Fun With Religion

Let God drink his beer, Dang it!
Let me begin by stating that I have nothing against any religion per se. While I do not personally believe in a benevolent God which watches over us and takes an interest in our daily lives, I do not discount the possibility. However, the very idea that a being as powerful as this would bother to create an entire universe as complex as our own merely to dedicate it's attention on a single planet, species, person or whatever seems laughable to me. Not to mention that everyone seems to be able to conduct the power of God (if you're a Christian anyway) for various tasks; many of which have little to do with morality or religiosity in general. Yes, that's right, I'm talking about all those musicians who accept awards with "the help of the allmighty" and those sports stars who thank "the great spirit" for various athletic ability. But there's also the day-to-day sacrilege practiced by everyone who prays. First of all, if there's a God what makes you think he/she/it wants to hear about your problems? Leave God alone. God has had a long and difficult day. In fact, the whole last century has pretty much sucked for God. At the end God just wants to sit in front of the tube with a beer and watch The Sopranos. But no. You have to come in there and start whining that you want this or that. Man... I wouldn't put up with that crap.

Intelligent Design
As this subject has interested me for some time I have listened to several arguments attempting to establish the idea of Intelligent Design as though it were a viable scientific theory. Unfortunately, try as they might, proponents of this "theory" invariably attempt to prove their argument merely by attacking darwinian evolution. This, as you may have been taught in high school, is known as a "Red Herring" argument. In essence this argument attempts to distract you from a weak premise or logic by presenting you with a weakness or inconsistency in the oppossition's stand point. While this tactic is often used in advertisements and politics you should remember that it is wrong. To prove an argument one should present the argument followed by proofs or support of the argument.
My second problem with Intelligent Design is simply this: it is a faith-based theory. No matter how many facts evolution presents to prove itself opponents will always be able to say "Yeah, but God made it that way." It's silly really. I could believe with all my conviction that magical faeries created the world with their lollipop wands. Proof? Bah. I need no proof; I have faith. Until you can prove to me that there are no magical faeries with lollipop wands creating planets anywhere in the universe I shall continue believing that this is the case.

Love God or Go To Hell
You know what really upsets me about Catholicism? The idea that I could totally be the nicest guy on earth, but if I don't get baptised... right to hell, my friend. I mean, what's the deal God? Just because I didn't get some priest to sprinkle water on me I have to suffer eternal torture and agony? Man... harsh. And last time I checked there was no real way to appeal the decision. At best you could hope for purgatory.
Purgatory. Now that's just evil. Who thought this one up? You just get to be there. I guess you wouldn't get to sit or stand I suppose since there technically isn't anything IN purgatory and that alone gives me problems... Would I get to talk to the other people there? Seems like I should be allowed to. If my soul were truly in balance I should not have to suffer, but being there with nothing to do seems like suffering. I have a short attention span you see.
I think I like the Buddhist idea of hell more. I'm not sure on this, so don't quote me. But I'm pretty sure in Bhuddism the soul is not eternally damned, just damned until it has suffered enough to atone for the sins it performed on earth. Then the soul would be allowed to reincarnate. Maybe not in anything terribly pleasant, but at least you're not being tortured. Anyway it would be your fault anyway. It's not like you just forgot to go to church and have the priest bless you. Also, I think there's a loophole where your family may offer atonement in order to lessen your punishment. I like that.

Leave me alone!
The last thing I will say is that if you are indeed a religious person and you believe with all your heart that God created the heavens, earth, animals and plants... fine. That's perfectly allright with me. I just ask one thing. Leave me alone. I respect your right to believe whatever you want to believe just don't try to force it on everyone else. You want to have mandatory prayer in church -- fine. Mandatory prayer in school -- not fine. All points of view are NOT valid. Some views are more valid than others. As such prayer should be left to places where like minded individuals may practice it as long and vigorously as they like. Evolution on the other hand is a part of the science of biology. Yes, it is a theory, but so is relativity. And yet, time and time again general relativity and special relativity have predicted movements of celestial bodies before they have been observed. Just because something is a theory does not mean it is not true. This merely manifests science's greatest ability, the ability to adapt and change when new facts are discovered that conflict with old beliefs. There's something I love about that. I just can't see a world where the Pope puts out a press release that says "Oh ... you know that whole thing about the 10 commandments... yeah... not so much. We've been looking through the books... turns out there's only 9. The one about the sabath... nevermind that one." Nope... just don't see it.

Links about evolution and religion:

Information on Richard Dawkins' "The Blind Watchmaker". Dawkins proves it's possible to write an intelligent book on evolution without alienating the average reader. This book shows the beauty of evolution and the lack of a need for intelligent design
http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Dawkins/Work/Books/blind.shtml

The Vatican Online. God takes to the web to spread the holy word and save some souls. I especially like the section on Saints. Not all of their biographies are in english, though.
http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm

A few quick facts about the major religions. Maybe you can find one to convert to.
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/

Disclosure of Intent

So I've been up and down this here Intarweb thingie and it seems to me that I should finally get around to adding my two bits. More as a way to exercise my writing than anything else. Nevertheless, here I am in all my blogging glory!
So... what is "Reckless Disclosure"?
More than anything it will be my take on everything I see around me. Often, I will be merely blogging my dislike for the world... after all, what else are blogs good for? But whining can only take us so far. I think I'll also post interesting sites I come across, comment on interesting news and just post interesting thoughts that pop into my head from time to time.
So that's it. We'll see how it goes.