Pope Benedict (Is-a-dict) goes to Africa!

I am writing about an article I just read on AP (Associated Press) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090318/ap_on_re_af/af_pope_africa ) about Pope Benedict 16's first and current trip to Africa. His name should be Is-a-dict. Here is a man, telling Africans who have the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world to not use condoms, to use abstinence. Just because the last time he saw a vagina was birth does not mean everyone is cut from the same cookie mold, if it has been proven that condom use reduces the chance of HIV/AIDS infection it should be on the table for the fight against its spread. (please read: http://www.unfpa.org/hiv/programming.htm) If it has not been proven then his argument may have sustenance. Another thing that I disagree with Pope Benedict who is-a-dict is his statement of "the growing influence of superstitious religions". Is he kidding? Catholicism and its offspring of non-Catholic Christianity is not a superstitious religion? Superstitious comes from the word superstition, which is defined as a belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance. (American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition). First, according to Catechism of the Catholic Church about Holy Scripture "107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures." " Therefore, if they accept that scripture is without error this means they believe that the earth was created in six literal days; women come from a man's rib; a snake convinced two people to doom humanity, or that a donkey, and a burning bush spoke human language; the entire world was flooded, covering the mountains to drown evil (this included little babies and children, innocent animals that did not get on the because only 2 were allowed); all animals, insects, and reptile species, millions of them, rode on one boat ; language variations stem from the tower of Babel; Moses had a stick that could part a sea or turn into a snake; the Nile turned to blood; that bats are birds; food rained from the sky in the middle of a desert; people were cured by the sight of a brass serpent; the sun stood still to help Joshua win a battle, and it went backward for King Hezekiah; men survived unaided in a fiery furnace; a detached hand floated in the air and wrote on a wall; men followed a star which directed them to a particular house; Mary was a virgin, she had Jesus and became a virgin again; that a cracker and wine turns into the actual body and blood of Jesus; Jesus walked on water unaided; fish and bread magically multiplied to feed the hungry; water instantly turned into wine; mental illness is caused by demons; that their founder, Jesus, died and rose three days later; that dragons, unicorns exist; people were healed by stepping into a pool agitated by angels; a disembodied voice spoke from the sky; Jesus vanished and later materialized from thin air; people were healed by Peter's shadow; angels broke people out of jail; a fiery lake of eternal torment awaits unbelievers under the earth ... while there is life-after-death in a city which is 1,500 miles cubed that will descend to earth and fit in the country of Israel, with mansions and food, for Christians only. If this isn't superstitious what is? This is as we say "the pot calling the kettle black", in other words, it is a superstitious belief system calling another superstitious belief system "superstitious", while thinking it's beliefs are not superstitious, this is bullsh!t. What hypocrisy and arrogance! If any of what I just wrote is based on logic and reason, help me find it. Think about it....

Black Socrates

Faith is not Truth

I think to understand something you need to define it. I think Faith is not truth. Faith means to persuade, it is defined as belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony. Truth comes from the word true which means firmness, moreover, according to Word History: "The words true and tree are joined at the root, etymologically speaking. In Old English, the words looked and sounded much more alike than they do now: "tree" was treow and "true" was treowe. The first of these comes from the Germanic noun *trewam; the second, from the adjective *treuwaz. Both these Germanic words ultimately go back to an Indo-European root *deru- or *dreu-, appearing in derivatives referring to wood and, by extension, firmness. Truth may be thought of as something firm; so too can certain bonds between people, like trust, another derivative of the same root." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Dictionary dot com website. True is define as conformable to fact; in accordance with the actual state of things; correct; not false, erroneous, inaccurate, or the like; as, a true relation or narration; a true history; a declaration is true when it states the facts. Faith is a declaration that has not yet been proven. When something has been proven it is no longer faith, it becomes a fact or something true. This is why Mark Twain once stated or wrote " Faith is believing what you know ain't so", because it has not been proven true, it could be a prerequisite to truth but it could also be a prerequisite to something false. However, faith is useless if it cannot be testable, that is, I have a hypothesis, I believe or have faith that it is true, when I think of a test for my hypothesis then it moves from faith to something that is true or false. Once proven true others should be able to follow my methods and receive the same results. Faith is not truth and it is useless until it can be proven. I know some would say, that you cannot prove your going to be paid on payday, this is a true statement, they would say I have faith, I would however disagree, because I have a way of proving that I will be paid, if I have access to the accounts balances from which payment is made, I can reach a conclusion. Also, I have pass experiences of being paid and this is another form of evidence. Now compare this to faith on the religious view point, I have been told by others that Jesus is coming, they say if you believe on the Lord Jesus you will be saved, can these statements be proven? What evidence both past and present do they present? Therefore, until they provide a way to test or prove their claim, their claims are useless. Think about it...

Black Socrates

Why Pray?

Why do theist, especially the theist of Abrahamic based religions, which are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, pray? According to the American Heritage Dictionary, God is a being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions. My argument and conclusions are:

Premise: Most theist conceive of their god as omniscient.
Premise: Omniscient is defined as having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.
Inference: God already knows what a theist need, because he perceives all things.
Conclusion: Therefore, there is no need to pray to god for a need, because he knows your need because he perceives all things.

Premise: Believers pray for healing, guidance, and other needs.
Premise: God is omniscient
Inference: God does not hear prayer because he already knows
Conclusion: Therefore, god does not answer prayer.

As a result, when I see believers leaning their heads on the temple walls in Jerusalem, praying prostrated to the east, or standing up with their heads bowed and eyes close, I laugh. I have never heard a Christian (this is the religion of my upbringing) pray, "God I thank you for everything you are doing or about to do, because you already know, amen". I am 40 years old, and I have never, heard an old deacon or a minister or anyone who's leading a group prayer get up and say a prayer like this in my life. Unless, deep down inside they don't believe in an omniscient god, and I think this is really the case, because if you believe in an omniscient god, why pray? Therefore, when I see a believer praying, I must conclude their god is not omniscient. Think about it...

The Elijah Challenge

Yesterday, on my drive home I thought about god and if there is such a being as we humans define him or her, i.e. omnipotent, omniscience, and omnipresent. This led me to ask; why does this being with these attributes seems so inept and impotent: I would ask a terrorist, why do you have to act on behalf of your god, why doesn't this being do something himself or herself without the aid of the terrorist, why does a christian need to witness or proselytize on behalf of their god to an unbeliever, the best way to convince a skeptic is by evidence, why doesn't this supernatural being or supreme being do anything to authenticate his or her existence? How is it, that we humans have to act on our god(s) behalf, for example, Joyce Meyers and Creflo Dollar and others Christians have missions to feed, clothe, and built shelters in so-called developing countries, why doesn't their god do it himself to prove to these people that he exist, then his believers can start from that point. Why are there apologist like William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, Frank Turok, Norman Geissler, and Lee Strobel? Isn't this proof that their god does not exist, that he cannot prove himself directly, how is it, he always needs a middle man? The Christian will say, god gave us dominion over the earth and he watches over his word, so that it will not come back to him void, in other words, for him to go back on his declaration of giving humanity dominion is something he will not do, and therefore he does not interfere in human affairs, if the so-called death and resurrection of his son Jesus is not the biggest interference in humanity then what is? In other words, We are told that god does not interfere in human affairs but he did in Jesus, isn't this a contradiction. I think religious skeptics should have what I coin, the "Elijah challenge", if the believer's god(s) exist, the believer should be able call down fire from heaven. In 1st Kings 18 Elijah challenged the priest of Baal to prove whose god was the true god. Why don't skeptics challenge the next apologist to a fire calling contest with the believer having to prove their god(s) existence (the unbeliever does not have the burden of proof), this would end the debate. Think about it...

Reason Driven Life

A couple of months ago I was listening to a pod cast called The Reason Driven Life (this podcast no is longer podcasting) and it was a podcast based on the book by Robert M. Rice, PhD. It is a contra-book to the Rick Warren's mega-selling book called the Purpose Driven Life. I have not read neither the Purpose Driven Life nor Reason Driven Life but from what I heard that day, it confirmed something that I have been thinking for a long time. I am lucky that I was born (period). The odds of us even being conceived is astronomical, if you think about if one event in earth history prior to your conception had been different, you would not exist. Life is the cosmic lottery, we happen to be on a planet that is life supporting, evolved from a species that can type on a computer, that another of my species created. I am able to think about the past, plan for the future, and live in the present. Personally, I am lucky to be in the wealthiest country in the world, even though some of my ancestors came on slave ships, if one of them had made the decision to jump overboard, I would not be typing this sentence. I don't think there is a higher purpose, this is enough, just to be born and experience life; is good enough. Our evolution could have took another route, for example, I could be a starving child in a developing country or even here in the U.S., I could have been born with mental retardation or a rare incurable disease. I am writing these things or thinking about these things NOT to make me feel good at the expense of others, if anything it should make me strive to fight for scientific research and development that may one day find a cure, fight for prenatal care that could prevent some diseases, and strive to find solutions to end world hunger and disease, that is, to seek world peace. The chimpanzee or bonobo chimps could have been the ones who evolved the large brains and we could be the ones living in the trees in a jungle in Africa, Asia, or South America, all of these are possibilities in the realm of the potentiality inherent in matter-energy. As one of the guys said, this is heaven and looking forward to another life and missing this one is hell and is unreasonable. We should love our children, our spouses and everyone we meet. I am pro-life, in the sense of thinking about the possibilities of not being born, but what about a stillborn child, or one who is born but is swept away in a tsunami or another natural phenomenon. Life is a precious gift, I feel bad when I kill a spider or run over an ant hill with my lawn mower, however it seems that these events were determined to a certain extent, they could not have happen any other way, because if they could have then why these series of events come to this outcome, I guess it could have in the realm of potentiality but it didn't. All I can say is Wow! When I think about another life after this one and in the Christianity's afterlife, this one is going be eternal, to live forever, singing to and worshiping God, it would seem that after singing the same songs for a million years and saying the same praises another million years, I would have rather not existed any more, it would seem to be a bore after awhile to sing the same old songs and say the same old praises, no wonder Satan rebelled, he probably got tired of the bullsh!t, but I don't believe in the Judeo-Christian mythology as true factual, historical events, and if we would look at them as the myths they are, then the world would become a more rational place. Think about it, I and ever sentient being that exist, had an astronomical chance of not existing at all...I am not writing this to say this is proof of a higher power or purpose, but I am thinking that life is too precious to waste worrying about an afterlife that could or could not exist. In other words, I am going to play the hand I have than to worry about one I don't...Think about it....

Faith the ultimate Placebo

The human brain is a great mystery and phenomenon, right now if everything is working as it should, my brain is regulating my heart beat, my sugar levels in my pancreas, my digestive system, the amount of oxygen in my blood, and I am not even conscious of what else my brain is controlling, even the processes I briefly mention is not consciously controlled by me, these are all unconscious processes. I have read an interesting article in the skeptic dictionary called the placebo effect. The placebo effect is the measurable, observable, or felt improvement in health not attributable to treatment. (1) From the article there have been various theories as to why the placebo is sometimes just as effective as actual treatment. They all come down to what we perceive or think, if a person feel that the treatment is making them feel better, the brain will make it happen. This is what faith is, faith is the major placebo effect, because what a person believe not only affect their mental state it also affects their action. Religious faith is a big placebo pill. Go to your typical church especially evangelical churches, the music sets the atmosphere, it's soothing, people are literal hypnotized by the atmosphere, and so a person believe that they are going to get healed or feel better compared to the way they felt before they arrived, and so endorphins kick in and they feel better. Look at televangelists who are faith healers, they have soothing organ music playing in the background, the televangelist give people attention i.e. one on one attention, they offer suggestions of healing or health, they perceive that this is a place for getting better and they see others allegedly being healed, just like a person who visits a physician. In fact, there was a report on WUNC on health issues in eastern North Carolina in which diabetes patients who get more one on one time with a health professional will do better than those who don't, in fact in the report that aired this morning the hospitals and health clinic who are partnering together that is offering health counseling to their diabetes patients has shown a decrease in diabetes related hospitalizations compare other area health facilities that do not offer the extended health counseling. Faith is the heart of all Placebo effects this brought up another thought about a recent had a discussion with devout Christian about skepticism and about using common sense. We were discussing a church we both use to attend and how they were hung up on raising money and the pressure tactics they used on the laypeople like having lines when raising "special offering" and lines for tithes and offering, in which if you didn't pay any money, you were left sitting all by yourself, thus making the non-giver feel isolated. This person thinking was skeptical about the church leadership's motivation and I ask them why don't they use the same skepticism or critical thinking with the bible and I gave an example of how, I was listening to a speech in which I had a transcript and how even the transcription did not have word for word what the speaker said, and I asked how it is that scripture which was passed down orally is going to be perfectly transcribed? I brought up that I am like Thomas, I not going to believe unless I have some solid evidence and this person brought up the old "it's a faith thing". What is faith? Is it as Mark Twain said that “faith is believing in something you know aint true”? The bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen, but the contradiction is there is no evidence for something not seen; how can something that is not seen have evidence? Because if there is evidence for something, then their must be a way of experiencing it, because if there is no evidence there is no way I prove that the thing not seen exist. In fact evidence comes from the Latin evidentia which means “that which is obvious”. What is meant by obvious? Obvious comes from the Latin obvius “That which is in the way, presenting itself readily, commonplace, plain to see”. It seems that maybe faith is more about psychology and not reality, although psychology is a field of science about the mind and it 's function and what I mean that faith is about psychology is there is such a thing as placebos, in which people in a test show signs of wellness even though it nothing being administered and so the thinking that something is being made better releases endorphins in the brain and gives the illusion of wellness and I see faith as a placebo, which I don't have nothing against, but we should see that it is nothing more than psychology. I don’t have faith the earth will revolve around the sun there is evidence that is doing it as I write this. I know there are things that my senses cannot sense, like an atom but with the right equipment and knowledge of how to use that equipment I can see an atom even though it is invisible to the naked eye. This is how science works. Think about it...

African-American Intellectuals?

J.A. Rogers, an autodidact who was an African-American freethinker that wrote many self-published books on African-American history, wrote in From "Superman" to Man: "The slogan of the Negro devotee is: Take the world but give me Jesus, and the white man strikes an eager bargain with him." Is this true? Maybe...
The reason I say maybe is because, I recently watched Cornell West on CNN in an interview with Don Lemon and he said he is a Christian and his allegiance is with the cross first and the flag second (I have heard him say this before). I look at him and see an African-American with a PhD and whom is often called an African-American intellectual. Barack Obama went to Columbia and then Harvard, at first he went to Occidental College in California, he is on the crest of being our first African-American president. Michael Dyson is another African-American Intellectual, he is even a Baptist minister (which he has to propagate this doctrine). Therefore, they believe that a virgin became artificial inseminated by a god and had what is the founder of Christianity. They believe that he died and was rose from the dead and went back to heaven in a physical body that could survive leaving our atmosphere into a cold outer space without an astronaut suit, he could breathe and so forth and that he is coming back to get his followers and set up his kingdom. In addition, in order for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to be necessary, there had to be a fall, therefore all of these intellectuals would have to believe that two naked people listened to a talking snake without running away, and was convinced by his argument, ate the fruit and then Jesus saves that day 4000 years later! They all say they're Christians and would have to believe what I wrote. Is this the best of our African-American intellectuals? Why am I the only one who see the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as intellectually irrational, if accepted as literally true, if they don't accept story of the fall and redemption/reconciliation as literally true, then what is a metaphorical Christianity?
I want to read more historical information about W.E.B. Du bios, the great African-American intellectual of the 20th century, before I consider him my hero, but tentatively he is my hero for what he wrote 60 years ago, which is closest to the way I feel. In 1948, a priest wrote to W.E.B. Du Bois asking him whether or not he believed in God. Du Bois replied: "Answering your letter of October 3, may I say: If by `a believer in God,' you mean a belief in a person of vast power who consciously rules the universe for the good of mankind, I answer No; I cannot disprove this assumption, but I certainly see no proof to sustain such a belief, neither in History nor in my personal experience. If on the other hand you mean by 'God' a vague Force which, in some incomprehensible way, dominates all life and change, then I answer, Yes; I recognize such Force, and if you wish to call it God, I do not object." Think about it...