Feel Free. If you have a negative criticism or disagreement with what I post , please comment with your name. Anonymous comments may see the light of day. They might not even be read, although I may take portions of them and use them to point out the errors of your ways. If you wish to write a manifesto, get your own blog. SOB
“Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.”
— Banksy
To be considered In reclaiming the public space, in taking back your surroundings and exercising some control over what you must see and be exposed to in public, would this not also apply to signs and bumper stickers on cars and trucks, public or private? After all, what choice do you have if you are following a truck or car down the road with a “God Hates Fags” bumper sticker or even “Honk if you love Jesus“? You can’t very well close your eyes so those ideas are inflicted upon you without your permission. Would you be wrong in defacing them in various ways, say by inserting an “L” changing “fags” to “flags”, or by crossing out “Jesus” and writing in “Blowjobs” This is direct action at it’s finest.
This is the draft of an add the Freedom From Religion Foundation would like to run in The New York Times. Unfortunately running the ad is incredibly expensive and they need to raise $52,000. You can read the post on it here and you can contribute here. (Click for full size)
1. Atheists earn higher incomes. (10-15% higher, according to 1989 study)
2. Atheists stay married longer. (21% of Atheists have been divorced vs 29% for Christians) -Barna Research Group 1999
3. Atheists are less likely to end up in jail. (Atheists comprise 15% of US population, however, only 1% of US Prison population are non-believers.)
4. Atheists are more likely to climb to the top of academia. (97% of the National Academy of Science Members are atheists. The 3,200 members includes more than 200 Noble Laureate recipients)
5. Atheists are less likely to succumb to the lure of authoritarian regimes, that promise miraculous and divine sent decrees. You think Hitler could have convinced a nation of Secularists/Atheists that slaughtering Jews was a good way to spend a Sunday? But far easier to do so when working with devotees of the anti-Semite Martin Luther.
6. Atheists live longer and happier, according to a 2009 poll conducted by Erasmus University Rotterdam
7. Atheists are not required to hate anyone. There is no doctrine that promotes in/out thinking.
8. Atheists have higher morality developmental growth. Famous American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg writes that at moral development’s highest levels – moral judgments must be justified on rational moral grounds rather than by appeal to the order of nature or to religious authority or revelation. While Freud suggested that religion served to undermine moral responsibility while promoting fanaticism, he contended that people who behave morally only out of fear of a supernatural penalty, would be unlikely to respect and care for others from an altruistic perspective.
9. Atheists achieve deeper levels of critical thinking and free thought.
10. Atheists are way better in the bedroom. (My own anecdotal experience)
*Correlation doesn’t equal causation, but it’s nice to have some fun with it.
Frank Zappa (December 21, 1940 December 4, 1993) was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.
In his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands—he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship.
This one is in my hymnal.
Dumb All Over
Whoever we are Wherever we’re from We shoulda noticed by now Our behavior is dumb And if our chances Expect to improve It’s gonna take a lot more Than tryin’ to remove The other race Or the other whatever From the face Of the planet altogether
They call it the earth Which is a dumb kinda name But they named it right ’cause we behave the same… We are dumb all over Dumb all over, Yes we are Dumb all over, Near ‘n far Dumb all over, Black ‘n white People, we is not wrapped tight
Nurds on the left Nurds on the right Religous fanatics On the air every night Sayin’ the bible Tells the story Makes the details Sound real gory ’bout what to do If the geeks over there Don’t believe in the book We got over here
You can’t run a race Without no feet ‘n pretty soon There won’t be no street For dummies to jog on Or doggies to dog on Religous fanatics Can make it be all gone (i mean it won’t blow up ‘n disappear It’ll just look ugly For a thousand years…)
You can’t run a country By a book of religion Not by a heap Or a lump or a smidgeon Of foolish rules Of ancient date Designed to make You all feel great While you fold, spindle And mutilate Those unbelievers From a neighboring state
To arms! to arms! Hooray! that’s great Two legs ain’t bad Unless there’s a crate They ship the parts To mama in For souvenirs: two ears (get down!) Not his, not hers, (but what the hey?) The good book says: (“it gotta be that way!”) But their book says: “revenge the crusades… With whips ‘n chains ‘n hand grenades…” Two arms? two arms? Have another and another Our god says: “there ain’t no other!” Our god says “it’s all okay!” Our god says “this is the way!”
It says in the book: “burn ‘n destroy… ‘n repent, ‘n redeem ‘n revenge, ‘n deploy ‘n rumble thee forth To the land of the unbelieving scum on the other side ’cause they don’t go for what’s in the book ‘n that makes ‘em bad So verily we must choppeth them up And stompeth them down Or rent a nice french bomb To poof them out of existance While leaving their real estate just where we need it To use again For temples in which to praise our god (“cause he can really take care of business!”)
And when his humble tv servant With humble white hair And humble glasses And a nice brown suit And maybe a blond wife who takes phone calls Tells us our god says It’s okay to do this stuff Then we gotta do it, ’cause if we don’t do it, We ain’t gwine up to hebbin! (depending on which book you’re using at the Time…can’t use theirs… it don’t work …it’s all lies…gotta use mine…) Ain’t that right? That’s what they say Every night… Every day… Hey, we can’t really be dumb If we’re just following god’s orders Hey, let’s get serious… God knows what he’s doin’ He wrote this book here An’ the book says: He made us all to be just like him,” So… If we’re dumb… Then god is dumb… (an’ maybe even a little ugly on the side)
