And GOD Said . . . (to whom?)

Tucson Weather Today

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Reading all this constant bickering between Atheists and Theist on the Internet blogs is becoming tedious. It might not be so boring if any one of them could just come up with some new argument for their side to present to those unpretentious readers who are earnestly seeking some hint of uncorrupted truth.

Here is a snippet of what I see as rationality that I am now allowing to escape, some seemingly lucid thoughts displaying my own version of What I Probably Believe.

Below are some of the declarations of Jesus, taken from the first book of the Christians' New Testament, from the book of Matthew:

5:17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets...

5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

5:19
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven:

How many supposedly devout Christians truly believe those words? Do they actually believe that Jesus commands Christians to follow the Old Testament laws when he says that until heaven and earth pass away you must obey all those ancient laws? Or else, if you don't, you are verily a doomed sinner worthy only of the damnation of eternal punishment?

No. Of course not, you might answer. You might chuckle and say that the Twenty-first century Christians have modified their internal moral codes to echo, not biblical dogma, but the childish fairy tale beliefs they themselves, each individually, want to agree with, and nothing more.

Such as, for example, the absurdity that all of their friends and family members who die, no matter how despicable they had been in life, immediately ascend to Heaven, or Paradise, and there assume the form of a glorious Angel, where they recline up there at their ease on drifting white clouds dressed in white robes with a golden halo encircling each holy head, playing the harps and watching over the risible comings and goings of their Earthly acquaintances and their still living loved ones.

You may scoff at that and say that all the modern-day Christians are enlightened, and that they do not believe all that beautifully poetic malarkey to be the literal truth.

But they do. Ah yes, they do. I know some of them... I know, and have known, some of them intimately. Down deep, in their heart of hearts, as they term it, they do believe those childhood-impressed images.

And who am I to say they are wrong?

As I have said previously, many times: "I am not an atheist." I do not profess to know (or even suspect) that there is no God. I admit freely and often, that I do not know what GOD is. And if there is (or ever was) some unseen but somehow sensed sentient entity that brought about the existence of mankind on the Earth, in the Solar System, within the Milky Way Galaxy, a minuscule part of the billions and billions of other galaxies and galactic clusters... or even the human concept of a vast, possibly unending, Universe, or MULTI-VERSE...

Well, I just don't know.

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I found a word I was unsure of
its meaning -- so I looked it up.

beget
(verb)
1.
(especially of a male parent) to procreate or generate (offspring).
2.
to cause; produce as an effect: a belief that power begets power.
Synonyms
1. spawn, sire, breed, father. 2. occasion, engender, effect, generate.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Willard Scott

Born March 7, 1934

I spoke briefly with Willard Scott back in the 1990s (or was it the late 1980s?) when I was employed by Walt Disney World as a House Man at The Contemporary Resort. One morning I was standing just inside the doorway of the hotel's VIP Lounge when the famous celebrity entered. I recognized him immediately and called out, "Mister Willard Scott!" He swung his gleaming bald head around, raised his hand in an expansive wave, grinned at me, and said, "How ya' doin', Pardner?"

That was the extent of it.

But it's one of those secretly harbored memories we all seem prone to treasure, nonetheless.

(At this moment I am pursing my lips and shrugging my shoulders)

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Back to my original subject . . .

The God Wars is the title of an article in New Statesman written by Bryan Appleyard. The article's sub-head first states then asks:

To hardline atheists, it is now unreasonable and "dramatically peculiar" to argue that religion is not altogether evil. How did such intolerance become acceptable to rational minds?

This article helped me to get a better feel for the meaning of the term neo-atheist which has been irritatingly unclear in my mind. There are so many disparate views as to what constitutes a clear definition.

In the article Appleyard proposes: By "neo-atheism", I mean a tripartite belief system founded on the conviction that science provides the only road to truth and that all religions are deluded, irrational and destructive.

He goes on to say that this tripartite comprises Atheism, Secularism, and Darwinism, and then he elaborates on the difference between the three belief systems.

More about Bryan Appleyard.

Bryan Appleyard's blog

I try to keep up with the writings of some of the more popular Atheist bloggers, like PZ Myers, Greta Christina, Hemant Mehta (The Friendly Atheist) -- and a few others, but some of their shouted vituperations make me wince and stop reading, and I go on to other (relatively) milder, and quieter voices of reason. Such as the colorful, droll, and sometimes intellectual site named Quarkscrew.

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One man's theology is another man's belly laugh.
--Robert A. Heinlein

What Is Creative Non-Fiction?

Tucson Weather Today

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I almost screwed up yesterday while lounging on the loafers' bench outside Fry's Supermarket. Seated by my side was an elderly female welfare recipient who was doing sentinel duty at the nearby sand-filled cigarette-butt urn, watching out for any newly stubbed out butt that might arrive. Her name, I think, is Mary... or it might be Shirley -- she's about 60 years old, painfully skinny and always wears what used to be called flour-sack dresses. -- Anyway, she occasionally begs me to buy her a package of filter-tipped menthol cigarettes, to which I always tell her that I would never buy cigarettes for anyone.

The near screw up I mentioned came about when Mary asked me, "What's yer sign?"

Instead of sensibly answering, "Taurus," and letting it go at that, I loudly proclaimed, "You mean my astrological sign? Ah! I don't believe in that stupidity."

You see, I wasn't feeling my best. I had just walked a mile. And my stomach was still objecting to the heavyweight bout going on between the two thickly battered fried chicken breasts I'd consumed less than an hour before, and Mary, sitting right beside me, was indulging in her usual phlegm rattling cough, which did nothing to ease my discomfort.

She glared at me open-mouthed and said, "What do you mean, stupid? Lots of people believe in it. Even kings and presidents."

I stared right back into her face with its sparse set of brown-stained teeth, which was much too close to mine, and said, rather loudly, "Anyone who believes that astrology is a valid science is either ignorant or downright stupid."

"Oh yeah," she said, "How do you know that? I believe it and I ain't stupid."

I began to lecture about how the locations of the individual stars relative to each other, forming recognizable shapes, was determined by the location of the observer, and thus constellations were observable as mythical creatures or objects symbolic of astrological signs only to denizens of Earth, while observers in distant stellar systems would not see the same star-shapes that we do.

But pretty soon I noticed that Mary was moving her eyes about in a vacant sort of gaze over to the butt-less urn, then down to the bare pavement, then back to the urn, and it was apparent she was no longer listening to me.

"Are you going in the store," she asked me.

"Pretty soon," I told her.

"Treat me to a pack of menthol filters, would you?" she said.

I told her, "After smoking for almost 30 years, I quit cold-turkey on April 12th of 1985 at twelve noon, and I would never buy any cigarettes for anyone... never ever."

"But we're friends," she said, as she once more looked over at the urn.

I just sat there and shook my head. She stared at my face.

"What's yer sign? she said.

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BORN ON THIS DAY

Lou Costello

Born March 6, 1906

Died March 3, 1959

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So . . . What exactly is Creative Nonfiction?

I have to admit that my previous understanding (misunderstanding) of Creative Nonfiction was the incorrect definition many others besides myself harbored of it, of it being a fictionalized account of a supposedly nonfiction piece of writing. Or a fraudulent essay, of sorts.

Perhaps the best and most concise true definition I have encountered was proposed by Lee Gutkind:

Although it sounds a bit affected and presumptuous, "creative nonfiction" precisely describes what the form is all about. The word "creative" refers simply to the use of literary craft in presenting nonfiction--that is, factually accurate prose about real people and events--in a compelling, vivid manner. To put it another way, creative nonfiction writers do not make things up; they make ideas and information that already exist more interesting and, often, more accessible.

Here is the full article . . .

Additionally --

An interview with Lee Gutkind at Bookslut in July 2005 contains more information about Creative Nonfiction.

Now that I know what Creative Nonfiction really is, this might be the time for me to jump in and get my feet wet, as the old cliche goes; maybe this is a thing I can do, and do well enough, to appear in the pages of a recognized, respected, and reputable publication.

Or maybe not . . .

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I found a word I was unsure of
its meaning, so I looked it up.

risible

RIZ-uh-buhl
Adjective:
Meaning: Such as to provoke laughter.
Synonyms:
ludicrous - ridiculous - laughable - comical - funny

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Entering words, sentences, paragraphs and selected photographs or images into this blog is perhaps a questionable method I employ to ensure that I write something every day. Whether any specific entry is mildly entertaining, intensely interesting, or pedestrian and boring as hell is irrelevant. What is meaningful to me is that I have written (created?) something that day.

Maintaining this daily blog, like going for a two-mile daily walk, has now become a regular habit. Whenever I inadvertently skip a day from either habit I feel guilty and command myself to get my ass back in gear.

Habits can be both helpful and harmful.

How's that for a profound observation?

(Profound but probably not original.)

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An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.
--W. Somerset Maugham

If It Tastes Good . . . Eat It?

Tucson Weather Today

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I had planned today to write about obesity and my own ideas as to its underlying cause, that being primarily the pursuit of and insistence on more and more tasty and less nutritious food, and of the commercial emphasis on enhanced flavor. But, as sometimes happens, I got so all caught up in another of my various pursuits (family history in photos on DVD) and had to put off that thought provoking writerly chore. If I find the time soon enough, I will insert herein some of my slowly simmering thoughts on the subject of food as an object of conditioned pleasure seeking.

If not, I'll do so another day.

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I found a word I didn't know the
meaning of so I looked it up . . .

gluttony is habitual eating to excess.

Believe it or not.

I had always before understood that gluttony was a vile and voluntary committing of a deadly sin and was God's (or Nature's) way of punishing a person for acting like the much despised overly large grunting hog that roots through the muck and mire of a pure and plentiful Earth to satisfy an unnatural craving. Imagine my surprise to find that the hog is acting strictly on its built-in natural instinct while human gluttony is nothing more than an acquired habit.

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BORN ON THIS DAY

Rex Harrison

Born March 5, 1908

Died June 2, 1990

Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar in the movie Cleopatra

With Elizabeth Taylor, filmed in 1963

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Childhood obesity is best tackled at home through improved parental involvement, increased physical exercise, better diet and restraint from eating.
--Bob Filner

More Science Stuff . . .

Tucson Weather Today

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Cal Tech Jet Propulsion Laboratory says:

The need to understand the planet we call home has never been greater. As the population of our pale blue dot continues to grow, humans and all living things vie for an ever-shrinking pool of natural resources. Fresh water. Clean air. Food. Habitable land. As Earth's climate changes in response to human and natural causes, these resources are strained.

NASA's contingent of dedicated Earth scientists and engineers -- the world's largest -- together with its armada of Earth satellites and airborne instruments, study all aspects of the Earth system--its ocean, atmosphere, ice, land and biosphere. Together, this conflux of humans and machines is advancing our scientific understanding of our ever-changing Earth system, helping to meet the needs of society.

Image credit: NASA/JPL
This color image of the Earth was
obtained by Galileo on Dec. 11, 1990.

JPL studies help us identify how Earth's climate is changing, understand the causes of these changes, and support development of models used to predict future global change. Currently, JPL has six dedicated Earth science spacecraft in orbit, with another five instruments flying aboard NASA's Terra, Aqua and Aura spacecraft. Several more missions are planned for launch in the next few years. Decision makers around the world use JPL Earth science data to support policy-making and resource management decisions.


Need something else to worry about? Try this short video:

Asteroid 2011AG5 could strike Earth in 2040

Makes being 10 pounds overweight seem like small potatoes, doesn't it?

If you didn't want to view the above mentioned video you can check out the following from NASA and the Cal-Tech Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Here is their Asteroid 2011AG5 orbit calculations

Looks as if it might come a bit close to Earth . . . right?

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I found a word I didn't know the
meaning of so I looked it up . . .

Higgs boson

The Higgs boson is a hypothetical elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. The Higgs field is a quantum field with a non-zero value that fills all of space, and explains why fundamental particles such as quarks and electrons have mass. The Higgs boson is an excitation of the Higgs field above its ground state.

I looked it up, but still
do not know what it is.

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Here is an understandable science analogy:

The chess-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.

The above is reportedly a quote by . .

Thomas Henry Huxley

English biologist

(1825-1895)

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Patricia Heaton

(The Middle)

Born March 4, 1958

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Penetrating so many secrets, we cease to believe in the unknowable.
But there it sits nevertheless, calmly licking its chops.
--H. L. Mencken

To Boldly Go . . .

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A recent NASA (RELEASE: 12-068) contained the following:

"Astronomers using data from NASA's Hubble Telescope have observed what appears to be a clump of dark matter left behind from a wreck between massive clusters of galaxies."

That statement was followed by, "The gigantic merging galaxy cluster called Abell 520, is located 2.4 billion light-years away."

Now, to my uncluttered mind (meaning unmathed, unphysicsed, and unarroganced) this seems a bit far-fetched. Astronomers are viewing dark matter clumps (or, NOT viewing since dark matter cannot be seen) that existed quite a long time ago -- the unlight from the galaxy cluster traveling at approximately 186,000 miles per second has reached the eyes of the observer after a trip spanning 2,400,000,000 years.


Good Gravy!

I can't even conceive of such a vast distance or unimaginable length of time. The more I read from NASA releases the more convinced I become that modern-day science conclusions consist, not of hard facts, but of fanciful wishes, unsubstantiated hypotheses, and of downright science-fictional guesses.

(No, not really. I'm just feeling a bit flabbergasted.)

More about Dark Matter and Dark Energy

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A word I thought I knew
but found that I did not.

A nebula (from Latin: "cloud") is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases.

Horse Head Nebula

Example of a Dark Nebula

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BORN ON THIS DAY

James Doohan

(Scottie)

March 3, 1920 - Jul 20, 2005

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Tucson Weather Today

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Anybody who has been seriously engaged is scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: 'Ye must have faith.'
--Max Planck

Conservative Or Liberal?

Tucson Weather Today

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At times I post dictionary definitions of words that I took for granted as being words I knew the meanings of but then discovered that I did not actually know but only thought I did. And sometimes I post words that I absolutely know I do not know.

Well . . . I thought I knew the meanings of the words conservative and liberal, in the political sense. But when I looked up their definitions, I found the following:

An ideal conservative believes in the importance of the individual person and the family structure; that it is the responsibility for the individuals within each family to do as much as they can for themselves before asking for assistance. When assistance is needed the route taken is community, city, county, state and federal, in that order, with the federal government the avenue of last resort. A conservative believes in the least government possible.

An ideal liberal takes the completely opposite position to an ideal conservative vying for a socialistic form of government working from the top down wherein the freedom of the individual is compromised for the supposed good of the collective group.

A conservative believes that when government assumes responsibility it takes away the freedoms and incentives that make an individual productive. Whereas, a liberal believes an individual’s interests should be subservient to the collective interest of the members of society and thus minimizes reliance on personal responsibility.

Read more about this here . . .

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BORN ON THIS DAY

Desi Arnaz

Born on March 2, 1917

Died December 2, 1986

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I should not write about politics. Doing so depresses me. And it probably depresses all who happen to read my words. It would be better for all concerned if I were to simply write about the things I understand.

Good idea.

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Also Born On This Day

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

Born March 2, 1931

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Conservatives think liberals are stupid.
Liberals think conservatives are evil.
--Charles Krauthammer

More On Reading And Writing

Tucson Weather Today

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SHENANDOAH is a publication of The Washington And Lee University Review and is an excellent source for those readers who enjoy excellent stories and poems, as well as being a potential market for serious writers.

From the FAQ:

How would you describe the mission of Shenandoah?

Shenandoah's mission is to bring the most accomplished and stimulating writers and writing to the Washington and Lee University community and to our wider audience, to provide as James Alan McPherson once said, "Maximum exposure to stories unfolding."

We want to publish work which has its sources in acutely observed personal experience but which also aims to bear witness to something larger than the individual. Miller Williams said that a poem must begin as the writer's but end up as the reader's, or it is a failure. We concur. Regarding fiction, we are not drawn to stories whose interest in particular topics overwhelms an interest in the language. Stories are, after all, made of words, not emotions, ambitions or ideals, and the words must do the work. Former Shenandoah contributing editor James Dickey once said he wanted to say things in a such a way that they could not easily be unsaid. We'll stand by that.

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A word I thought I knew
but found that I did not.

didactic --
1. designed or intended to teach
2. intended to convey instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Ron Howard

Talented Director

Born March 1, 1954

Ron Howard
(Age 8)
as Opie Taylor

The Andy Griffith Show

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Mike's young peach tree is flowering in his back yard

Soon to bear fruit?

Closeup

Peach tree flower

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Be obscure clearly.
--E. B. White