Hopefully, this rebuttal will be shorter than either the introductory post or Cody’s response.
There are a few things I would like to start with. First of all, I would like to point out that Cody has chosen to rely on some source materials while I have chosen not to rely on any. And admittedly I lack formal training in rhetoric. These two factors serve to put me at a disadvantage in this discussion. I would just like to report that I am aware of this disadvantage, and while I don’t necessarily like being disadvantaged, the discussion is on my thoughts on organized religion (that is, I am not attempting to disprove the existance of God, the divinity of Christ, as Cody claims, or any of this. I am merely presenting my reflections on organized religion and the teachings of the modern church, and this of course is what Cody should be responding to, just as a matter of context) and so therefore I feel that the strength of my commentary will help me make up for the disadvantage I suffer as a result of my presentation of reflections rather than some conversion attempt I might have been otherwise attempting. Read the rest of this entry »
Setting up a dangerous, but non-binding precedent, a District Court in Central Pennsylvania today issued a ruling stating that “Intelligent Design” is not a scientific theory at all, but teaching it is tantamount to teaching religion in schools.
Read the AP story on Yahoo
While this ruling is merely a confirmation of what any thinking person who has been exposed to even the most perfunctory overview of the theory already knows, it is not binding on any other court where the issue is being raised. Read the rest of this entry »
On Religion, Chapter 1
In picking up my series on religion, I want to begin at the beginning.
Let’s take the creation myth.
If I may, the judeo-christian creation story may be recounted as follows: At first there was nothing, except God. John put it as “In the beginning there was the Word and the word was God…” We’ll say God was all that existed. At some point, God decided it was time to create a universe. It took him all of six days, and on the seventh he rested. He created the entire universe, as well as all the laws of physics in this time (!) that held planets in motion, that caused capillary action to occur, that essenially made everything that we see work and describe as physics, earth science, biology, chemistry, and a whole host of other natural sciences work as it did. He also created Earth, a special little place with animals, plants, amoebas, viruses, marijuana and the like, all good and bad, but all serving some sort of rational purpose (even mosquitos have a purpose, which is to feel spiders). Read the rest of this entry »
Real Quick. Carson Daly, yes, the real Carson Daly, announced on his show last night that he is now going for the “1 Trillion added friends”. Who knows if its possible, but if Human levitation is possible, maybe Carson Daly can get 1 trillion “friends” on MySpace. So I really think this is a neat idea, and have decided it is worth my time to mention it once on my blog. Read the rest of this entry »
On Religion, Introduction
I want to start a series of writings about Christianity. Some background is necessary first.
I grew up a Christian, a Luthern, a Missouri Synod Lutheran to be precise. After I left my mother’s house I tried to keep going to church, but something didn’t seem right about leaving my church community and just going into another one. It really sort of sucked, so I left the Church. Read the rest of this entry »
Ladies and Gentlemen, you have probably already heard the horrible news. But I’ll repeat it here in tribute to quite possibly the greatest commedian that ever lived. Richard Pryor died Saturday, Dec. 10, 2005 at the age of 65 from a heart attack.
Pryor was known for being a commedian who dealt with race issues candidly and was well known for use of foul language in his acts. As such he broke ground and opened doors for social and political humorists like Chris Rock and Eddie Izzard. Read the rest of this entry »
Just a bit of an update. I have been requested to preform commetator duties for the Creepy Sleepy Show Blog, due to my alumni status. So you are advised to check that blog out and enjoy the show.
Serenely,
Doc
A Reaction to a Quote from Jean Jacques Rousseau
In the quote from The Second Discourse, Jean-Jacques Rousseau shows his distrust of human behavior in the state of society. He emphasizes that man enters a different condition of existence when he leaves the state of nature. To Rousseau, it seems that the condition of life in what he termed as the state of nature is the ideal, where humans are free to do as they please. He begins The Social Contract saying that the original society was the family, and as soon as a person was old enough to reason, the bonds that held the parent to his child and the child to his parent should be dissolved. “The oldest of all societies, “Rousseau states,” and the only natural one, is that of the family; yet children remain tied to their father by nature only so long as they need him for their preservation. Once the children are freed from the obedience they owe their father, and the father is freed from his responsibilities towards them, both parties equally regain their independence.” (Rousseau, The Social Contract, p. 50)
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Marx’s Classless Society Versus Lenin’s Dictatorial Expedients
Vladmir Lenin, perhaps the second greatest proponent of Communism (behind Marx) developed the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the book State and Revolution. This was in direct contradiction to the Marxist doctrine of the development of a classless society, where the state would whither away, and there would be no need for a government. This contradiction led not to the creation of the egalitarian society envisioned by Marx, but the tyranny of Soviet Dictatorship that was duplicated worldwide in Communist states. In this paper I will explore the differences in tactics used by both thinkers, as well as show that the “dictatorship of the proletariat†was originally to be a mere expediency during the period referred to by Lenin as the “transition to socialism.â€
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A Statement from the Socialist Party of South Dakota (SP-SoDak) on the Current War being Conducted Against the Nation of Afghanistan
The Socialist Party USA and the Socialist Party of South Dakota reject all calls for war, and instead call upon American citizens to wage peace. We condemn the mass murder that occurred on September 11, as we condemn all murder. We fully understand the desire for retribution in response, but do not share it. We insist that the perpetrators of these terrorist acts should be brought to justice without plunging this country and the world into a wider war.
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