…and apparently he has a beef with the Lone Ranger:
Category Archives: Religion
The Evolution of Genesis
I came across this fascinating lecture by Aron Ra on the evolution of the Book of Genesis. Enjoy!
This Land is Mine
I light of the U.N.’s recent recognition of the state of Palestine (sort of), here’s a short video on the region’s history:
Things I Never Noticed Before
So, the other day I came across instructions for an actual magic potion in the Bible the other day:
Numbers 5:11-31 (NLT)
11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.
“Suppose a man’s wife goes astray, and she is unfaithful to her husband 13 and has sex with another man, but neither her husband nor anyone else knows about it. She has defiled herself, even though there was no witness and she was not caught in the act. 14 If her husband becomes jealous and is suspicious of his wife and needs to know whether or not she has defiled herself, 15 the husband must bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring an offering of two quarts of barley flour to be presented on her behalf. Do not mix it with olive oil or frankincense, for it is a jealousy offering—an offering to prove whether or not she is guilty.
16 “The priest will then present her to stand trial before the Lord. 17 He must take some holy water in a clay jar and pour into it dust he has taken from the Tabernacle floor. 18 When the priest has presented the woman before the Lord, he must unbind her hair and place in her hands the offering of proof—the jealousy offering to determine whether her husband’s suspicions are justified. The priest will stand before her, holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse to those who are guilty. 19 The priest will then put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has had sex with you, and you have not gone astray and defiled yourself while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune from the effects of this bitter water that brings on the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray by being unfaithful to your husband, and have defiled yourself by having sex with another man—’
21 “At this point the priest must put the woman under oath by saying, ‘May the people know that the Lord’s curse is upon you when he makes you infertile, causing your womb to shrivel and your abdomen to swell. 22 Now may this water that brings the curse enter your body and cause your abdomen to swell and your womb to shrivel.’ And the woman will be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’ 23 And the priest will write these curses on a piece of leather and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings on the curse. When the water enters her body, it will cause bitter suffering if she is guilty.
25 “The priest will take the jealousy offering from the woman’s hand, lift it up before the Lord, and carry it to the altar. 26 He will take a handful of the flour as a token portion and burn it on the altar, and he will require the woman to drink the water. 27 If she has defiled herself by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings on the curse will cause bitter suffering. Her abdomen will swell and her womb will shrink, and her name will become a curse among her people. 28 But if she has not defiled herself and is pure, then she will be unharmed and will still be able to have children.
29 “This is the ritual law for dealing with suspicion. If a woman goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30 or if a man becomes jealous and is suspicious that his wife has been unfaithful, the husband must present his wife before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire ritual law to her. 31 The husband will be innocent of any guilt in this matter, but his wife will be held accountable for her sin.”
Nice. A full on magic divination ritual, with a potion, magic words, and everything, straight from God himself!
The Science of Morality
I’ve [relatively] recently come across some very interesting pieces of information regarding morality and the brain:
Philosphy Bites Podcast: Morality and the Brain (mp3)
TED Talk: Sam Harris: Science can answer moral questions
Pedophilic urges caused by brain tumor (scientific paper referred to on this link)
The more we study the brain, the more we understand how and why people make the decisions they do. As incredible as it may seem, it’s beginning to look like mankind could conceivably achieve moral perfection through technology. It might be possible to cure things like pedophilia via brain surgery, or maybe genetically engineer people to be less apt to behave in certain ways that are harmful to society. One day we might be able to simply engineer evil out of human nature.
As mentioned in Sam Harris’ TED Talk above, I think such a step would have to be predicated on a global mutual agreement on what is right and what is wrong. While that may seem an insurmountable task, it’s possible that such an agreement could eventually come about as a natural consequence of technology. By this I mean the connecting of people throughout the world via whatever the internet ends up evolving into.
Instantaneous, long-distance communication — most notably its current apex epitomized by the internet — has connected humanity in a way that was likely never even conceived of before the invention of the earliest telegraphy devices. But what if further advances in technology start to connect us all to a more intimate degree. Instead of just communicating through text, pictures, voice, and video, what if our understanding of neurobiology eventually leads us to learn how to build devices which enable us communicate to each other via thought? How cavalier would we be about starting wars when, instead of some poor faceless statistic in some foreign nation arbitrarily labelled as an “axis of evil”, our enemy’s thoughts and reasons for his behavior and beliefs could be understood on a level more personal than speech?
And perhaps the whole world would not need to come to an agreement on what constitutes right and wrong. What if it only takes “enough” people to make such an agreement and engineer morally perfect progeny? Likely a society of people so perfectly able to work as a group (and what is immorality but the antithesis of a functioning group dynamic?) would simply out-compete other cultures, in an evolutionary sense, and eventually dominate the planet.
And what would the future hold for a humanity engineered to be perfectly moral and able to do the right thing whenever realistically possible; a humanity perfectly able to work together in harmony? What would be beyond its grasp?
One more video on the science of morality: The second annual God Debate features atheist neuroscientist Sam Harris and Evangelical Christian apologist William Lane Craig as they debate the topic: “Is Good From God?”
Julia Sweeney – Letting Go of God
Julia Sweeney’s one-woman show about her life growing up Catholic, her eventual rejection of Catholicism, and her subsequent search for God:
Julia Sweeney – Letting Go of God (link goes to a list of all thirteen parts)
Or just start watching right here:
The Future
Here’s a music video for a song I heard it over XM radio while browsing through the stations one day. I was caught by the catchy beat and profound lyrics. It’s not everyday you hear a song about existential nihilism.
Can’t help but wonder ’bout what’s underneath these city streets
The wires and cables tangled up, connecting everything
And down below, we’ll find the bones of people from the past
People with dreams about the futureAnd when we die, our empty bodies turn to dust
There’ll be no pit of fire
No angels singing songs for us
There’s nothing we can say that people won’t forget someday
There’s nothing we can do that matters
And that’s okayJust when you think you’ve got it all worked out
That’s probably when they’ll put you in the ground
Just when I think I’ve got it all worked out
That’s probably when they’ll put me in the groundAin’t got much faith in God or modern-day mythology
The lies and fables, fate, and luck directing everything
So down we go like dominoes; our lives go by too fast
Nobody lives to see the futureAnd when we die, buildings and bridges left to rust
No heaven in the sky, no pearly gates on clouds and stuff
The monuments we build will crumble and decay someday
There’s nothing we can do that mattersJust when you think you’ve got it all worked out
That’s probably when they’ll put you in the ground
Just when I think I’ve got it all worked out
That’s probably when they’ll put me in the groundI wanna laugh as many times as I can before I die
I wanna love, I wanna smile; I don’t need much, I’m a simple child
I wanna laugh as many times as I can before I die
I wanna love, I wanna smile, just wanna fuck every once in a while
I just wanna fuck every once in a whileI think I’ve finally got it all worked out
Somebody call and put me in the ground
I think I’ve finally got it all worked out
Somebody call and put me in the groundCan’t help but wonder ’bout what’s underneath these city streets
The wires and cables tangled up, connecting everything
To Be
A very interesting little video exploring the concepts of “self” and how it relates to our physical nature:
Proselytizers Defeated
Here’s a little video clip of what happens when the “door-to-door” agents of a religion bite off more than they can chew:
I’ve talked with people like this (i.e. the guys on the bicycles) before. It’s very sad to see people duped into being pawns for a religion, spreading that religion’s message without really understanding what they are talking about. :-(
(BTW, these Mexican Chili Chips are Awesome! I’m on my third bag, hehe)
A Gathering of Exiles
A friend of mine, Paul Vieira, is arranging a get-together for Christians who have left organized religion (or minimized their involvement in it) in the Winnipeg area for Sunday, May 27 at 2pm. If you’re interested in attending, check out his website (link above) and send him an email (I’m abstaining from listing his address to help keep him free of spammers). A couple that he knows has offered to host the gathering.
Here’s a link for those of you who are unfamiliar with the “emerging church” movement. Be forewarned that the wikipedia article may or may not accurately reflect my views or the views of believers who had put organized religion behind them.
