Just Another Rant About a Religionist Pretending to be a Scientist

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=17267

Contemporary astrophysics hold the scientific key to prove the existence of God, but unfortunately very few know the scientific facts, said Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J, PhD, during a conference delivered on Sunday at the John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization in Denver, Colorado.

Yes, please, let's have the man who's devoted his life to a fairy tale arbitrarily edict that the reason science hasn't found his imaginary friend is because scientists don't know the scientific facts. Right. How about this: the reason that theologians haven't disproved the existence of God is because they don't have all of the theological facts. Make sense? No, of course not, and that's the point. Theologians have no business weighing in on scientific matters.

"Atheism and pop culture have had a significant impact on Theism and it has to be confronted especially because Secularism and the negation of God are becoming pervasive," began the 57 year-old priest.

Ah, yes. God forbid that rationality and reason should pervade reality.

"Theism, in fact, can be better explained by contemporary science and modern philosophy better than ever before...

How about, no it can't. How about, the more we learn about the machinations of the universe in which we live, the more feeble religion becomes. The minister of the deluded doesn't get to make a priori claims just because he wishes they were true.

...but particularly interesting is what is happening in the field of astrophysics ... to the point that I can't imagine why agnosticism and Atheism are still popular," Fr. Spitzer said.

Well, of course he can't imagine...he's not even creative enough to come up with a truly original religion that has some cohesion. Instead, he follows an archaic philosophy of disjointed and contradicting tenets cobbled together from previous religious philosophies. Also, his job is to peddle a delusion! So, of course he can't "imagine" why the opposite of what his psychotic brain finds to be "true" can be found satisfactory by anyone else. But agnosticism and atheism are "popular" (if you can call 10 - 25% of a sample a "popular" share; I don't, but I'm more of a realist/numbers guy than an ass-clown who belches non-sense...most of the time) because they make sense and are supported by evidence. Or rather, they don't posit preposterous claims where there exists no evidence. The only reason that religion is popular is because it panders to people's base emotions; mostly fear and guilt and a desire for justice in a dispassionate universe.

Fr. Spitzer explained that, since science is based on a empirical model, it can change at any time.

Again, let's try "no". Science doesn't change, but scientific theories can. Science is a method; hypothesize, test the hypothesis, analyze results and draw conclusions. Repeat as necessary. How is it that a physicist (as this article claims: "The priest physicist (Spitzer) then proceeded to explain...") doesn't even understand the scientific method? Oh, wait...it's because he's not actually a physicist. (The bio on Spitzer's web page doesn't list a degree in physics. The closest he comes to being a "scientist" is a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting). Of course. How wonderfully specious of the Catholic News Agency to confer upon him a fake field of expertise in order to lend credibility to the claims he makes which reinforce the tenets of the Catholic church; namely that God created the universe.

...said Spitzer, the need to find an explanation to the universe's existence drives us to seek "a force that is previous and independent from the universe."

That's (not so) secret religious code for "God". Of course, following that logic, the need to find an explanation to the universe's existence which drove us to seek "a force that is previous and independent from the universe" (God) would also drive us to seek "a force that is previous and independent from God". Let's call it proto-God. Of course, the initial need to find an explanation to the existence of the universe which drove us to seek "God", and which also drove us to seek "proto-God", would also drive us to seek "pre-proto-God". And so on and so forth. It's really not a very good argument that "God must exist, because something must've started it all". Mostly, because there's no reason to insert a supernatural explanation as the "something" that must've started it all. Who knows, maybe it just started...for no reason at all. But if one really must believe that something started it all, where does one know to stop in the regression? The only logical place to stop is at the last point for which there is evidence: the universe itself.

According to Fr. Spitzer, Professor Penrose "has provided a mathematical model in which the possibilities of a universe that would not be gobbled without the existence of a Creator are simply improvable, to a point of mathematical impossibility."

Let's say that I've just won a lottery. And, let's say, that the odds of winning this particular lottery were one in a googolplex. Basically, a mathematical impossibility. But I did win it. Therefore, I AM THE CREATOR!! Bwahahahahahaaaa!! Makes sense, yes? No. Of course not. And that's my point...again. Just because the odds of this particular universe existing are astronomical, it doesn't logically follow that there must have been a creator tweaking the dials to get all of the constants just right for this particular universe to exist. The (flawed) assumption of theologians is that this universe exists for our sake. But that's not the case. We're merely a part of this universe. We evolved because the conditions were right in the universe, our galaxy, our solar system, and on our planet for humans to evolve and thrive.

"What can we conclude of this (ill-conceived proposition that the universe couldn't exist without a creator)? First that the Creator is really smart... and second that it must be a loving one, because He could choose so many more violent and chaotic alternatives, that it really has to make you wonder."

Make you wonder what? I thought it was already "concluded" that the creator was really smart and loving. No further wondering required. Anyway...first of all, "concluding" a creator isn't really a conclusion; it's an assumption; for which there is no supporting evidence. And second, consider all the suffering in this world: diseases, birth defects, natural disasters, poverty. Would a truly loving god create such an existence for its prized creation?? Not unless your definition of "loving" has been so twisted by trying to force it to fit with your theology as to have been rendered absolutely contrary to the accepted convention of love.

Fr. Spitzer explained to CNA that "all this information must be conveyed in a simple manner to our seminarians, our college and high school students, who are mostly ignorant...

He went on, but, honestly, the point had already been made: those coming up through the ranks of theological teachings are mostly ignorant simpletons. (Yeah, it's a cheap shot and a gross abuse of the quote and its context and not entirely true, but that's how I roll).

Fr. Spitzer is working in another three more 90-minute curricula: "The historical evidence of Jesus: we fabricate and tell you how to decide," "Suffering and the love of God: shut up and take it, bitch, you deserve much worse" and "Contemporary philosophical responses to Atheism: a pantomime."

I made up the sub-titles. Could you tell?

Today in the world of "You have GOT to be kidding"

Pray-in at S.F. gas station asks god to lower prices

Rocky Twyman has a radical solution for surging gasoline prices: prayer.

No, Rocky is completely disconnected from reality and has a ridiculous delusion that he thinks will help combat rising gas prices.

"God is the only one we can turn to at this point," said Twyman, 59. "Our leaders don't seem to be able to do anything about it. The prices keep soaring and soaring."

Right. How about, instead of behaving like a moron, he does something productive to reduce the price of gas. For example, not organizing rallies that encourage people to burn fuel to get to a gas station to take part in a complete waste of time.

Twyman knows his approach to gasoline prices may sound simplistic.

"Simplistic"? No, come on! I'd say more like asinine, absurd, daft, insane, preposterous, irrational, illogical, witless, brainless...see how good I am with a thesaurus? =)

Obese Inmate

Hmm...almost a year gone by since the last post. There must be something out there that pisses me off enough to blog about. In defense of my absence from the blog, I have to say that even the unbridled, ass-clown lunacy of the world pales in comparison to that of my job. So much so that -- ah, yes, here we are:

Obese Inmate

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — An inmate awaiting trial on a murder charge is suing the county, complaining he has lost more than 100 pounds because of the jailhouse menu.

Broderick Lloyd Laswell says he isn't happy that he's down to 308 pounds after eight months in the Benton County jail. He has filed a federal lawsuit complaining the jail doesn't provide inmates with enough food.

According to the suit, Laswell weighed 413 pounds when he was jailed in September.

So, what, the prison should cater to his gluttony?? Wait a minute...he isn't happy that he's DOWN to 308lbs? He should be thanking the prison system, not suing it!


In the county jail's defense, they were more than willing to accommodate Laswell's request for more feed -- erm, "food" -- but they didn't have a big enough back-hoe.

"On several occasions I have started to do some exercising and my vision went blurry and I felt like I was going to pass out," Laswell wrote in his complaint.

That's not because you're being mal-treated by the prison, it's because your f*cking obese!!!

"About an hour after each meal my stomach starts to hurt and growl. I feel hungry again."

Whaaaaaaa!

The meals, provided through Aramark Correctional Institution Services...

Now why doesn't that information surprise me.


Note also that this story was reported in Bentonville, Ark., home to none other than...tah-dahhhh!!!...Mal-Wart. Let's see...gluttonous murderer (alleged) with an overinflated sense of self-entitlement...and Wal-Mart. Is the connection not obvious?

Mor(m)ons in the Spotlight

Okay, so I'm only assuming that a Republican from Utah is a mormon, but this guy certainly is a moron.

(Utah County Republican delegate Don) Larsen, who did not return a phone call or an e-mail seeking comment Thursday, is urging the closing of national borders to illegal immigrants to "prevent the destruction of the U.S. by stealth invasion."

Umm...correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the borders already closed to illegal immigrants? Wouldn't the fact that our borders are closed to them be what makes their immigration illegal?

"The mostly quiet and unspectacular invasion of illegal immigrants does not focus the attention of the nations the way open warfare does, but is all the more insidious for its stealth and innocuousness."

Innocuous 1 : producing no injury : harmless 2 : not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility.

If illegal immigration is innocuous, how can it be insidious? Hey Don, "The next time you have a thought...let it go". --Ron White

They Really Are Retarded...Here's Why

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/7071

Speaking of America's obsession with guns, ammo, food, fuel and garages, it's no wonder that our fastest-growing sport is NASCAR racing.

Using NASCAR's own statistics, 6,000 gallons of premium fuel are consumed during a typical race weekend. At top speed, the cars get only two to five miles per gallon. Five miles per gallon for 500 miles means each car uses about 100 gallons of gas. Because these are not cars you buy at the corner lot, NASCAR vehicles do not adhere to EPA regulations: no mufflers, catalytic converters or other emissions controls.

In other words, it's pure All-American internal combustion emissions being pumped into the atmosphere. Among these emissions are huge amounts of lead, a disease-causing additive no longer available at the neighborhood pump.

And we wonder why NASCAR fans appear to be intellectually stunted...they are! Lead poisoning has a tendency to do that to a person. But maybe we needn't worry about the health effects of being a NASCAR fan. I mean, Bubba, Jr., wife/sister MaryLou, and son Bubba, Jr., Jr. were most likely already "challenged" if they became NASCAR fans in the first place. What's the worse that could happen if their intellectual dwarfism is further exacerbated? Oh, wait...Bubba, Jr., Jr. might end up the next Pretzeldent and we already know what it's like to have a man in office whose intellectual prowess leads one to believe he's been free-basing lead paint since adolescence.

From the National Safety Council: http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/lead.htm

...even very low levels of exposure can result in reduced IQ, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth, impaired hearing, and kidney damage. At high levels of exposure, a child may become mentally retarded...

Carrying the surname "Bush" appears to have the same affect.

When Reality Shows Attack

Atheism is (or would be, if we lived in an intelligent society) a pretty benign stance to take. It's not a whole lot unlike a-Zeusism, or a-unicornism, or a-teapot-in-space-ism. I almost never feel compelled to bring up the fact that I don't believe there is a family of purple howler monkeys living in my colon, so why should we treat not believing in something that's just as unlikely to be real any differently.

Not sure why I said that, but it must've had something to do with this. A friend of mine brought it to my attention. I really wish she hadn’t.

I have so many reactions to it, not the least of which is a strange kind of nausea, that I'm not sure how to get them all out. I think I’d rather have someone reach into my body and rip out my spine than watch that again. I couldn’t even take it all in one sitting.

I’m embarrassed to be in the same species as her – wait, is she in the same species?? Can’t be. The way she was screeching, I swear she's the demented demon-spawn brought forth by the unholy union of a harpie and Jerry Falwell.

I mean, I know I should feel sorry for the mentally deranged, but…somehow she doesn’t come anywhere near deserving it. I mean, Christ on a Crapper, what the fuck is wrong with her??

Maybe you guys can just gawk and laugh at displays of lunacy and human disgrace like that, but it seriously fucks with my mind. I can’t… I mean… What the fuck!? What could possibly make a person think that behaving like that was in any way normal or acceptable? Especially knowing that there was an entire television crew there to record it for playback to the entire country! And you know what frustrates me even more than the boil on the face of humanity that is that woman? That a majority of the people in this country empathize with her.

Wait…is she saying “dork-sided”?? Oh, no…dark sided. And “terra” cards? What the fuck is a terra card? If she’s been listening to the pretzeldent – and I’m sure she has…she certainly seems like his kind o’ constit'ent– these “terra” cards must have something to do with al Qaeda, right? Okay, so “terra” card is kind of funny. It’s a little bit funny that the ability to pronounce words has been in-bred right the fuck out of her. No, actually, even that’s not funny, it’s just sad for all of us with even a remote sense of dignity. Sorry…I tried to laugh at some part of it. But it’s just disturbing. Can someone please tell me it was all an act? I really need for that not to have been real. Crap. If only I didn’t know better, I could convince myself that it was just a ratings put-on. But then that would be just as disturbing: that enough people in this country feed off of that kind of crap that a creator would make it up to sell advertising time.

How can that woman be so retarded? No, not retarded. To consider that woman retarded is to belittle mentally challenged people and I certainly don’t mean to do that. How do you describe a person who behaves in such a way as to not even really qualify as human? Hell, I can't even think of a lower life form that would embarrass itself with such a display.

Those poor kids. How terrible for them. Having your mom behave like that can seriously fuck you up! Would you want to show your face in school the day after that aired?? I doubt there's enough therapy in the world to un-screw a kid's psyche after being raised by a woman like that. You see the look on the youngest girl's face? She looked like, "Daddy, why is there a beast in our house and how did it learn to speak??!”

And after that whole act about the money being tainted by the dark-side (Are you there, Darth? It’s me, Margaret) and tearing up the check, she took the money anyway. I think the husband should've taken it and spent it on therapy for their kids.

Ignoring the complete lack of any kind of integrity or courage of conviction (I guess the train of thought was, "This money is tainted by the dark side but what the hell, Tiny Baby Jesus TM would want me to get my gastric bypass"), this woman is the epitome of what makes me hold provincial Christianity in such low regard. It breeds ignorance and a kind of self-righteousness that is way off the scale of baseless self-righteousness. I’m not even concerned, at the moment, with the lack of merit inherent to the Christian theological philosophy. I’m talking about loathing people like this woman; and the people on the planet who foster an environment in which this woman could exist without being splashed right out of the gene pool on a tidal wave of "what the fuck was mother nature thinking?". In this case, I guess it's not even about dogma of imaginary friends. It’s more likely that I’m just an elitist. I hate stupid people. And that woman is s-t-u-p-i-d. Stupid with a capital "look at me!".

Marking Time

I've never been big on New Year's: it's an absolutely arbitrary holiday which comemorates nothing but the rolling of a number on a day capriciously chosen centuries ago. And, typically it involves either reflection on the past or looking to the future; reflecting makes me nostalgic and looking forward is code for "setting goals", which I don't often do. Besides, the holiday happens after my bed time. In any case, here's an entertaining reflection on 2006 by Ed Naha.

The 2006 WTF? Awards!