Friday, January 30, 2015
Mr Fry Calls Out God
Stephen Fry is a hero of mine on a par with Christopher Hitchens. Maybe half a rung higher. In any case, what he says above is exactly what I've said for years: if there is a creator of this universe he's a selfish egomaniac, heartless and cruel, or shockingly incompetent. In no way could he be the god of the Bible; which is to say a being who's all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. Simply incompatible with what is observable all around us. Bone cancer in children. As good a starting point as any. Or this, which I wrote many a year ago, and which got mostly angry and outraged comments.
I've also said that if I'm wrong, and I were standing at the gates, I hope I'd be honorable and ethical enough to say exactly that, and decline the opportunity. (There was a movie a few years back, The Rapture, which was touted and loved by Christians because it seemed to confirm all their beliefs about, well, the rapture, among other things. To me it was notable for three things: two of them were Mimi Rogers breasts; the third was her refusal, in the end, to join her daughter in heaven because she couldn't forgive god for making her (Mimi) kill her (the daughter) as an act of faith. Not my kind of god, she demonstrated. To me, that was the point of the movie.)
Lastly, I've also said that if any theology makes any sense, is compatible with what we see of how this world works, it's the sort of polytheism in which no god is all powerful, and most of them are screw-ups and pranksters, and not a little devious and nasty. Seriously, it's the only view of our planet that works, if you want to invoke deity.
Bonus: here's a favorite video involving Mr Steeven Fry. Lovable in all ways.
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Nope. Here's my take: god has a family (of gods, of course) and he is,like, a 6 yr old. The god parents come home to find that he's been messin' with the universe creatin' shit. "NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! Get over there and sit on that dunce stool in the corner for 10 thousand years and we don't want to hear a peep out you." And that's why nobody's seen or heard from him in a long time. That's the only thing that makes any sense. No adults in charge.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense! i've also said the universe might be some sort of science fair project of the equivalent of a god-like kid. Grade school. Terrarium kind of thing. And he lost interest about the time the mold started to form.
ReplyDeleteDisagree with both of ya...Part 1 of 2
ReplyDeleteBad kids go to Hell. Lucifer or something like that. I'm not a scholar. I dropped out 1/2 way in my sophomore year in H.S.
But God doesn't exist so it's all moot.
I got a kick out of the most brainwashed of the "folk of faith" proved Sid's take on religion almost word for word. What they didn't prove was there is God and the Bible is the only way to go...or else!
Now then...For those who read this and want to explain to me where I went off the tracks.
Did you hear yourself, or do you ever hear yourself talk about your faith??? The more faith you have the farther religious folks go off the tracks and appear to the vast majority of the rest of us as 1/2 crazy.
faith
[feyth]
Spell Syllables
Examples Word Origin
noun
1.
confidence or trust in a person or thing:
faith in another's ability.
2.
belief that is not based on proof:
He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3.
belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion:
the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4.
belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.:
to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5.
a system of religious belief:
the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
6.
the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.:
Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
7.
the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.:
He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
ReplyDeletePart 2 of 2
OK then...Here's the second one on the list in case you missed it or have a thick skull. If you are illiterate I can't help you. Besides, you'd never had made it this far into this chapter book anyway...So it's moot...See what I did there? I present the second definition..
2: A belief that is not based on proof:
He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
Strait from the dictionary. Not a single one of you have proof of what you say and tell anyone who'd listen you got zero proof. Snake oil comes to mind.
Also, I don't want to hear your religious crap and neither do my kids so quit trying to force it on them when I am not looking! How about I stop your kids on the way to school and ask them if they want to know the best sex positions and ways they can have sex and use birth control?????? Hmmmmmmm???? Give em pamphlets with naked people doing naked things people do all the time all over the world??? I can't walk down the street or sit at a bus stop without one of you jumping me. You stop in the middle of the road! You stand in front of the planned parenthood and harass, intimidate and disparage everyone that walks in the building. This is what my kids see and hear every day they walk to school. Nasty pictures of fetuses on huge picket signs. Don't tell me about how that is okie dokey because I think it's deranged and twisted.
My kids are free to explore religion at 18. Those are the rules at my house. Until they turn 18 they have to follow my rules. PS: My kids have been to church with their friends a few times. They stopped going on their decision, not mine. Just because people of faith manipulate and control their kids by feeding them ignorance, doesn't mean everyone does. I give responsibilities that are greater and greater as they learn the last one. It's an environment that's secular and wide open to explore. So that's my program. I don't want to hear the "You control your kids" crap either. I am not "Helo-chopper dad".
Stephen Hawking said something like, 'I don't know if there is a God, but God did not create the universe.'
http://www.cnet.com/news/stephen-hawking-makes-it-clear-there-is-no-god/
This is a real question to my people of 100% faith(or any % of faith God is real.)
What was God doing before all of this??? In God training? Then what before that???
Now then,In closing...I say God can do good and create "miracles". Like any placebo, people are going to get better, feel better, etc. But the miracles are NOT nor EVER Hawking suddenly springs from his wheel chair and runs the 40 in under 5 seconds kinda miracles. Never been done and never will, by Gods' work anyway.
As far as I'm concerned people kill their kids and make them suffer because they are either too ignorant or stupid to have mass prayer AND medical treatment.
Are you religious people even aware a person can live a good life, be a good person without Gods???
People who are religious make me want to smash my head against the wall repeatedly. I guess we can agree God would cause me to do that...or the Devil, or ya know what...It's both Gods and Devils. That's what's driving me crazy...Both.
I especially like pt 2.. As I've often said: "Religion is like a penis--I don't care if you have one. You can even be really proud of it. Just don't take it out in public or try to cram it down my kid's throat." As for miracle cures, why does god hate amputees?
ReplyDeleteThank you, glad you enjoyed my comment.
ReplyDelete"As for miracle cures, why does god hate amputees?"
I know right...God is clearly not on their side...lol
Yeah, I've often wondered about that.
ReplyDeletegod:'Your fever went down? You feel better? Thanks for the prayers and adoration.
'What? You were in an accident and lost both your legs? Don't come runnin'to me'
Miracles. Claiming them. Praying for them. I could talk for hours on that subject.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, amputees. We hear claims of miracle cures of cancer all the time. Why don't we ever hear of limbs growing back? Not enough prayer circles, I guess; or not enough people in them.
And now the prayer circles. So god's saying, 'If you don't have a lot of friends--screw you?' These people really don't think this stuff through. They really think that a 'creator of the universe' would behave like that? Their crania are simply vacant. (Sid, thanks for the feedback. Love the site.)
ReplyDeleteOn my first (and better) blog, which was mainly about the life of a surgeon, I wrote about prayer circles once. Got a heck of a reaction. One of the reasons I started this blog, so I could rant away without confusing people: http://surgeonsblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/bless-child.html
ReplyDelete