Re: God Helps with Personal Decisions, Most Americans Say (Yahoo News)

As an ex-believer, god-free for over one year (yea!), I am amazed at the bollocks I used to believe. I would obey whatever the "Word of God" said, never mind that the Bible contradicted itself and common sense as well. I would ignore or deny real evidence in favor of words in a 2000-year-old book!

Back then I would argue the most irrelevant issues, whether we were "born sinful" or if Jesus were God, instead of learning about the real world. Now, thanks to enlightened men like Voltaire, Paine, and,Darwin, I am free to think and speak the truth. I love nature and history, and don't give a rat's a*** for religiosity.

Now today I read that 82% of Americans still depend on a god. In the second decade of the 21st century, eight out of ten people I meet are in the Dark Ages! There is much teaching to do, get busy.

Spiritual Crystals and Free Thoughts

Crystal Cave of the Giants, Chihuahua, Mexico.

All of my science-speak has only one problem: it sounds bad. People do not like the word "Science", since it sounds too much like a religion, and that without smells and bells. "Atheism" sounds harsh and loveless. None of these words suffices to explain who I am.

I want something that derives from data locuta causa finita, but appeals to the finer senses. I want a word that implies logos, but includes mythos as well. I want to operate blessedly free of the gods, devoted to scientific inquiry, but open to spirituality.

Now by spirituality, I mean the "sense of the sacred". Example: "Crystals are so spiritual, aren't they?" (New Age store attendant, Brookline, MA, ca. 1987). How can a rock be spiritual? It is a feeling of sacredness, of a pattern, a meaning in the apparent chaos of life.

What we call spirituality is a sense that there is a pattern to things, that life has meaning. This explains the persistence of religion in a scientific age: religion offers a pattern, order out of chaos, eternal meaning in our tiny, shaky life.

We hate chaos and seek pattern because we want consistency, predictability, permanence: survival. We are willing to believe all sorts of things in order to survive.

What word adores science but does not despise mystery, beauty, and spirituality? What characterizes the mental processes of my lifetime? Free thought. I'm a freethinker.

Scientism, Church of Christ Style

Having fun trying to format this, but it is totally legit.

The ongoing debate between creationism and evolution is really about a deeper question:can religion and science peacefully coexist? Can they be reconciled to each other?

Some people have tried to marry science to religion, or else to draw a treaty line between them. Examples of these approaches are Theistic Evolution, Intelligent Design; and NOMA, or Non-Overlapping MAgisteria.

Can religion ever be reconciled to science? Let us look at the facts.

	Religion	Science
What is the Basis?	Unproven assumptions	Evidence
Bases?	Assumptions: scriptures, dogmata, fatwas, experiences, feelings, etc.	Evidence: data, experimental results, photographs, fossils, etc.
What is Basic Process?	Make unproven assumption, claim as Truth; retrofit evidence to assumption.	Examine evidence, draw conclusion; adapt conclusion to evidence.
	Assumption <- Evidence	Evidence -> Conclusion
Can it be Corrected?	No.	Yes.
How to Correct?	---	Present new evidence.
Can it Change?	Not by debate. Must internally change.	Yes.
How does it Change?	Reinterpret assumptions. This happens only when religion must adapt to society, or go extinct.	Present new evidence. Debate, examine evidence, draw new conclusion.
Binding on Everyone?	Yes.	No.
Results of Disagreement?	Debate, division, persecution, torture, etc.	Debate, search for new evidence.
Results on Humanity?	Ignorance, superstition, magical thinking, prejudice, persecution, warfare, disease, sexual suppression, etc.	Longer life span, healthier children, freedom from disease, clean water, improved food, sexual freedom, etc.

You may draw your own conclusions. If you would like further information, or to learn about Scientism, please contact: jegarbillings@yahoo.com

Brookline/ Boston LTC

Some can, and do, carry in city

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June 8, 2008

The article on gun permits was nicely written. But some finer points are missing. People who live in towns that have less stringent licensing requirements, such as Dartmouth, are able to carry statewide. That includes Boston. Just because Boston's regulations are more strict, that doesn't do much to reduce the number of people who can carry a concealed weapon in the city.

I am a Class A license-holder who does not live in Boston. However, my license allows me to carry concealed in any county in the state, Boston included. I have carried in Boston occasionally. Whether riding the T or attending a late-night show, I do so to protect my family. Boston's extra licensing requirements do nothing to stop the out-of-city resident from carrying in the city legally.

So what is needed is uniform licensing standards that apply statewide and are not altered or "interpreted" by overzealous police chiefs who are accountable to no one. The current system punishes and unlawfully restricts the residents of Boston from employing their Second Amendment rights while many other cities practice no such restrictions.

There was a comment from a police chief in your article:

"When you get a driver's license, you practice driving," says Sergeant Paul Cullinane, Brookline's identification/firearms licensing supervisor. "This is the chief's way of saying you need to get a little practice if you're going to get a license to carry."

Well, last I checked there was a constitutional right to bear arms. That right does not include restrictions as to the owner's proficiency.

Zack Aubut
New Bedford

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

Platform 1

These are the basic rights I as a Scientist establish for myself and others.

1. 1. Freedom of Inquiry: the People have the right to ask, to study, to examine, and to record all public information.
2. 2. Freedom of Expression: the People have the right to speak, to publish, to practice religion, and to gather in a civilized manner.
3. 3. Right of Defense: the People have the right to defend themselves, their families, their neighbors, and their freedoms from predatory attack.

The Advent of Scientism

Since traditional religion is inherently false, being based on ideas without (or in contradiction to) evidence; and since the scientific method is the only thing keeping us from the Dark Ages; and since current religious practices (such as circumcision, spanking, creation pseudoscience, abstinence "education", forced "marriage", gross abuse of women, Islamic jihad, stealth Crusades, etc etc) are clearly contrary to human progress and civilization itself: therefore I pronounce judgment on traditional religion, and set myself to establish a new path for all people. This path I call Scientism.

The Minuteman

We need in this nation a new minuteman. We need men and women both, who are willing to step outside the WalMart-ized, Oprah-ated "politically correct" dhummitude of popular culture, and are willing to stand for the same freedoms the Founders established for us with their sweat, tears, and often their blood.

We need people who will say "No!" to the insidious incursions and infringements, the stealthy war on our freedoms of religion, speech, and of the press. If an American wants to say "Allahu Akbar" I will stand for him. If another wants to say "Allahu Naq'bah" I will also stand (and cheer, but I am open to debate).

If someone wants to wave an Israeli flag; if another wants to fly a swastika; if yet another wants to burn the American flag: no matter what I think of the action, as long as he injures no one, I will stand for his freedom. We do have freedom; I will not tolerate any intolerance of it; I will fight for it.

To those who would refuse me the liberties guaranteed by our Founders: you may consider this a declaration of war. I would prefer a war of words, the clash of ideas only: but that depends on my opponent.