Beyond Atheism

I've talked about what atheism is but let's extend our conversation beyond the definition:

Atheism is a stance on what we can know; inherently, it makes no judgement on the "goodness" or "morality" or "societal benefits" or "economic strategy" of religion.  There are obviously some atheists that are openly hostile to religion but it is not necessarily so.  There are also atheists that are very accepting of the behavior of most religious people and blend well into those circles.  Typcially though, most atheists fundamentally disagree with the authoritarian stance of religion and its resistance to improvement or refactoring (commonly referred to as "religious dogma") but only take action when those ideas clash in physical reality.

Important groups in atheism:

Secularists:
I'm sure you've heard about "separation of church and state"...this is typically what these people are about.  Most atheists don't care one way or another about religion EXCEPT where those beliefs impose on others.  You need not be an atheist to be a secularist, but typically these ideologies marry well.

Humanists:
Humanism is an ideology which espouses reason, ethics, and justice, whilst specifically rejecting supernatural and religious dogma as a basis of morality and decision-making.  This last part is important to note, because the masses usually don't recognize any way of determining what is "moral" beyond religion and can't understand decision-making without superimposing an authoritarian view of things upon the social-economic-political system.

Final thought:
If you are an atheist, you have not reached enlightenment.  We are all FOREVER students, always growing and always changing.  You can't latch on to some other form of "divinity" whether it be a nation, an economic model, or "nano-technology."  We must learn to treat each other with respect and continue to learn in a healthy, cooperative manner.  Until we have both intelligence and benevolence, whatever else we argue about or discover is meaningless.

The bottom line is, this is not a battle of beliefs...this is a battle against irrationality.

Atheism

I've been talking to a bunch of self-proclaimed "atheists" recently and it was amazing to me to hear what they believed atheism was and what it implies.

Let's get started with what atheism REALLY IS:
Atheism is, literally, a disbelief in the existence of a deity or deities. (Deity: the rank or essential nature of a god).
Atheism is, more broadly, a disbelief in the supernatural (Supernatural: of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe).
The term "atheism" originated from the Greek (atheos), meaning "without god".

Now these people I've been speaking to, talk about how they're atheist...
but they believe in ghosts, or some cosmic spirituality, or that they have some non-religious soul...
and I will tell you now...YOU ARE NOT AN ATHEIST!

Just because you have lost your faith or comfort with your religious affiliation...that does not make you an atheist.  We are atheists because we believe in a rational thought process and believe proof can only exist in the form of observable criteria.  Look into the "fallacies of logic" if you having trouble distinguishing what is a reasonable train of thought and what is not.

I can only believe that there is some political or subversive force in play that is trying to confuse the issue of what atheism is.  Either that or really confused humans are latching on to an idea that they don't really believe in, purely, for some perceived social benefit they might accrue.

Defining Social Change

    I speak frequently about "social change," but I feel I haven't written enough about what it means to me and why I feel it's important.  I'll start with saying that there is a duality of what has been happening and what I believe needs to happen which I will describe as "dance and discussion."  Wikipedia describes "socialization" as:
"the process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies. It may provide the individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own society"

DANCE
    Traditionally, our adjustments in respect to each other have been in the form of "feeling" a direction of something near you and "reacting."  This is like dancing, where the subtle movements of one person gives you cues to react and adjust.  An example of this is seeing a panicking person running and getting up and getting ready to run yourself due to some alleged danger.  While these have served us well in some evolutionary respect...the game completely changed when we developed a deeper sense of self-awareness.  Once we began to realize that we are able to perceive and that others are able to perceive, the invention of manipulation also began to come into being.  If you can control stimuli being sensed by another person, you can direct them and shape their behavior to suit your own needs and desires.  It is here we see how most of the "socialization" we find today is the manipulation of ideas and the handing down of ideologies that are completely removed from any individual sense of perception.  Without an individual filter of these perceptions, we are enslaved by the perceptions of others.
    Although the concept of "dance" seems quite poetic and spiritual, it is dangerous and leads to ideas like "collective consciousness," religious ideals, and other such nonsense that leads to manipulation.  This is what we need to realize is happening and the way out of this is what I call "discussion."

DISCUSSION
    Knowing that we can create artificial reactions in people and manipulate (as well as be manipulated), we need to find a way to socialize that is much more grounded.  Rather than arbitrarily adjusting oneself to other peoples' behavior or emotional displays, we need to create a system of socialization based around observation.  The connections we make with other people need to be tied to those observations and have a means of verification.  Based on those solid observations, we need to create channels of communication through the use of ideas.  If we use verifiable observations as our common ground, and communicate through related ideas, we can create goals and socialize in much more meaningful ways.
    The way I think people should approach socialization is this: each person is born with a unique way of perceiving the world.  First, we must learn how our unique observations relate to the physical world in which we live.  This is a process of introspection in which a person must identify the processes which give them the closest approximation to reality that they can ascertain.  Next, we must try to understand how others' perceptions relate to our own (again in the physical world).  Finally, we must tie ourselves together in an understanding of the ideas related to those observations.  If we create a social system in which we use these concepts, and our tendencies are not pulled and swayed by manipulation of our emotions and perceptions, we will begin to connect in a way that leaves us not only more productive, but happier and more fully unified.

Why Religion Is Dangerous

    I've been thinking about why I oppose religion so strongly and I think I have narrowed it down to the one thing that is most destructive about it.  Religion is based on authority.  No matter how you look at it, the thing that ties all the things together in religion is that they can appeal to a book or some quote or in some way reference an authority.  The reason this is destructive is it completely removes people from their actions and it deeply impedes them from thinking about something for themselves.

    As I continue my quest to create social change and encourage the expansion of minds, I realize that this rigidity in religion and removal of responsibility from oneself, will be a HUGE stumbling block to moving forward.  As I always say, there is only one person you can really change, and that person is yourself...if people can't get past religious ideologies, we as a species WILL die (or sooner than later as the case may be).

Cries From The Congo?

    I think all the "comfortable" people of the world know in their hearts that they are living well at the expense of others.  Being a tech buff myself, the problems in the Congo with Apple, Nokia, Samsung, etc., plundering their natural resources really hit a nerve in me.  How easy is it to play with our mobile phone and gadgets and smile to ourselves, believing we are connected to the world...when in reality we are so disconnected from our world and are far removed from any form of sanity.  We need to wake up and understand that the way we are living is WRONG.
    The most remarkable thing about this story is the fact that we here in the US hear very little about these issues in the media...that's a shame.  Everyday I read a piece of news...and wonder if it's being fed to me...and wonder what other pieces of news I am NOT getting.

More information about this problem here:
Genocide In The Congo

Let It Go?

    I was out with some friends the other night, and as you might expect they began to banter about "hot chicks" and the "nature" of various minorities.  Had I not been reading so much about social change recently...perhaps I could just say "whatever, they are just relaxing and socializing."  However, this was not my reaction...I was highly offended and I began to wonder if I was being too strict or whether I was actually witnessing really destructive behavior.
     I have since decided that it was indeed destructive behavior but we have been conditioned to believe that that's just "how it is."  We can all "go with the flow" or we can put ourselves out in the line of fire and make people recognize when they are being less than humane.  Take these great quotes with you as you decide whether you need to be getting more or less upset:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

"We must become the change we want to see in the world." - Mohandas Gandhi

Great Figures?

    Everyone bleeds their heart out for the death of Steve Jobs.  He was a really great businessman, but he opposed freedom in everything he touched and promoted proprietary solutions over open solutions whenever possible.  Furthermore, many of the people that worked with him note that he was quite a tyrant.

MEANWHILE

    Dennis Ritchie died in October of 2011.  What, never heard of him?  He was the inventor of the C language...the language that just about every important piece of low-level software was designed with.  He was a co-inventor of the UNIX operating system.  Mac OS X is a pretty good OS...guess what, it runs on a UNIX foundation.  You can check out more about him here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie

    I don't want to belittle the death of any one person or elevate another beyond its relevance, but this is more a commentary on our sense of priority and importance. We spend so much time hanging on every word of these arbitrary millionaires/celebrities/sports figures and turn our ears from people who produce infinitely more important ideas.

A Child Gets It

A speech given at a UN Earth Summit in 1992.  If a child can get it, why can't everyone else?

Severn Suzuki (Silencing The World For 5 Minutes)

70 Years Of Non-Progress?

Charlie Chaplin gives this speech in the 1940 movie "The Great Dictator"...funny how this speech could work just as easily today...70+ years later.

The Great Dictator (Final Speech)

Christians...

In light of this irrefutable evidence, I guess I must concede:

Banana: The Atheists Nightmare