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Posted by on May 21, 2013 in Blog, Essays | 19 comments

Is the Imaginary Sky Daddy Stuck with the AT&T Cellphone Plan?

 

tornado-lightning

 

Does the imaginary sky daddy known to millions of human beings as “god” have lousy cell phone service?

He must.

Apparently, there’s a massive communications breakdown when natural disasters happen.  I once thought these cataclysmic horrors — rustic tribulations from the skies above and earth below causing so much destruction, pain, and death — occurred when the celestial orchestrator was away on vacation.  Or, taking a day off.  Or sleeping.  Or taking a shower.

But natural disasters happen far too often.  And, too many people are getting hurt.  Even dying.  Sky daddy can’t be on vacation all the time, can he?  He’s not calling in sick that many days.  He isn’t sleeping that much every day, otherwise he’d be a cat.  And he’s certainly not taking showers this frequently unless that how and why droughts happen.

I’ve come to the epiphany that there can be only one possible explanation, which is this:  God is stuck with the lousy AT&T’s multi-year cell phone plan.

“God, can you hear me now?”

Dead silence.

Dropped call.

How else to explain hundreds of millions of prayers spoken, whispered, and cried in the direction of the heavenly sky tower, desperate pleas phoned “his” way — benedictions from believers which are obviously falling on deaf ears?  By the way, forgive my male gender references here to this fictional character called “god.”  I actually have no idea if imaginary sky daddy actually has a penis.

Let’s discuss this irrefutable disconnect between human and deity a bit further.  Take the recent tragedy which occurred in Oklahoma.  That’s right, Oklahoma.  A nice place, to be sure.  Full of good people.  Filled with religious followers.

Sadly, many innocents died in Oklahoma earlier this week — on a Sunday, no less.  That’s the so-called “holy day.”  Perhaps the sky lord was bombarded with too many prayers on that day and his cell phone overloaded.  Like when you get that annoying recording, “All circuits are now busy, please try your call again later.”

Those who phoned in their prayers weren’t guilty.  They weren’t fags or devils deserving eternal punishment and damnation.  These were mostly White Christians.  They were innocent victims of a series of destructive tornadoes which ripped through the Midwest and killed several people.  Many more were injured.

No doubt, those people who lost so much deserve comfort and compassion.  We should do what we can to help them recover and rebuild their homes and their lives.  The same is true for victims suffering severe losses every day due to other disasters — like floods, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, diseases, or other natural manifestations of peril that destroy life and create misery.

My question for “believers” is — does praying for the survivors do any good?  And if so, how?  Please explain.

Why would the grand operator of the universe be any more amicable to prayers today, well after the killer storm took place, than say last Sunday — during the storm?

I suspect that tens of thousands of people living in Oklahoma, very good people in fact, were praying while that storm approached and passed over their heads.  They prayed hard, to be sure.  No doubt those tens of thousands of prayers were accompanied with sincerity and conviction.

Where was the great almighty during all those prayers phoned his way on Sunday?  Where was the master of all creation while little children were being whisked from their mothers arms in terror?  Where was the master of the earth while shards of broken glass were blowing through the skulls of parents?  Where was the master of destiny when terrified victims were being crushed by the weight of collapsing structures?  Please tell me — where was the beastly creation of mankind and the universe then?

Thankfully, the carnage and death have ended — at least for the moment.  But tranquility is always temporary on Planet Jesus.  Another storm is sure to happen somewhere else.  Tomorrow.  And the day after that.  And the next, and the next.  Maybe it’s a heat wave in the Sub-Sahara, or an earthquake in Turkey, or an outbreak of malaria in Indonesia, or a sinking ship off of Greenland.  Cries and screams and prayers — all utterly ignored by someone alleged to be good and holy.

Are prayers really expected to soften the heart of this almighty one?  Are we to expect sky daddy is suddenly going to be swayed into some kind of merciful intervention?  If sky daddy wasn’t willing to stop the indescribable pain of broken glass swirling through the air at 300 miles-per-hour and ripping off the skin of those in its horrifying path, are we to expect “pappa” to finally come to his senses today and start answering prayers?

This expectation isn’t only naive.  It’s lunacy.  And it deserves no respect whatsoever.  Sort of like praying and begging and then finally thanking the sadistic abuser who stops beating the wife.

Here’s the reality.  There are two options:  (1) Either the universal conductor is the meanest, sickest, most evil force imaginable, or  (2) God is a man-made myth, a fictional creation.   I chose the reasonable option.  I chose the one based on science and logic.  I opt for the second explanation.

Some have tried to explain that horrible disasters — in fact all bad things that happen — are “tests” for humanity.  Believers suggest sky daddy is putting each of us though some kind of trial and examination.  Trial by fire and the threat of death.  We’re also told these terrible events are part of what’s frequently bee termed as “God’s plan,” as if the murdering of infants and torturing innocents can somehow be excused in this sick passion play, so long as it’s directed by the old wise man sitting on a white cloud.

Sorry, but I want no part of this twisted grand plan, not do I want to be cast as an extra in some maniacal epic.

If you do chose to pray, then go ahead.  Pray on your own.  Feel free to pray with those who share your convictions.  But don’t expect me to join in the ritual based on idiotic lies and fear.  Do not ask others, those who you do not know, to engage in this global circus of delusion.  And if you do so, then be prepared to get an earful with an entirely different perspective about the value, and I suggest absurdity of prayer.

There’s absolutely nothing moral about lying to people, especially those who are vulnerable and in distress.  They don’t need to believe in sky daddy and encouraging them to do so requires that you also explain how and why the divine one created such destruction in the first place.  They do not need to believe in some imaginary god.  They need to believe in themselves, their families, their neighbors, and people they may not know who can provide tangible means of support — both physical and emotional.

Still convinced that god is good, despite the fact he ignores the pleas from those he presumably created in his own image?

If so, then please make a call for me.  Please give him a message.  Please tell sky daddy to sign up with a new cell phone carrier.  The AT&T unlimited minutes plan simply isn’t working.

Can you hear me now?

 

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Posted by on Apr 29, 2013 in Blog, Essays | 13 comments

Hell Bent on a Holy Mission

 

Dictionary Series - Religion: atheism

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Everyone’s an Atheist

We are all atheists. 

That’s right.  Every single person on earth is an atheist.

Should you doubt this, allow me to prove it to you.  Let’s conduct a short trial.

Since mankind first began walking upright, thousands of different gods have been worshiped.  From cavemen to astronauts, we’ve prayed to every conceivable object we fail to fully understand — from the sun and stars to animals and ancient myths.  Most religions faded away a long time ago.  Some belief systems were never even documented.  But somehow, hundreds of religions still survive to this day — each with a different concept of what “god” means to its followers.

For the sake of argument, let’s agree on a conservative estimate.  Let’s say that 1,000 different gods have existed since the origin of man.  The actual number is likely far greater.  But we’ll keep this simple.

Here’s my question:  Of the 1,000 gods that have been around since history began, how many were truly divine?  Go ahead.  Take your best guess.

If forced to answer, most people would likely reply — just one.  Most people believe in one god.  Not two.  Not five.  Not one hundred.  You not only reject 999 alternative gods, you perceive most religions other than your own to be ludicrous.  You might even be appalled by the practices of many of these other belief systems.

Well, welcome to the club.  By definition, you are an atheist.  You thoroughly dismiss the vast majority of mankind’s fictional gods.  Accordingly, this now makes the difference between us purely numerical.  You reject 999 gods.  I reject 1,000.

Wouldn’t this make us far more in agreement than the sum of our differences?

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Posted by on Apr 22, 2013 in Blog, Essays, Personal, Politics, Travel | 0 comments

The African Interviews (Part 1)

 

africa-map

 

Writer’s Note:  Today and tomorrow, I’ll be sharing three stories.  Each shares a connection to Africa.  They’re all deeply personal.  And until now, I’ve never written about or told any of these stories before.

 

Out of Africa

Question:  What’s the world’s second most-populous continent?

If you saw today’s headline, you probably guessed it.  The answer is Africa.

More than one-billion people live in Africa, which is more than the entire population of Europe.  There are two-and-a-half times as many Africans as North Americans.  Imagine 25 Californias.  That’s Africa.

Africa also happens to be the second-largest continent in the world.  It has one-fifth of all the land mass on earth.

There are 54 African nations and I’ll bet most people can’t pinpoint more than a small fraction of them on a map.  I had this deficiency once too (and still do), as you’re about to learn.

Indeed, of all the places on Earth, Africa is the least understood, the most misunderstood, and the littlest-known in every sense — politically, geographically, socially, culturally, and historically.

Practically no one amongst us knows anything about Africa or its people, and this includes many otherwise intelligent people who know considerably more about every other region of the world.

It seems that even among intellectuals, Africa is forgotten.

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Posted by on Apr 16, 2013 in Blog, Essays | 2 comments

One Couple’s Response to What Happened in Boston

 

kevan-garrett

Kevan and Beth Garrett

 

Yesterday’s terrifying events in Boston remind us that by witnessing death, we the survivors have an obligation to embrace and celebrate life.

We are all victims of this tragedy together, just as we were all victims of other horrible events before from our recent past.  We share the pain and suffering of strangers.  We share a sense of loss of losing people we did not know.  But we knew them well.  They could have been us.

Mere reflection is not enough.  Sometimes, thought must give way to action.  And sometimes action requires personal courage — even deviance.

But what precisely can we do?  How can anyone make a difference?  How can we bear witness such a savage act of cruelty and then take something inspirational from that experience that makes us feel better and perhaps even stronger?

Step one is to do something bold.  Perhaps even new.  Indeed, mass victimization of acts of terror stems from feeling utterly helpless to do anything about it.  Events get cancelled.  We chose not to do certain things.  We become paralyzed.  It’s as though we must accept our helpless fate and hope bad things won’t happen to us or those we love in the future.  But facing a modern world filled with random evil, we can never quite be certain of our fate, even as we draw in our next breath.

Caught in the web of a world of random dangers and legitimate fears that any of us might be next, what actions might we take that enable us to both honor those who are gone and celebrate those who remain alive and living?

I think I’ve discovered an answer.  Keven and Beth Garrett appear to have the best response to this question that I’ve heard in a long time.

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Posted by on Apr 11, 2013 in Blog, Essays, Featured, What's Left | 5 comments

Why Won’t Religion Just Leave Us Alone?

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nolan-dalla

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CLICK HERE:  How Religion Promotes Intolerance and (Gulp!) — Even Murder

 

Discussing religion is sure to incite passion from two camps, and utter indifference from another.  Some agree.  Others disagree.  Still others simply don’t care.

One fellow writer asked me recently, why bother with religion at all?  Why not just let believers pray as they do, and leave them alone?

Oh, how I wish.  If only things were that simple.  If only there was indeed such an option.

Trouble is, we don’t have that option.

We anti-theists can’t sit idly by and “let them pray.”  We can’t “leave them alone” — for a simple reason.  It is this:  Because they won’t “leave us alone.”

No.

They insist on invading every sphere of our human existence.  They demand totalitarian control over what we do, and how we think.  They demand absolute servitude, not only to their God, but to a narrow set of twisted customs and belief systems prescribed during an era when the worldwide consensus was the earth was flat.  In short, they not only invade our space and attempt to alter our consciousness, they also desire to be our lawgiver, our landlord, and — should we break their commandments — our executioner for eternal damnation.

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