The end of the world, Indonesian intolerance of atheism, and bacon-flavored syrup

Jewish date:  14 ’Iyyar 5772 (Parashath Behar).

Today’s holidays:  Day 29 of the ‘Omer (Judaism), Pesaḥ Sheni (Judaism), Fifth Sunday of Easter (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Guiness (The Stout) (Church of the SubGenius), Feast of Saint George (Arabs in Israel).

Greetings.

I am going too long between posts again.  I am still rereading my LaVeyan Satanism books, finding rather a lot of the attitudes of Ayn Rand in there.  In the meantime, I would like to comment on a few items in the news:

1) “Miami cult who tattoo themselves with 666 say the world will END on June 30”:  I have no idea what self-proclaimed Antichrist Jose de Luis de Jesus of Growing in Grace International is thinking.  Please note that predictions of the end of the world so far have been all wrong, and I have no a priori reason to believe that De Jesus’s prediction is any different.  But I have marked the date in iCal, and if the world does end, I will be downright shocked and the first to admit he was actually right (if I still exist in some form at that point).

2) “Atheist in Indonesia Facing 11 Years in Prison for Saying 'God Doesn't Exist'”:  Indonesia has the reputation of being a fairly tolerant predominantly Muslim country.  Yet Alex Aan, an atheist who posted on Facebook his belief that God does not exist, was beaten up by an unruly mob and sentenced to 11 years in prison for his beliefs.  There is a very obvious question of why the government of Indonesia recognizes only six religions (Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism), suggesting that the government is more interested in maintaining peace between the existing religious groups rather than enforce a general tolerance for all religions.  That an atheist can be so maltreated is definitely not consistent with freedom of religion.

3) “Rabbi Approved: Kosher Bacon Syrup”:  Harold sent me a link to this, and it just struck me as weird. There is no actual bacon in the syrup.  The only thing wrong with it is mar’ith ‘ayin, that it may create the false appearance of consuming bacon.  Then again, the product is clearly labeled as bacon-flavored on the label.

Peace.

’Aharon/Aaron

Freedom of religion is not freedom from offense

Greetings.

Jewish date:  27 Tishri 5771 (Parashath Noaḥ).

Today’s holidays:  Tuesday of the Twenty-Seventh Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Pope Benedict IX (Church of the SubGenius).

Topic 1:  “Are war crimes caused by bad apples or bad barrels?”.  This article deals with the causes of war crimes, specifically whether there is specifically something wrong with the people who commit them (such as psychopathy) or whether the situation of being in a war leads to war crimes.  People often like to trace problems to a single cause (e.g., “Money is the root of all evil”), but guess what:  there is evidence that war crimes are caused by “bad apples” and “bad barrels”.  Humans are frightfully complex beings; there is no reason to assume our behavior is necessarily simple.  This should be kept in mind with dealing with the causes of evil in general:  people do things we consider wrong for all sorts of reasons, ranging from immediate gratification to greed to indifference to curiosity to zeal to jealousy to the noblest intentions.  (That last one is due to not everyone agreeing on what is evil.  What one person considers wickedness, another person may consider completely righteous.)

Image of Jim DeMint via Wikipedia

Topic 2:  “DeMint: Sexually Active Unmarried Women And Gay Teachers Should Be Barred From 
Classrooms”.  I heard about this one indirectly due to Josh.  Let me quote the start of the article:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says that even though "no one" came to his defense in 2004 after he said that gay people and unwed mothers should be banned from teaching, "everyone" quietly told him that he shouldn't back down from his position.

He also implied that not banning gay people and women who have sex before marriage from teaching would be an attack on Christians, and defended his position on banning gay teachers because he holds the same position on women who have sex outside of marriage.

"[When I said those things,] no one came to my defense," he said, the Spartanberg Herald-Journal reported. "But everyone would come to me and whisper that I shouldn't back down. They don't want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion."

Exactly what legal right or aspect of freedom of religion would be violated by being taught by a homosexual or a woman who has non-marital sex?  I freely acknowledge that Christianity (at least certain branches) is fond of neither.  And I can easily understand that a Christian (at least of the DeMintian variety) might consider such a teacher a poor role model for his/her students and thus be offended.  But permitting such people to teach is not an attack on Christianity per se; not all Christians are so opposed to homosexuals or fornicators as DeMint.  Furthermore, while there is a constitutional right in the United States to practice one’s religion, there is no right to impose one’s religion on others.  In fact, since belief in one religion frequently requires belief that something certain other people believe or do is offensive, freedom of religion effectively requires that people be allowed to do things which offend other people.  And freedom of speech, also a constitutional right, includes being able to say and do things which other people do not approve of.  So DeMint does not approve of homosexuals and fornicators teaching others?  That is his prerogative.  But freedom of religion is not a case for a ban on homosexuals and fornicators from teaching.

Topic 3:  Update on yesterday’s post “It was not just the Temple Mount which the Muslims stole”:  “India less tense after court verdict on holy site”.  The court divided the land between the Hindus and the Muslims.  The Muslims get ⅓ of the Ram Janmabhoomi/Babri Mosque site, while the Hindus get ⅔ of the site, including the place where the mosque—and previously a Hindu temple—once stood.  I call this a triumph against Islamic supremacism.  Now we get to wait to see what happens next.

Peace.

Aaron

It was not just the Temple Mount which the Muslims stole

Greetings.

Jewish date:  26 Tishri 5771 (Parashath Noaḥ).

Today’s holidays:  Feast Day of Francis of Assisi (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Buster Keaton (Church of the SubGenius).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Stop 'Corn Sugar' Now!”.

The Tishri holidays are over, and I am trying to do something worthwhile waiting to hear back from someone in order to be able to move to Israel.

Topic 1:  “Atheists, Jews top religious knowledge survey” and “Survey: Americans don't know much about religion”.  That a lot of Americans know very little about religion is unsurprising; that is why this blog exists in the first place.  That some groups (Jews, Mormons) tend to know more than average is also unsurprising, since some groups do value knowledge.  That atheists and agnostics should tend to have better than average knowledge of religion is indeed paradoxical, but there is more to belief than just knowing basic facts.  The question I want answered is how knowledge and belief are interacting.

Image of the Babri Mosque via Wikipedia

Topic 2:  “India's top court gives green light for mosque verdict” and “India braces for ruling on contested holy site”.  If you thought that the Temple Mount was the only site Muslims were fighting over with members of a different religion, think again.  These articles report on a coming legal fight over Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, which Hindus claim as the birthplace of Rama, one of the avatars of the god Vishnu.  After the Muslim conquest of India, the Muslims demolished the Hindu temple there built the Babri Mosque in 1528.  Naturally, the Hindus were not pleased at the desecration.  In 1949 idols of Rama showed up at the mosque, Hindus demanded to pray at the site, the Muslims refused, and a legal fight began.  The lawsuit apparently did not resolve quickly enough, because a Hindu mob destroyed the Babri Mosque in 1992.  While the Hindus currently have control of the site, a new legal battle is in the works.  Yes, there is a lot of politics involved in the case.  But politics has to work on feelings that people actually have, and Hindus, having been persecuted under Muslim rule (no surprise there), have had every reason to want to tear down every mosque built on one of their holy sites.  If the courts rule in favor of the Muslims, I expect Hindu politicians in India to use it as reason to rally Hindus against Muslims.

Also:  Further incidents of stealing houses of worship from other religions and converting them into mosques are listed in the Wikipedia article “Conversion of non-Muslim places of worship into mosques”.    Such behavior is not the way of a religion of peace, and, yes, the Muslims have made a lot of enemies.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor, something relevant to this week’s parashah (Torah portion): “Bill Cosby Noah”:


Peace (the genuine kind).

Aaron

No, studying science will not turn you into an atheist

Image suggested by Zemata and used due to lack of a better idea of what picture to use for this post via Wikipedia

Greetings.

Jewish date:  11 Siwan 5770 (Parashath BeHa‘alothekha).

Today’s holidays:  Monday of the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Victory over the U.S. Day (Can.) (Church of the Subgenius), Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Christianity), Feast of Hermes (Thelema).

Worthy causes of the day:  “ColorOfChange.org:  Tell Fox: "Fire John Stossel"”, “Blackwater is just the tip of the iceberg”, “Stop the Comcast-NBC Merger | Free Press”, “Stop The Drill | Oceana North America”, “American Insurance Companies: Stop Canceling Women's Policies - Take Action Today @ The Breast Cancer Site”, “Save Gulf Sea Turtles - Take Action Today @ The Rainforest Site”, “action.firedoglake.com | Sign the petition to President Obama: End plans for offshore drilling”, “Take Action: TrueMajority.org:  NO BAILOUT FOR BP”, and “MoveOn.org Political Action: No Bailouts for Big Oil”.

Topic 1:  Today’s anti-Semitism update:  “"Jew Producer" Silenced: Comedy Central Update”.  “No Nukes?” is a cogent argument why Israel should not give up its nuclear weapons.

On the theme of religious intolerance one may also add “Muhammad cartoonist in hiding after arson attack”, “Endless violence against Christian women of Kandhamal”, “Vietnam police charge six villagers over Catholic funeral”, “Beijing warns US over Falun Gong”, “Protestant clergyman arrested in Guangzhou”, “UZBEKISTAN: Large raid and almost immediate trial starts against registered church”, and “Lao Christians Expelled from Village Suffer Critical Illnesses”.  Yes, it is an ugly, intolerant world out there where some people think they can suppress other people’s beliefs out of existence, as if the existence of only one set of beliefs made them true.

Topic 2:  “From Point of Inquiry: Does Studying Science Cause Atheism, or Vice-Versa?”.  The results of someone actually studying the question, rather than just pulling an answer out of thin air, violate common expectations:  people’s basic religious beliefs, whether accepting a religion or atheism, are normally not affected by science education.  Keep in mind that science is only well-suited for dealing with what can be observed.  As such, making good scientific arguments about lies beyond our universe (such as gods) is fraught with serious problems.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor (courtesy of Jason):  Sh'koyach - The New Age Jewish Comic Strip!  And no, this is not a LOLcat image, for a change.  It is a comic strip about a shrimp who moves in with an Orthodox Jew in order to avoid being eaten.

Peace.

Aaron

Why is China opposed to “defamation of religion”?

Greetings.

Jewish date:  11 Nisan 5770 (Parashath Ṣaw).

Today’s holidays:  Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent (Roman Catholicism), Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (Greek Orthodox Christianity), Feast of Mansur al-Hallaj (Thelema).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Repower America | We got next”, “Take Action: Send Congress Your State's Invoice for Foodborne Illness.”, and “MoveOn.org Political Action: Republican Leaders: Condemn the hate”.

New cool software:  Ancient Semitic Scripts, which is a collection of fonts for Hebrew and Aramaic based on historic texts.  Mac OS X users can put the font files (things ending with “.ttf”) into the Fonts folder of the Library folder (personal or system).

Topic 1:  More anti-Semitism:  “Not the White Response” and “Muslim-Jewish tensions roil a Swedish city”.  The first article deals someone saying something outrageous and then trying to rationalize it, thus metaphorically only stuffing his foot further into his mouth.  The second deals with anti-Semitic hate crimes in Malmo, Sweden, much of them connected with Islam.

Other religious persecution:  “Pakistani Christian couple refuses to convert: husband is burnt alive, wife raped by police”, “Christians Face 1,000 Attacks in 500 Days in Karnataka, India”, “Kidnapping reflects fears of Pakistan minorities”, “Christian Woman Jailed under Pakistan’s ‘Blasphemy’ Laws”, “Islamic Extremists in Somalia Kill Church Leader, Torch Home”, “RUSSIA: Lutheran extremists?”, and “RUSSIA: Who initiated anti-Jehovah's Witness and anti-Nursi campaigns?”.

Image of state religions which really ought to include atheism via Wikipedia

Topic 2:  “UN rights council slams 'defamation of religion'”.  This article has me puzzled.  Islamic countries are infamous for promoting prohibiting “defamation of religion”, the intent being to protect Islam from criticism or condemnation, whether it be fair or not.  However, China, of all countries, supported the resolution.  China, you will recall, is an officially atheist country.  The only way I see around the discrepancy is that China wants atheism protected from defamation as a religion, though this may be pushing it.

For the record:  I am opposed to this resolution because it seeks to squelch legitimate debate.  If one cannot make decent replies to criticism but has to squelch it, then one should be questioning whether one is right in the first place.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor, based on the next major Jewish holiday, Pesaḥ (Passover):  “Tough Love” and “All Together”.

Peace and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

The writers of Caprica have the subtlety of hitting someone in the head with a sledgehammer

Greetings.

Jewish date:  23 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Mishpaṭim).

Today’s holiday:  Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Time to shame Sen. Shelby”.

Topic 1:  Episode 2 of Caprica: “Rebirth”.  The series finally moves beyond the pilot.  This episode deals largely with (1) Zoe Graystone II trying to hide from everyone except Lacy Rand that she is not an ordinary, insentient Cylon, and (2) many of the other major characters, unsurprisingly, still having severely disturbed behavior and emotions.  Most of what else happens is not especially religious in nature.  However, we do get a peak into the lives of the Soldiers of the One.  Lacy visits Sister Clarice Willow at home to discover that the latter is in a polygamous marriage—and I mean polygamous, not polygynous; there are multiple wives and husbands.  There is also the strong implication that Sister Clarice has had sex with students for (allegedly) therapeutic purposes.  I will take this as a sign that the writers are trying to make the Soldiers of the One unsympathetic.

Topic 2:  More religious intolerance (and, no, this recurring topic is not going away anytime soon):  “Constitutional Court Taking Up Indonesia's Thorny Religious Row”, “Pakistan double bombing kills Shia Muslims”, “Anti-Semitic attacks against Jews 'rise in the UK'”, “Attacks on Christians in India’s Karnataka Frequent, Furious”, and “Arrested Evangelists in Tanzania Say Muslims Colluded with Police”.  Meanwhile, Ṣippi Livni, Israel’s opposition leader, is planning to visit the UK in a direct challenge to laws there allowing for the arrest under universal jurisdiction of anyone who has allegedly committed war crimes.  There has been a threat of abuse of such laws by anti-Semites against Israelis.  I have to admire her attitude.  There is some effort at changing the law in the UK, but we yet have to see if anything substantial comes of it.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Well, this is going back”:


Peace.

Aaron

Cows and The Big Bang Theory

Greetings.

Jewish date:  25 Tishri 5770 (Parashath Bere’shith).

Today’s holiday:  Tuesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Protect Ocean Life Through a Comprehensive National Policy!” and “Act Now for Trade Justice!”

Today’s topic:  Last night a religious fallacy showed up on The Big Bang Theory, of all places.  The fallacy showed up in an argument between two characters, Sheldon and Raj.  Sheldon insisted that Hindus consider cows like gods, while Raj, a born Hindu, insists that Hindus consider cows to be gods.  Raj, of course is offended and does not accept Sheldon’s claim.  This is an illustration of the folly of insisting to someone what he/she believes; naturally Raj knows better what he believes than Sheldon.  Furthermore, Raj, being a born Hindu, by default is probably more knowledgeable about Hinduism than Sheldon.  Now, considering that Sheldon is a genius (like many of the characters on the show), he probably has the capability of learning a lot about Hinduism.  If he learns enough, he could conceivably even draw upon enough relevant source material (the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Laws of Manu, etc.) to demonstrate that Raj is incorrect.  However, simply insisting without solid references or at least some reasoning is unconvincing.

Also:  I am not clear on whether Raj or Sheldon is right.  See the Wikipedia article “Cattle in religion” for more information, including references.  The article gives the impression that at least some Hindus believe that cows are inhabited by goddesses.  Perhaps a knowledgeable Hindu will be kind enough to enlighten us.

Aaron