peace. I propose the following, don't push your faith on me in public places, government offices or public schools and I won't come into your Churches, synagogues or ward houses and push my logic and science on you.

Fair enough? I think so.

Freedom of religion is ALSO freedom FROM religion

The Republicans and yes, even some Democrats are supporting the Catholic Bishops in fighting the health care reform that mandates that birth control be covered by health care plans. Their justification for this? You guessed it, the First Amendment!

It's funny isn't it?

They cry Religious freedom then try to shove their beliefs down everyone's throats REGARDLESS of the rest of the populations convictions? So the Catholic Church owns a hospital. Is EVERY employee of that hospital Catholic? I doubt it, since it would be ridiculous to say "If you aren't Catholic, you can't work here." So why should the insurance offered by the hospital to it's employees be exempt from offering birth control coverage? They shouldn't. The only justification for it? Their own arrogance.

These idiots need a dose of humility and logic. They need to understand that the First Amendment not ONLY covers their Freedom to Practice their religion, but it ALSO protects everyone else from being FORCED to practice their religion as well. You see people, the sword cuts both ways.

Politicians and religion are both idiots cut from the same cloth. Rick Santorum is an idiot of the highest caliber. Any one that believes in magical always existing beings that can snap their fingers and make worlds appear and then plant old bones in the ground to "confuse" their believers is an idiot!

Pray to Santa, the Easter Bunny or anyone else. It's all the same...

Let's keep America and the world free from Religious Idoicy.

Keep it logical.

Venting today

I need to vent a little today.

It appears that a boy on my son's football team has issues with my son and a couple of his friends. The issue in a nutshell is this: He annoys the crap out of my son and his friends, and when they get irritated enough to respond he runs home and cries "their picking on me mom!"

This has been going on for years now. He needles and needles and pushes buttons and really drives kids nuts then when they get mad it's "I was only kidding/joking/playing" and cries "they're bullying me!" or something similar. It's a damn joke, the worst part about it is this: My son has NEVER even so much as pushed the kid or gotten physical with him in all this time. He has vented and told the kid on multiple occasions to "shut up", "go away" etc.

Well, the reason for my venting on this is now this kid continually needles and pushes my son and probably 10 other kids pretty regularily, from what I understand one of the kids in the group got fed up and stated " I wanna kick his ass sooo bad" and what happens?

His MOMMY calls the Head Coach of the Football Team crying about how my son and his friends shouldn't be on the team if they are going to be threatening her "little angel".. BULLSHIT! HE needles the kids and when they get fed up, HE cries about it and this is what happens? I DON'T think so, it's a damn ridiculous JOKE.

So, now the Coach has to have a "team meeting" to discuss this, and WASTE time addressing a NON-ISSUE (at least as far as I can see). What needs to happen is this: That kid's parents need to tell him to stop annoying and bothering people. He uses "I'll tell Coach/Teacher/Mommy" if the kids get irritated and he KNOWS that at a minimum Mommy will back him up. Mommy, needs to stop being an "Attack helicopter parent" and teach her kid that actions have reactions.

It's simple - Don't go round pissing people off, and people won't want to change your facial landscape.

Correct me if I'm wrong (I am often), I teach my kid to behave and treat everyone with respect and dignity. Is it TOO DAMN MUCH to ask other parents to raise thier kids with common decent values? This kids family purports to be Christian (they're Mormons) but I DON'T see it...

Thanks for letting me Vent.

How am I supposed to be 'tolerant' of Islam or any religion?

Christian fundamentalists teach children to kill Atheists and Muslims in "bible camps". No, I'm not making it up, play the video above and you will see what I mean. It's sad and ridiculous at the same time. Not only are they teaching children decidedly un-christian behavior but they are PROUD of it!

The we have Mormon missionaries pushing baptism etc. on little kids and pushing wives to go against their husbands wishes. I have been through it (I won out) and my brother in law (Mormon411) has had the same issues.

The Islamic extremists fly planes into buildings, kidnap and torture then kill film makers for making documentaries they don't like. They declare fatwas on Matt Stone and Trey Parker due to being disrespectful of Mohammad on South Park. Really, South Park deserves a fatwa? The disrespect stems from them depicting Mohammad in a bear suit, Santa suit etc.

I am at a loss here. I am supposed to be tolerant of all this, turn a blind eye to this and just accept everyone's religious views as 'harmless' right? Don't get me wrong, I am a firm 'live and let live' guy. I just refuse to 'tolerate' bad behavior even if it is bad religious behavior.

Hey Christians, Mormons, Muslims. You don't like what I have to say, Say something about it. Tell me what you think. Stop being PUSSIES and say something. I know you read my blog, I see the traffic, It's funny you chickenshits will post all kinds of stuff on YOUR sites but hide from someone that is willing to debate with you.

Prove me wrong!

God Makers? Interesting little clip

I found this on YouTube and thought I would share it. It is still preaching love "god" which I don't but the truth about the Mormon Faith is there as well which is worth sharing....

Counting my 'many blessings'

A comment on another blog got me thinking about this and it has festered for a few days so I have had to put my own thoughts out there.

Primarily in the LDS inc. culture there is this propensity to 'count your blessings' - there are even hymns you sing in church telling you to do so. Of course when a member is talking about 'counting blessings' they are taking everything good or remotely positive and attributing it to either God's favor on them or their own faith/righteousness. This is because the culture of LDS inc. for TBM's is that you must publicly declare to all members how 'blessed' by the lord you are for being such a good TBM. If you don't believe me ask any TBM to tell you about their faith and the church. The first thing they will do is tell you how 'blessed they are' to be members, the next thing is they will tell you that Joe Smith (Creator of the great fiction (BOM)) is a 'true prophet of god' . after that they will go into a bunch of mindless drivell about any number of subjects, it will all sound very sincere and they will tell you to read the BOM and pray about it and that you too will see the truth and know that LDS inc. is the 'one true church'. If you use logic and reason, you will see through all that, I could go on in great detail, but I digress. This post was about counting blessings wasn't it?

Here are my blessings attributed to God etc.:

1) My job. Without the lord in my life, I am POSITIVE I wouldn't have the job I have held for nearly a decade. All the hard work and effort I put are all thanks to the 'man upstairs'.

2)My family. The lord has given my my wife and son who I am positive I wouldn't have in my life if the lord hadn't put them there. It is a forgone conclusion that I NEVER would have met my wife had the lord not decided to have us BOTH work at the same job and be physically attracted to each other.

3)My Dog. You guessed it the lord delivered the dog to me. If the lord hadn't put the dog in my living room, he wouldn't be there.

4)My successful recovery from recent surgery. The lord healed me, not modern medicine, not any amount of rest. it was prayer and faith that healed me, it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the surgeon or medical staff at the hospital that fixed my issue, it was the lord.

5)My great driving record. I haven't had so much as a parking ticket in 10+ years. That is all thanks to the lord above. He keeps me safe, keeps my foot light on the gas pedal and keeps me driving like a responsible, intelligent person that LOVES low insurance premiums.

6)NFL and NBA. You got it. GOD is responsible for professional sports! Without GOD there would be no sports and no Sunday fall enjoyment for me. I wouldn't be a skin's or jazz fan if it wasn't for the lord.

7)The internet. This had nothing to do with all the pioneers of technology out there experimenting and trying new things. This had nothing to do with anyone mortal. The lord created the internet to make it easier to spread his word to everyone. God is the most searched term on the internet right? Oh, wait that title goes to porn. Sorry god you don't get that one.

I am sure there are many more blessings that we can all attribute to god. I could probably write a 50,000 word post on all the blessings that god has given me. Anyone else have any other blessings that I missed. I mean I am sure that there are many of you that have lots of things to thank the lord above for right?

Let's list em out!