Monday, February 20, 2012
flight
Sail above the earth
dance around the clouds
on wings of flight
and engines of power
Wings of an angel
keep me safe in steel
give me feul
to soar forever
A dream of flight
to own the sky
sail towards the stars
found my home in heaven
Don't want it to end
my dream of flight
keep watch for the ground
To land is to end
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Unbelief IS an option.
"I didn't know unbelief was an option." I once heard this, I can't remember where, from a person who formerly believed in a religion. One of the other statements I have heard was "I didn't realize that there were people that had read my holy book or had looked at religion with an open mind and found no proof. I thought it was simply Christians (or any other religion) and people who haven't yet found god." Statements of both these kinds are from people who have had little or no contact with a person of non-belief or perhaps a person of another faith, in an open and non confrontational atmosphere.
I wanted to define Atheism and what it means or does not mean. The dictionary would say:
a·the·ism/ˈāTHēˌizəm/ Noun: The theory or belief that God does not exist. But this is not quite right. Atheism is not a "belief" that god doesn't exist, it more means that a person can find no evidence to believe in god. The difference may seem subtle but it is important. Think of Atheism as a zero point expression. A baby would be Atheist for they no more believe in god, a religion, or Santa Claus *yet*, for how could they. They can't read or speak! Atheism is akin to NOT believing in alchemy or astrology. If you do not believe in these two things, we don't have a word for it!
More often than not, a person who 'invokes' Atheism usually has a good grasp on not only his countries popular religion but also of the other minority ones as well. What is also interesting is that many studies have been conducted, where an Atheist or a person who discounts a religion will actually possess more information of that religion than the general population or even that of the layman's of that religion. I will reference the Pew study here: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1745/religious-knowledge-in-america-survey-atheists-agnostics-score-highest
This is a basic framework for Atheism but like all things, there are shades of colors. For example there are 'strong' Atheists and 'weak' Atheists. A strong one will say god is false versus a weak one will say it cannot be proved true. This is not contradictory to the above framework. A weak Atheist should not be confused with Agnosticism, a person who says god may or may not exist and may or never be proved. Now to muddy the waters a little an Atheist may say, without being an Agnostic, that one day god can be proved to be true, if the evidence proves it to be true.
Even if god were to be proved true it would not prove a specific religion was true. This gives us Deism which many of our nations forefathers were. Others were ambivalent on religion and still more were christians and catholics. Thomas Jefferson was a Deist but today when it is more sociably acceptable to invoke Atheism but still not politically so, may have called himself an Atheist, along with James Madison, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin.
"Atheists have no morals, since they don't believe in God". This is true in part. There is nothing in Atheism that says anything on morality or politically or anything besides god. You can be a communist or mad psycho killer and be atheist (which you can be part of any religion and be a psycho killer as well). More often than not what you will find along with Atheism is being a Secular Humanist. Humanism is for another topic but I can most assuredly tell you, it is not devil worship or the like. I can pull up many parts of scripture in the bible or koran, which by my western sensibilities are indeed IMMORAL and repugnant. It is undeniably interesting to find out what most religions texts find to be moral but many practitioners of said faith find to be abhorrent behavior.
I would like for you to view your faith from a critical eye, actually read your holy book, and then challenge your beliefs with debate, either in person or watch debates on youtube, Fora.tv or anywhere else. I must applaud many christians who would say, "If my faith cannot stand the test of scrutiny, I should not be believing in it."
On closing I would like for you to watch this video. A search on youtube on this video will bring up 3 different parts. Please search for them.
I wanted to define Atheism and what it means or does not mean. The dictionary would say:
a·the·ism/ˈāTHēˌizəm/ Noun: The theory or belief that God does not exist. But this is not quite right. Atheism is not a "belief" that god doesn't exist, it more means that a person can find no evidence to believe in god. The difference may seem subtle but it is important. Think of Atheism as a zero point expression. A baby would be Atheist for they no more believe in god, a religion, or Santa Claus *yet*, for how could they. They can't read or speak! Atheism is akin to NOT believing in alchemy or astrology. If you do not believe in these two things, we don't have a word for it!
More often than not, a person who 'invokes' Atheism usually has a good grasp on not only his countries popular religion but also of the other minority ones as well. What is also interesting is that many studies have been conducted, where an Atheist or a person who discounts a religion will actually possess more information of that religion than the general population or even that of the layman's of that religion. I will reference the Pew study here: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1745/religious-knowledge-in-america-survey-atheists-agnostics-score-highest
This is a basic framework for Atheism but like all things, there are shades of colors. For example there are 'strong' Atheists and 'weak' Atheists. A strong one will say god is false versus a weak one will say it cannot be proved true. This is not contradictory to the above framework. A weak Atheist should not be confused with Agnosticism, a person who says god may or may not exist and may or never be proved. Now to muddy the waters a little an Atheist may say, without being an Agnostic, that one day god can be proved to be true, if the evidence proves it to be true.
Even if god were to be proved true it would not prove a specific religion was true. This gives us Deism which many of our nations forefathers were. Others were ambivalent on religion and still more were christians and catholics. Thomas Jefferson was a Deist but today when it is more sociably acceptable to invoke Atheism but still not politically so, may have called himself an Atheist, along with James Madison, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin.
"Atheists have no morals, since they don't believe in God". This is true in part. There is nothing in Atheism that says anything on morality or politically or anything besides god. You can be a communist or mad psycho killer and be atheist (which you can be part of any religion and be a psycho killer as well). More often than not what you will find along with Atheism is being a Secular Humanist. Humanism is for another topic but I can most assuredly tell you, it is not devil worship or the like. I can pull up many parts of scripture in the bible or koran, which by my western sensibilities are indeed IMMORAL and repugnant. It is undeniably interesting to find out what most religions texts find to be moral but many practitioners of said faith find to be abhorrent behavior.
I would like for you to view your faith from a critical eye, actually read your holy book, and then challenge your beliefs with debate, either in person or watch debates on youtube, Fora.tv or anywhere else. I must applaud many christians who would say, "If my faith cannot stand the test of scrutiny, I should not be believing in it."
On closing I would like for you to watch this video. A search on youtube on this video will bring up 3 different parts. Please search for them.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Great by Tony Rogers
http://tonyrogers.bandcamp.com/track/great
Found this little nugget of a song. Normally I hate (read loath) TV commercials for many reasons but every once in awhile one shows up and a gem is to be found within. This song on the above track was featured in a Purina dog food advertisement and the sound hit me just right.
For me this is a tragedy and not a comedy. I'm fighting the notion that the song is talking about pets and will continue with the assumption we are talking about people. For me the singers voice doesn't convey bliss or contentment but a sense of what is wrong. Someone else can see what I could be but I still cannot. I feel within that I have the energy to accomplish, but have no outlet. The person who can see these things remains as a icon, to keep striving for greatness.
At the end though it seems that the feeling remains but its almost a resignation has set in. Or maybe I feel that at the end because the song ends, who's to say?
To a point I was good
Tried to do stuff that I should
Tried to do what you said
Tried to sleep in my own bed
But my bones wouldn’t rest
‘Til I put me to my test
And I remembered what you said
That I could be great
So so great
(let it right out)
Being good isn’t tough
But it’s also not enough
What’s the use enduring birth
If I can’t find what out it’s worth
I need dreams, I need plans
I need you to understand
And I remember what you said
That I could be great
So so great
I can bite off more and I can chew
We may never know what I can do
I could be great
So so great
Found this little nugget of a song. Normally I hate (read loath) TV commercials for many reasons but every once in awhile one shows up and a gem is to be found within. This song on the above track was featured in a Purina dog food advertisement and the sound hit me just right.
For me this is a tragedy and not a comedy. I'm fighting the notion that the song is talking about pets and will continue with the assumption we are talking about people. For me the singers voice doesn't convey bliss or contentment but a sense of what is wrong. Someone else can see what I could be but I still cannot. I feel within that I have the energy to accomplish, but have no outlet. The person who can see these things remains as a icon, to keep striving for greatness.
At the end though it seems that the feeling remains but its almost a resignation has set in. Or maybe I feel that at the end because the song ends, who's to say?
To a point I was good
Tried to do stuff that I should
Tried to do what you said
Tried to sleep in my own bed
But my bones wouldn’t rest
‘Til I put me to my test
And I remembered what you said
That I could be great
So so great
(let it right out)
Being good isn’t tough
But it’s also not enough
What’s the use enduring birth
If I can’t find what out it’s worth
I need dreams, I need plans
I need you to understand
And I remember what you said
That I could be great
So so great
I can bite off more and I can chew
We may never know what I can do
I could be great
So so great
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Early Bird
This image was take by me in Spokane, WA on July 19, 2011 4:18 am. It is of the Upriver Dam. This dams purpose is to provide water for a large portion of the city of Spokane. Down river, perhaps 750 ft or so, is the second portion of the facility shown here:
The last two images were also taken by me at approximately 6am. The images are free to use but please credit my blog if you use the them.
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