Rambling of a Semi-Sane Man

The Bible is indeed riddled with various contradictions, not only contradictions with reality, but contradictions within itself. To say that the Bible is inline with modern science, under the argument that “the Bible isn’t to be literally interpreted” means nothing. At some point at the changing in the interpretation of the Bible, it becomes an entirely different thing altogether- it ceases to be Christianity. For if the Bible is truly the divine word of God, would it not say what it means? Would God not want to convey exactly what he meant? Why would the Bible be written in a way which is so inherently flawed? If God cannot get the facts straight, how can God be called omnipotent? And if God ceases to be omnipotent, at that moment cease to be a God by any definition of such (at least by the definition given by the Christian doctrine, describing an all-knowing, all-loving God).

Let us begin with some contradictions within the Bible itself. First off, there is the origin of Joseph, the husband of Mary. In Matthew 1:16, it says “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” In Luke 3:23, it says “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.” Was Jacob born of Heli, or Jacob? Furthermore, the multiple explanations of who was at the Empty Tomb. Matthew 28:1 says “…as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.” In Mark 16:1, the Bible says “and when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come to anoint him.” In John 20:1, “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulche.” Although the common element here is Mary Magdalene, the rest of the story has no consensus.

Here’s another very important series of events, the origin of everything. However, God couldn’t even get that straight in the Bible. In two different part of Genesis does God make the beast of the earth or the field. In Genesis 1:25 God makes the beasts of the Earth. He, in the next verse, creates man “in our image, after our likeness”. Then, in 2:18, after the 7^th day, and after God had already made beast, he, for some strange reason, makes Beast again. Genesis 2:18-19: “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help to meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam….”.

Here is another strange thing in the Bible that doesn’t add up- whether or not being wise is good. In Proverbs 4:7 it says “Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” In another part, Ecclesiastes, is says “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” So wisdom is encouraged in Proverbs, but later discouraged as it “increaseth sorrow.”

These are some fundamental contradictions in the Bible; passages which contradict other passages in the Bible itself. However, let’s look at some parts in the Bible which contradict our understanding of the world; things which obviously contradict science.

The Bible establishes that the Earth is flat. It does so in various ways. In many part’s it discusses the “ends of the Earth”, which is obviously a figure of speech by today’s standards, but held literal meaning until the 1500’s when it was discovered the Earth is indeed not flat, but a sphere. In Job 38:13 it refers to the Earth being shaken by it’s ends: “That it might take hold of the ends of the Earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?” It also says in Job 11:9 that the measurements of heaven and hell are as follows: “Their measure is longer than the Earth and broader than the sea”. It’s obvious that a sphere has no length, and this verse alludes to the “fact” that the Earth can be defined as some sort of flat shape, even though that is demonstrably untrue. Also, in Proverbs 8:27 and Isaiah 40:22, it says the Earth is a circle. Again, there is a fundamental difference between a circle, and a sphere, which the Earth is. Wouldn’t it be expected for the omnipotent God of the Bible to know the actual nature of his own Creation?

Also, in Genesis, God created a firmament which separated the water on Earth, and water in the sky. Obviously, there is no water in the sky, and it would also, again, be reasonably expected for God to know this about his own creation. Here is the passage, in Genesis 1:6-8: “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and it divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so”. Well, apparently it wasn’t so, since there are not any waters in the sky.

Another false statement propagated in the Bible is that the Earth is stationary. In Psalms 93:1 it says “…Surely the world is established so that it cannot be moved.”. It says in multiple other parts of the Bible, including Job 38:4, Job 38:6, and Samuel 2:8 that the Earth is places on foundations are pillars, which contradicts a couple things: That the Earth is not flat, and that the Earth moves.

There are some other things in the Bible that don’t add up to scientific findings. Like the fact that the Moon is not an independent light source, but a reflection of the sun; however, here is Genesis 1:16: “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night…” As mentioned again and again before: why would God lack basic understanding (being ALL-KNOWING and OMNIPOTENT) of his own Universe?

These contradictions merely don’t add up to the word of an all-knowing and omnipotent God. They add up to a flawed piece of Religious literature written by man with no divine inspiration or intervention. Not only does the Bible contradict itself, but basic scientific findings by man.

War doesn’t work. Not only overseas, but here at home as well. The War on Terrorism, the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty. One cannot merely wage war on something, and expect it to disappear. These problems are far more complex than that. The fact that this isn’t completely obvious to public officials, and even a great portion of the American Public, is startling. Let us end war.

I’ve grown to have no disdain militant atheism (or at least semi-militant). I’m just sick and tired of watching Christians in the U.S. try to make their religious beliefs into legislation, because somehow that is constitutional and that the country was built on Christian values. If these things weren’t the case, militant atheism would serve no purpose.

I’m sick of sitting in the back and shutting up, and being quiet about my atheism. What’s wrong with speaking up, engaging in debate, and even hating religion? That’s my first amendment right. As Ricky Gervais said, “You have the right to be offended, and I have the right to offend you.” No more hiding in the closet. Religion can no longer serve any purpose for humanity; no purpose that can’t be more easily and in a better fashion served by secularism, or secular causes. We live in the information age, and the decline of religion will follow with it. People will educate themselves, and fall away from 2000+ year old ideologies and practices. Let us advance as a race. Let us move on and become a better society. The shining city upon a hill cannot be achieved through religion, but the inverse.

http://www.yumasun.com/opinion/asteroids-78632-venture-space.html 

My hope’s and dreams. And the company name is simple, yet badass.  Planetary Resources Inc. I am so excited.

For years now, the status of drugs, and specifically marijuana, have been heavily debated in this country. However, the proponents of keep drugs criminalized have managed to keep them so, at the cost of thousands and thousands of lives in the drug war, and millions of dollars in government spending.

Why legalize drugs? Well, there’s a list of positive effects that would come from it, but, before I make my case let me say this: even if legalizing drugs had no benefits, isn’t it still a person’s right to do as they wish in the privacy of their own home? You’d think so, but apparently not.

The financial viability of hardcore gangs is based on the black market status of drugs. Now, I’m not saying that decriminalizing drugs would make gangs and cartels disappear, it would certainly draw them back considerably, and that’s already a step forward.

Now, some proponents of keeping drugs illegal claim that drug use would sky rocket if they were made legal, as if so many people are on the fence about drugs, and the only reason they won’t try them is because they are illegal. No one avoids drugs because they are illegal, they do so because drugs are can be very detrimental to your health. If drugs were legal however, you could funnel a lot of the tax money from drug sales into rehabilitation programs, optional ones, but still there for you, much like what Portugal has done. Now, too many people just get put in jail instead of getting actual help. PSA’s and other ways to raise public awareness could also be done. With these things being said, I think that drug use would at least stay the same, if not decline.

So, overall, there is basically no reason to keep drugs illegal, especially cannabis. People are uninformed on the effects of marijuana, and ignore history in that prohibition just doesn’t work. Let’s legalize drugs, it’s a liberty issue, and a societal improvement issue. 

I don’t understand how anyone can believe that legalizing gay marriage would hinder their own religious freedoms. I’m sorry to inform you, but tolerance and civil liberties are a two-way street. Some religious people think they are under attack, but they seem to have it pretty good. People like the Westboro Baptist Church benefit from the 1st amendment as justification to protest soldier’s funerals. Well, you can’t use the constitution to be able to keep spewing hatred, and then ignore it when you tell Gay people they can’t simply get married.

Would legalizing gay marriage effect Christians? No. They don’t NEED to marry someone of the same sex. They aren’t REQUIRED to have gay sex. However, telling people they can’t get married effects them. So if it doesn’t effect you, and it deals with someone’s liberties, just let it happen. I’m sick and tired of people using religion as an excuse for hatred and violence. I look forward to the day when religion plays no role in the public scene or in public policy. Mankind could advance so much more rapidly without the shackles of religion holding it back.

There would be a hell of a lot more people declared legally insane if religion wasn’t considered an excuse to have an imaginary friend at any age other than 6 and below.

America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography… It contributes to misogyny and violence against women. It is a contributing factor to prostitution and sex trafficking.
(Rest of article below)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election-2012/rick-santorum-declares-war-pornography-i-ban-hardcore-porn-elected-president-article-1.1040728#ixzz1pLW9eqTo

I love how ironic it is that he tries to make a correlation between porn and misogyny, yet a plenty of his policies are extremely misogynistic in nature. Well done again, Santorum. Well done again. The fact that you are a U.S. politician, let alone running for U.S. President, scares me greatly.