Nicholsclan.com : a dimension of mind...

Christians Fuel Rise of Atheism

The enclosed letter to the editor by Rev. Rick Mason puts forth an interesting idea. I'm personally unsure that the rise of fundamentalist Christians in the U.S. has caused more people to become atheists, but I do think that the rise of fundamentalism, especially in politics, has caused many of us to be much more vocal than we were before. Nonetheless, kudos to Mason for pointing out the hypocrisy that many of these radicals exhibit in their lives.

I always read, and usually agree with, Jim Evans' column. However, his recent column on the growth of atheism in this country did not reach the core reason for atheism's rise.

I believe the Christian band dc Talk stated it well in a tag line on their song "Jesus Freak": "The leading cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who confess Jesus with their mouths but deny him with their lives. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

It is not Islamic fundamentalism that is expanding the ranks of atheism in this country so much as it is Christian fundamentalism. The world finds it unbelievable that some followers of the Prince of Peace seem so often to be dedicated to violence (war and the death penalty) and hatred (racism, sexism, homophobia). They wonder at a Christian nation that is preoccupied with greed and materialism, while the Bible speaks more about God's love for the poor than about any other subject.

And speaking of the Bible, the world laughs a the lunacy of Christian leaders who claim that Scripture is an inerrant book of science, when the Bible itself never claims to be either inerrant or a science text.

I dare say that Islamic fundamentalism is likely driving many people in Arab lands into the camp of the atheists as well. But here in America, Christian fundamentalists are padding the ranks of atheism and secular humanism alike.

In the famous words of Walt Kelly, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

Rev. Rick Mason

Introvert Hell

I have discovered Introvert Hell. The mere idea that Cuddle Parties exist make every introverted bone in my body (at last count, all 206 of them) shudder in eternal terror.



Why on Earth would sane people voluntarily attend a Cuddle Party?? At what point did the idea of being in a Puppy Pile with complete strangers while dressed in your PJs become an appealing idea?? What if I don't want to Moo like a cow? If, as the creators assert, this meets a basic human need, then I must renounce my humanity. I'll be happy to join my son as a Plutonian refugee here to observe the oddities of human culture.

The Logic of Intelligent Design

Damn Statistics

Well, so much for statistics. I went to meet some friends for lunch today. They brought along a guy who used to work with us, but whom I hadn't seen in over a year. To my surprise, he's sporting a scar similar to mine, but over the other ear. It turns out that he also had an acoustic neuroma removed, and was in surgery a few weeks ahead of me. The odds of this are astronomical. There's a 1 in 100,000 chance of anyone having this, and my friends were sitting at a table with two of us. Amazing.

It turns out that he had a much rougher go of it than me. His tumor was "D" battery sized, and couldn't be removed in it's entirety. He also had a lot more difficulty getting a proper diagnosis despite having symptoms of tinnitus, facial paralysis, severe headaches, and vision problems. These were all the things I was trying to avoid by having mine removed early. And suddenly I'm pretty grateful to have been diagnosed accurately and early.

On the plus side, it was good in a way to hear that he was still suffering post-surgical balance issues, tinnitus, and headaches. It means that my recovery is somehow more normal. The doctors keep telling me that I'm doing great, but my family seems concerned that my progress isn't what it should be. At least now I have another data point to abate their fears. And someone with whom to swap stories, as aspects of the post-surgical experience are pretty hard to relate to if you haven't experienced it.

What About Bosnia?

This really doesn't require much elaboration. It does illustrate how political party alliances pollute the running of sound government though. One might even call some of this flip-flopping if one were so inclined. But it would be wrong to try and single out Republicans for this sort of partisan behavior. They just seem to be the example I ran across. I'm certain examples of similar behavior among Democrats wouldn't be too hard to dig up. What I'd personally like to see is a politician who actually had his own thoughts and ideas and could be counted on to represent them independent of how the opportunistic political winds were blowing. But I recognize I'm just fantasizing again.

Here is a short list of quotes that are quoted from republicans against Clinton going into Bosnia, seems oddly the opposite of what they say about the war in Iraq…

“You can support the troops but not the president.”–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years.”–Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

“Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?”–Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

“[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.”–Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)”

American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy.”–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy.”
–Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

“I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.”–Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

“I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today”–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”– Governor George W. Bush (R)-TX

Makes You Proud To Be an American

No Sir... YOUR OTHER RIGHT HAND!!

Speaking of Surveys...

It's not like more evidence was required that the adult U.S. population consists of way too many people who are little more than intellectual mirror foggers, but here ya go:

Six years after the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S., it seems the media still have some educational work to do. A new CBS/New York Times poll reveals that even today, 1 in 3 Americans believe that "Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."

This notion was thoroughly debunked by official sources, including those in the White House, years ago, but the myth endures. Polls have shown that belief in this untruth was a prime component in support for the attack on Iraq.

Four in 10 Republicans still hold this view, compared with 32% of Independents and 27% of Democrats.

No Adult Left Behind

A recent survey by the non-partisan First Amendment Center may be the most disturbing thing I've read in quite some time. It finds that 55% of Americans believe that our Constitution establishes a Christian nation. Further, 75% of people who self identify as evangelicals or Republicans believe the founders created a Christian nation. Minimally, the irony that we are spending blood and treasure to create a secular democracy in Iraq while believing that we ourselves do not live in such a state is a bit much to bear.

Also disturbing is that 44% believe that freedom of religion does not apply to all groups regardless of how extreme their positions are. Granted, there is a lot of interpretation left to the definition of "extreme". I suppose that many could have interpreted that to mean religions practicing otherwise illegal behavior (e.g. sacrifices), but in a post-9/11 world, you have to wonder how many respondents interpret Islam to be "extreme".

And finally, half believe that teachers should be allowed to use the bible as a factual text in history class. Not only are a majority of Americans ignorant, but they are adamant about passing that ignorance on to the next generation. How do we progress as a nation, when the majority of the population exhibits intellectual disingenuousness in spades? Let me be clear here. There exist mountains of evidence that the bible is not a factual accounting of history. Aspects are based on real events, but it's hardly a history book. Excepting a few hardcore evangelicals, even biblical scholars agree with this position. Which is not to say the bible is without value. As a philosophy or theology text, it is without equal. But that does not make it a history or science textbook. So for a person to claim that it should be used as such is to assert that this person is capable of ignoring any information, data, or evidence which does not fit his preconception of reality. This is virtually the definition of ignorance. It certainly is not a position taken by a learned person.

It is bad enough that as a nation we are ignorant. It is quite another that we seem to take pride in that fact. Embracing intellectualism does not mean that religion must be rejected. Religion plays many roles, only one of which is easing fears of the unknown. As the body of human knowledge has increased, religion has yielded that ground. Fears subsided with understanding. Solar eclipses are no longer messages from an angry god. But there are mysteries to which man will likely never know the answer. What happens when I die? Is there a greater purpose to my life? Religion fills a void in many people's lives by providing comforting answers to these quandaries. And religion plays many other valuable societal roles as well. There is no reason that it needs to be an intellectual anchor to 2000 year old understandings of history and science.

We worry as a nation that we are leaving some of our children scholastically behind. Maybe the place to start is by the adults leading the way out of the dark intellectual abyss in which we find ourselves.

Mercer for President in 2008

Have you overdosed on Obama's charisma, independent of Oprah's opinion? Does the idea of a Clinton co-presidency just seem like pre-loading Sean Hannity's cannon for him? Is John Edwards just more and better hair than you were really looking for in a world leader?

Then perhaps you should be looking to support an alternative Democratic candidate for President. May I suggest Lee L. Mercer Jr.?? Mercer's platform is simple. Well, it's short anyway... if not a tad abstruse. But minimally the statement verifies Mercer as a master of obfuscation.

My platform for President of the United States Of America is Criminal Law. It is developed from my Method of Education. I was ordered to create and or invent by the United States Army that is now intact regulating the United States Government protecting it through Military Intelligence Computerization Management a new Disipline I invented and the Administration of Criminal Law Laws across the board.

Mercer clearly comes qualified. According to his bio:

I have a doctor degree Phd. as a doctor of laws, medicine ( not practitioner of medicine, i.e. physicians, surgeons), theology, management, engineering and other subjects that are guaranteed by the United States Army in ROTC to be presented to me in a court of Law only.

He also appears to have a firm grasp on the wispy threads of reality that must wander through his feeble mind now and again. His position on the Iraq war is a paragon of lucidity.

There is some concern about the war in Iraq. I know of U.S. government evidence that the war in Iraq is illegal and it can be solved through me representing the United States Government with a peace treaty. I know there are notations in my ROTC Biography of a guarantee from Iraq through me for peace to the war in Iraq and that Mr. Hussein is innocent of his charges.

Since the current administration has rejected Baker-Hamilton, but is allegedly open to other strategies which do not actually alter the current course of events, perhaps they could deploy Mr. Mercer in advance of his shoe-in election as a special envoy to negotiate an Iraqi peace accord. I'm sure The Daily Show would sponsor the event.

But wait... don't contribute yet. Not until you've read Mercer's position on the discipline of the US government economy and the US public's economy:

There is concern about the U.S. Government Economy and the US Public’s Economy enforcements. I will enforce the U.S. Government’s Economy and the US Public’s Economy regulating its enforcements itself with its regulations pretaining to itself and according to it’s enforcements to maintain 100% effectiveness with my tools.

Makes you wanna cry, doesn't it? You gotta love a guy with 100% effective tools, and who's not afraid to deploy them to regulate self-enforcement. I just know the world will be a better place (well, at least a funnier one) if we can just rally behind Mercer and get him in office. Get those credit cards out folks. This guy's goin' all the way... somewhere.

The Anti-Decider

In stark contrast to Bush's leadership role as "The Decider", the embattled, maybe soon to be former, and intermittently guilty Senator Larry Craig has now announced that maybe he shouldn't have decided to resign either. Does this man understand the concept of a decision? Sure, maybe he was pushed to plead guilty to the sex sting. Maybe he was pushed to resign by his colleagues who wanted a little political cover and distance. But in both cases, the man rolled over and decided to accept those respective fates. Only to apparently find out later (presumably when yet other external forces acted on him) that there were options unexplored and he'd like to take a mulligan.

This man is a U.S. Senator. He is (allegedly) one of the top leaders in the country. That should imply some ability to comprehend the nuances and implications of the decision making process. That's what leaders do, they decide, and they live with the implications of their decisions.

The question at this point is not whether he committed a crime in an airport bathroom. The question is, do his actions and behaviors demonstrate the skills and competencies of a Senator? I would content they do not. Should he have to resign? No. But at this point he is an embarrassment to Congress, to the state of Idaho, and I would assume to his wife. Maybe he should be thinking about all those people and institutions he swore to represent, and do the right thing for them, not the right thing for Larry Craig.

Medical Adventure

Blogging has been very light for the last couple weeks as I've been undergoing a planned medical adventure to remove a brain tumor. The good news is that I'm out of the woods. Things look very positive and I'm healing nicely. It's good to be back online.

A couple people have asked if I will blog the experience, and the answer is, sort of. This is a pretty rare condition, and in going through this I found that other patient's web based stories of their experiences were helpful to me. In an effort to pay that favor forward, I do have an online journal which chronicles the journey from diagnosis and discovery up to today. It's written more for that audience, but aspects of it will be very familiar to my regular readers. Feel free to check that out here.