Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Inquire
Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire. --Friedrich Nietzsche
Saturday, October 28, 2006
A Truth In Hiding Is A Vicious Lie
The greatest lie that man has ever told himself is that Truth is somehow hidden from us. If this is the case, it only because we have closed our eyes. In fact, Truth is something that even the smallest of children grasp without the help of their parents. It is only through the continual piling up of metaphysical horse shit that Truth becomes lost to us. So what is Truth? It is the air you breathe, the ground you walk on, the sounds you hear, the flavorful beer that you're sipping on right now. Truth is existence as such--as it is, without any preconcieved notions of what it ought to be.
"The End Of False Religion Is Near!"
As I was leaving my house this morning I was approached by a sweet old lady. She handed me a couple of thin pamphlets and told me that I must read them because they are of the most vital importance. Yes, she was a Jahova's Witness. One of the pamphlets was the usual "Awake!" that you always see them with, the other was a much shorter pamphlet called "The End of False Religion is Near!" (They sure do like their exclamation marks, don't they.)
Well, being an easily entertained man, who finds reading religious propaganda fun, I decided to read the pamphlets. Now here comes the strange part--the shorter one, "The End Of False Religion Is Near!" was actually incredibly intelligent. Their criticisms were sharp and biting. It wasn't until the last page, where they began talking about their own religious beliefs, that stupidity began to set in.
Just a few things that they pointed out:
"Are you distressed about crimes commited in the name of religion? Do the warfare, terrorism, and corruption perpetrated by those who claim to serve God offend your sense of justice? Why does religion seem to be at the root of so many of the world's problems?"
"Power-hungry leaders are cynically manipulating people's religious sentiments for their own needs. As a result the world threatens to sink into madness."
"Most religions teach that the soul or spirit is some invisible part of a human that survives the death of the physical body. By means of this teaching, many of these religions exploit their members, charging money to pray for the departed souls. However...'The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.' (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Jesus taught that the dead will be resurrected--an unnecessary action if humans had an immortal soul."
"The beast that the harlot rides is the world's political powers. False religion straddles the back of this political beast, attempting to influence its decisions and to control its direction."
Were it not for their constant use of biblical imagery, and of course the last page telling you to join their religion, one would certainly be led to believe that the writers of this phamplet were enlightened atheists. In the end however, they run head first into the same pitfall as Joseph Smith. They see that there is no true religion, and rather than scrap the ideal of religion all together, they simply create one more false religion.
At any rate, I can still hope that the title of their pamphlet proves to be at least some what prophetic.
Well, being an easily entertained man, who finds reading religious propaganda fun, I decided to read the pamphlets. Now here comes the strange part--the shorter one, "The End Of False Religion Is Near!" was actually incredibly intelligent. Their criticisms were sharp and biting. It wasn't until the last page, where they began talking about their own religious beliefs, that stupidity began to set in.
Just a few things that they pointed out:
"Are you distressed about crimes commited in the name of religion? Do the warfare, terrorism, and corruption perpetrated by those who claim to serve God offend your sense of justice? Why does religion seem to be at the root of so many of the world's problems?"
"Power-hungry leaders are cynically manipulating people's religious sentiments for their own needs. As a result the world threatens to sink into madness."
"Most religions teach that the soul or spirit is some invisible part of a human that survives the death of the physical body. By means of this teaching, many of these religions exploit their members, charging money to pray for the departed souls. However...'The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.' (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Jesus taught that the dead will be resurrected--an unnecessary action if humans had an immortal soul."
"The beast that the harlot rides is the world's political powers. False religion straddles the back of this political beast, attempting to influence its decisions and to control its direction."
Were it not for their constant use of biblical imagery, and of course the last page telling you to join their religion, one would certainly be led to believe that the writers of this phamplet were enlightened atheists. In the end however, they run head first into the same pitfall as Joseph Smith. They see that there is no true religion, and rather than scrap the ideal of religion all together, they simply create one more false religion.
At any rate, I can still hope that the title of their pamphlet proves to be at least some what prophetic.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Why I Call Myself A Nihilist
To begin with, what do I mean when I call my a nihilist, or rather, what is it that I do not mean by calling myself this. First, I am no idealist, and therefore I have no desire to see the current structure burn to the ground. Thus, I am not a political nihilist. I tend to be more pragmatic with my disbelief. I do not believe in any authority that cannot be deposed by a more powerful, more determined enemy. It is the right of any citizenry to stand up and revolt against their government if they see fit to do so (also if, and only if, they have the will and the brute strength for such an undertaking--as well as the will to suffer the consequences should they lose). Though I grant the government no inate authority, still I cannot concieve of any replacement government that would be better. Besides, revolutions most often end up with a lot of needless bloodshed that does nothing to make the political situation any better. Also, I refuse to ally myself with the anarchists. Anyone who believes that anarchy is a viable alternative to corrupt government obviously has little knowledge of human nature. Or as Hobbes says: in a state of anarchy, there can be "no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." In anarchy every man is a ruthless, blood-thirsty tyrant.
Nor am I so naive as to believe that nothing actually exists (though I think this is more a notion that people have of nihilists than a belief held by any nihilists). As Descartes points out: "cogito ergo sum," I think therefore I am. Now I'm sure many first year philosophy students will try and prove Descartes wrong through all kinds of semantic circlings, but the fact of the matter is that fundamentally he is correct. That I can percieve anything at all stands as proof positive that I do exist. It does not matter how skewed my perceptions may be. It doesn't even matter if I am in fact simply someone elses dream. The fact that I can question my existence means that, however different reality may be from what I percieve, still I am a part of that reality. Supposing for one second that this is in fact nothing more than a dream, that does not change the fact that this is the only reality I know and therefore this is the reality which I must live in and work with.
I have (or I should say had) a good friend who titles herself a moral nihilist, and though I like this term a great deal, I do not think it quite fits me either. As far as morality is concerned, I would rather call myself a moral existentialist. I do believe in morality, I just don't think it is inherent in the world. I believe it is a product of man, and that outside of man it has no existence at all. Please do not mistake me for holding such a simplistic view as to believe that someone actually sat down and decided what is right and what is wrong. Morality is to a great extent instinctual--generally part of the herd instinct: i.e., preservation of the species. The morals that can not be explained away by instinct, such as taboos against sex, I attribute to social conditioning. As to what brought a particular society to hold its own particular social norms, I can only say that of this particular geneology I am in ignorance.
Now with all that out of the way, I can finally ask: what kind of nihilist am I? I am what you would call a metaphysical or philosophical nihilist. I do not believe that anything in existence is inherent or necessary, with the exeption of perhaps death. That is to say, the only thing that is not transient is transience itself. All morals and ideals are creations of man. If any of these have value, it is only the value man has attributed to them.
If this post has come off as seeming random and chaotic, I apologize. My thoughts have been rather random and chaotic lately--hopefully I will soon be able to pull myself up out of all this muck and return to some sense of normality.
Nor am I so naive as to believe that nothing actually exists (though I think this is more a notion that people have of nihilists than a belief held by any nihilists). As Descartes points out: "cogito ergo sum," I think therefore I am. Now I'm sure many first year philosophy students will try and prove Descartes wrong through all kinds of semantic circlings, but the fact of the matter is that fundamentally he is correct. That I can percieve anything at all stands as proof positive that I do exist. It does not matter how skewed my perceptions may be. It doesn't even matter if I am in fact simply someone elses dream. The fact that I can question my existence means that, however different reality may be from what I percieve, still I am a part of that reality. Supposing for one second that this is in fact nothing more than a dream, that does not change the fact that this is the only reality I know and therefore this is the reality which I must live in and work with.
I have (or I should say had) a good friend who titles herself a moral nihilist, and though I like this term a great deal, I do not think it quite fits me either. As far as morality is concerned, I would rather call myself a moral existentialist. I do believe in morality, I just don't think it is inherent in the world. I believe it is a product of man, and that outside of man it has no existence at all. Please do not mistake me for holding such a simplistic view as to believe that someone actually sat down and decided what is right and what is wrong. Morality is to a great extent instinctual--generally part of the herd instinct: i.e., preservation of the species. The morals that can not be explained away by instinct, such as taboos against sex, I attribute to social conditioning. As to what brought a particular society to hold its own particular social norms, I can only say that of this particular geneology I am in ignorance.
Now with all that out of the way, I can finally ask: what kind of nihilist am I? I am what you would call a metaphysical or philosophical nihilist. I do not believe that anything in existence is inherent or necessary, with the exeption of perhaps death. That is to say, the only thing that is not transient is transience itself. All morals and ideals are creations of man. If any of these have value, it is only the value man has attributed to them.
If this post has come off as seeming random and chaotic, I apologize. My thoughts have been rather random and chaotic lately--hopefully I will soon be able to pull myself up out of all this muck and return to some sense of normality.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
A Sidelong Glance at Religion
Having looked at my previous posts on this blog, I realize that I come off as being violently against religion. This is not the case. In fact I believe that everyone should study religion--not just the religion they were born to, but all religions. If after that, they choose to follow one specific religion, then by all means do so, and God speed. What I am against, and will remain opposed to till I breathe my dying breath, is dogmatism and fundamentalism. For these are the things that ultimatly lead to terrorism.
That you read the Bible, the Qur'an, the Upanishads, the Torah or any other religious scripture is in itself a good thing. There is a great deal of wisdom to be taken from these texts. But you must read it the same way that you would read any other work of fiction--gleaming from it the lessons you are ready to learn, and not taking it too seriously. If you read religious scripture as allegory, then suddenly all the absurdities that it spouts off begin to make perfect sense. You do not need to believe that a tower was actually built in Babel to understand the lesson of avoiding hubris and overarching pride. You need not believe that you will be a cow in the next life to understand that every moment, one dies and is born anew--we are never the same person moment to moment. In fact, this lesson is more quickly learned if you don't believe in the literal interpretation of reincarnation.
As far as the belief in God goes, I can only reiterate what I have already stated in a previous post: I don't know, and you don't either. Belief in God can only be accepted on faith. To say that you know God exists is to simply prove yourself an ass.
That you read the Bible, the Qur'an, the Upanishads, the Torah or any other religious scripture is in itself a good thing. There is a great deal of wisdom to be taken from these texts. But you must read it the same way that you would read any other work of fiction--gleaming from it the lessons you are ready to learn, and not taking it too seriously. If you read religious scripture as allegory, then suddenly all the absurdities that it spouts off begin to make perfect sense. You do not need to believe that a tower was actually built in Babel to understand the lesson of avoiding hubris and overarching pride. You need not believe that you will be a cow in the next life to understand that every moment, one dies and is born anew--we are never the same person moment to moment. In fact, this lesson is more quickly learned if you don't believe in the literal interpretation of reincarnation.
As far as the belief in God goes, I can only reiterate what I have already stated in a previous post: I don't know, and you don't either. Belief in God can only be accepted on faith. To say that you know God exists is to simply prove yourself an ass.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Picture This
A friend of mine showed me how to add a picture to my blog last night, ergo the picture below. I was trying to put it in my profile but couldn't seem to figure the damned thing out. I also couldn't seem to figure out how to put text in the same post as the picture, which is why I'm putting it up here instead.
The picture is of myself, a few years ago, looking down on Utah. I'm not sure who took the picture, or how exactly it came to be in my hands--what I can only assume to be--three or four years later, but it looks pretty cool.
The picture is of myself, a few years ago, looking down on Utah. I'm not sure who took the picture, or how exactly it came to be in my hands--what I can only assume to be--three or four years later, but it looks pretty cool.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Torture is Torture is Torture
To begin with, torture is morally wrong; no matter what the hypothetical scenerio you may dream up--torture will always remain morally indefensable. "But you're a self-proclaimed nihilist," you shout, "what do you care for morality?!" This is true, however, you are probably not a moral nihilist, or at least do not proclaim yourself to be so, and therefore morality should be of the highest order for you; after all, it is the "salvation of your soul" we're talking about here. Besides, one can be a nihilist and still have respect for human life and suffering. I'm not a sociopath after all. But I digress.
Being a moral nihilist, I will spare you any long lectures on the morality of turtore and skip over to the more pragmatic arguments against torture. Now everybody who has given it even half a thought knows that under extreme pain and the threat of even more to come, anybody will admit to just about anything. Torture a man long enough, he'll tell you who shot JFK--that doesn't make it the least bit true. If, on the other hand, the only thing you are looking for is a confession, and you don't give half a rat's ass about the actual truth, then by all means torture away. You'll get the confession you were looking for, and half your constituancy will probably believe it was true. Just don't call it torture--call it coercion or some other bullshit euphamism. After all, nobody likes to admit that they are the bad guy. If, on top of that, you can convince people that the person you are torturing is evil--well hell, even your opponents will be afraid to criticize you.
If, however, it is true information you are looking for, your best bet is to befriend the man you have in custody. Confidance leads to confidant information.
On top of the utter lack of accurate information given to you by torture--or as we here in the grand ol' US of A like to call it, "coercion"--you really do manage to totally wreck your standing in the world. Fear will force people to follow you, but when it can be helped respect is far better.
Being a moral nihilist, I will spare you any long lectures on the morality of turtore and skip over to the more pragmatic arguments against torture. Now everybody who has given it even half a thought knows that under extreme pain and the threat of even more to come, anybody will admit to just about anything. Torture a man long enough, he'll tell you who shot JFK--that doesn't make it the least bit true. If, on the other hand, the only thing you are looking for is a confession, and you don't give half a rat's ass about the actual truth, then by all means torture away. You'll get the confession you were looking for, and half your constituancy will probably believe it was true. Just don't call it torture--call it coercion or some other bullshit euphamism. After all, nobody likes to admit that they are the bad guy. If, on top of that, you can convince people that the person you are torturing is evil--well hell, even your opponents will be afraid to criticize you.
If, however, it is true information you are looking for, your best bet is to befriend the man you have in custody. Confidance leads to confidant information.
On top of the utter lack of accurate information given to you by torture--or as we here in the grand ol' US of A like to call it, "coercion"--you really do manage to totally wreck your standing in the world. Fear will force people to follow you, but when it can be helped respect is far better.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
My Personal Hero
My older sister is currently going through something that I cannot even begin to comprehend. A few months ago she called me and told me that she was pregnant with her second child. You could actaully hear the joy in her voice at the prospect of having another kid. Last night my mother called me and told me that I needed to call my sister, as she was going through some real trauma. So I called her up today and this is the situation: Now in her second trimester, she had a sonogram done to find out the sex of the child. First the doctor told her it was a girl; all good and fine so far--her first was a boy and now she was having a girl to balance everything out. Then the doctor told her that the child didn't have any thumbs that they could see. Her view: well people have been born with no arms and had good lives, no big deal. Then the doctor proceeded to tell her that the child had no eyes either. How does she respond? Well so what, she'll be handicapped, it'll make life a bit more difficult but it's not anything that can't be dealt with. Then some more bad news. The child has some major brain damage. What, so she'll be mentally retarded--tons of people have down-syndrome and still live perfectly happy lives. But that's not it, that's not it at all. The child is missing her thirteenth chromosme--assuming it lives through delivery, it will be a vegitable for the few months that it is able to survive at all. The only things it will be able to do on its own are breath and piss; no thoughts, no emotions, no actions--just a couple of organs working to no purpose. My sister is then left with a choice: bring into existence something that cannot even be called a life, or terminate the pregnancy. When I asked her today how she was doing, she said that she had cried out all her tears and was now beginning to cope with the situation--my sister is my personal hero.
A Short Story
He finally realized that she was gone and would never come back; and it was only with this realization that he fully realized just how much he loved her. When she was around he had always taken her for granted. She had always been nothing more than a good friend and confidant--some one he could actually open his heart to--and he told himself that he didn't want anything more. Hell, he had even managed to completely convince himself for several years that he didn't want anything more from her. But now...now it just hurt so damned bad not having her around.
His childhood had been a rather loveless one. When anyone did happen to pay any attention to him, it was because they were drunk and looking for something to hit, or they were simply pissed off and wanted to belittle someone. Most of the time, however, he was simply left to fend for himself. Now in retrospect, this had actually strengthend him to a great degree--as a man he was able to stand just about any beating life through at him: He had a brutal job which left him in the hospital about once every two years, he had managed to disillusion himself of all the nonsense most people cling to so desperately, and he had even managed, at the age of sixteen, to move two-thousand miles away from his friends and family to start a new life on his own. The one thing he could not seem to do, was to admit that he loved someone. That, in his mind, would amount to opening himself back up to the ridicule and the beatings of his childhood.
Later in life, he had a few failed relationships. The first of these was actually with the girl he missed so much now. He had tried everything in his power to get her, but in the end it amouted to nothing but rejection. After that, all his relationships ended with the girls he thought he was in love with telling him to go to hell.
Finally, after years apart, he had been reunited with his first love. By now though, she was married to one of his friends. But that was ok, because all he wanted now was someone to talk to. So they stuck up a new friendship. Eventually she divorced his friend, but nothing really changed in his relationship to her. For a few years after that they lived together, neither of them seeing anybody else, but not seeing each other either. After a few years of this, she married another friend of his; this time it was his best friend.
Four years went by. He would go to their house once or twice a week for dinner during this time. His best friend was seldom home during all of this, and when he was he was too drunk to talk, and so he would have long drawn out conversations with her about everything from politics to religion to music. Throughout this time nothing ever became of this, as both of them had complete respect for the sanctaty of her marriage.
At the end of this four year period she had kicked her husband out; it turned out that he had been an abusive piece of shit; getting drunk every night and beating her and her five year old child. One night she came over to his house to talk about what was going on. They ended up getting really drunk. At some point during the night, she kissed him. At this point he could not hold back--he professed his love for her, and that night they made sweet, passionate love. Their love, however, was rather short lived.
The next day he was overcome by guilt. It didn't matter that his friend was a piece of shit--to betray their friendship was more than he could bear. The next day he told her that it had to end there. This was something she could not seem to comply with. The next few weeks were hell for both of them. He lied and said that it meant nothing to him; she refused this answer. It went back and forth: her forcing herself upon him, him forcing himself to believe he wanted nonthing of it, yet winding up in bed with her all the same.
In the end he won out. Though he wasn't exactly sure what it was he won. Did he when his freedom, or was it simply his solitude? All he knew now was that he wanted her back. But it was too damn late.
His childhood had been a rather loveless one. When anyone did happen to pay any attention to him, it was because they were drunk and looking for something to hit, or they were simply pissed off and wanted to belittle someone. Most of the time, however, he was simply left to fend for himself. Now in retrospect, this had actually strengthend him to a great degree--as a man he was able to stand just about any beating life through at him: He had a brutal job which left him in the hospital about once every two years, he had managed to disillusion himself of all the nonsense most people cling to so desperately, and he had even managed, at the age of sixteen, to move two-thousand miles away from his friends and family to start a new life on his own. The one thing he could not seem to do, was to admit that he loved someone. That, in his mind, would amount to opening himself back up to the ridicule and the beatings of his childhood.
Later in life, he had a few failed relationships. The first of these was actually with the girl he missed so much now. He had tried everything in his power to get her, but in the end it amouted to nothing but rejection. After that, all his relationships ended with the girls he thought he was in love with telling him to go to hell.
Finally, after years apart, he had been reunited with his first love. By now though, she was married to one of his friends. But that was ok, because all he wanted now was someone to talk to. So they stuck up a new friendship. Eventually she divorced his friend, but nothing really changed in his relationship to her. For a few years after that they lived together, neither of them seeing anybody else, but not seeing each other either. After a few years of this, she married another friend of his; this time it was his best friend.
Four years went by. He would go to their house once or twice a week for dinner during this time. His best friend was seldom home during all of this, and when he was he was too drunk to talk, and so he would have long drawn out conversations with her about everything from politics to religion to music. Throughout this time nothing ever became of this, as both of them had complete respect for the sanctaty of her marriage.
At the end of this four year period she had kicked her husband out; it turned out that he had been an abusive piece of shit; getting drunk every night and beating her and her five year old child. One night she came over to his house to talk about what was going on. They ended up getting really drunk. At some point during the night, she kissed him. At this point he could not hold back--he professed his love for her, and that night they made sweet, passionate love. Their love, however, was rather short lived.
The next day he was overcome by guilt. It didn't matter that his friend was a piece of shit--to betray their friendship was more than he could bear. The next day he told her that it had to end there. This was something she could not seem to comply with. The next few weeks were hell for both of them. He lied and said that it meant nothing to him; she refused this answer. It went back and forth: her forcing herself upon him, him forcing himself to believe he wanted nonthing of it, yet winding up in bed with her all the same.
In the end he won out. Though he wasn't exactly sure what it was he won. Did he when his freedom, or was it simply his solitude? All he knew now was that he wanted her back. But it was too damn late.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Christian Terrorism
I highly recommend that the few people who actually read this blog check out the many clips on the new documentary "Jesus Camp" on youtube.com. Anyone who cares to, is welcome to try to explain to me afterwards why christianity is not every bit as prone to terrorism as islam is.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Picking at Another Man's Dinner
Few men would have the gall to pick at another man's dinner when they have their own sumptuous meal before them. Why, then, are we so presumptuous as too pick apart a man's deepest thoughts and emotions, when we have our own sitting before us, begging to be analysed? Where do all these part-time psychologists get off interpreting another man's thoughts and actions when it is quite obvious that they do not even understand their own?
What do I mean by part-time psychologist? I mean a person who, without the least bit of technical training in that feild, feels that they are somehow qualified to tell you exactly what your unconscious motivations are for everything that you do. We all know this type. He is the most common type there is. He is that slightly over-intellectualized friend who does not yet have the wisdom to act as a counter-weight to his thoughts. In other words, he isn't so very clever as he thinks he is. He knows what your problem is, but he doesn't yet know how to keep that bit of information to himself.
If there were but one thing that I could teach to these people, it would be how to shut the fuck up, and quit being so damn presumptuous as to think you know what's going on in another's head.
What do I mean by part-time psychologist? I mean a person who, without the least bit of technical training in that feild, feels that they are somehow qualified to tell you exactly what your unconscious motivations are for everything that you do. We all know this type. He is the most common type there is. He is that slightly over-intellectualized friend who does not yet have the wisdom to act as a counter-weight to his thoughts. In other words, he isn't so very clever as he thinks he is. He knows what your problem is, but he doesn't yet know how to keep that bit of information to himself.
If there were but one thing that I could teach to these people, it would be how to shut the fuck up, and quit being so damn presumptuous as to think you know what's going on in another's head.
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