I Support a National Month of Prayer.

A friend of mine recently linked to a page on Facebook promoting the defense of the National Day of Prayer (NDP). The page was created in response to a Wisconsin judges ruling that the NDP violates the laws our founding fathers made when they formed this county we call the USA. Now, what did they say? Oh yes it's right here in the FIRST Amendment;

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

I think we can all agree on one thing. That statement is pretty open to interpretation. God-fearing folks see it as an obvious endorsement of religion and the God-less interpret it as "the Government should mind it's own business and not dabble in anything religious."

As a godless, spineless liberal, I tend to lean to the second interruption. But, in an effort to bring a lasting peace to this nation, I propose that we not only have day of prayer but an entire month of it.

I truly believe that we as a nation we would benefit from praying together in classrooms, boardrooms and courtrooms.

Of course not everyone will like this.

Why? Because my month of prayer would require everyone to learn and participate in the beliefs of ALL religions.

Week Zero would be spent learning the prayers of the four major faiths (Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Hindu).

On the first week, everyone would be called to Muslim prayer and recite Salah. Non Muslims will only need to pray once in the morning. Practicing Muslims will of course continue to pray at the prescribed times.

The second week would change to Hindu, the third Jewish, and the final week Christian.

Since this nation is predominately Christian, regional differences will have to taken into account. I think we should eliminate Snake handling as an option but you may disagree. The use of the King James version of the Bible with be strictly enforced! ;-)

A 30 minute open discussion will follow the prayer. Comparisons will be made to other religions.

What will the result of this Month of Prayer have?

At best (for me) it will show this country that the humans on planet Earth are very diverse in their beliefs and a close examination of those beliefs will show many similarities as well as allowing people the opportunity to question their own belief system.

At worst (and most likely scenario unfortunately) it will cause a larger rift between people who are unwilling to acknowledge the views and beliefs of others.

What are your thoughts? What am I missing (besides the smaller, less followed beliefs)? What did I get TOTALLY wrong?

Powerless to Powerful

It's the little steps you take that allow you to cover a great distance. It's the small interactions that can make a big difference in a life.

Long story short... I was producing a meeting for a large food corporation. As a guest speaker, they invited the president of a sister company to talk and take questions from the audience. let's call him Al.

He is an engaging speaker and spoke very personally about the recent passing of his mother. He also spoke of the joy of seeing his daughter dance in competitions. Because my job requires me to sit in these corporate gatherings, I've seen a thousand speakers and usually tune out because they all say the same things. "Shifting the paradigm to think outside the box will allow our team to add value to shareholders!" I was paying attention to him.

But then it turned south and the winds were sucked out of my sail (recently filled by SkepChiCamp). He started talking about Quantum Mechanics and this amazing video he had seen.

What he had just seen was a video about science called What the Bleep Do We Know. I won't link to it. For me, that would be like someone at the Holocaust Museum linking to a Neo-Nazi site. The video is actually well produced and "stars" Marlee Matlin. What it doesn't have is one ounce of scientific credibility.

Short story long, he started talking about people being able to walk thru walls because "atoms are mostly empty space" and "You can change the molecular structure of water by thinking positive or negative thoughts near it." Seriously.

All I could do is sit there quietly as he talked on and on about this nonsense. I was waiting for him to bring up The Secret. I wanted to stand up and yell to the crowd "He's feeding you bullshit! Soylent Green is made from people!!!"

I felt absolutely weak and helpless. Until I decided not to be weak and helpless.

When "Al" finished, he sat at a table next to mine. It was time for a break and I knew he had to leave quickly to catch a plane. My plan was to quickly introduce myself, let him know I enjoyed MOST of his talk but that I had an issue with the last part. I would ask if I could send him an email with some links that may offer a rebuttal to the video he had seen. The worst thing that could happen is he takes offense and has me shot.

As the break was called, I walked up to him and was immediately cut off by someone else who wanted to talk business. fuck. For a moment I thought of turning around and not pursuing it but I shook off that idea quickly. Finally, they finished and he acknowledged my presence.

I introduced myself, we shook hands and I followed my game plan to the letter. And then something weird happened. He was interested and started asking questions. He admitted that he thought most of the video was crap. He wanted to know what parts of the video I had an issue with (ALL OF IT!) . We talked for several minutes before he excused himself to catch his flight but gave me his business card so I could send him the debunking links.

VICTORY IS MINE!!!

I spent the rest of the day in the boring meeting but I had a big smile on my face knowing I was able to shine my little flashlight into the dark abyss and help someone climb out.

So anyway, that's what happened.

What Makes Me Happy? - Skepchicamp 2010

Last Saturday, March 6th, I was proud to be part of the greatest gathering of brains I've ever experienced.

Skepchicamp 2010, created by Chicago Skepchick Elyse with the help of a great planning committee, was a day-long gathering of skeptics and critical thinkers.

Held at the Brehon Pub in Chicago, the event was a whirlwind of talks ranging from the debunking of a water-softening product to the science behind martial arts demonstrations.

The day started and ended with panel discussions featuring several Skepchicks, including Rebecca Watson skyping in from London. We also heard from Dr. Jen, who talked to us about how she communicates with her patients while promoting science-based medicine. Several teachers spoke about education and getting kids interested in science, and Don spoke of his experiences with a martial arts cult called Warrior School. Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist, gave a great talk on being attacked by the right wing.

As the afternoon continued, we learned about opera myths and superstitions, pet food regulation (or the lack thereof), that there is a large UFO base in Bolingbrook, and Jamie told us we're all stupid.

During breaks, the Tense Kids rocked us with their smart, witty and catchy music. They even played a Mountain Goats cover just for me! I've had their latest CD "Oh, Idaho" on constant repeat on my iPod for the last three days. Check them out!

In the back, books and magazines were available and "Surly" Amy sold her jewelry.

But as much as I enjoyed the talks, the best thing about the day was meeting and interacting with 80 like-minded folks who have a passion for skepticism and critical thinking. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I'm not much of a social butterfly, but in this environment I was bouncing from person to person, trying to soak up knowledge from people way smarter then I. I was more than happy to be the dumbest guy in the room. I think everyone there felt the same way I did.

This is the true beauty of Skepchicamp.

Elyse, next year "you're gonna need a bigger boat" -- and for this, I congratulate you!

I Can't Chase My Dinner on the Savanna Right Now Because My Brakelight's Out

I'm proud to say that I just changed the rear right breaklight on my SUV.
And that's really sad.
When I bought my first car (1977 Le Car) back when I was 19 for $300, I wold regularly change the oil, give it a tune up (gapping the plugs and timing the points!) and change the tires (often because they were permanently out of alignment). I even installed a makeshift switch to turn on the fan to cool the radiator when that crapped out.
But then I graduated from collage and started making "good money". I bought a nicer car, a Nissan 200sx) and decided that Midas, CarX and Firestone could do the work for me. It was worth the money not to get dirty and frustrated.
When I moved into my first place with a lawn, I bought a top-of-the line lawnmower that mulched and bagged in one easy step. The next year I payed a guy $40 a month to take care of my small lawn.
And now we live in a condo were we do nothing except house cleaning, which we COULD pay someone else to do.
The bottom line is that I'm very happy to spend money to let someone else do the dirty work that isn't really that dirty or difficult.
I guess I'm living the American Dream!
The downside of course is that if/when society collapses, I'm screwed.

Debunking Can be Cool

Looking for a fun but educational diversion on the intertubes during your holiday downtime? Try:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=CaptainDisillusion&view=videos

Captain Disillusion does a fantastic job of making critical thinking look cool (which it is by the way) and he's very funny in doing so. His videos also have the highest production values I've ever seen on YouTube. Penguin Slap Debunk is a great place to start.

Why Only Christmas?

I recently did a holiday quiz for the Skeptic group I belong to. While researching myths associated with this time of year, I came across an interesting curiosity. It seems that while the Christian holidays have a pages dedicated to seasonal myths, the Jewish and Muslim faiths have, as far as I can tell, none.

Why? Is it because their belief system is so rigid that it doesn't allow for any questioning of the doctrine? Could it be that most Christians are more open-minded and accept adding on non-theist, or more accurately, Pagan traditions to their celebrations? I would bet that if you took a worldwide survey on people's first impressions of Christmas and Easter, Santa (or Father Christmas in his various incarnations) and the Easter Bunny (or Easter Bell in Italy), would be the first thing most people associate with the holidays, and not the birth and resurrection of Jesus.

But that brings up the question; What is a myth? According to the dictionary it's:
"A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society."

With this definition, isn't all religion mythology? Every religion practiced today would fall under this definition. Why is the Jewish Torah anymore believable than the secret texts of Scientology? The one thing they all have in common is that they can not be proven to be true. There is no factual evidence on which these beliefs are based, many actually contradict historical documents.

It all comes down to "Faith" and that is a topic for another day!

He Shall be Known as the King of Kings

UPDATE: A great overview of December 25th Deities can be found at http://edwinkagin.blogspot.com/2008/12/deities-born-on-december-25th-from.html

In the olden days, virgin births evidently weren't that rare. The gods seemed more then happy to knock up a young, trusting teenager.
The gods seemed to know what they were doing though. Take a look at the resulting offspring.

• Attis was a son of the virgin Nana. His birth was celebrated on Dec 25. He was sacrificed as an adult in order to bring salvation to mankind. He died around March 5, after being crucified on a tree, and descended for three days into the underworld. On Sunday, he arose, as the solar deity for the new season. His followers tied an image of Attis to a tree on "Black Friday," and carried him in a procession to the temple. His body was symbolically eaten by his followers in the form of bread.

• Mut-em-ua: The virgin Queen of Egypt, supposedly gave birth to Pharaoh Amenkept III through a god holding a cross to her mouth. Isis gave Virgin birth to Horus. Virginal birth, or women being impregnated by gods was a common theme in Egyptian Mythology.

• Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) On the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten lunar months later Siddhartha was born. The Buddha broke from the traditional religion of his people and spoke of peace, love and understanding.

• Egyptian, Osiris is a savior-god who had been worshiped as far back as Neolithic times. "He was called Lord of Lords, King of Kings, God of Gods...the Resurrection and the Life, the Good shepherd...the god who 'made men and women be born again'" Three wise men announced his birth. His followers ate cakes of wheat which symbolized his body.

• And Last but not least, Jesus of Nazerath. Born of the Virgin Mary, he would be the spiritual leader for billions... I think most of you know his career stats. ;-)