What a schmuck!

Australian expat and creationist dude Ken Ham, has called for an end to the US space program. Yes, I know what you're thinking.. (assuming you're a yank which you probably aren't because, well, anyway) you're thinking "who is this imposter who thinks he can tell us what to do with our superior science and stuff! We're the USA and we go to SPACE mother fuckers!

Yes, that is exactly what you said, assuming you are reading this, and  you are American.

So I'll answer the question. He, is Ken Ham, from Queensland, Australia, and he's this creationist dude, like I said. And he disapproves of the space program. Now, I'm sure there are many valid critiques of said program, some which I would probably agree with even, but the reason he gives, well, I'm not buying it. Basically it's because, assuming we find any aliens, which we won't, but if we do, they're going to hell.
That's it.

Now I don't think there is a hell, so obvs this doesn't convince me but what if it were true? That there is a god, there is a hell and all non earthlings, because only earthlings can be saved because, um, go to hell, because everyone who isn't saved goes to hell because, er.. well.. still. Is that a reason to not look for life on other planets? Or to go there for whatever other reasons they go there for? No, I mean, there may be reasons from the cost to, um, other reasons, but that any life you find will be surely going to hell, no, don't get it.

Of course, Mr Ham just doesn't like secular stuff in general, and that's probably what it's really about, “secularists are desperate to find life in outer space” as a part of their “rebellion against God in a desperate attempt to supposedly prove evolution.” he says.

Of course, there couldn't possibly be other reasons to want to exit the earth's atmosphere and discover what's out there, to visit other plants and possibly find other life I mean aliens! Fucking aliens dude how cool is that? Yes, I know the only purposes of going to space isn't to find life forms, and that any life we are at all likely to find will be more of the amoeba like kind, but that's still cool, I mean, pretty cool, if you're a scientist.

No, of course not, it's all about God, people don't believe in God, have lives that don't revolve around God, don't really think of God much one way or the other when they're not being confronted about it, because they're actively rejecting God because they're angry and they spend their entire lives doing things because of this rejection of God. And all those people who worship other gods or this God in a different way, same thing, a bit different but the same.

I was going to say some other clever stuff about how people generally think that other people think like them and most of us, myself included just as much if not more than everyone else does this, hey I just said it, well yeah, that. And that religious people, some, not all, but certainly Ken and his ilk, just plain don't believe in atheists. You tell them you're an atheist, that you don't believe in god, and they're like oh your'e angry at god, and you say no, I don't  believe in god, so they're all what did god or your parents or your teachers do to make you so angry at god and you reply, getting rather testy that no, you are not angry at god you do not think there is a god, and they say yeah, you're angry at him we've established that.. and you start growling and spell out that you do not believe in god this god guy they are speaking of you are not of the opinion that he exists at all, and they say.. oh, I get it, you just wanna do what you want and be bad and stuff, and when you were a kid something happened.. and then you start yelling.. perhaps you explain it again but it just does not compute. That's sort of what this guy's doing.

The real meaning of xmas.

It's been a while since I've heard someone bemoan to me that the "real meaning" of Christmas has been lost. I do come across it online though, and was recently invited to join the cause to "keep the Christ in Christmas" on a social networking site. I politely declined.

It reminded me of those people, back when I lived in a more Christian country than this one, who assumed I would agree with them that the focus on non Jesus elements was wrong for Christmas. I always found it annoying, though I never said anything.

I know that those people meant well, and were on the whole good people, not usually the type to push their religious ways on people, but nevertheless, they were wrong. They weren't wrong that Jesus is the meaning of Christmas for them and for people who think like them. What they were wrong about, is assuming that it's that way (or should be) for anyone else.

Yes, it's (in English anyway) named after Christ, and has a Christian history, that is after they took the festival from the Pagans and altered it to suit them, but now it's a Western cultural tradition, which is still Christian for some people, but not at all for others.

I grew up in a family which celebrated Christmas, though we were never religious. I grew up with the trees and presents and Santa Claus, the food, the family... and that's what it is about. That's all it is about. Since I've grown up, I still celebrate Christmas, though I've become an official atheist, because I like it. Some atheists see it as a Christian holiday and don't celebrate it which is all fine.. I can see a lot more reasons to not like Christmas than just the religious one, I'm a sucker though, I like all that festive jazz.. I'm quite suited to a bit of sparkly tree and Santa worship.. much more than I am to worshiping the baby Jesus.

Ironic of course, that in this adopted, not very Christian country of mine, it's the baby Jesus who gives children presents. Traditionally there isn't a Santa Claus, and his new presence is none too welcome by some of the local folk, which I got to overhear from many passer's by last year during my stint as Santa's photographer. I can understand it, he is to some, the symbol of creeping American culture, Coca Cola, the worst excesses of xmas materialism.. but.. I still like the jolly fella. And the trees and the sparkly shit and the (these days very modest) pressies.

And it's another excuse to booze it up. Perhaps that's what I like about it most of all :)

Merry Christmas all, have a happy one.

The night I almost turned Christian.

I went to the Prague Playhouse's "Holiday" party last night. It was a chance to see all the acting pals I've hardly seen all year due to being a lazy fat ass and doing next to nothing all year, except for the little I've done which isn't much. It was fun, drank beer, chatted, introduced Erik to some weird people. We had to leave to get our night tram on time, so unfortunately missed out on that promised "smoke" which took too long to get organized.. a slightly surprising fact considering later incidents.

We got home hungry and made some grilled cheese sandwiches with hermelín.. chatting all the while. It was well liked, and our conversation turned, as it often does, to cheese. The greatness of cheese, the gloriousness of cheese, the sheer yumminess of cheese.. all round cheese worship.. "blessed are the cheesemakers" I recited, which I arrived upon I know not how, apart from the fact that we were discussing cheese at the time. I,knew it from somewhere. it sounded like a bible verse to me, all that "blessed" shit.. and I started to think. "Did Jesus say that?" Fuck! Well if He did, He had the right idea... could.. could.. there be something in it?

It hit me like a.. something that's not physically hard but makes you think.. I might be able to.. believe. I could become.. a Christian!

Now luckily, the word christian can interpreted loosely, and there are so many different kinds of Christians, so many different sects so that I considered it even possible.. like others I could d to pick and choose what bits I'd follow, I would follow.. more the pro-cheese parts and less the wifely submission parts, and if I had to make up my own church I was more than ready to do it.

First I needed to be sure, so I rushed to google to verify what I thought might maybe be sorta true. I typed in "blessed are the cheesemakers" and got.. some Life of Brian links and other random stuff that didn't make any sense to me. I knew now, where I had heard it.

I was gutted. Ok, I was perhaps mildly disappointed, but mostly relieved. I mean, I know myself pretty well and I'm more suited to Python worship than baby Jesus worship, and I got over it pretty quick.

It's all very silly, the very mild beer buzz I was experiencing is hardly an excuse, and it really seems like more the domain of stoned people, which is what I was referring to up there when I said it was mildly surprising.... and it doesn't even end there.. don't even get me started on the Secondary Fraggles incident.

Oh and Happy Chanukah. It's due to start today at dusk, which around here is about 4pm.
We're gonna light the candle, spin the dreidel, eat latkes.. you know, the usual stuff.

Who Would Jesus Stiff?

I went to my usual class again last night. Well it's not all that usual, I've been missing a lot of classes lately due to a major block in creativity. I sucked. I did a door and it was bad. Everyone else in the class was brilliant so I feel extra crappy in comparison to everyone.

But it doesn't matter. What matters is the beer. After class we went to the pub. We sat around, drinking beer, talking, laughing and trying to outdo each other in wit and charm. I won of course but I don't think anyone recognized that I did.

After a bit of joking around JP, a member of our christian family started talking about Jesus to a member of the class, and from what I could understand was trying to "save" him. It didn't appear to work, though the guy was listening to him, he was obviously treating it as a joke.

But JP was not deterred. He turned to John, another class member who had become interested in the conversation. They began a debate which included a lot of stuff I'd heard before from reading about this a lot on the internet, JP was saying the prayer you need to say to let Jesus into your heart and talking about His great gift that you just have to accept, while John was asking a lot of typical questions of skeptics. I listened in to most of it as I found it interesting. Both were very committed to their views but it stayed civil, and when they finished talking they were still friends who both believed exactly what they believed before they began the conversation.

JP was obviously in the mood for some Jesus talk, he turned to me and asked if I wanted to get the gift of getting into heaven (or something like that) and I told him I don't believe there is a heaven, and he said ok and moved on to the guy next to me, who gave his own reason for not wanting to listen to it, and JP left it.

So it was ok. Nice guy if a bit young and idealistic, though that's just my opinion. Then it was time for them to go. JP and his group left. It didn't look like he'd left money so we figured he'd paid at the bar for their group. Whatever, we carried on...

but, about an hour later, when the last of us paid the bill there was a discrepancy. Everyone paid for their own, but there was some mysterious beers left over.

The Christians didn't pay!

Seriously.

Moral of the story is, if you're going to try to make people follow your religion by promising them a gift of love and an afterlife full of happiness and plenty, then don't leave them with your bill.

Seriously, pay for your beers Christians. You'll get more converts that way.

What's good for the goose, is good for the... er... other goose.

They've done it! The people who brought us Father Daughter Purity Balls, have now come up with a male equivalent for young men and their mothers. Only this version is called and Integrity Ball, which does sound more manly.

And not a moment too soon. It's about time they expected chastity from boys as well. Surely if a girl keeps herself pure, swearing off sex until such time as she can get some guy to marry her, she deserves a shiny clean cock, unsullied by the extract of other woman, right? It's only fair.

Baker [ ] told them that while they might not believe it at the time, the
girl they may date in high school is probably not going to be the one they will
marry. “So you’re dating someone else’s future wife,” he told them. He also told
them that someone else may be dating their future wife.?”

Oh, silly me. Mustn't disappoint "someone" should we?

“If you knew somebody was with your future wife,” Baker asked them, “touching her in ways you wouldn’t like, pressuring her, how would that make you feel?”

Please think of the men! Some man might end up being married to that. But just in case the point hasn't been made clear enough, I'll let Jackie Detweiller, "an attractive 19-year-old young woman who is practicing abstinence" explain it more..

She told the tale of a person who had waited a long time to buy the car of
their dreams, but when the day arrived to drive it home, the dealer told them
that the steering had problems, that it had a lot of mileage on it, and had been
in a few wrecks.

Dear, the car analogy is a little bit old isn't it? Personally, as far as tired old metaphors go, I prefer the cow one...

How would you feel if you bought a cow, took it home from the shop and
found out it had been milked? You paid your own money for this cow,
and it had just given away milk like it was it's own to give!

Now, imagine that you met a cow who took it upon themselves to give you
their milk, and you went ahead and took it! Essentially you would be stealing
milk from another man. How would that make you feel, you milk stealer
you!

Moral of the story is, if you fuck a chick, make sure she's already a slut. Someone else already committed the property crime, and thus you are absolved.

Curtesy of others.