A crazy person vs. a moral pillar of society

That's Cheating!!!

Courtesy of Pharyngula.

You are a skeptic or you are not. You don't get to choose one meat to be exempt if you are a vegetarian, so why or how can you apply skepticism to everything except religion. It's cheating. So stop it. Or I'm going home. And I'm taking my ball.

It's all Fantasy isnt' it?

I was thinking about Fantasy books, and how they follow a kind of thematic blueprint. Now before you say anything, I know not all stories follow this trend but a lot of them do!! OK!! So I don't read a HUGE amount of Fantasy books, so anyone who has will probably scoff at what I have to say, but I don't care a great deal and I will say it anyway. (Or in other words....just deal with it OK!!!)

But there is a kind of trend in some stories. It's kind of a coming of age story. The hero begins as a kind of nobody and has a regular (if not poor) life in which he trudges along. He dreams of better things but by and large he is happy with his lot. He has a loving family and a comfortable life.

We then get a glimpse of something else. Something from outside his life and usually his past comes back and his life changes. We discover he is not an ordinary boy at all, he is something special. He has royal blood in him, or he is the son of a great leader or simply in the right place at the right time and is the one who is chosen (by chance or will) to head off into the wider world. This is something that thrill or scares him. His journey brings him face to face with his past. He learns more of who he really is, either in character or genealogy and becomes a bigger, better man for it and becomes the hero of the day. He gathers his band of followers, one of who will be a great confidant and/or will have great knowledge of the path he is taking (not always a literal path) and he goes on to vanquish the evil that has covered the land and that keeps his people down.

As you read that you may have thought of several characters. Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Frodo in The Lord Of The Rings. Rand in The Wheel of Time books. Or in the land of movies, there is obviously Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, or even Superman. I'm sure you can think of plenty more cos it appears a hell of a lot in fiction. Now I know this is not a new revelation nor a new observance. Georges Polti and others have commented that there are a limited number of dramatic situations (39 according to Polti, 7 basic plots according to Christopher Booker) so that you will get these trends and similarities repeated often.

But what struck me was that these stories are powerful and when you read them gave you a great feeling. You feel embiggened. You feel like you can get up and take on the world. You may not have the family tree of greatness but you can be that backwater boy who finds the strength within himself to fight evil and succeed.

This led me to think of the story of Jesus. This story fits the mold almost exactly as any other fantasy book. In fact by the time the Jesus story was being written, it was far from unique. There are may specific details in the Jesus story (date of birth, virgin birth etc.) that are shared by older myths (the story of Mithras, for example).

Jesus does not have to have existed for the Jesus story to have an impact. The myths that people told that shared the content of the Jesus story (the content that some commentators have said were borrowed FOR the Jesus story) were original never supposed to be taken as an actual story of an actual man. They were stories that were supposed to be told to give you spirit and hope and the will to try to be a better you.

I think the Jesus story is better that way. Because that way it empowers you and gives you strength to do better for yourself. Instead of making you a servant to a mythical character and trying to live up to a false ideal that he has portrayed. I think it's better to live life for life's own sake. It's the only one you've got and instead of wasting it by praying to a God for help, or spending it spreading the word of this God but not doing anything to actually help people. Or worse, simply doing it for the promise of the reward of a magical afterlife or the fear of an eternity of suffering and unimaginable pain from your loving (?) God. That is a wasted life.

Life by the golden rule. Life to improve your own life and the lives you touch along the way.

That is a life well lived. Not one spend on your knees in a church or in a missionary. To me that is a self absorbed, self serving, self important existence.

And you can tell Pascal he can shag off for himself.

Welcome To This World (video)

Good video made by The Thinking Atheist.



As PZ Myers said in his blog. The disturbing thing about this video is that you could easily see the irony being lost on the most devout and see it as a vindication of their unquestioning faith.

But It Might Happen

If ever there was a phrase that annoys the hell out of me it is "But It Might Happen". Those four words are like an instant dagger right into the cranky region of my brain (which is right next to the grumpy section and above the irritated section).

It is such a cop out of a phrase and it usually delivered almost as a coup de grâce in an argument as if the fact that there is a probability, regardless of how small that probability is, that something might happen, it justifies some pointless or irrational act.

You need an example? Why? Surely you have heard this being said yourself and can completely empathise with my (over the top?) annoyance with four simple words in a specific order? No??? OK!!!

Rabbits foot.

"Rub the rabbits foot for luck?!
"Why?, I don't think rubbing a rabbits foot will make the questions I know the answers to, appear in my exam?"
"Maybe not....shur rub it anyway"
"No"
"But it might happen!!"

Apply to any superstition you know.

But it appears in more ordinary circumstances too. People have a fear of disease, theft, injury, all sorts of events that are normal enough, but share a common emotion that exacerbates this irrationality. Fear. Fear makes people believe stupid things and behave in stupid ways. Yes I said it....stupid. I know the PC police will be on to me for using such a judgmental word like that but if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck. It's not a feathered creature that is found in our lakes and ponds. It's a duck!! (Sorry, I'll come back to my PC annoyances some other time)

People take unnecessary drugs or totally ineffective cures (Homeopathy, step forward...we are talking about you). But it can't cure you...."But It Might Happen!" (or it's close relative "But It Works For Me")

I recently heard a comedian talking of how people unplug all their appliances before heading away for a weeks holidays. And it hit home. It is exactly the kind of thing you would justify with the magic words.

"Why are you doing that?"
"In case they burst into flames when I am gone."
"What?"
"In case there is a short circuit or something?"
"How long have you had that TV?"
"2 years."
"Has it ever done that before?"
"No."
"Has anything you have ever owned ever in your entire life ever burst into flames while plugged in, while you were here?"
"No."
"So there is no point in doing this now just cos you are not going to be here...."
"But it might happen"

YES!!! It MIGHT. But will it? NO!! The chances are ridiculously small.

It would be the equivalent of me buying a lottery ticket and spending a fortune on new cars, houses, TV and everything I dreamed of buying, BEFORE the draw was made. I haven't actually won the money yet......"But It Might Happen"

Now I know this is all a bit facetious and probably does not deserve this much attention. But why it really annoys me is that it kind of justifies the irrational and opens the door for more and different (and more dangerous?) irrationality. People not getting the MMR. You don't get Autism from the MMR...."But It Might Happen" No. It won't. But what MIGHT happen is that if enough people think like you, we will have a serious outbreak of a preventable illness.

People worry about Pedophiles. They wrap their kids up in bubble wrap and are afraid to let them out of their sight. But the incidents of a child being abducted are very small....."But It Might Happen". No...it probably won't. As a parent I could think of nothing more devastating than the loss of one of my children. But there is a duty I have to them to provide for them and to nurture them. And by stealing a big portion of their childhood because I have bought into the media fear mongering (another rant for another time) I think I am letting them down.

It's a flippant saying and it is usually used as the last word in an argument. Essentially it is a "look, I am going to do it anyway so just leave me alone" but I ask....Is it wrong to leave it alone? Maybe in some circumstances, the harmless ones. But that is the trouble. Which ones are the harmless ones?

No one will be harmed if all the appliances are unplugged. It will actually save electricity. But to let the reasoning be accepted even though it is irrational is dangerous. It is the thin end of the wedge. It can open the door for more serious flawed thinking.

And I know you are thinking...yeah but that is unlikely isn't it.....

But It Might Happen!!! (see what I did there!!!)