Get Over The Rainbow

A funny thing happened to me today when I opened Facebook around 3pm. A "friend" of mine had posted Leviticus 18:22.

Not familiar with it? Let me refresh your memory:  Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

This verse is used by countless people and organizations to defend their homophobic views. When I confronted this person, they gave me this defense, and I quote:

"... (the usual Bible BS) I guess another way that I can explain is to give this example: I had a loved one who tried to get in their car drunk to drive. I personally took the keys away from that person and kept them from driving. I struggled to take the keys from them. They cussed me out and screamed at me for anyone who wanted to hear it. I took the keys away from them because I believed it was wrong, just like I do same-sex relations. They could have hurt themselves because they were doing something that was wrong. Some people call it wrong and some say it's just them being foolish in their 20's. I believed it was a sin and did what I felt was right."

So, let me get this straight, person who shall be known as TH... Being gay is like being a drunk driver? I fail to see the logic here...

The simple fact of the matter is that anyone, in this day and age, that still uses BIBLE VERSES to deny equal rights to everyone is, in my opinion, homophobic. You can say "no I'm just religious and you can't attack me for that" all you want - I'm an atheist. If I'm attacking you for being homophobic and you counter with religion, you just gave me (and my brethren) more ammunition.

If you want to quote Leviticus 18:22 as being good enough reason to deny equal rights to homosexuals, let's take a look at the OTHER items in Leviticus you should be following. Can't pick and choose, after all - the man in the sky would get mad!

• Leviticus 19:27 - Ye shalt not round the side-growth of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Ever gotten a hair cut or shaved your side burns or trimmed your beard? SINNER!
• Leviticus 11:8 - Of their (pigs) flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you. Ever had pork? Bacon? Touched a football? SINNER!
• Leviticus 19:28 - Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you. I am the LORD. Got a cross tattoo? SINNER!
• Leviticus 19:19 - Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee. So, on a farm, no mingling cows and horses. No planting corn and potatoes. And no wearing cotton and polyester mixed together. Too late? SINNER!

There are a TON more examples like this throughout the Bible - these are just a couple, taken only from Leviticus...

It felt weird un-friending this person on Facebook, as I had known them for over a decade. Yet, in the moments after clicking that button - it felt right. Unless of course Leviticus has a verse against that too?

Now if everyone would just get over the damned rainbow, so to speak, the world would be such a better place...

White Smoke

Yesterday, much to the delight of the world's Catholics, a new pope was named. Taking the papal name Francis, Pope Francis I is the first Pope from the Americas, the first Jesuit Pope, and the first non-European pope in over 1000 years.

And yet, I can't help but feel that it's the same old, same old from the guy in the pointy red hat. Much like his predecessor, Franky the Pope is opposed to such things as:

• Same-Sex Marriage
• Gay Adoption
• Abortions
• Euthanasia
• Contraceptives
• Articles depicting him in a negative light. Wait... crap...

In all seriousness, though, I have very little hope for any real change coming from the Vatican - which is, in itself, no change to how I felt before Franky got to put on the red hat. He was the 2nd choice when Pope Germany was chosen, and that in itself only furthers my point. 

Change -- real change -- one that atheist like myself would call noteworthy, would be one of worldwide awakening. The day that the non-religious people of this world outnumber the religious people will be a day to celebrate. We are the fastest growing denomination - the day is coming.

Until then, however, we, the logical people of the world, will have to be content knowing that we don't believe in something that people in the Dark Ages subscribed to. You would think that we would have woken up by now... I mean, we have on some things! Here a couple of other commonly held beliefs from that time, to go along with a belief in God. Please be aware that sarcasm may or may not be used...

• The Earth is flat. As someone who has traveled overseas, I can tell you this is true. I fell off the edge. I was lucky enough that God was there to catch me and place me back on the surface, or I would have fallen all the way down to hell, which is clearly located below our planet.
• Witches! I was turned into a newt by a witch recently. But, thankfully, it got better. She weighed about as much as a duck...

Clearly, what people thought and believed in before the scientific revolution still holds true. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go make my own white smoke.

Black Smoke

As a rather sad percentage of the world's population awaits with baited breath the selection of the new Pope, black smoke rose from the Vatican today, signaling that a new pontiff will not be elected until at least tomorrow.

As part of the estimated 15% of the world that is non-religious, I find myself in the minority on one of the most important questions that nobody really wants to talk much about: the existence of a divine power, a creator - a God.

This blog, in it's infancy, will attempt to tackle this discussion. I won't pretend to have an unbiased point of view - I starkly believe that there is no such thing as anything "divine" or "supernatural". I believe in science and, above all else, logic. Is it logical to me that what amounts to magic is responsible for life as we know it? No. 

I actually have an easier time believing that the Ancient Alien theory is true than I do that some sort of omnipresent being created everything I see. 

For those unfamiliar with the Ancient Alien Theory, I will attempt to summarize it briefly, while also strongly suggesting you read Erich Von Daniken's "Chariot of the Gods" to get a full idea. In short - any "angels" or "demons" or "gods" from all the religions of time (not just modern religions, but ancient ones now considered mythology) were not actually angels or demons, but misinterpreted astronauts from technologically advanced planets far, far away. If this sounds crazy to you, I agreed at first. Until one specific argument to the logic behind the theory was presented to me, that is:

"You always hear about the gods descending to the Earth in chariots of fire. Now, the chariots of fire reference is the key here. We know that there is no possible *logical* way that a chariot on fire could carry anyone down from the sky. But, if you lacked the technological reference that we have today, you might have described something you were seeing the best way you could. A "chariot of fire" sounds an awful lot like a modern day rocket ship, does it not?"

When I first heard this, my brain imploded. "Holy (hehe) crap! That makes SENSE. It's logical... WOW!" I thought to myself. In that moment, I thought of the countless religious and mythological stories with the lens of the Ancient Alien Theory - and they all kind of made a LOT more sense.

Now, I'm not going to blog about Ancient Aliens. I'm simply illustrating a point here - something that sounds, to a lot of people, like something absolutely crazy, actually is more logical, to me, than religion. 

Which brings me back to the beginning of this inaugural post: the conclave. In this modern day and age, when we know what we know and we have discovered what we have discovered, it is absolutely mind-boggling to me that 85% of the world still believes in organizations that elect their leaders in secret, wearing odd robes and odd hats, waving smoking pots (hehe) around and using smoke signals to communicate with the rest of the world from their secret clubhouse if they are done their popularity contest. Well, more like an estimated 17% of the world's population that is Catholic (part of the 33% of the entire world that is Christian), but work with me on this one. 

If you ask me, the entire religious world can go blow black smoke up it's collective keisters.