Every civilization comes to an end. The great empires of the past, the Romans, the Greeks, the Incas, the Aztecs, the Han dynasty, Egypt, are all now effectively extinct. Even in recent times we have seen the collapse of great civilizations, the USSR comes to mind. We have this prejudice that our society is somehow immune from this, that we could never come to an end.
If you were to poll people in the United States what they thought was the largest threat to our civilization was I suspect you would receive answers like, global warming, the economy, war, capitalism, socialism. All are valid answers, but what if I told you that right now there is a majority of people that believe that they have a mandate from god to bring about the end times and the destruction of the world, all derived from a book written in the Iron Age? Crazy?
‘Oh, you’re talking about the religious right, well they don’t really have any real power do they?’
No more power than 9 people had on September 11, 2001.
By most recent statistics Christianity comprises a full 76% of the population of the United States. The fastest growing population among Christians in the past 7 years is what is referred to evangelical or fundamental Christians. It is the Mandate of this group to claim the United States as the “arm” or “sword” of god. They have infiltrated the military to such a degree now that they are handing out New Testament bibles in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and bullying non Christian cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. This of course is expressly forbidden in the military, but leaders, appointed by the ultra religious ex President Bush, turn a blind eye. In addition the “Faith Biased Initiative” started by Bush is still funding these groups even though we now have a regime change in the white house. This is the power of the religious right. In addition moderate Christians are extraordinarily reluctant denounce this movement.
Sound familiar? It should. Islam was accused of the same thing after 9-11.
So what’s the harm? Recent polls show 44% of Americans are confident that Jesus will return to Earth sometime in the next 50 years. What possible motivation do they or politicians that represent them have to improve our world? In fact, they like the Jews and the Muslims, want to bring about the end times, in order to facilitate their ascension to their version of heaven.
Why is it inconceivable to us that these groups won’t “grease the wheels” so to speak to further their agenda? In fact there is a great deal of evidence to show that they are in fact doing so, and at the highest level of power. In 2002, 2003, and 2004 President Bush regularly consulted with the Evangelical Christian right on Middle East policy. Think about the absurdity of that for a moment.
Religion is toxic to the world and to morality. Do we credit religion for the advances in morality in the past 500 years on subjects such as women’s rights, slavery or basic human rights? No, in fact religion has consistently drug its feet on these subjects. A recent example of this would be the Vatican edict to ban condom use in Aids ridden Africa, even though the cost of life and suffering will be enormous. No, I would argue that it was the rise of critical thought and science that improved our morality. It showed us that we are all human beings. That the outdated concept of race is false, and no people are better than others. That we are one world of trillions in an unbelievably vast universe. If anything, religion eventually bowed from pressure from the people to change their morality.
There are still over 8,000 active nuclear weapons in the world today. Each one with enough destructive force to destroy a population center the size of Los Angeles. And there are an equal number of chemical, biological or radiological weapons in existence. We have the capacity, right now, to destroy every human being on the planet, several times over.
I am not foolish enough not to recognize that every generation feels as compelled to act of what they perceive a threat to their existence. In fact the early Christian church thought jesus was returning in their life times as well. The difference is that this is the first time in human history that the people that want to bring about the end of the world have not only the power but the means to do it. You do not need to have your world view challenged at all in order to graduate from any university.
I am angry that we live in a society in which the truth cannot be spoken without offending 90% of the population. The truth is, there is no good reason to believe that the Bible, the Koran, or any other book that was dictated by a "god" in the Iron Age has any relevance upon us today. In fact the evidence shows just the opposite. We do not derive our morality from religion. The end result of belief in these systems is not only corrosive to us as a society but if gone unchecked will destroy humanity.
Make no mistake, our civilization can and will come to an end. We live in a time of unparalleled reason and unparalleled ignorance. We now have a choice. Fight back against this, as Richard Dawkins outlined in his “call to arms”. Or return to a time of superstition, ruled by fear, and quite possibly the end of our civilization.
In the next several months I shall be posting video, tools, and create a new website dedicated to helping those who wish to fight back against this in a non violent and legal way. Stay tuned……….
1 *All data within this blog comes from the 2001- 2008 study, the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), by Barry A. Kosmin, Egon Mayer, and Ariela Keysar at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. ARIS 2001-2008 makes data available for the continental U.S. and DC. If you need additional data (such as state by state information on religions) please refer to the study located at http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm
2 *All numbers are estimates from the Natural Resources Defense Council, published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, unless other references are given. If differences between active and total stockpile are known, they are given as two figures separated by a forward slash. If no specifics are known, only one figure is given. Stockpile number may not contain all intact warheads if a substantial amount of warheads are scheduled for but have not yet gone through dismantlement; not all "active" warheads are deployed at any given time. When a range of weapons is given (e.g., 0–10), it generally indicates that the estimate is being made on the amount of fissile material that has likely been produced, and the amount of fissile material needed per warhead depends on estimates of a country's proficiency at nuclear weapon design.
Showing posts with label and skeptical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label and skeptical. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Education and ignorance
Good day to you all. Today I ran across some news articles that brought up some very interesting ethical questions.
The first was a article from Scott Hurst who has written an entry for Swift. It raised the question over whether the Anti Vaxx movement should be held responsible for the deaths caused by their rhetoric. He quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. who said that "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic." And then went on to write, “This should be a warning to Jim, Jenny and the Huffington Post. If they aren't already, they certainly will be responsible for unnecessary and avoidable deaths and disabilities. By giving medical advice they are utterly unqualified to give, their liability will be clear. I hope they're ready, because someday they will be held accountable for "shouting fire".
The second story comes from CNN. It would seem that the mother of Daniel Hauser, a 13-year-old boy who is refusing treatment for his cancer, has abducted her child and is now had an arrest warrant issued for her. Daniel and his parents stopped chemotherapy after one treatment and opted for "alternative medicines," prompting Brown County authorities to intervene. The cancer is regarded as highly curable with chemotherapy and radiation, but is likely fatal without it. It is very likely that Daniel will die without treatment.
In addition to those there comes the wrenching story of Gloria Thomas, who was born in perfect health in July 2001, and died from a skin infection with malnutrition and eczema so severe that her skin broke every time her parents removed her clothes. The parents, devout doctors of Homeopathy, are standing trial in the an Australian Supreme Court charged with manslaughter by gross criminal negligence after they allegedly resisted the advice of nurses and a doctor to send her to a skin specialist.
The question is, how far should the state go to prevent the deaths caused by our stupidity? How far are we willing to let the government protect us from ourselves? Is it our right to allow our children to kill themselves, as in the case of Daniel Hauser? Is it our right to say what we want, influence people, with misleading information, knowing that it will cause death? Jenny McCarthy has been quoted as saying that it is acceptable that some children will die as we quit all vaccinations.
I do believe that an adult has the right to kill oneself if they so wish. The issue here is that the parents of children are forcing their mislead pseudoscience upon their children often killing them. And now in the case of the Anti Vaxx movement the potential for a public health hazard increases. At what point does the government step in to save the lives of innocent children and elderly who will die from diseases once completely under control?
This brings up an up an interesting question for the scientific, medical, and skeptical. Why do these people disregard the overwhelming scientific data and yet chose to put their faith in untested and often dangerous treatments that very often are fatal. It is obvious that they have lost faith in science. Perhaps we have failed as educators, as a society at teaching what science and scientific thought are. When these people use the argument that science is driven by solely profit or that we evolved from monkeys, obviously have no understanding of what the scientific method or scientific thought are.
It is time to raise the bar. I believe the solution is twofold. Not only do we need to prosecute ignorance at the expense of others but we need step up to the plate in education as well. And not just in the classroom. Every individual can make a difference, by challenging those who don’t understand to find the facts themselves. To open their minds. To seek answers. And to discover the tools that we have to do that. Science and reason.
The first was a article from Scott Hurst who has written an entry for Swift. It raised the question over whether the Anti Vaxx movement should be held responsible for the deaths caused by their rhetoric. He quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. who said that "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic." And then went on to write, “This should be a warning to Jim, Jenny and the Huffington Post. If they aren't already, they certainly will be responsible for unnecessary and avoidable deaths and disabilities. By giving medical advice they are utterly unqualified to give, their liability will be clear. I hope they're ready, because someday they will be held accountable for "shouting fire".
The second story comes from CNN. It would seem that the mother of Daniel Hauser, a 13-year-old boy who is refusing treatment for his cancer, has abducted her child and is now had an arrest warrant issued for her. Daniel and his parents stopped chemotherapy after one treatment and opted for "alternative medicines," prompting Brown County authorities to intervene. The cancer is regarded as highly curable with chemotherapy and radiation, but is likely fatal without it. It is very likely that Daniel will die without treatment.
In addition to those there comes the wrenching story of Gloria Thomas, who was born in perfect health in July 2001, and died from a skin infection with malnutrition and eczema so severe that her skin broke every time her parents removed her clothes. The parents, devout doctors of Homeopathy, are standing trial in the an Australian Supreme Court charged with manslaughter by gross criminal negligence after they allegedly resisted the advice of nurses and a doctor to send her to a skin specialist.
The question is, how far should the state go to prevent the deaths caused by our stupidity? How far are we willing to let the government protect us from ourselves? Is it our right to allow our children to kill themselves, as in the case of Daniel Hauser? Is it our right to say what we want, influence people, with misleading information, knowing that it will cause death? Jenny McCarthy has been quoted as saying that it is acceptable that some children will die as we quit all vaccinations.
I do believe that an adult has the right to kill oneself if they so wish. The issue here is that the parents of children are forcing their mislead pseudoscience upon their children often killing them. And now in the case of the Anti Vaxx movement the potential for a public health hazard increases. At what point does the government step in to save the lives of innocent children and elderly who will die from diseases once completely under control?
This brings up an up an interesting question for the scientific, medical, and skeptical. Why do these people disregard the overwhelming scientific data and yet chose to put their faith in untested and often dangerous treatments that very often are fatal. It is obvious that they have lost faith in science. Perhaps we have failed as educators, as a society at teaching what science and scientific thought are. When these people use the argument that science is driven by solely profit or that we evolved from monkeys, obviously have no understanding of what the scientific method or scientific thought are.
It is time to raise the bar. I believe the solution is twofold. Not only do we need to prosecute ignorance at the expense of others but we need step up to the plate in education as well. And not just in the classroom. Every individual can make a difference, by challenging those who don’t understand to find the facts themselves. To open their minds. To seek answers. And to discover the tools that we have to do that. Science and reason.
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