lordacro's Xanga

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:30:14 GMT

Okay, so you guys are obviously not literature fanatics. Haha. Here's something you might find interesting:

>

This gentleman has posted a youtube "proof" of the existence of a deity. Now you may be thinking, "oh, very good, you've countered the argument of some random loser on youtube, hooray for you." But what troubles me is that this is how many people have convinced themselves of a philosophical "need" for there to be an infinite power in the universe. I applaud the attempt to apply some logic to the existence argument, but it is deeply flawed.

His theory involves asking if it's possible for there to have been an infinite amount of time before now. The example he presents is that if he offers to give me a chocolate bar after an infinite amount of time has passed, would I ever be able to claim the bar? Therefore he concludes that an infinite amount of time could not have already passed.

The problem I have with this is the use of the word 'amount.' Is infinity an amount? Certainly not! In fact isn't it quite the opposite? Infinite is the lack of amount. It is the status of not being finite. Instead of being an amount, infinity is more of a condition, or an assumption. If I asked how many integers exist, you would assume that there is no end to the progression of integers (hence, infinite).

An infinite amount of time could not have already passed because infinite is not an amount. Amounts of time pass, like two minutes or three days. For an amount of time to pass, it must have a beginning and an end. Saying "three days passed" means absolutely nothing without context. Saying "an hour has passed since I took a bath" marks a definite beginning and end: the finish of my bath, and now. So to say "an infinite amount of time can pass" is absurd. There is no beginning, for one thing, and there is no amount for another.

What do you think?

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:41:20 GMT

Sorry for the lack of updates here; school has kept me busy! In hispanic lit, we were assigned to read this story, and it is an excellent one. It's called San Manuel Bueno, Martir, and I recommend it. Here's a link to the english version (the spanish version is too complicated for me) http://personal.ecu.edu/mayberryn/sanmanuel.htm

It's basically a woman's memoir of how her life was affected by a very well-intentioned catholic priest, but the priest doesn't quite accept what he preaches. He feels that religion is necessary to keep people happy. Anyway, a good read, certainly a classic. An excerpt or two from said priest:

"Yes, I know that one of those leaders of the so-called social revolution said that religion is the opiate of the people. Opiate,...opiate...opiate, yes. Let us give them opium, that they may sleep and dream. I myself with this crazy activity am administering opium to myself. And I don’t succeed in sleeping well and even less in dreaming well. ...This terrible nightmare! And I also can say with the Divine Master “My soul is sad unto death”. No Lazaro, no nothing of unions on our part. If they form them it will seem fine to me, because they will be distracted. Let them play at unions if that makes them happy.”

"My life, Lazaro, is like a continuous suicide, a combat against suicide that is the same, but let them live, let our people live. Here the river eddies into the lake for a while, going down to the tableland, then hastening into falls, rapids and torrents through the ravines and gorges next to the city, and so does life eddy, here, in the village. But the temptation of suicide is greatest here, next to the eddy that mirrors the stars at night, not next to the falls, that make one frightened. See, Lazaro, I have helped poor villagers in the last rites who were ignorant, illiterate, who had scarcely left the village, and I have been able to know from their lips, and when I didn’t guess it, the true cause of their mortal illness, and I have seen there at the head of their death bed, all the blackness of the abyss of the tedium of life. A thousand times worse than hunger. Let us continue then, Lazaro, committing suicide in our work and in our people, that they may dream this life, like the lake dreams the sky.”

Vote Republican

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:56:05 GMT

lol

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 22:50:11 GMT

Often I am asked, “Why don’t you go out and kill people? You have no God to answer to, so is it okay?” Of course I don’t think murder is okay. I think the person who asked that understands that also. Their question is asking where an atheist’s morals come from. Basically, atheists go by what’s good for humankind. From what I've seen, they’re always willing to lend a hand or help out in some way, like anyone else does. There’s a quote that says “Two hands working are more useful than a thousand clasped in prayer. While a theist is praying for a miracle, an atheist is working on the miracle. That’s why it seems like prayers work.”

I pose this question to you: When was the last time you heard about an angry atheist breaking into a church and killing several people? I’ve never heard of it. In history God has been one of the leading causes of murder amongst people. Islams killed Jews. Christians killed ... um ... anyone pretty much in the crusades.. It was all in the name of their god. You never hear about that atheist crusade, or atheist holy wars. My point is that atheists care about other people just as much (or in some cases, more than) their religious counterparts. Nevermind if they complain about the Ten Commandments in a courthouse. That's the extent of their rage. Pretty sweet deal, eh?

I AM A WARRIOR!

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 15:36:02 GMT

Wow. That's all I have to say about that.

Oh crap, another blog?

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:26:57 GMT

As a project for my English class, the professor is having us create a new blog dedicated to our major. So my newer more professional but still godless blog can be found at calcninja.blogspot.com

p.s. On 1/14/07 my xanga will be 600 days old!

p.p.s. I know you don't care about any of the above.

Romance is dead, christian style.

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:36:44 GMT

I found this little gem the other day and chuckled. Yay for family values. It's a personal ad taken out of our local paper...

SUBJECT: Looking for a God-fearing woman.

That's right; no more smart women for me. I'm tired of all that talk-back, this-is-what-I-think B.S. I want woman that knows her place and does what she's told. For once I'm going to listen to what my dad says and get me a good, salt-of-the-earth, god fearing woman. If you're a good Christian woman looking for a good Christian relationship, the way god intended, then go right ahead and send me an e-mail. Amen.

Just thought I'd share.

Well worth the read. (All true stories btw)

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 04:20:13 GMT

Those of us who work in retail have seen the ugly side of Christmas…the horrid customers who make our lives miserable. This is my third Christmas at Sears, and I am already really fed up. As a representative of everyone who works in retail, here are some rules to follow when shopping that will make everyone’s holiday better.

1. You shall not go around the store telling salespeople that “they are exactly the same size as your spouse.” Unless the salesperson is their identical twin, they are probably not the same size. Men, buying clothes for your wife is never a good idea, but if you are silly enough to do so, at least look in her closet and know an approximate size. I don’t know how many times I’ve had guys tell me that I am the same size as their wife; the chances of this are .04938 percent.

2. You shall not ask salespeople what the person you are buying for would like for Christmas. We are not mind readers, we do not know.

3. You shall not ask salespeople to try on clothing for you to see how it would look; we are busy and we are not manikins.

4. You shall not repeat the same question to the salesperson multiple times after you have already received an answer. Are you deaf? If we say we do not have something in stock, we don’t and our answer will not change because you keep asking.

5. You shall try not to leave messes in the midst of your shopping. When you try on clothes, hang them up on the rack provided! When you pick up items, do not throw them on the floor, or leave huge piles of unfolded clothing on tables.

6. You shall not hit on or harass female workers while shopping, especially if you are old enough to be our parents. We are working, we are forced to be in the midst of craziness, we are cranky and we just want to do our job without being hit on.

7. You shall not ask us to get down 3 of the same items, in the same sizes, but in different colors when they are very high up; they will all fit the same.

8. You shall think before you ask. No, we do not carry clothing with only Robin and not Batman, no, a size 34 waist will not fit a 7-year-old.

9. You shall understand that we do not make store policy and it is not our fault that the store gives gift cards if you are returning with a gift receipt or that we don’t sell displays.

10. You shall not exhibit strange behavior such as using aisles as your personal dressing room, going into the fitting room of the opposite gender or asking the employee if you can come back and slap them if your spouse doesn’t like the item you are buying.. Above all, think about how you would feel it you worked at the store, and a customer treated you badly.

--Former co-worker

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 03:30:34 GMT

Even non-Pagans use the term "Yule" around the Christmas holidays. Yule is celebrated on the Winter Solstice (December 22nd), on the shortest day of the year. Since the days get longer from this point in the year, Yule is a celebration of the returning sun and the rebirth of the God who died at Hallowe'en. As with Easter, the Christian story of the birth of Jesus fits nicely with the Pagan mythology of a God reborn. Traditions such as wreaths and Yule logs are remnants of the original beliefs. Gifts were exchanged at Yule long before the Wise Men offered their gifts to the baby Jesus.

--about.com

Regarding the "War on Christmas": Can people still say "happy holidays" if they feel like it? That's what I always did while I worked retail. It rolled off the tongue. I don't give a damn who I offend. Strangely enough, I offended a large number of people. Don't you think it's even worse when people get offended at any phrase -besides- Merry Xmas than when people are offended at the phrase itself? Nobody ever thinks of it that way.

Today at Kmart the lady told me "Happy Holidays." I didn't bitch or whine or complain. It's the perfect winter greeting. Nomatter what you celebrate, even if it's multiple holidays, it still works.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Logic, the Bible, and You

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:22:30 GMT

This was going to be a reply to a comment on my last post, but it ran long, so now it's a new post. Yay.

I have to admit the bible isn't clear on everything. Some things are a mystery, but does that make it a bunch of crap?? Does science have an answer for everything? Of course not, therefore is science a bunch of crap too?

Hold on now, I said that the Bible's full of crap on the great flood occuring within the logically deduced time period, and that people lived to be five hundred or older. Of course science doesn't have all the answers, but as I've said so often in the past, it at least tries to answer questions using sound logical arguements.

You see, science is a game of coming up with and testing theories. If I came up with a mathematical proof for something reasonably important, I would bet anything that scores of other math geeks would be up my ass trying to prove me wrong. That's how it works. We can not entirely believe something unless it is proven without doubt to us. Then and only then is it accepted as fact. Until then, it is mere assumption.

What if people did that to the Bible? The entire Christian religion would crumble to the ground. Discuss?