So, as you most certainly know, I am a scientist. I LOVE science..... If I could marry science, I would. As a result of this adoration/lust for science, when people start dismissing it, I am so enraged, I have a fit of anger that just turns me into a creditable hulk.
True story!
So when someone belittles science and our modern world by saying how science requires faith, or about how it hasn't gotten us anywhere, I crack a little on the inside.... The ability of people to completely dismiss what has given them almost everything good in their life in incredible.
I usually spill of this little rant.
Look around, for just a moment. If you are inside, almost everything you can see was brought to you by science. The carpet on the floor. The paint on the walls. The building itself was designed using scientific knowledge in the form of architecture. Not to mention every piece of cement, metal, PLASTIC! All of these things did not happen because someone prayed. These things did not just magically appear. These wondrous things happen because of science, hard-work, and the HUGE sum of knowledge that we have accumulated since the beginning of mankind. These Modern miracles, like Cellphones, Power-lines, Chemotherapy, Wikipedia, microwave dinners, hot tubs, and even the Laptops/desktop/tablet that you are reading this from, happened because we were not sated with religious dogma. We wanted to make the world a better place, and so we did. We do more in a single day of research than thousands of years of prayer have ever done.
And that usually shuts them up. Whether or not they listen and take any of that to heart is beyond my knowledge, but I can always hope.
The most aggravating thing is when people are thankful of some advances, and completely against others....
The lack of continuity that some people have is simply amazing.... Speaking of lack of continuity, donate to #SSAWeek?
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Earlier this year, my university Saint Cloud State, was host to the.... Interesting.... Bradlee Dean. Now, for those of you who are lucky enough to have never had to hear of this man, Bradlee Dean is the founder and executive director of the ministry, YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CANNOT HIDE INTERNATIONAL. Bradlee Dean is best known for evangelizing in public schools. That is right.... in public, tax funded schools, this man would openly preach about god, the bible, and focuses on "ADD and ADHD as diabolical fictions and emphasizes the importance of setting and
adhering to rules and holding children accountable for their mistakes." Additionally, the students are split into groups, where the young girls are given a "Virtue Class" and reminded to not become "leftovers" for their future husband. All of this in PUBLIC schools...
This was the most appropriate Face-Palm I could find
Now, since he has gained some notoriety, he has not been able to continue this violation on church and state, and instead he has spread hate on other mediums. Including these pleasantries that Rachael Maddow called him out on
In case you didn't want to watch, although I would certainty recommend it if you want a laugh, he talks about how there should be more bloodshed of the gays, and about how each gay "molests 117 people"
on average, before they are found out.... He literally said that on his radio show, The Sons Of Liberty.... This means that either
A) Several of my friends are behind on their quota OR
B) He is a hateful idiot
Now, by hateful, I don't mean by my own standards, I mean that he has had his videos taken down by Google, because of hate speech....
A little more recently, he gave a "non-denominational" prayer, where he started off fine, then crashed and burned when he started talking about Jesus... This performance lead several republicans to "personally denounce" him. That along with his views on homosexuality that other republicans stated was similar to that of Nazi Germany. Now, the wonderful College Republican at Saint Cloud State invited him to come and speak. A man who's entire notoriety is due to being a hate-monger...
That being said, when the event came closer, the national republicans warned them to not host this speaker, and that they would supply a different speaker. When the current president, who had only been president a few weeks, declined, the party insisted. They made it clear that they will have trouble finding Republican jobs in the future. Still, the SCSU college republicans held strong, to disastrous complications...
"Sometimes young people need to have better judgement in who they invite
to things under the Republican banner. If you are going to do dumb
things, and not take the advice of the state college Republicans and the
state chairman of the Republican party, it might have some
consequences.....When you've been given good advice from the top of the food chain, sometimes, you've just got to listen," - Pat Shortridge (Party Chair of the MNGOP)
Additionally, the chairman of the Minnesota College Republicans threatened to
disassociate the group from the statewide organization if the speaker performed with the groups blessing.
Now, I understand where the group is coming from, they don't want to be bullied by anyone, even their own higher-ups. And I understand that the current president likely did not plan this event, and is in a very difficult position. That being said, it should be a simple matter. The event should be canceled.... And this is because of one simple fact. We are students. This is a student group, and you rely heavily on the national group's support. I know that if one of my groups had their backing pulled, it would be devastating...
Sadly, the group did, in fact, host the event. In a last minute protest, thrown together on Facebook, there were over 100 students in a peaceful protest on the lawn outside of the event. The event itself only drew in about 50 people, and it seemed from the open mic section immediately after his performance, that the majority of them were only there to voice their disapproval. As a whole, the event was a blunder. The only real effect of the event was the protest, which caused dozens of people to feel support and love. From my own instinct, it was actually beneficial, as the group opposing mine is now significantly worse off.
That being said, I know that as a whole, this event has had irrevocable damage to Saint Cloud State. That is because, the College Republicans kept their word, and have actually removed Saint Cloud from the list of chapters.
Now, I know that I was a bit skeptical when I looked this up, thinking that perhaps they were never on the list.... so I asked the internet, and was given the archive page, where guess what, as of the last saved archive page,
Saint Cloud State is listed.... So, based on all the evidence, the Minnesota College Republicans no longer exist at Saint Cloud State, and as a result, there will be a lot less of necessary debate. Without this debate, people will no longer be fighting as strongly, and this makes me sad. Because now, apparently, my own beliefs have won at SCSU, but have won because there is no opposition. And this makes me terribly sad, because as much as I love winning, I don't like winning by default.
Just so you know, I still love science! (you may have to click this image to see it)
Speaking of things I love..... Have I introduced you to SSAWEEK?
So, over the next day, please consider donating money, or at least sharing our blog and hashtag #SSAWeek. For more info please visit http://www.secularstudents.org/ssaweek or to donate Visit here. Thanks for your support, and see you soon!
So, as many of you may know, or at least after reading a few blog post you may now know, I don't sleep nearly as much as a normal human does. I can survive for weeks on end with 4 hours a night. and I have done this, for weeks on end. Now, I am not happy about getting such little sleep, but I still perform at peak performance.
They took away my axe after my last extreme sleepless week...
Besides caffeine and the insatiable need to get things done, the greatest tool I have to keep awake in these difficult times is music. Now, for those who don't use music as a stimulant, you need a nice strong rhythm and beat to keep you moving. Also, if it inspires a strong rebellious/courage/righteous feeling, its all the better. That is why I was super excited to hear one of Fun.'s new songs One Foot
PLAY THIS... NOW
This is an awesome song, especially if you need to keep a driving beat. It is also kinda a militant atheist song.
I happen to stumble upon a chapel last night.And I can't help but back up when I think of what happens inside.I got friends looked in boxes. And no way to live.But you call it a sin. Isn't up to them.After all, after all I thought we were all your children,But I will die for my own sins thanks a lot.We'll rise up ourselves thanks for nothing at all,so up off the ground up for fathers who are nothing but dust now.
Now, this is certainly not the first atheist song, nor the best, that being said, I have been blogging for many hours, and this song is playing, so I'm going to be talking about it. {By the Way, donate to SSAWEEK}
This brings me to an odd place though. Should there be atheist music. A gut reaction of mine says, why? for those who never took a middle school music class, there are 2 categories in music, sacred and secular. Sacred music being music directly about god, and secular music not being about god. So most music in today's society is secular.... Isn't that enough? Do we need music about atheism?
Also, do we need Justin Bieber? NO!
So, After much thought and introspection, I have realized that we really do. Besides the fact the becoming an atheist can be a very meaningful experience, being an atheist in a very theistic community, like many American atheists, can be a very difficult thing. You can be ostracized, harassed, and even assaulted. And that kind of experience is one of the truest experiences that you can ever have. And it leads to some really awesome music.....
I highly recommend her music, and I really love it. (especially Saved (Acoustic)) Speaking of things I recommend, did you know it's#SSAWeek?
So, over the next day, please consider donating money, or at least sharing our blog and hashtag #SSAWeek. For more info please visit http://www.secularstudents.org/ssaweek or to donate Visit here. Thanks for your support, and see you soon!
So, you may ask me "Ben did you put hot chocolate powder in your wide awake coffee co coffee?". If you asked me this, I would respond, "AHHHH HOW CAN YOU SEE ME? Where are the cameras?"
I would then explain that even though I am a bit of a coffee snob, I still enjoy a fake/cheapo mocha everyone and a while, because I am only human.
Now, the same is true for some really awesome people. Everyone has flaws. Even really, really awesome people.... Even people who have done heroic things and who we should all respect. We are all human, and we all have flaws, and we all make mistakes.
My mistakes often are corrected due to spell-check, though not always.....
So, when we are confronted by a "hero's" or someone-else-who-we-look-up-to's mistakes and humanity, it can be a very difficult, aggravating, even confusing experience. And it can be difficult to move past such an experience, even though we have to. Now, just to give you a little background (and because its my blog, so you can't stop me), I'll give you a scenario that I had to go through.
Several months ago, on a drive back from a secular event, I found out that one of my friends/ another secular student leader, was kinda heterosexist. Now, this was not a "those dirty f@gs" moment or a "marriage is for man/woman couples only" moment. It was a lot more of a "poor made joke implying gays are all sluts" moment. And I was kind of offended, both that he would think that, and that a leader in my community would think that. And it was a very sobering moment. Because we are all human. And we all have less than savory traits.
Mine may be an addiction to Futurama
Now, I am in no way saying behavior like this is acceptable, because its not. But what I am saying is that we need to be understanding. In this case, the person in question had grown up in a small community, with very little experience with the queer community. Additionally, it was not intended as an insult, but rather as a cheap joke. That being said, I spent the next several hours correcting the individual, explaining in great detail how the comment was offensive, and why such things shouldn't be said.
Now, I am aware of similar behaviors and traits of other high profile secularists, and it can sometimes be difficult, but we as a community need to acknowledge that there are no saints. That no-one is above reproach, and that when someone fuc%s up, we need to call them on it. Several amazing people have been excellent at calling out bull$hit behaviors by men toward women, such as the exemplary Rebecca Watson, but doing so must be difficult. I hope that when/if I am ever put in that situation, I will have the strength of will and conviction to call out such terrible behavior.
Wow, another serious entry.... I better ruin a childhood memory.
There we go!
So, over the next day, please consider donating money, or at least sharing our blog and hashtag #SSAWeek. For more info please visit http://www.secularstudents.org/ssaweek or to donate Visit here. Thanks for your support, and see you soon!
So, I have always been an overachiever. Currently I am on executive board of 3 organizations, President of 2, and I work full time. So I am going to reveal how I am able to get everything done. But, Because Im me, Im going to reveal my secrets in graph form....
First, I have how I would get things done in an ideal world
Boy, How I long for this world....
Now, the sad truth of how I get things done.... P.S. Don't tell my cardiologist.
Sadly, there is only a limited amount of caffeine a person can engust before it has no more effect. We call that limit Ben at 4:00 PM.... It is not always pretty... Sometimes there are no survivors...
Now, on a more serious note, I do use quite a bit of caffeine. That being said, I don't really do anything else that is really that bad for me, so I am dealing with my one addiction. Though, in case anyone cares, my favorite source of caffeine is:
I LOVE THIS COFFEE
Legitimately, my favorite coffee in the world. If I had any cool talent that would allow me a corporate sponsor, it would be wide awake coffee co. If I found out that the grounds have 2% orphan, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't drink less. On of the pieces of evidence that there is no god is that no christian group has ever given me this coffee as a gift. God himself would keep this coffee in his pantry.
Additionally, I love having an epic theme to keep me going. Im really jiving on Two Steps From Hell, but anything that sounds like the hero/heroine is running/sword fighting will do it for me.
Though most of all, the thing that keeps me going when I'm out of coffee, or when I don't have headphones, is the hard work of others. The hard work of all of the SSA staff, especially JT, Lyz, and Sarah, is what inspires me. The awesomeness incarnate that we refer to as Debbie Goddard from CFI is what makes me realize I can always be dong more. And the love and support of my very own Sarah Maddox is what makes me realize that what I do matters.
Thank you all....
Wow, that got a little soppy near the end....
To give you perspective into my life, this is my desktop background
So, over the next day, please consider donating money, or at least sharing our blog and hashtag #SSAWeek. For more info please visit http://www.secularstudents.org/ssaweek or to donate Visit here. Thanks for your support, and see you soon!
Cthulhu and The Doctor are honestly my favorite fictional characters and I’m going to explain why I think they are better than Jesus. For those of you who don’t know much about Cthulhu or Doctor Who I will give a little background info for you. First Cthulhu made his first appearance in H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “Call of Cthulhu” and has been referenced in many other Lovecraft stories including the Dunwich Horror, the Mountains of Madness, and Shadow over insmouth. Now Cthulhu is an ancient monster with dragon wings a somewhat human body and a tentacle octopus head. He came from beyond the stars before the arrival of man he currently is sleeping in the sunken city of Riley waiting for the stars to align to wake him from his slumber and to devour us all. The Doctor is a thousand year old time lord from the planet Gallifrey, who with his Blue Box called the T.A.R.D.I.S (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) flies around all of time and space saving humans from such threats as the Daleks and cybermen and the mighty Suhtek. Now the reasons why Cthulhu is better than Jesus first of all Cthulhu is more plausible than a historical Jesus. Cthulhu is not some wizard he is an alien from somewhere beyond the stars who came to earth millions of years ago. Where the Jesus character is the supposed son of a god who impregnated a virgin and gave birth to himself or something like that the canon of the Jesus character is a little contradictory. Which is another point there is only one version of the Cthulhu mythos compared to the Jesus myth, the Jesus myth contradicts itself on some key points, first the whole virgin birth it’s not in every telling of the story. Another reason I think Cthulhu is better than Jesus is in how each of them communicate to their followers. How does Jesus do it he has a two thousand year book which is itself confused on the details of the story, he also touches the soul of the individual follower but this is a completely personal thing and can’t be proven if it really happens. As for Cthulhu he too has a book the Necronomicon written by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazared. Cthulhu also communicates with his followers by giving them nightmares but not individually he does on a mass scale and he does not do it to just anybody he gives these night mare to artist which compels them to make an image of Cthulhu so there are people all over the world all at once make images of Cthulhu at once. Has this Jesus character done anything like that? Cthulhu is also better than Jesus because Cthulhu does not care what you do or who you believe in he does not preach that if you worship him he will help you or do things for you. Worshiping Cthulhu only ensures that when he awakens he will eat you first so you don’t have to witness the horrors of his reign. Jesus sends you to a horrible place called hell if you don’t believe in him; there is no afterlife in the Cthulhu mythos. So why is Cthulhu better than Jesus first he is not magic just an alien, he communicates to his followers better and more practically, and finally he doesn’t care if you don’t follow him here is no punishment just reward in its own way. The Doctor is better than Jesus and I am going to give the reasons why. First the doctor has spent more time on earth than Jesus. Jesus has said to have been killed at the age of thirty three where as the Doctor is over a thousand years old. The Doctor first appeared on earth around the age of one hundred and has been around ever since. Second The Doctor has more lives than Jesus. Jesus is said to have died the resurrected then left earth where the doctor has regenerated ten times and has a few more in him. Third The Doctor has done more for the world. Jesus just gave his life to save humanity from something they were not responsible for (Adam and Eve eating the apple). Where The Doctor has first stopped the Dalek invasion of 2150, he stopped the Cybermen from invading earth as well, he freed the earth from the clutches of the silence in 1969, ensured that the alien Scaroth’s ship exploded setting of a chain reaction which started life on earth. Stopped Suhtek from destroying earth, and ended an entire war between the Dalek and Time lords. Clearly The Doctor is a better than Jesus. Jesus cannot compare to other characters like The Doctor or Cthulhu because of the contradictions of his own story and his clear lack of effectiveness communicating to his followers. Do to Jesus limited time on the planet and his lack of action in protecting the world so that is why I think that The Doctor and Cthulhu are better characters than Jesus.
So, over the next day, please consider donating money, or at least sharing our blog and hashtag #SSAWeek. For more info please visit http://www.secularstudents.org/ssaweek or to donate Visit here. Thanks for your support, and see you soon!
