Nonreligious Nerd

Why Isn't THIS in the Sunday School Coloring Book?

2010-03-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

Still a Lie

2010-03-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted much lately(does anyone still read this anyway?). Anyway, I saw this and laughed so hard, and had to share.

Fuck Bob McDonnell!

2010-02-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

Governor Bob McDonnell (R Virginia) has signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination of someone for their race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, disability, or veteran status. That sounds good right? It's not. It undoes what Gov. Tim Kaine (D) signed in 2006 that included all of that AND sexual orientation. This order was solely for the purpose of striping a segment of the american population of their freedom from discrimination. That sickens me.

via Talking Points Memo

Ban Conservative Christianity!

2010-02-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

Because, if you follow their logic on gay rights, Christianity should be banned too.

This is the best video i have ever seen!

2010-01-31T11:36:00.000-08:00

I hate my state.

2010-01-30T11:06:00.000-08:00

Missouri is one of those piece of shit states that don't recognize gay marriage. And because of this the significant other of a State Trooper who died on duty gets treated like a second class citizen. He wasn't even mentioned in the obituary, despite them having been together 15 years. Instead of being given the survivors benefits(over $28,000/yr) he would have received he gets nothing.

Others say that domestic partners should not receive any more recognition than unmarried partners of heterosexual troopers, who would not be eligible for survivor pension benefits either.

This would be fair, IF GAYS HAD THE RIGHT TO FUCKING MARRY! The unmarried heterosexual couples have the option of marrying and getting benefits. Gays are just shit out of luck. This shit sickens me.

Offensiveness is having a 5-for-1 special

2010-01-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

from Deed The Inky

Apologies for Being Christian

2010-01-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

Rechelle over at My Sisters Farmhouse wanted to apologize for all of the jackassery she did because she was Christian. I have one I'd like to apologize for myself.

I apologize for ever having pushed my mom to go to church. This caused my mom to get into it, and bring my brother, and get him surrounded in it. I apologize for being the one who caused my brother to be absorbed into their lies.

Is There Life After Death?

2010-01-23T23:20:00.000-08:00

I could respond like the Digg comments I saw for this article and say 'No' and leave it at that, but that would be an uninteresting post. I read that article, and right from the outset knew it was ludicrous. It was about an author and his book about near death experiences and how they prove the afterlife. The instant thought to that is that there are many explanations for how a person could be convinced of something that isn't real. His response to this is that there are many explanations for why it doesn't make sense to accept near death experiences, and thus they are wrong because they need many reasons instead of just one. He then contradicts himself by saying that awareness of near death experience has raised drastically one sentence, and in the next saying that the possibility of the increased awareness causing an increased susceptibility to having an experience by saying that since the stories weren't copycats of the ones they read, it doesn't matter.He then makes mention of how believing in an afterlife makes him feel better treating cancer patients. As warm and fuzzy as it is that it makes him feel better, it doesn't help his case.

All in all, the article was a poor argument for an afterlife(but, im sure this blog post is almost as poor, as it is late, and im burnt out from calc homework.

What Arguing About Evolution Feels Like

2010-01-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

Best Buy Lies Again!

2010-01-05T10:50:00.000-08:00

The Consumerist found that Best Buy's "optimization" service was useless. According to the Geek Squad blog, the service will "enable up to 100 system tweaks that improve PC performance and functionality, including optimized startup and shutdown, improved menu navigation, quick launch and taskbar cleanup and program shortcut creation."

The problem is that the PC's performance is not improved. They tested 3 laptops(6 technically, one "optimized" and one not for each model) and found that 2 had no performance change, and one had a 1/3 drop in performance after optimization. Clearly not worth $40.

In addition to this, there are their many offers they have for new computers. One is "Standard Security and Performance" for $69.99. This service is just the optimization plus installing an antivirus(and it doesn't even include the cost of the antivirus). It would actually be cheaper to just buy a year of service on one of the trialware pieces of crap that they have preinstalled (it's the same quality of crappy, virtually useless antivirus, I'd suggest uninstalling the trialware crap, and installing Microsoft Security Essentials. It's lightweight, and works great)

Some of the lies that were told about the optimization service amazed me. "One shopper was told that optimization made the computer's processor "200% faster." The same shopper was told that he could try to optimize the computer on his own, but without assistance he would not be able to increase the processor speed." This is ludicrous! One might be able to speed up the operating system by 200%(if the installed crapware slowed it down that much), but not the processor. Tho only way to get a real noticeable increase in processor speed would be to overclock it, and that is not a service Best Buy provides.

They even lied about the time optimization takes. One rep said that it would take 6 hours to just download Windows Updates! What are they basing that on, a 56k connection? That is a ridiculous overestimate. It shouldn't even take 2 hours.

Another rep said that it wasn't recommended that you go online without their optimization, as it has no antivirus. "You’ll get online, get a virus, and end up spending $200 to clean it up." That $200 is only if you go to someone who sucks, like the Geek Squad. They were going to charge a friend $250 to come to the house to fix a screen flicker issue and a printer issue. I managed to reduce the rate of flicker from once every few seconds to once every minute or 2, and got printing working on her mac, but not windows. She gave me $50 that I didn't want to accept since I didn't get it fixed. She told me what Best Buy was going to charge as justification for giving me the money, and I told her that that was no reason to overpay me. The fact that Best Buy charges 10x what they should for services, and then charges for other services that shouldn't be charged for, doesn't mean I should get paid more than I deserve.

That customer who was told that she would end up spending $200 on removing a virus was also told that installing an antivirus herself violates the warranty, and "that the manufacturer's warranty was "obsolete" and had been "replaced" with Best Buy service contracts (which she would need to pay for, of course, and that were not included in the optimization price)." This is an outright lie. the only thing that voids a warranty is if the case is opened, at least in most cases.

Best Buy angers me with shit like this. I have long refused to ever buy a computer there, and this just reinforces it.

So True!

2010-01-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

Saw this on Indexed and had to post. Bacon is amazing!

Some Awesomeness From Assassin's Creed 2

2010-01-04T15:22:00.000-08:00

*THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ASSASSIN'S CREED 2!*

I was browsing the Codex of Altair last night and saw some cool quotes

Attis. Dionysus. Horus. Krishna. Mithra. Jesus. Simlilar stories color their 
lives. Too similar, I think. Divine birthright. Persecution. Disciples. 
Miraculous acts. Resurrection . . .

How is it possible?

Perhaps it isn't . . . merely a single story told over the ages? Borrowed 
then changed to fit the times? Evolving as our tools and language do? Is this 
tale borne of fact or fiction? A bit of both? Could these figures be the same 
person - their life extended and transformed by a Piece of Eden?

Al Mualim spoke of Jesus as a real person - a mortal who had mastered the 
arts of manipulation. But what if he was wrong? If these men are real - and 
if they have walked amongst us many times before - does it means they'll come 
again? Perhaps they are here now? So many questions, and every day, even 
more . . .

I have always been fond of this. Attis, Dionysus, Horus, Krishna, and Mithra are all obvious myths to a Christian. Yet they are just like Jesus.

I have studied the ancient pagan faiths that came before this more recent 
obsession with a single, divine creator. They seem to have focused more on 
the fundamental forces at play in the world around us and less on arbitrary 
moral rules . . .

The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The tides ebb and 
flow. Grass grows, withers, dies and then in time, emerges from the ground 
once more. The air turns warm then cools and back again. Some hidden energy 
keeps us fitted to the ground and pulls us back when we attempt to leave it.

Each of these movements was represented before by a god or goddess. Each 
force given face, but recognized as something distinct and powerful. Which 
is not to say there were not connections between these forces - a pantheon 
of individual spirits - of rules. Invisible hands guiding to progress of 
the world around us.

And so here there was an attempt to categorize, study, explain, and understand 
the way things work - even if it was flawed. But no more. Now we are asked to 
succumb to a far more simplified explanation. How naive to believe there might 
be a single answer to every question. Every mystery. That there exists a lone 
divine light which rules over all. They say it is a light that brings truth 
and love. I say it is a light that blinds us - and forces us to stumble about 
in ignorance.

I long for the day when men will turn away from invisible monsters and once 
more embrace a more rational view of the world. But these new religions are so 
convenient - and promise such terrible punishment should one reject them - I 
worry that fear shall keep us stuck to what is surely the greatest lie ever 
told.

That last paragraph sums up religion well. The Glyphs are another great source of myth and conspiracy. If any other AC players have any cool things to share, let me know.

Apparently I've Reached the Big Time

2009-12-24T21:23:00.000-08:00

I got the "honor" of being trolled by that jackass David Mabus. If that name isn't familiar, he is the guy who rants about how evil atheists are, and mentions Nostradamus. Here is his comment, in full. It seems to be the same screed he has been copypasting on several sites.

Looks like your website is under attack from supernatural forces...

First of all: Nostradamus demolishes "atheism"

__________________________________________________ __

wait, wait...

I forgot something...

you little shits even talk about me....

GOATS ON FIRE....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssFaIhJkLsk

LIBERATION!

Sing from the rooftops:

"Atheism is dead!"

http://www.conspiracycafe.net/forum/index.php?/topic/25104-atheist-ap.

..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK50So-yYRU

BYE BYE ATHEISM

these little insignificant fools try to use science to destroy every mystery in the universe...

but not this one!

Oh yay me! Im popular enough to get trolled... lol.

Is there a way to block a commenter on here?

If Religions Were Real

2009-12-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

So THIS is what 2 Kings 2:23-24 would look like! I like it.

I Was Inspired by Greta Christina's Meme of the Day to Do My Own Today

2009-12-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

To be an atheist is not to positively affirm the non existence of god, but to not positively affirm the existence of god. Even if it were a declaration that there was no god, it would still be reasonable. I can confidently say faeries, unicorns, and pixie dust don't exist to the same level that I can about god. They have just as much evidence.

Site Redesign!

2009-12-23T00:36:00.000-08:00

I changed the layout on the site. What do you guys think?

Ok... This Post is Just to Brag!

2009-12-22T22:34:00.000-08:00

I've been constantly tweaking my pc ever since I upgraded to 7. I am impressed now. My pc Idles at ~470mb ram(the extra 30 mb and cpu spike seen here were from the img capture program. it usually sits at 0-2% cpu.

I am happy with my results! All the features of a 2009 operating system with the memory use of 2001's XP.

I Love the Onion

2009-12-16T04:30:00.000-08:00

Sumerians Look On In Confusion As Christian God Creates World

"I do not understand," reads an ancient line of pictographs depicting the sun, the moon, water, and a Sumerian who appears to be scratching his head. "A booming voice is saying, 'Let there be light,' but there is already light. It is saying, 'Let the earth bring forth grass,' but I am already standing on grass."

That is awesome!

Some Conversations I've Had in the Last Week

2009-12-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

I've had 2 interesting discussions with Christians this week. The first was me 2 friends, 1 Wiccan, and one Christian. I cant remember what we were talking about, but the Christian said we were a Christian nation. I countered with the fact that Jefferson, Paine, and Adams, to name a few, were all non Christians, and were founding fathers. In addition to this, the first amendment makes it clear that we, as a nation, have no religion. The counterargument that the Christian said (after saying that she was a history major, so she knows what she was talking about), and the Wiccan agreed to, was that we were a Christian nation because of the Puritans. Because the Puritans came over here, and slaughtered Indian tribes, we are a Christian nation... apparently. Nevermind that couple hundred year gap between those events and our nations founding. By the time our nation was founded, the Enlightenment had begun, and because of this, many of our founders were openly skeptical of Christianity. I gave up on the argument once it began to devolve into "no you are wrong."

The second discussion I had was at a Christmas party on campus. I was hanging out, waiting for my friend to get out of class so I could bring him home. As I was waiting, a couple of girls came over and asked if I wanted to come to the party. I went, and began talking to people. I saw one guy with a picture of Christ Pantocrator on his shirt. I started chatting with him, discussing the history of the image on his shirt(turns out I actually DID learn something in art history) and it drifted into a theological discussion. He told me he was a reformed Calvinist, and I let him know that I was an atheist. He began asking me how I live knowing my life has no purpose. I told him my life has plenty of purpose. My life purpose is to be happy, make others happy, enjoy my time here with my friends, and hopefully, make a significant societal contribution. He said that because that purpose was not eternal, it was meaningless. We continued talking, but nothing else meaningful was said. I ended up leaving soon thereafter.

Carnival of the Godless #130

2009-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Carnival of the Godless 130!

Paul Fidalgo presents Newsweek religion columnist calls atheists 'adolescent regurgitators' posted at Secularism Examiner. In the post, he comments on Lisa Miller's Newsweek column that is little more than an atheist bash fest.

Eric Michael Johnson presents Friday Rant: "Militant" Atheists and Freedom From Religion posted at The Primate Diaries. It details how inaccurate the description of 'militant atheists' is. Those atheists and their militant acts like having an opinion!

Michelle Bell presents Marriage, or why I really really want same sex couples to be able to marry. posted at The Gaytheists, saying, "Essentially why straight people that don't buy into the traditional marriage, even just a little bit, should be supporting equal gay marriage rights. Could be classed under the idea of separation of church and state, as the main political arguments against gay marriage have no basis in actual reality and more basis in outdated patriarchal religions that get their panties in a knot about things that threaten their supremacy."

Jeff Satterley presents Infallible Failure: Dealing with Death posted at Infallible Failure. It is an interesting piece on how an atheist deals with their own eventual death.

Asha presents Gods Unvanquished posted at Scientific Blogging - The world's best scientists. The internet's smartest readers, saying, "Hi,
I am starting a new series on evolution and morality. In it I hope to make the case for looking at morality from a purely biological point of view.
-Asha"

Andrew Bernardin presents Sunday Sacrilege: God is a Mighty Duck posted at The Evolving Mind. It is a satirical post on seeing signs of god in random objects.

Gary Williams presents An Evolutionary Argument for Atheism posted at Minds and Brains.

Neosnowqueen presents No Love: The War on Christmas posted at Winter Harvest. She shows how opposing Christian exclusivity in the holidays could be good for the Christians.

Michael Fridman presents CS Lewis, Morality & Intuition as a Scientific Tool -- a Nadder! posted at a Nadder!. It is a critique of CS Lewis's argument from morality and a look at how religious thinking often uses intuition as a scientific tool in order to appeal to people's "common sense".

Want to host? Fill out the carnival submission form.

Im Starting My Own Religion!

2009-12-03T05:35:00.001-08:00

I am convinced that all supernatural activity is caused by the Hat Guy! All hail Hat Guy!

God Believes the Same Things I Do!

2009-12-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

I read about a series of studies in PhysOrg that showed that what a person feels that their deity believes is lined up with what they believe. Not only do they line up, but if yours change, you suddenly have a 'better understanding of god' and now know what he really wants. One study showed that we use the same part of the brain that we use on our own beliefs for god's. It seems our brain knows he is something we made up ourselves, and not a separate being. Now if the brain could just convince the conscious. Many religious will say that the reason is because their beliefs are molded on their god's views. If so, god must have no idea what he wants, because the beliefs of his followers are always changing. Take time to read some of the Digg comments. They are interesting.

Saw this in the comments, and had to include it:

“You can tell you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do” - Anne Lamott

GHASP! Sex is Good for You!

2009-11-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon several reasons that sex is good for you (like you needed any convincing... actually, on second thought... the abstinence only Christians probably do)

1 Less heart attacks and strokes
2 Lowers blood pressure and stress
3 Reduces depression
4 prevents osteoporosis
5 Keeps colds and flu at bay
6 Prevents prostate cancer
7 Relieves headaches
8 Improves sleep
9 Keeps you fit
10 Prevents incontinence

read the full article here for explanations on how and why.

Overcoming Adversity Through Dance

2009-11-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

Greg Mozgala is a 31 year old man with Cerebral Palsy. This story particularly touches me, as I also have CP, albeit a rather non-severe case. Anyway... he went through 12 years of therapy, and it did not do enough. he walked with a severe gait for years. 8 months of dancing has nearly removed the gait entirely. This amazes me! There was one thing that got my attention however:

"She introduced Mr. Mozgala to a tension-releasing shaking technique, and it was immediately revelatory."

I want to know what this technique is. I could potentially use it to help my Cerebral Palsy. Does anyone know?

via New York Times