Malaysian Atheist

The 1000-Year-Old Tradition

2009-09-14T15:57:00.008+08:00

Confucius was a Chinese philosopher in ancient China, whose teachings have deeply influenced the Chinese community for over a millenia. His teachings focused primarily on filial piety and respect for elders and seniors. Until today, Confucius' teachings are evident all over Asia. The Chinese community in Malaysia is no different, especially those who've gone through the Chinese schooling system. Malaysian Chinese have fought for decades to maintain their independent schooling system against integration with the rest of Malaysia's national schools. In these Chinese schools, Confucianism is hard-wired, by default, into the system. As a result, students are automatically indoctrinated with his teachings from a young age.

A lot of Malaysian Chinese tie their cultural identity to Confucianism, so much so, that children are automatically expected to revere their parents undyingly and unquestionably. They believe that parents created the children and so, the children owe them everything. This is markedly different from Christianity where Christians believe that there is only one Father in Heaven and parents are merely conduits for God. In Heaven, you and your biological father become brothers-in-Christ. Confucianism is not a religion, but a way of life, but it's impact on society today is just as profound as that of religion, if not more.

So, what is so wrong with Confucianism? What's wrong with respecting your parents and elders? Nothing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with loving and respecting your parents. Everyone is encouraged to do that. Moreover, Confucius also taught the Golden Rule, which is universally accepted and should be practised.

What I find unacceptable about Confucianism, though, is that you must put the interests of your elders ahead of your own, with no questions asked. Why should you let your parents/elders make decisions for you if you are capable of thinking on your own? Even if your own thinking is reasonable enough, why does Confucius demand that you obey your parents? Theoretically, if they ever asked you to kill yourself, then according to Confucius, you absolutely must kill yourself! Where did Confucius get the misguided notion that all parents are rational people? Such rigid rules are not without disastrous consequences.

One example I can remember is from Malcolm Gladwell's book 'Outliers' about Korean pilots. In August 6, 1997, Korean Air Flight 801 crashed in Guam, killing 228 people. Prior to this, Korean Air also suffered unusually high rate of crashes. Going through the plane's blackbox, investigators found that the Flight 801 Captain, who was fatigued throughout the flight, had blundered. The First Officer and Flight Engineer were both uncomfortable with their Captain's decision, but because of their Confucianist culture, were not able to strongly voice their objections to him. Instead, they had to remain subservient and politely hinted on potential problems. The result was a tragedy. Confucianism crashes planes!

The truth is, everyone deserves respect regardless of their status/position. The young must respect the elderly and likewise, the elderly must respect the young. We cannot have one-sided rules where someone is always right because of their higher status. The fact is, nobody is perfect. The elderly can be just as flawed and misinformed as the young can. It is imperative that we respect each individual's freedom. Also, one doesn't need to observe such archaic rules in order that one can be identified as a Chinese. It is much more important to be a rational person first, and a Chinese, second.

Technorati tags Confucianism, Malaysia , Chinese

Populii - Speak your mind!

2009-07-21T11:30:00.007+08:00

Hi folks! Here's a new website made by a friend of mine. It's called Populii (http://www.populii.com). In case you're wondering, the name comes from populi, as in, vox populi which is latin for 'voice of the people'. I guess it's quite appropriate since the site is about Malaysian news.

Populii crawls several of Malaysia's English dailies like The Star, New Straits Times, The Edge, Sun, Malay Mail and more. So you get all the news in one place. You could probably do the same thing using an RSS reader, right? But there's more. The news is ordered by popularity, so you can always see what the popular news of the day are. If you're too busy to read all the news, you can just to scan through the Popular page to keep yourself up-to-date. See something interesting, you can click on the title and it'll bring you to the news site for the full news.

And since it's all about voice, you can post comments on any news article you find interesting. Hmmm, sounds too good to be true! You ever sometimes get really worked up when you read some piece of sloppy reporting?? Like the journalist/editor is giving a very biased, pro-government or racist slant and you just want to give him/her a piece of your mind? Yeah, now you can... on Populii.

Oh, and another feature that I like is the Search, especially the Timeline feature. You can key in a phrase, say 'Wimbledon' and do a Timeline search. The results are presented in a timeline and you can see all the reported events in chronological order. Pretty neat.

This site is still very new, so do join me there. http://www.populii.com/user.php?name=meursault06

Technorati tags populii, malaysian news, voices

Malaysian Atheist moves to a New Place

2009-03-04T21:27:00.006+08:00

About a month ago, my girlfriend and I moved to a new place. It's a mid-sized, three-room apartment near the city. Needless to say, we were very thrilled to finally have our own home.

Right before we got the keys to the new place, my girlfriend's Mom told her about the customary practice of throwing rice, tea leaves and salt around the house to ward off evil spirits before moving in. Apparently you are to mix the uncooked rice with tea leaves and salt, and spread them all over the house, especially the corners as that's where the ghosts and spirits love to hide. You need to leave the mess overnight before sweeping. That's the recipe for chasing off evil spirits (while at the same time inviting ants and bugs into the house).

I can't help but wonder how this practice came about. I'm just not convinced that evil spirits are afraid of rice, tea leaves and salt. After all, I don't see people performing exorcisms using rice, tea leaves and salt. What if I'm out of tea leaves? Can I substitute it with coffee powder? How about add a dash of pepper, to make the evil spirits sneeze while they're tumbling out the door?

Could it be just a hoax started by a greedy grocer, eager to sell more rice, tea leaves and salt? Or could it be a joke started by a jealous brother? Anyway, I don't know how it got started, but it sort of reminded me of a story I read before:

A child was watching her mother cook a roast. The mother cut off both ends of the meat and placed it in a big pot for cooking. When the child asked, "Why do you cut off each end?" the mother replied, "I do it because my mother did it that way, so it must make the meat taste better." When the child asked, "Why does it make the meat taste better?" the mother replied, "I don't know, go ask your grandmother." So the child asked the grandmother and she replied, "I do because my mother did it that way, so go ask your great-grandmother." When the child asked the great-grandmother why she cut off each end of the meat, her great-grandmother replied, "Because my pot is too small!"

Often, we find that some of the things we do, we do for no good reason at all, other than because that's how it's always been done. Whether it's cutting the ends of a roast or throwing rice, tea leaves and salt when moving to a new house, or doing the rain dance, this process of non-thinking can eventually lead us to do actions that make no difference whatsoever apart from the false feeling of security. I'd rather not have any ants and bugs around, thank you very much!

Technorati tags superstition, new house , spirits

FSM Meal

2008-07-29T23:22:00.010+08:00

My girlfriend and I cooked up a Pastafarian meal for dinner. It's really simple and delicious. Here's how we did it:

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
2 tomatoes
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
500g spaghetti
8 beef meat balls
1 can whole mushroom
1 tsp margarine (salt reduced)
1 bottle Prego pasta sauce (onion & garlic)
40g Grozette cheese powder

You can substitute the olive oil with regular cooking oil. You can use instant noodles instead of spaghetti. You can add chicken or shrimps if you don't like beef. You can add grated parmesan for a cheesier taste.

Method:
Heat oil and fry the meatballs till they are brown. Cook the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes over low heat. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and stirfry for 2 minutes. After that add the pasta sauce and some water. Cover and simmer. Add the cheese and the sauce is done!

Cook the spaghetti in a pot of boiling water for approximately 15 minutes. Drain the spaghetti and place them in a bowl. Add some margarine to prevent spaghetti from becoming sticky.

Serve the spaghetti and meatballs on a plate. Pour the pasta sauce and there you go! Serve with Kickapoo Joy Juice.

Don't forget to give thanks to the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster. May He bless this meal with His Noodly Appendage. RAmen!

Technorati tags FSM, PriceChat , recipe

Step down-Lah!

2008-03-09T17:29:00.004+08:00

PM Abdullah Badawi needs to resign. The people no longer want you to lead this country. We have had enough of your lies and your flip-flopping. In the past four years, you have done untold damage to the economy, society and the administration of this country. You have failed to deliver on your pledges of transparency and accountability. Under your watch, corruption, crime and cost of living have sky-rocketted. If not for the unfair use of the government-controlled media, public funds, phantom voters, postal votes, vote-buying and etc. by the government machinery throughout this election, Barisan National might not even win a simple majority. It is time to go, Abdullah. If you stay on, you will be a laughing stock amongst the national leaders all over the world... kinda like President Bush who's the President of Africa!

The people have spoken!

2008-03-09T09:19:00.004+08:00

Congratulations my fellow Malaysians! The people have spoken! We've shown that we're not easily fooled by PM Abdullah Badawi's lies and empty promises. With yesterday's massive defeat, Badawi will confirm his status in Malaysia Book of Records as the worst prime minister the country has ever had. We've also shown that we will not accept leaders who have overstayed their welcome, and who instead of serving the people, are subservient to UMNO's wishes.

I for one, look forward to the new state governments of DAP, PAS and PKR. I'm also happy to see almost 40% Parliamentary seats taken by the Opposition. Monkeys are no longer allowed into the august House of Parliament. A lot of work is needed to make things right. We need to free the mass media from government control. Even as the election results were streaming in last night, the media was still in denial mode - not covering the (newsworthy) huge Opposition wins in northern states, but merely reporting on the southern and East Malaysian states where the national front is very strong. Guys, your boss, Information Minister Zam is out! You'd better start serving the people instead of your political masters.

Then there's the local universities. We need to sack all those useless chancellors and lecturers and replace them with qualified, world-class academicians. Also the Police, government agencies and the judiciary will need to see massive reforms. Some will need to be hauled to court, trialed and jailed for corruption and misuse of power.

Underperforming GLCs and business monopolies need to be dismantled and competition need to be encouraged. I expect foreign investors will flee the country in this time of reform and uncertainty. Our country will be undergoing massive albeit necessary change. But I'm confident with this new bunch of leaders we've elected, we will be steered in the right direction and pretty soon, the foreign investors will return to Malaysia.

On the religious front, I hope this means the end of Islamisation of the country. We are a multiracial, multireligious country, and so it is imperative that we tolerate each other's culture and beliefs (and disbeliefs). There is no other way to it. We must practise tolerance if we're going to live with each other peacefully.

Once again, congratulations to all Malaysians. I look forward to this exciting, new beginning.

Technorati tags Malaysia, elections , result

Famous Atheists: Steve Wozniak

2007-09-01T15:24:00.000+08:00

I haven't written about any famous atheists for a while. Not that there aren't any worthy candidates to write about, but I didn't want to write about anyone until I know more about them - their achievements, their philosophy, their attitudes toward life, etc.

So, not too long ago, I finally read Steve Wozniak's autobiography - iWoz. It was an interesting read, but I think if you are not an electronics/computer engineer you'll find some parts difficult to understand.

We all know Woz as Apple's co-founder. He is the guy who single-handedly built the Apple I and II computers, which are the predecessors to all modern personal computers. So we really owe what we have today, to his technical wizardry.

After reading the book, you sense that Woz is really just a simple, fun-loving and honest guy. He's the guy with a big heart. For example, he wrote about how, in the early days, he felt everyone who contributed to Apple's success (even those who're not employees) should be allowed to own shares in the company and so he sold them his own shares really cheap. He also wrote about how he and Steve Jobs continued to become friends before they started Apple, even though he found out Steve cheated him off some money on some designs he did for Steve. Imagine, if Woz had gotten angry and never spoke to Steve again, there would be no Apple, no iMacs, no iPods and no iPhones!

On a personal level, Woz says he's been an atheist all his life. A lot of it has to do with his non-religious upbringing. Woz advocates thinking independently and differently.

Technorati tags iWoz, atheist , Steve Wozniak

Reboot

2007-08-11T16:43:00.000+08:00

Sorry, I haven't posted anything here since end of May. My last post was kinda depressing, people must've thought I killed myself after that. Sorry to disappoint the religious fundies, but I'm still alive. I've just been pretty busy (with work) and expect to remain busy till the end of the year, so I don't think I'll be blogging too much.

Also, the present situation in this country, under the (non-)leadership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is extremely hostile towards dissident blogs. I'm sure many have heard of the arrest of opposition blogger Nathaniel Tan, the police report against Raja Petra and most recently, attempts to charge a Malaysian Chinese student in Taiwan. Clearly in Malaysia, the government doesn't want you to have an opinion. The government doesn't want you to ask questions. The government doesn't want you to think on your own. So, now isn't quite a good time to be expressing my opinions quite so openly, though I will be expressing my opinion at the coming polls!!

In other news, I really feel for the group of South Koreans who were captured by the Talibans. I really, really despise the Talibans. Even before 9/11, I've read and warned people about them. They represent the worst of religion. I don't know what kind of religion can justify murdering a human being and taking people hostage? But the Koreans themselves need to shoulder the blame. No doubt, they had noble intentions to help the Afghans (and spread the gospel, perhaps?) but it is also extremely foolish of them to be walking into the lions' den. Just because, in the Bible, God sent an angel to protect Daniel from the lions, doesn't mean that in real life, an angel will come and stop the Talibans. There are no angels, just as there are not fairies and unicorns. But there are plenty of misguided, militant and unsound religious fundamentalists out there.

So, I'll try my best to blog when I have time or whenever something interesting comes along. Hope you all will drop by from time to time.

Do not despair!

2007-05-30T22:24:00.000+08:00

Have you ever been through one of those days where at the end of it, you wished you hadn't gotten out of bed that morning, because so many bad things happened to you throughout the day? I'm sure we all have had those before. So far, I've been having bad days everyday this week!

On Monday, I dropped my iPod and damaged the screen. Everything else is working fine, but now, half the screen is gone. Then in the evening, some unscrupulous thieves stole some parts off my car. I discovered it Tuesday morning. I didn't think those parts are worth much money but they had to take it anyway. In the evening, I noticed one of the fog lamps on my car is missing too. I'm not sure if someone took them or they fell off. Then during soccer, I busted my left big toe and hurt my right foot. My toe was bleeding under the toenail, and it'll fall off soon while I'd have to quit soccer for a while for my foot to heal. All this while, work was piling up at the office, all mundane and uninteresting work. Meanwhile, the local stock market has been heading south and I'm seeing my portfolio shrink.

Ok, perhaps I'm allowing my emotions to get the better of me, but that is only human. We are not robots; we can't live on cold logic alone. In such a situation, one can't help but feel that everything just isn't going right. You just don't know what bad thing will hit you next. The irrational part of me fills me with dread but the rational part of me knows that this is just the gambler's fallacy, which is the incorrect belief that certain, independent events are more likely to occur because it has happened recently.

In a way, it does explain why in such situations, so many people turn to religion. When people get hit by a run of bad luck, they feel helpless and really need to believe that somewhere out there, there is a god or a deity who is in control. If you worship the deity or pray to it or give offerings, the deity might end your run of bad luck. It explains why some people are all superstitious - they wear charms and amulets to ward of the bad luck. If we apply Pascal's reasoning:

1. You pray/give offering/wear amulet to improve your luck

If God exists, He hears you: your luck improves.

If God doesn't exist, your loss is nothing.

2. You don't bother to pray/give offering/wear amulet

If God exists, you've pissed Him off for not being penitent: your luck remains the same or worsens.
If God doesn't exist, you lose nothing and might not gain anything.

The only prudent action here would be to pray/give offering/wear amulet or do something to change your luck. So what if you are an atheist? You don't believe in prayer, you don't believe in amulets, you don't believe there is any God out there who can help you. So what CAN you do?

To be honest, I don't have the answer. Whoever said being an atheist is easy? The rational thing to do would be see the events as independent and unrelated. Then, one would need to think positively, talk to someone, write about your worries, or do something pleasurable to take your mind off things. Remember, do not despair.

Technorati tags bad day, gambler's fallacy , motivational

Rich Pastor, Poor Pastor?

2007-05-19T07:35:00.000+08:00

I've heard of young pastor. I've heard of lady pastor. Heck, I've even heard of gay pastor. But rich pastor??? Now, that is something to think about.

Recently, in the US, a church bought its pastor a $3.6 million mansion. Of course, the mansion belongs to the church, not the pastor, but being pastor of a big church, like being CEO of a company, one is accorded many perks including an opulent house, fancy cars, an expense account. Strange isn't it? In the olden days, pastors and church-workers lead a simple lifestyle. The church provides them with food, accommodation, transport and a meager salary. They are content with their simple lives as they serve God to build treasures in heaven. That's why we have the idiom "poor as a church mouse" - because church mice are traditionally poor.

Nowadays, however, church mice are not poor anymore. As the church-going population grows, more and more people give a portion of their income as offering to the church. Seeing that they have a captive market, the church mice also learned to write 'church' books, record 'church' music, make 'church' TV programs. That would generate more money, attract more people to their church, and even more people will offer money to the church and so on. The rewards just keep compounding! These days, the church mice can afford the best cheese, the best cars and the biggest mansions. They say it is God's blessing, but really, it is just simple economics.

The question is, "Is there anything wrong with pastors being rich?" Since they say that they believe everything in the Bible, let's see what the Bible says. In Matthew chapter 19:

16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself."
20"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

So that is what Jesus said. Jesus, mind you. The Son of God, not some lesser prophet from the Old Testament! The lumbering camel will have an easier time passing through the eye of a needle that the rich pastor entering Heaven.

Let's see what the church says. They say that God wants His followers to do well, be healthy and have rewards. So effectively they have abandoned Matthew Chapter 19 in favour of some other obscure verse. If you think about it, they're actually more interested in securing health and wealth in this present life than securing treasures in Heaven, aren't they?

Anyway, their wealth is their private property. It really isn't any of my business. In fact, I'd recommend that young people seeking a career path should seriously consider going into ministry. Remember, in church, you have a captive audience who'll buy anything you sell. And, they'll feel guilty if they didn't give you 10% of their income each month! Theoretically, it doesn't even matter whether you believe in Christ or not. You just have to say the right words, do the right actions, fake it long enough and not get caught. Then you can enjoy all the financial rewards from the church.

My point, though, is that Christians are guilty of picking and choosing which Bible verses to follow and which to ignore. Done this way, you can simply justify anything, including killing another human being. Your religion then becomes, not what God says, but what you say.

Technorati tags wealth and health, religion , eternal life

Illogical faith & Eternal life

2007-05-09T21:46:00.000+08:00

Here's an interesting post from Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) over at Malaysia Today. The article is about Malaysian political parties, but there's an interesting bit that is relevant here:

Malays are both fanatically nationalistic as well as fanatically religious. Umno serves one and PAS the other, so both have a fantastic captive market. While nationalism can be explained, argued and debated using logic, religion does not need any convincing. Religion, as Mahathir said, is based on faith, and faith has nothing to do with logic. “How do you defeat faith?” asked Mahathir. Faith does not require logic so it is most difficult to beat PAS which draws its support from ‘illogical’ faith.

Humankind needs religion. It finds comfort in knowing that the end of life does not mean the end of everything but just the beginning of permanency. Humankind would be very upset if it thought that its time on earth is temporary and once life ends then that would be it. What a total waste of time, especially if you have been good all your life. So, humankind needs an assurance that life here on earth may be temporary, but the next life is permanent. But what happens to you in the next life would all depend on how you lead your life here on earth.

RPK is a fine blogger and I enjoy his writings, but I see some problems with the above reasoning. Firstly, he wrote that people need religion because it is comforting to believe that there is life after death. Well, just because it is comforting doesn't make it TRUE. Richard Dawkins has brought this point up many, many times. A person with cancer may find it comforting if the doctor lied to him about the fact that he has cancer, but that doesn't make it true. The cancer is there whether he acknowledges it or not.

Secondly, RPK says your next life is determined by whether or not you've been good here on earth. I think Christians will disagree with him because they believe they're saved by God's grace, not by their deeds. Anyway, I don't want to go into religious dogma here, but it seems RPK is suggesting that people are good and behave decently in order to gain favour from God. Doesn't that make theists seem like hypocrites? Surely there are much better, earthly reasons for being good and kind to others. Lots of atheists are nice and kind.

Finally, RPK is suggesting that life after death is permanent and that is a good thing. I've always wondered about this and I'd like to ask theists if they are absolutely sure that eternal life is a good thing? I wonder, once in heaven, if you get tired of living eternally, could you choose to end your eternal life? Can you even imagine what it's like to live forever? I truly suspect that in heaven, there will be lots and lots of cases of suicide. That's because eternal life has no meaning!

Logotherapy is a form of psychotherapy, developed by Viktor Frankl, that focuses on a "will to meaning". In a nutshell, logotherapy says that life has meaning under all circumstances (even the most miserable ones) and our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life. Imagine if you know that you will live on forever, how will you find meaning in your life? You will not be able to assign value or meaning to any experiences of love, kindness, despair etc. because you will be experiencing them for all eternity. Pretty soon you'll realise that this gift of eternal life is just as bad as the curse of eternal damnation. Let's hope they have damn good psychiatrists in heaven!

I know, theists will tell me that the concept of heaven is beyond the comprehension of our mortal minds. Well, they just don't want to admit that they're as unsure as I am about what heaven and eternal life would be like. I can't accept their explanation. I say that life is much more meaningful because it is temporary! Richard Feynman's last words were "I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring." We can certainly imply that Richard also meant he'd hate to live twice (or live forever).

"How do you defeat faith?" asked Mahathir. The only way is through reason.

Technorati tags Malaysia, religion , eternal life

Hindu family broken up, wife accused of being a Muslim

2007-04-18T10:58:00.000+08:00

The ugly face of religion has surfaced again in Malaysia. You can get the details at Lim Kit Siang's blog. The family of an Indian Hindu rubber-tapper, Marimuthu s/o Periasamy has been broken up by the Selangor state Islamic Department (JAIS) who says that his wife is a Muslim because she was adopted by an Indian Muslim family when she was young. His wife though, has never practised Islam but practises Hinduism instead. The Islamic department intends to separate the family and place the wife and children in a rehabilitation center.

This is simply outrageous. A rehabilitation center? Do all Hindus have some kind of disease that they need to be cured of? Does it make sense for the state to break a family up and cause trauma and distress just to uphold some outdated and intolerant religious law? Is there religious freedom in Malaysia anymore?

The sad truth is that in Malaysia, Islam has precedence over all other religions. If you are a Christian, Hindu or Buddhist, you are free to practise or renounce your religion, but if you or your spouse or your parents have the slightest involvement with Islam, you lose your civil religious rights. Any disputes will be handled by the Islamic court under Islamic laws instead of the civil court.

Anyway, I'm not here to debate the law, but I'm more concerned with issues of ethics. We should not see this as an Islamic issue and therefore it should be governed by a different set of rules. Why should Muslims be treated any differently from other religions? The universal declaration of human rights says that everyone is born free and equal without distinctions of any kind such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

If a Hindu and a Christian can live together as husband and wife, why can't a Hindu and a Muslim be allowed to live together? And if a Christian can choose to become a Muslim, why can't a Muslim become a Christian? Why does individual freedom of choice disappear whenever a particular religion is involved? Why should the rules be different simply because you believe in Prophet Muhammad instead of Jesus Christ or Lord Shiva? Also, why does the Islamic Department need to resort to such aggressive tactics? Aren't there less distressful ways to handle this case? Isn't religion supposed to promote peace and harmony, not wreck havoc?

I know many rational, moderate, Malaysian Muslims will sympathize with Mr. Marimuthu's plight and feel that the family should not be broken up over weak allegations of his wife's religion. It just goes against our innate sense of human dignity and rights. The problem is, they are not doing enough to oppose the state religious department. By keeping silent, they are in fact protecting these fundamentalists actions. Quoting Richard Dawkins, "The time has come for people of reason to say: enough is enough."

Technorati tags Malaysia, religious policing, Islam

The Trouble with Atheism

2007-04-12T23:39:00.000+08:00

Not too long ago, I watched an interesting documentary on Google Video called "The Trouble with Atheism" by Ron Liddle. You can catch it here.

This is a UK production and it features some famous and learned men like Prof. Richard Dawkins, Prof. Peter Atkins, Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne and Rev Dr. Alistair McGrath. The presenter, Ron Liddle, isn't trying to argue that atheism is wrong and Christianity is right, but he seems to be advocating fence-sitting. Perhaps he's pro-agnosticism?

The subject of belief and disbelief is always interesting but I find that the documentary failed to present any strong arguments. One of his points is that the world will not be a better place if everyone became atheists. He tried to show how some atheists are arrogant and as intolerable as religious bigots. I think that is unfair because atheism has never claimed that it can and will solve the world's problems. Atheism isn't a faith, rather it is a lack of faith.

A major part of the documentary was used to attack atheism's over-reliance on science. He argued that since science cannot prove or disprove the existence of God, it is a matter of personal choice whether to become a believer or a disbeliever. This is very true, but it does imply that before you decide whether or not to believe in God, you first need to read both the scientific and religious texts. So much science. So many religions. How many people actually do that? Most people do just the opposite. They first decide whether they believe or not and then they let their decision determine the books they read. I remember Sam Harris mentioned that over 90% of the members of the National Academy of Science are atheists while 90% of the US population are theists which reinforces my point that majority of people don't know enough science to make an informed decision about their personal belief in God.

Next of course, you can't talk about atheism without mentioning Darwinism. Ron Liddle says atheists are pushing Darwinism too far, when they're using it to explain everything, for example, using memes to explain morality and the survival of religion (He should first read The Selfish Gene). He says that one day in the not too distant future, Darwin's theories will be comprehensively rewritten and accepted by the scientific community as such i.e. a paradigme shift. Honestly, I don't quite get his point here. It really doesn't matter if Darwin's theories get rewritten, as long as they are backed by evidence. You certainly can't say the same about religion. Today, we see so many religious sects and denominations just because some people had divine 'visions'.

Finally, Ron Liddle talked about the history of eugenics and its links to Darwinism. Today, we don't actively engage in eugenic practices because we have ethics. It's true that science doesn't offer us any moral guidance so atheists are looking to derive moral codes based on reason and those moral codes may change with time. Again, I don't quite get his point because I don't see this as a problem with atheism. I don't believe in an absolute moral code. Don't forget that atheism hasn't been around that long, compared to the religions of the world. Despite some hiccups, our moral code does improve gradually. Just look at racism, feminism and gay rights.

So, at the end of the day, fence-sitting is fine... but Ron, fence-sitting won't solve the world's problems either!

Technorati tags The Trouble with Atheism, documentary

Malaysian bloggers to register?

2007-04-08T18:05:00.000+08:00

This is getting ridiculous. I'm sure by now, many have heard that the Malaysian government is thinking of registering bloggers in order to stop them from spreading 'lies' about the government.

As you already know, the TV stations, newspapers and radio are all controlled by the Ministry of Information, so it is no surprise that they are all pro-government and seldom report anything really news-worthy. They will always tell you the economy is doing well, and our leaders are the smartest in the whole world. Many concerned Malaysians, especially the young and middle-aged turn to the Internet for the real news. Already, Malaysian bloggers have uncovered many skeletons in the government's closet such as numerous corruption allegations involving high-profile ministers.

The bumbling government doesn't know how to react. They started by suing two prominent Malaysian bloggers. And now they want to register all bloggers in the country. Personally, I find such actions absolutely disgusting. If blogs indeed tell lies, as the government claims, it wouldn't be difficult for the government to dispel them. Just show Malaysians the evidence and we'll believe you. You cannot hope to silence the people. You cannot hope to get away by sweeping everything under the carpet.

I hope all Malaysians feel as disgusted with this oppression. Let your voice of disapproval be heard in the forth-coming general elections. Don't let the ruling government bully you and strip you of your rights.

Technorati tags Malaysia, government, oppression

Richard Dawkins: Author of the Year

2007-04-04T23:35:00.000+08:00

Congratulations Prof. Richard Dawkins for winning the Readers' Digest Author of the Year at the recent British Book Awards. His book The God Delusion was also nominated for the Borders Book of the Year award.

A Malaysian ghost story

2007-03-23T09:55:00.001+08:00

I was having lunch with some friends the other day, when our conversation inadvertently turned to ghosts. My friends started telling me about their personal encounters with the paranormal. The most interesting one was my friend's own experience at Genting Ria Apartments, over at the Genting hilltop. Supposedly, those apartments are famous for being haunted.

Several years ago, he went there with some friends and they stayed at the Ria apartments. That night, he slept alone on the living room couch while his friends took the bedrooms. He then had a strange dream. A Chinese couple was there in the living room with him. They were trying to tell him something but they were speaking frantically in Cantonese. My friend can't speak Cantonese, so he was trying to tell them that he couldn't understand them. That itself is a bit unusual because when you dream, usually everyone in your dream is speaking a language you can understand. The next day, on the way home, his car brakes suddenly stopped working while going downhill. Miraculously, he was able to use the handbrake and steered the car safely to the nearest repair shop. Later when they developed the photos they took, all the photos taken in the apartment turned out funny in that, they had some bright, wavy imprints on them. So, my friend reasoned that the couple in his dream were asking for his help, but since he couldn't help them, they killed his brakes. Spooky...

Now, being an atheist does not mean one automatically does not believe in ghosts and spirits. By definition, atheists do not believe in God or gods but ghosts and spirits hardly qualify as gods. Nevertheless, I'm skeptical by nature, so I didn't quite know what to make of my friends' stories. I also have never experienced anything of this sort personally. Let me first say, though, that I know my friend didn't make up the story. There is absolutely no reason for him to cook up such a tale. Secondly, his is not the only case at the apartments. Many other people have experienced hauntings and disturbances there. From a broader perspective, every culture around the world has its share of ghost stories. Can that many people be wrong?

I suppose if you believe in ghosts, it means that you also believe in the spirit or the soul, and hence, you believe there is life after death. The soul is something that science cannot explain or detect. Life after death too, is a concept foreign to science. If it exists, it would mean that the purpose of life is the actualization of the spirit rather than the Darwinian purpose of propagating genes. If you do not gratify your spirit in life, you remain as a ghost in death. Then you realise there must be a greater being who transcends life and death and then bada bing, bada boom you end up believing in God or gods. So I guess, if one is an atheist, one also ought not to believe in ghosts and spirits.

Well, as for my friend's story, I think it's possible that the three events - the dream, the car and the photos - are totally unrelated. People have dreams all the time, cars break down all the time and photos turn out wrong all the time. Coincidences do happen and when they do, people tend to link the events together. If you ask a bomoh, definitely the bomoh will tell you that it's caused by evil spirits because that is all the bomoh knows. It could well be that those events occured randomly and people're fooled into thinking that they're caused by spirits. Of course, I could be wrong, and they could indeed have been caused by ghosts, but there is just no way of being sure. I can accept that strange things do happen - things that no one can explain. But I know that ghosts and spirits are NOT the only plausible explanation for these strangeness.

Technorati tags ghosts, spirits delusions

You Can't Win An Argument

2007-03-17T18:39:00.000+08:00

I was thumbing through an old book by Dale Carnegie called How to Win Friends & Influence People. It was first published in 1936 with several revisions over the years. This must've been one of the first self-help books ever written. It is simply amazing that after so many years, wars have been fought, technology has advanced, economies have gone boom and bust, yet this book is still as relevant today as it was back in 1936, because human nature hasn't changed one bit.

Anyway, I came across a section that says you can never win an argument. I was instantly reminded of the debates between atheists and theists. Generally, atheists do not constantly engage theists to argue about each other's beliefs, but some, like Sam Harris (I noticed), do participate in a number of such debates. Personally, I think Sam argues very well, always rational, always interesting but how many of his opponents did he manage to convince that there is no god? Even Richard Dawkins - the most famous atheist in the world - only claims to have ever had one convert - his friend, Douglas Adams. Dale Carnegie wrote that, "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still." You may be right, but as far as changing another's mind is concerned, you will probably be just as futile as if you were wrong.

So, with this little piece of wisdom, it's basically pointless arguing with people about their religion, even if you think they are wrong. I also feel that when talking to theists, there is no need for me to justify my beliefs, unless I'm asked about it. I will just remind theists (if they need reminding) that everyone is free to believe whatever they want. I will also stress that I'm not possessed by demons (I get accused of that sometimes!). As far as this blog is concerned, some of the issues I write about here are not written to ridicule theistic beliefs. That's simply because they're not written for theists. They're written mainly for those in the middle-ground - people who care about the truth, people who're a bit uncertain about the uncertainties of life and who'd like to hear alternative, secular views on things. I do apologize, though, if some might find my writings offensive. Anyway, don't forget to read my mission statement.

Technorati tags Dale Carnegie, arguments

Malaysia takes All-England Men's Doubles Title!

2007-03-11T22:38:00.000+08:00

Congratulations Koo Kien Kiat and Tan Boon Heong for ending Malaysia's 25-year wait for the All-England Badminton men's doubles title. This young pair showed tremendous promise and confidence in smashing their way to the title without dropping a single set.

You've done Malaysia proud. Well done, lads!

Technorati tags badminton, Koo-Tan, men's doubles

Borat!

2007-03-09T22:35:00.000+08:00

In the movie Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the title character, Kazakhi reporter Borat Sagdiyev, played by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, travels across America with his producer, Azamat in search of Western culture and Pamela Anderson.

One of the most memorable (and disturbing) scenes in the movie, besides the naked wrestling scene at the hotel, is the scene at the United Pentecostal Church. The scene started off with Borat abandoned by Azamat, penniless and heart-broken. He wandered into a church where there was a church service or a camp going on. People were singing, dancing and worshipping.

The preacher was preaching that he didn't come from a monkey (whoever said he did?). He said he didn't come from a tadpole (Dude, everyone knows that only a frog comes from tadpole). At the height of his message, a weird guy dashed across the floor with hands in the air. Later came the prayer session. The preacher invited people to come up and pray to God. Borat went up and told the congregation of his troubles. The preacher and church members attempted to pray for Borat. They surrounded him, they spoke in tongues, the preacher forced his hand on Borat's temple as if channeling the Holy Spirit into Borat and on cue, Borat went into a fit.
The really disturbing part is, in that scene, the only person acting is Borat! The rest are real. This really happens in pentecostal and charismatic churches everywhere. They speak in tongues, and they display 'manifestations' of the Holy Spirit. They call it holy laughter, holy tears, holy-everything. I, myself have seen these live once or twice before, so I wasn't that shocked to see it in the movie.

I am aware that not all churches agree with such practice. There is some controversy surrounding speaking in tongues, although the pentecostal people will point out that it is stated in the Bible, so speaking in tongues must be allowed and encouraged. It never made much sense to me. Why would God want us to speak unintelligible mumbo jumbo when worshipping him? It seems pretty easy to fake.

Imagine if one day in a church, one person started babbling away and claims that he's been given the gift of tongues. Who's to argue with him? Everyone will think that this guy is favoured by God and his stature in the church will rise. So it seems like there's tremendous incentive for one to display these 'holy gifts'. Pretty soon, everyone will realise how easy it is to 'obtain' this gift and how easy it is to get away with faking it. Soon everyone will be babbling away too. They're all faking it but nobody will admit it.

I've been told that there are those who are gifted with interpreting tongues. Again, I find this dubious, because how do you argue with someone who claims to be able to understand the mumbo jumbo from waggling tongues? Is there a tongues dictionary? I've also been told before, that speaking in tongues is like speaking in a foreign and maybe ancient language. If this were true, then it'll be pretty easy to prove. Just do a recording of your speech and send it to a linguist to tell you if it is a language you just spoke or just plain gibberish.

But I think no one is interested in proofs. People are content believing that they are special and that they are favoured by God. But I know one guy who's not too thrilled to be speaking in tongues. His name is Evan.

Technorati tags Borat, Pentecostal Church, speaking in tongues

It's Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong

2007-03-07T00:32:00.000+08:00

The story of Lance Armstrong is quite well-known - super-athlete, winner of an unprecedented seven Tour de France titles and cancer survivor. His book, "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life" is a truly inspirational story about his battles against the two tremendous hurdles in his life - testicular cancer and the Tour de France. Lance is an incredibly spirited individual. He is both physically and mentally strong and it is this perseverence that has allowed him to conquer both those hurdles.

Cycling is not a popular sport in this country. I didn't know much about the Tour de France, only that it is the most prestigious and gruelling bike race in the world. So it was interesting to learn about the sport through Lance's book. For example, I didn't know there was so much technology in the sport, from the computer, to the radio and to the bike. I also didn't know that the tour was more like a team sport eventhough the eventual winner is an individual. Each team has its domestiques, climbers and sprinters, each with a different role to play for a specific part of the race.

Cancer, on the other hand, I am more familiar with. Almost everyone (if they're not already cancer sufferers) have lost someone or know of someone who has cancer. It is a major killer in developed and developing countries around the world. Thankfully, modern medicine has progressed so much over the years that more and more people survive the disease. Still, it is no easy feat, as Lance described (think of the trauma, the surgery, the chemo, the uncertainty of relapsing, etc) in the book.

Lance says in the book that he is agnostic and doesn't believe in organized religion. He didn't say he's an atheist outright but he's shown that one can go through the toughest and worst moments in life and come out victorious without believing in God. You need to have good doctors, you need to have your loved ones - family and friends, but most important of all, you need to believe in yourself. You need to be determined as hell to beat it. It doesn't guarantee that you will win, but at least if you go down, you go down fighting.

What impressed me the most, I think, is that Lance says if asked to choose between the Tour de France and cancer, he'd choose cancer survivor because he became a better man as a result of his battle with cancer. Hard to believe but having cancer turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Technorati tags Lance Armstrong, Tour de France, cancer

William Crawley Meets Richard Dawkins

2007-03-04T12:20:00.000+08:00

This is William Crawley from BBC Northern Ireland interviewing Professor Richard Dawkins. It's 29 minutes long, you can say it's a 29-minute summary of the God Delusion. Do watch it if you have broadband Internet access.

In it, Richard Dawkins gets asked many questions about religion, God, etc., many which we've heard him being asked before and we've heard his answers to them as well. So, you can say it's the same thing over and over again.

One interesting question though, is when Richard gets asked if he's a fundamentalist. As always, Richard's answer is just wonderful. Richard explained that his critics confuse passion with fundamentalism. Fundamentalists are people who believe in a holy book. They are never going to change their minds despite countless contradictory evidence. They simply discard the evidence because it contradicts their holy book.

Technorati tags Richard Dawkins, William Crawley

Happy Chinese New Year!

2007-03-04T02:40:00.000+08:00

Hello folks. Sorry for the hiatus. I miss blogging, I really do. I hope to write as much as possible here. Let me first say Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai! It's a bit late, but today is Chap Goh Mei, the 15th and last day of the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration.

Let's see, what happened recently? Well, just last week, the KL Composite Index (KLCI) fell 5 days in a row and lost over a hundred points, wiping out over RM 100 billion in market cap. This was caused by the drop in China's stock market, triggering a worldwide contagion effect. People are saying the market crashed, it's the 10 year jinx - the 1987 crash, the 1997 crash and now the 2007 crash. Well, I don't know. I don't like to speculate but I don't think this is a crash, it's merely a correction. The stock market has been inching up since December last year and an 8% drop like this one is just a correction that is bound to happen. Plus, this time around, the bull run is backed by generally healthy corporate earnings.

The funniest thing for me though, is that just before the drop, our Prime Minister, Mr. Badawi told the Malaysian public to invest in the stock market and help push it past it's all time high. I do sympathize with those who listened to Mr. Badawi's call, but my question is this: What business does a Prime Minister have in asking the people to buy stocks? As far as I know, no other leader from any other country tells its people to buy into the local stock exchange. To the uninformed public, it is like asking them to gamble away their savings. Imagine your country's leader asking you all to hit the casino so that you can make an extra few bucks!

Mr. Badawi should know the power of free markets. If the country is run properly, the currency and the economy well-managed, then we will see healthy economic growth. When there is healthy growth, people will have confidence in the economy. When people are more confident, they will invest in the economy. There is absolutely no need for the PM to tell people what to do with their money. He should just concentrate on doing his job.

Technorati tags stock market, KLSE, crash

Defamation suit

2007-01-25T20:27:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone. Sorry I have not posted anything for the past 1 month. I've had my share of problems eg. Internet disruption, faulty wireless router, crashed harddisk, but mostly it was because I was busy and lazy. A lot of things have happened since the new year, most notably the defamation suit against two prominent Malaysian bloggers, Jeff Ooi and Rocky Bru by (the government-controlled) New Straits Times Press (NSTP).

I think such cowardly actions by NSTP have raised concern among all Malaysians in the blogsphere. As Lim Kit Siang wrote,

"the suits will have a chilling effect on freedom of bloggers and citizen journalists as litigation is so expensive that its costs will cripple and paralyze the ordinary individual blogger, making no contribution whatsoever to a healthy process to delineate and define the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists."

As for this blog, my attempts to raise consciousness with regards to religion and God, can be easily misconstrued by the myopic powers-that-be to be insulting God and Islam. In my previous posts, I've written almost exclusively on the Judeo-Christian God mainly because it is what I'm most familiar with, but also because I was afraid some over-zealous Malaysian Muslim cannot take the heat and created trouble for me. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that Richard Dawkins' book, The God Delusion isn't banned in Malaysia and is widely available in most bookstores in the country, despite containing sporadic mentions of 'Allah'. It may have taken a bit longer for the books to hit the shelves, but I found them in Borders and MPH. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise anyone in Malaysia if the government banned any non-Islamic book for the slightest mention of 'Allah' or 'Prophet Muhammad'.

I think my posts and my consciousness-raising aren't too different from Richard's so I take it that they are permissible. In any case, let me reiterate that this blog does not aim to insult anyone (depending on one's definition of insult). This blog only seeks to present a different view of the world, one that does not include any omniscient beings. I don't claim to have magical powers and I am not starting my own religious cult. I am merely presenting facts and arguments that are logical, rational, non-biased and consistent. If you disagree with anything I write, feel free to comment on them in a gentlemanly manner so that we can have an informed discussion. But please, do not send me hate-mail, death threats or lawsuits.

Meanwhile, this case will generate quite a bit of interest from the whole blogsphere. We should all lend our support to Jeff and Rocky!

Technorati tags: defamation suit, Jeff Ooi, Rocky's Bru

Don't mess with the Sea Dragon King

2006-12-22T23:28:00.000+08:00

Let me first say that I'm not trying to ridicule this guy. After all, he didn't hurt anyone with his superstition. He is entitled to his beliefs, but I'd like to just talk about the grip superstitious beliefs still have on people today.

About a week ago, a fisherman near Ipoh caught a weird-looking fish that resembled a dragon. It had a long silvery body with red-tipped dorsal fins. It was of course, an oarfish, a frequent subject of cryptozoology, but to this fisherman and the rest of the village, it was a dragon - a family member of the Chinese Sea Dragon King. Some local rich man also believed it to be a dragon and offered the fisherman RM50,000 (about USD 14,000) for the carcass of the oarfish. The fisherman though, threw the body back into the sea believing that “If you kidnap the (Sea Dragon King’s) son, you are looking for trouble”.
To me, this just doesn't make sense. It is a fish, not a dragon. How can it be dragon? Where are its feet? I thought Chinese dragons have clawed feet? Where's the crocodile-like jaws? Where's the fiery breath? If it were a dragon, wouldn't the fisherman have figured that he'd be world famous, for being the first guy to capture a mythical creature? He would have proven the unprovable - that dragons exist. The world media would've descended upon him. He'd make a fortune for his story, pictures, tv appearances. He wouldn't need to fish anymore. But here he was fearing for his life and foregoing a handsome reward for a rare catch.

I think, traditionally, fishermen are the most superstitious lot, because of the risks they face each time they go out to sea. The weather may be unpredicatable, their haul from the sea may not be abundant, pirates may attack them, their boats may sink and etc. So, traditionally, the fishermen would worship a deity for blessings and protection. But blind faith can often stop people from thinking rationally, such as the case here.

For most of us, brought up in the age of computers, television, Internet and the Discovery Channel, we are more open to the idea that the ocean is so vast and organisms are so diverse that there are possibly many creatures out there yet to be discovered. Charles Darwin himself collected many of the weirdest specimen ever encountered, some of which can be seen at the Darwin Center in London's Natural History Museum. And so, if we were ever fortunate enough to catch a weird-looking thing like an oarfish, the last thing to cross our minds would be that this is the son of the mythical Sea Dragon King. This is simply because we are atheists to dragons, pheonixes, unicorns, krakens, mermaids and griffins. Yet I cannot understand why people cannot see the similarities of believing in dragons and believing in an old man up in the sky. Sounds like pots and kettles to me.

Technorati tags oarfish, dragon, supersition

The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford

2006-12-21T21:34:00.000+08:00

When I first picked up "The Undercover Economist" from the shelves of MPH, I was instantly reminded of another book which I had thoroughly enjoyed some time ago - "Freakonomics". It even says right there on the cover, Steven Levitt (the author of Freakonomics) saying that this book is "required reading".

Ok, so this book has got nothing to do with religion or atheism, but life isn't just about religion or atheism (at least, not mine anyway). What this book is about, though, is THINKING. Thinking like an economist, looking at problems, examining evidence and coming up with solutions to improve the quality of our lives. This is the opposite of faith, which we agree, is the process of non-thinking.

Without going into too much details, this book isn't all that similar to Freakonomics, in the sense that it covers broader topics such as globalization, trade barriers, auctions, market economy and environmental issues. Freakonomics, on the other hand zeroes in on a specific question.

After reading this book, I think the next time I visit my local supermarket, I'll try to be more observant and try to uncover all the little things the supermarket doesn't want me to know. I found this an enjoyable read and recommend it to everyone who's ever be curious about how the world works.

Technorati tags Underconver Economist, Tim+Harford, economics