But that’s only when we’re talking about opinions.  There are many times when I’m talking about facts with someone and they pull the “let’s agree to disagree” line in the end.  No, I will not agree to disagree about facts.  Facts can be found from reliable and trusted resources.  Evidence can be presented.  And in the end, one of us will be proven right.  The other will be proven wrong.

And this is a good thing.

If someone says “studies show that X does Y” and someone else argues “no they don’t!”, then one person is right and the other is wrong.  If someone says “country A has 70% income tax!”  He is either right or wrong.  Same thing if someone says “There are no transitional fossils”.  Or, “The 2nd law of thermodynamics proves evolution is false”.  The google is a great tool for discovering who is right and who is wrong in such cases.  There are many reputable pages with the answers, and often with other sources cited for further verification of the facts.  And each case has a very clear cut, non-ambiguous answer.  There is no room to agree to disagree.

You can have an opinion that evolution is false, although it takes a lot of faith nowadays to believe that.  But you can’t state wrong information about evolution and expect it to support your opinion.  You are wrong if you think the 2nd law of thermodynamics disproves evolution.

You can have an opinion that chiropractors can cure the common cold.  But you can’t state that scientific studies prove that chiropractics can cure the common cold.  One is an opinion, the other is just a false statement that can be easily proven as wrong.

I don’t care which side I’m on.  I don’t care if I’m the one proven wrong.  I don’t care if you’re the one proven wrong.  It’s a good thing either way.  I try my hardest to admit when I’m proven wrong, but others don’t reciprocate.  They weasel out in some way, with the overused “let’s agree to disagree” line, or maybe just laugh it off, “haha, we could talk about this all day.”  I don’t get it.

Being proven wrong is great.  It’s better than learning something completely new.  Being proven wrong changes something you were mistaken on and didn’t know it.  You can embrace it and learn from it.  It often leads to you changing your thoughts on several other things.  It’s like a chain of dominos is tipped over.  It gives you a lot to go and think through and in the end come out better, smarter, and more prepared to defend your opinions.

Sure, it can do all those things and you don’t have to admit it.  But that shows so poorly on you, especially if the debate wasn’t in private.  Let others learn from your mistake.  Admit your wrongness and make corrections.

If someone is proven wrong, they admit it, and multiple people learn from it, then the conversation is so much more enjoyable.  They’ll have more conversations like it and they’ll continue to expand their knowledge.

Don’t take the easy way out.  Start shocking the internet  with the words “I was wrong.”  The times when I’ve out right admitted I was wrong I instantly won points with the people I was talking with.

(It’s also very beneficial to admit your opinions were wrong too, so don’t be afraid of that one either.)

Arguing on the Internet

Speaking of lying, read their mission statement: http://www.the912project.com/the-912-2/mission-statement/.

So do you got that?  It’s not a political movement.  But, three key questions to determine if the 9/12 Project is for you are:

1. Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it?
2. Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore?
3. Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach… as if you’re completely alone?

So here we have Glenn exploiting your emotions.  Using 9/11, the most emotional event to have happened nationally to me in my entire life.  On top of that, he throws in other emotional jabs about the current Government (Democrats) having power.  But… it’s not political people.  Nothing political here at all.

Then, he moves on to start talking about how the members of the 9/12 Project outnumber and surround the evil Democratic government.  Almost like this insane man is trying to recruit an army…

Then he leads in to his 9 principles.  The 9 principles that, evidently, make the perfect American.  9 principles that are supposedly a summary of the 28 principles the founding fathers used to build our country.  Are you a little confused by that last sentence?  Didn’t you know that the founding fathers built our country on 28 principles?  I didn’t know this either… In fact, I’ve looked through the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc.  These 28 principles are no where to be found.  The best thing I can find is individual quotes given at separate times by various founding fathers that suggest it was a personal belief of theirs.  In no way was our country founded on these 9 principles, or the other 17: http://www.the912project.com/the-912-2/.

Of course, that is probably clearly what they meant when they wrote: “At the origin of America, our Founding Fathers built this country on 28 powerful principles.”  Right?  That can be easily understood as: “If you quote mine all of history and pull individual quotes from individual founding fathers made at vastly different times and remove all context, you can generate this list of 28 principles that may have influenced the founding fathers in some minor way in the building of our country.”  The two sentences are interchangeable.

Let’s go through ‘em.  Evidently you have to believe in at least 7 of these in order to be a part of the project.  In order to be the right kind of American.

America Is Good

Well… what in the world does this mean?  Is it suggesting that some countries are evil?  I definitely don’t agree with the “principle” as is.  I think there are some good things about America, and some bad things, and clearly some evil things too.  I don’t believe that America is any of them.  Ice cream is good.  America?  Well, I like it here and I like that crazy asshats like Beck are allowed to be crazy asshats.  But I can’t fully say that I believe in the principle that “America is Good”.

I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life

Wait… WHAT?  The 9/12 Project is suggesting that to be a true American you can not be an Atheist!  Well shit, I’m 0 for 2 so far.  And not only is the 9/12 Project suggesting that true Americans believe in a personal God, but they’re suggesting that the Founding Fathers built the country on this principle.  The same Founding Fathers who fought for freedom from religion and built a government that clearly states that you DO NOT HAVE TO BELIEVE IN GOD in order to be an American.

So that leaves 7 principles… I better believe in these next 7 or else I’m not wanted in this country.

I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday

Well this principle is just logically stupid.  I have had many days when I was 100% honest.  Sure, maybe I’m ignoring the main point of this principle by looking at it logically… So let’s look at it as it is most likely intended: “A true American strives to be as honest as they possibly can be, every day of their life.”  Ha!  I now know why Glenn says 7 out of 9 is OK!  Clearly he doesn’t believe in this one.  How honest could he truly be as he accuses Obama of having a “deep seated hatred for white people”?

I do try to live an honest life.  It is a personal goal of mine.  I do not believe that this is a requirement for being an American.  I would like my leaders to strive for honesty… although that is hard to find in a politician.

So to be clear: honesty is important to me personally and I value it in my friends/leaders.  I do not think it is a principle required by true Americans.  So here we go, 0 for 3.  How un-American could I be?

The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government

Again: Holy shit!  Of course I don’t believe in this principle!  For one, it is built specifically to exclude gay marriage.  And number two, I can think of many instances when the government SHOULD have authority over parents.  Also, some people may want to live a life without a partner and without kids.  All power to them and you’re still just as much of an American as I am.  However, I’m not doing so hot.  0 for 4.

If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it

Sure, I think I can get behind this one.  I do have my own opinions on what should be illegal and what the punishments for things should be.  I expect those opinions to be different from many others in America, and that is OK.  But, I do believe that if you haven’t gotten the law changed to fit your ideals, you still are responsible for the consequences of breaking that law.

Woot!  1 of 5!

I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results

Another I can get behind.  Although, that second half you could really leave off.  And I don’t like the “I” in it.  My version of this principle goes: “Everyone has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  2 for 6.

I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable

Again with the misleading manipulation, you stupid, lying, fear mongering asshat Mr. Beck!

<sarcasm>Why should I have to pay to support the Fire Department?  If some poor guys house catches fire and he can’t afford to pay the fire department to put it out, it’s not my problem!</sarcasm>

2 for 7!

It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion

Of course it’s not!  OK, I’m going to say this next sentence even though it makes me wince a little.

Glenn Beck is the perfect example of why I love America.

The fact that you can be as bat shit crazy as Glenn Beck, say such disgusting and revolting lies about the government and the president as Beck, and start a “grass roots” movement to overflow the government based off ridiculous principles that many are clear violations of the constitition…  That you can do all that and you’re not locked up or censored.  That’s what it means to be a true American.  To allow such freedom of speech and expression of opinion.

3 for 8!  But this one is the only one on my list of principles required to have in order to be an American.

The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me

Again with the fear mongering.  This is not a principle.  This is an attempt to invoke passion and fear in to followers of his movement.  The government is elected by you.  But you definitely answer to your own government.  If you disagree with your government, you fight to change it.  Wait?  This “principal” clearly violates the previous principle: “If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it”.

The government here is amazing in that it has a system that allows it to be changed.  Sure, other governments in other countries may be the same, but I’m no expert on world governments.  I know how ours works and I know that change is possible:

1. Abolition of slavery
2. Womans Suffrage
3. The beginnings of the recognition of Gay Rights

Three huge steps in the right direction for humanity.  Three clear cases where Government has been changed or is being changed by the people.

But don’t misunderstand.  Just because the government can be changed does not mean that you don’t answer to the government.  We don’t live in anarchy.

In Summary

On the Glenn Beck 9/12 scale of a true American I have scored a sad 3 out of 9.  A score of 33.33%.  That is not a passing grade, but I don’t care.  Because the whole 9/12 project is bullshit.  I present to you, the true American movement.  I call it, the Declaration of Independence.  The most important part:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”

It is important that you know this, because it is who I am.  Just as non-Muslims can freely depict Mohamed in humorous political cartoons and Muslims should not care, Christians should understand that not everyone thinks Jesus is the best.

1. My wife, Jillian, is better than Jesus.
2. My kids, all four of them, are better than Jesus.
3. Brian Boitano is better than Jesus AND Santa Claus.
4. The Beatles are bigger and better than Jesus.
5. Natural Selection is better than Jesus.
6. The Big Bang Theory is better than Jesus.
7. Evolution is better than Jesus.
8. Batman is better than Jesus.
9. All of humanity is better than Jesus.
10. Friendship is better than Jesus.

So there you go, it’s 100% out in the open now.  No question about it: I don’t think much Jesus.  Sure, that’s mostly because I don’t believe in him as a god or even that he ever lived as a man.

So, go ahead and censor yourself from me if you can’t bare to be friends with someone who disagrees with you.

This post may seem a bit down, depressing and a bit rash.  That’s because it is…  a bit.  It may seem a bit out of character…  Sure, I’ve defended my atheistic morals and have written passionately against Intelligent Design and for equal rights.  But mostly, I’m pretty tame when it comes to talking directly about Jesus.  Because I do try to keep it respectful.

It is a bit of a downer because I’m feeling a bit down.  My friend who dumped me for Jesus was a good guy, although crazy at times.  We went through some interesting years together and I was always there for him, even when others turned him away.  I thought my friendship meant more to him than this, and I’m a bit disappointed to find out how little our history means to him.

Especially since the only damnable offense he can come up with, after I challenged him on the bullshit offenses he tried to use at first, is that I participated in a thread on my own Facebook profile about South Park’s Brian Boitano WWJD parody.  He can’t handle being friends with someone who thinks Jesus isn’t the best.

Really?  REALLY?

What a great way to belittle and spit on what I thought was our friendship.

He did make it clear though:  He doesn’t have a problem with me so much as he has a problem with what I say.  Yeah, once you figure out how that’s different, let me know.  What I say IS a large part of who I am.  You can’t have one and not the other.

/rant

But this company… Softwise Online… went too far. About a year ago, my Grandma passed away. I shared my thoughts and feelings of it in a blog post. So, this asshole found my post and tried to get a comment approved to the post about my Grandma’s death.

They used the name “payday advance online”, provided a link to their scummy site, and posted this comment: “This is such sad news. I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you know it hurts now, and it will get better. I am sorry, it is hard and sad.”

I doubt a spam bot is sophisticated enough to form such a relevant comment. And the IP it came from was not from some SEO consultant or a botnet… it came from Softwise Online’s pool of IP’s.

So there you go Softwise Online, you wanted exposure on my blog, you now have exposure on my blog.

Even though you rightly praise me for how brilliant I am and how elegant my writing is, I will not approve your comment.

So please, stop with the being stupid… although, I guess that’s not really something you can control.

So last night, I was backing out of the garage, on my way to Target with the whole family. We needed groceries to make our feast of appetizers for New Years. I back out of my driveway and **CRUNCH**.

There was a black Nissan parked illegally in the fire lane. How did I miss that? No idea… Jillian saw it, but had no idea I was going to hit it. I think it was a combo of things…

1. There has never been a fire here, hence no one has ever parked there.
2. It was dark. The Nissan was black.
3. Backing out of my driveway is so routine that it’s now an “automatic” muscle memory. Look left, no cars/people. Look right, no cars/people. Back up.

So I got out of the van and took a look. I crunched the corner of my bumper and scraped up the runner on their drivers side. Nothing big at all. So, I started looking around for signs of who this car could belong too. Most neighbors were gone, lights were all off, etc. I gave up trying to find someone, so I emailed myself their license plate number and decided to try to contact them tomorrow. Our apartment complex has a listing of all license plates numbers for all tenants, I figured that’d be a good place to start. Also, it’s fairly obvious from the damage that it was someone backing out of my driveway.

Fast forward to this morning.

*POUND POUND POUND*. A knock on the door. Is it the owners of the illegally parked car I hit? Nope. It’s a Colorado State Police Officer.

So I get written up for “improperly backing up” and “leaving the scene of an accident”. Court date, March 6th 2009.

The officer informs me that no, contacting the person after the accident is not OK. Even if you just bumped a tree while backing up, you have to call the police. I really swear it’s common practice to take a parked cars license plate number and contact them that way… Guess I was wrong. Now I have to go to court or “there will be a warrant out for your arrest”.

Happy new year!

Since I subscribe to digg.com’s popular stories rss feed, I’ve been bombarded by anti-palin articles. It’s relentless. Most arguments are ridiculous, as that daily show clip points out. They attack someone with X and when their own candidate gets attacked for X they defend with Y. But Y is not a valid defense against their attack of X to the other candidate.

So either they’re idiots who don’t realize they’re being massively stupid, one part of their brain refuses to communicate with another part of their brain. Or, they’re evil and they’re hoping that most of their audience are idiots and don’t recognize their double standards.

I’m guessing it’s the evil one.

But of all the articles trashing Palin… one stuck. From time.com. In it we learn that Palin attempted to ban books from the public library. There aren’t many details there… but even having the smallest connection with an utter failure in an attempt to ban even one book… She should not be in politics.

The Clintons are staying at the hotel across the street from our office building.

There are a ton of people along the 16th street mall. And for every civilian, there is a cop or private security guard walking amongst them. There are packs of 10-20 cops on bikes/horses that seem to go up and down the street.

The booths… all over. They’ve all got some political purpose… Except maybe the Obama Jama booth that just seemed to want to play Reggae music and chill. One strange one seemed to be preaching the joys of magnetism? There has to be more to these, I just know what I’ve seen while walking to/from the bus station with my iPod music going.

I haven’t been hit up once (which is amazing for 16th street mall! I’m looking at YOU green peace!) yet for saving trees/children/homeless. And I haven’t been hit up for spare change, something to eat, or even caught sight of anyone who would want to beg for such things.

But today, I saw on the corner, surrounded by a pointing/laughing/giggling crowd (and a ton of bicycle cops), a group whose sole purpose seems to be to hate.

But… given any political position that you want to rally for… let alone a position that is deeply rooted in ugly hatred… wouldn’t your message be completely lost if the reaction of the majority of your audience was laughing? Not laughing with you. Laughing AT you.

Yes, I’m talking about pure righteous Christian hate. Is there any other kind of political protest that is rooted in ugly hatred? I really can’t think of any that doesn’t have something to do with Christianity (at least here in the US). And with Christian ugly hatred protests, you know it’s most likely about homosexuality.

There was a man standing on some kind of soap box, attempting to shout things. But they were lost, completely, on everyone watching. Everyone was cracking up, pointing, laughing, and getting out cameras, because the biggest most profound sign in the group said “Homo-sex is a threat to national security”.

Flickr photo found from Just Back’s photo stream, click the photo to view the stream:

So I applaud these protesters, for they have successfully failed at spreading their message. If anything they have just convinced masses of people walking by on the 16th street mall today that they themselves are idiots and should not be listened to.

So I started to google about some bible passages I remembered from when I was a moral Christian.  And I discovered some differences between my morals and the morals the bible teaches me:

• Slavery.  By slavery I mean: purchase of another human beings life against their will.
  • Bible is pro slavery.  In some cases all descendants of one person who committed a pretty minor offense were forced in to slavery.  Not only is the Bible pro slavery, but it has many rules for slavery.  Such as beating your slaves.  As long as you hold off on your slave beating just enough so that the slave doesn’t die for 2 days, God’s OK with it.
  • I’m anti slavery.  And I’m anti beating anyone at all.  Even if it takes 3 days for them to die.
• Sex
  • The Bible has some weird rules about sex.  Not much of it is actually explicitly laid out.  One story I find interesting is Genesis 38.  In this chapter we learn that Judah marries some girl and has 3 sons.  He arranges a marriage with the first son and a woman, but for some reason God didn’t like him and killed him.  So Judah makes his next son take that woman for his wife and demands kids.  His son has respect for his brother though and “spills his seed on the ground” instead of inside his dead brothers wife.  Well… God will have none of that, so God kills him!  Later on we find that this same woman, who was married to two of Judah’s now dead sons, dresses up like a prostitute and Judah pays her for the goods.  Well… what do you know, Judah gets the ex-wife (a prostitute he paid for) of his two dead sons pregnant.  And…. God kills him?  No.  God’s OK with this.  So what do we learn from this?
    • Unprotected sex with hookers is OK.  God will not kill you.
    • Taking precautions to prevent pregnancy is not OK.  Having sex WITH YOUR WIFE and trying to prevent a pregnancy will piss God off so much he might just kill you.  But… when was the last time you saw God smote someone?  When was the last time you saw God do anything?
  • I say educate and be safe. Sex has many possible consequences and as long as you’re ready to deal with the possible consequences you’re probably ready for sex. Keeping in mind that no birth control/condom is 100% effective. Also unprotected sex with a hooker who is the widow of two of your sons is NOT OK.
• Equality
  • All people are clearly not equal in the bible.  No equal rights for everyone.
  • I believe all people are equal and should therefore have equal rights.  Color of skin, religious beliefs, sexual preference, whatever.  We’re all equal.
• Animal Sacrifices
  • Bible is pro them.  God often request animal sacrifices in the old testament.  He seems to lust for spilled blood and the smell of burnt flesh.  He even goes as far as convincing one of his loyal followers to sacrifice their OWN SON.  Sure, he stops him right before he actually does it, but that doesn’t make it any less of an asshole thing to do.
  • I like eating hamburgers/chicken/steak etc.  I’m not a vegetarian or anything.  But sacrificing an animal in some sort of ancient blood ritual and burning their flesh… yeah.  Not for me.

Now I know that the new testament changes many things.  But remember it’s the same God throughout all of time.  The same God that Christians worship and call loving is this same God that kills individuals for minor infractions, the same God that wipes out entire populations of people, the same God that kills innocent babies in Egypt because of something the Pharaoh did.  So if we’re talking about Morals instilled upon us from the Christian God, you have to look at the whole bible.

And I know that these are not the morals that Christians today stand by.  Well… some of them are.  It’s hard to find a Christian that believes we’re all equal.  I have some wonderful friends that are Christian and I don’t think any less of them.  It’s just that for me it goes against my nature to follow these rules in the bible.  For me I felt more like I was sinning when I tried to follow what the new testament told me.

I’m just nicer than what the bible will allow me to be.

Now, I said,  “than what the bible will allow ME to be”.  Not that I’m nicer than all Christians.  I fought hard throughout college with what I felt the bible told me was right and wrong.  Others have different views on what is literal and what is not.  Or how one passage translates.  Or what is still valid for our modern culture.  You can come to many conclusions about what it means to be a Christian.  For me, the conclusions I have came to, I will never be Christian again.

Guess that brings up the question, “where do morals come from?”  I think it’s just a sense of what’s right and wrong instilled in us to keep order.  Some evolutionary scientists probably have some theories on it.  But if we all had no morals, no feelings, no empathy… we wouldn’t make it very far as a society.

And morals clearly change throughout time.  Which to me is a clear sign that morals are NOT from a divine superior unchanging perfect being.  Slavery used to be moral.  Racism used to be moral.  I know most people consider homosexuality to be immoral.  But some day I bet the majority of the world will accept gay marriage as equal to straight marriage.  Some day homosexuality will be moral.

I like to think that I don’t just follow the masses.  Who knows though, maybe there’s something in my life that I find “morally acceptable” will be so obviously not acceptable to future generations.

The gist of the post is that everything in the world is going so wrong so where in the world is God? It’s very obviously talking to the Christian God, even though it is addressed to Buddha and even Oprah. I know all the typical Christian responses to her questions/complaints, since I was a Christian and even went to a tiny Christian college for 3 years of my life. It’s not so much her complaints that I found interesting, but the responses.

All the Christians are responding with the same basic response: “that’s not God’s fault, that’s sin’s fault. We sin because of free will. Free will is a good thing. God is love, not hate.” Here’s one quote in particular: ‘god’s will is never hatred. in fact the scriptures say that “god is love”.’

It’s that part that caught me: ‘god’s will is NEVER hatred.’ And I think that has a lot to do with the whole losing faith, becoming agnostic, drifting closer and closer every day to atheist. The statement is clearly false. The Old Testament in particular is pretty damning evidence that God’s will does involve hatred.

Instead of looking for examples, I googled some. Now I know, this website is clearly biased and full of crazy anti-christian loonyness, but just use it for the scripture references. Please again, just use it for the references to scripture and what God did in that scripture. Warnings over, here’s the link.

Anyway… those are my late night thoughts while I waited for my oven to finish self-cleaning so I could sleep without worrying about the apartment burning down. As random and jumbled as they may be, my point last night was that God is not just love. God is pretty damn mean and cruel at times and the Bible has plenty of examples of him being mean and cruel.