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Atheism vs Non Believer

12/26/2014

1 Comment

 

Let me clear up my motives in writing this blog and website. Let me explain what it is not. It is NOT my purpose to “fight” Christianity or any other religion There are many religious people who are sincere and do great work helping their fellow man. Religion obviously has had great value for many people in spite of just negative results for humanity as a whole. Atheism is often believed to be a religion and that create a great misunderstanding. Atheism is a declaration, that means one does not belief in a God. It should mean nothing else. I know many atheist who are as diverse in their worldview as their religious counterparts. There are Capitalists, Socialists, Communists, Libertarians, Free Thinkers and any other kind. There are Honest Brokers, Thieves, con-men as well as Volunteers in Ebola camps and people who sacrifice themselves to help others. In the end I would predict that the percentage of “good” and “bad” people is proportionally the same as in religious circles. The conclusion to draw is that a non-religious world would suffer the same fate as a totally religious one because of Human nature. We suffer from the old primitive drive to preserve our tribe, a very successful drive, which has assured the dominance of on group of humanlike races by wiping out the competition, the last group were probably the Neanderthals. The sooner we realize that we are the only race left and are not any more in competition to survive but that survival now depends on mutual cooperation, the sooner we will be able to live together in peace and prosperity. I will be accused of simplemindedness but I am a great believer in Occam’s Razor.

What then do I have in mind. Forget Atheism, it is just a narrow definition and not a religion that will solve our problems as some of us think. I call myself a non-believer. A true NON-BELIEVER has CONCLUDED (do not use the word “belief” here), by examining all the currently available evidence, that the SUPERNATURAL does NOT exists. Yes, it will affect not only religions but political theories as well. We can throw out most of the ancient “laws” and will have the duty to created “rules” which benefit ALL of humanity, no matter what color of skin, what kind of handicap, what level of intelligence or mental health we encounter. We can protect our people from the pseudo scientist who take advantage of gullible people, The Snake Oil doctors, the “mediums”, the Faith healers, The “leaders” who promote prayer over proven medical treatments and as a results curable children die unnecessary. Hopefully there will come a time that our children refuse to go and kill other fellow humans because of their nations’ (or corporations’) commercial interest.

There is plenty of evidence now, that is spite of the pseudo-scientists’ claims, that the supernatural is just wishful thinking by people who desperately want an afterlife to exist because they cannot handle the idea that this is their only change to enjoy the majestic universe. Make the most of this fantastic opportunity, and help to bring about a better world now, rather than promise a non-existing afterlife if you follow their rules (kill homosexuals, get virgins in heaven, “gimmee” money so you will get to heaven}. Helping one child survive, without the promise of a reward in the afterlife, is a far greater deed than praying to a non-existing entity to cure a sick child.

Lately, neuro-science research indicates that when the brain dies, awareness dies with it, making the possibility of an afterlife a moot point. I will expand on that soon and follow the research closely. We are now at the point were evolution was, before it was overwhelmingly accepted by the world's scientists of any religion. Yes, I know Ken Ham and his ilk will never admit that creationism is baloney, we after all still have a flat earth society and a Geocentric Group who believe the universe circles around our earth once a day. There’s money to be made folks!

Let me repeat. It is the belief in the supernatural which we have to fight. There are many books written and many great thinkers have talked about this subject convincingly, but I find that, outside academic circles, there is lack of communication with the average population while we are inundated by Mediums, Astrologers, Faith healers and Snake oil salesman, on the web and television. TV productions and movies also give the impression that the supernatural exists and exploit the public time after time.

 How do we counterbalance that? I try, but don’t know how to reach enough people to counterbalance that. A ghost (or UFO} picture that show a light smudge on a photo shopped photo gets 1 million or more views. How do we spread our message? Are you sharing this, did you recommend that some one reads the whole thing and referred to www.origin-of-religion.com ? If you agree, you have friends and your friends have friends. I am dreaming “yes we can".

1 Comment

Atheist, Believer or Fence Sitter

12/21/2014

0 Comments

 
There are always two sides to the story and since we all are biased in one direction or another we will tend to interpreted opinion in the direction of our position. This is called cognitive dissonance and if we do not recognize it we cannot accept the other side’s argument.  This is especially true when listening to a pseudo science debate where the “scientific’ language is used to dazzle people lay people by drawing exotic conclusions. In most cases, however, if you have an open mind, you can tell the difference between real science and pseudoscience arguments as follows:
I will state the Atheist (A) position and the Believers (B) position on some of the current controversies and you pick the “A” side or the “B” side.

A: The Earth is millions of year old, because we have a method called Radiocarbon Dating which gives us the approximate age of rocks and fossils.
B: The earth is less than 8000 years old as established in the Bible By counting up the years as out lined and the bible is to be taken literally.

A: NDE (Near Death Experience, as narrated by people who were revived after their brain waves went flat) can be accounted for as hallucinations, dreams etc. after the minimum brain activity strengthened and they came out of a deep coma. They were never really dead. ( “near” means “almost” and not “actual”)
B: These people were declared brain dead after the electric measurements of brain activity showed no activity on the monitors. So they experienced Death for a while and their testimony cannot be otherwise explained.

A: Alzheimer’s patients clearly show that when the brain is dying, that awareness dies with it, therefor after death there is no awareness left.
B: After an Alzheimer patient dies his/her awareness gets miraculously restored without the necessity of a physical Brain. We cannot prove that, but we feel that it happens.

A: Sceances are sessions with a Medium who very skilled in deceiving people under the influence of hypnosis or in highly emotional state using ventriloquism and other tricks. Many researches have tested mediums and none has so far proved to have this, so called, sixth sense (ESP) or that ESP exists.
B: Psychic mediums who have a sixth sense can talk to people after death. They speak with distorted voices and sometimes even disembodied voices representing a dead family member.

A: UFOs are Unidentified Flying Objects. Most are identified after but some are not, but that does not automatically means that they are spaceships manned by ETs.
B; But there are people who will swear that they are actually abducted by aliens, and have been aboard these UFOs. And we have some photos, although not clear, showing strange objects in the sky.

A: Aids and Ebola are terrible diseases which will eventually cured by medical advances, just like other diseases in the past
B: These diseases are God’s punishment for Homosexuality and other deviate behavior in our immoral society

A: Prayer has no effect on the outcome of a disease or other phenomena. People have died, relying on prayer to heal the sick and not consulting a doctor, some illnesses will eventually be cured by the bodies own defenses but better seek real medical  advice.
B:Prayer does work, I have seen that many times, and when it doesn’t work it is God’s mysterious ways which cannot be questioned or understood.       

If you are a die hardened Atheist you agree with all “A”s and a fervent believer with all “B”s, but I want to hear from the fence sitters: Which positions seem more logical  and scientific to you?

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Reincarnation, NDE & ESP

12/10/2014

2 Comments

 
If you read the comments I received on my previous blog you noticed that the commentator claimed that he had recordings and photos made during a, what I presume, was a seance “proving“ that an afterlife existed. He quotes “you will not find the answers in academic literature or online. The best evidence you will find is to start your own group and experiment with means of communicating with spirit.”. correct! In other words get into a trance and have an experience with this phenomenon and that it is reality, rather than a hallucination or hypnotic state. Having “recordings” of voices or dubious photos, of the quality we find in many UFO photos, does not give me the confidence that they represent reality. It is amazing that scientists, theorizing about the Higg’s Boson had to build a multimillion dollar machine to prove the correctness of their theories while these “mediums” think they can prove their “theory” of an afterlife with a camera and tape recorder. Some of these “philosophers”,  such as alternate medicine man Deepak Chopra. who’s practice relies heavily on the placebo effect, not even understanding nuclear physics, try to “fit” these real discoveries into their fantasies. It is not only a single person who experiences these “phenomena” but groups of people can be hypnotized. Look at some of the Southern Baptist Church congregation fainting and falling all over the place or the Faith Healing sessions which are never checked whether they are real or followed up to see if the cure was permanent and not natural.

There are thousands, maybe millions of anecdotal testimonies having nothing to do with reality since they are stories told by individuals or groups without physical proof. We know that experience of that kind can be easily introduced by not only externally taken drugs such as cannabinoids, nicotine, heroin, cocaine, alcohol etc, but also by the brain producing neurotransmitters such as Glutamate, GABA, norepinephrine, dopamine , acetylcholine and many others because of actions and thoughts created in the body or brain (Patricia Sharp). Recorded voices distorted by mediums or ventriloquists and hypnotic trances can also create a virtual reality. Perception under normal circumstances are not always 100% correct  and depend on the brain’s interpretation. Eye witnesses are not always reliable.( Patterson, Kemp and Forgas). Children telling stories in courts have been proven to suffer from false memory syndrome and landed many innocent people in jail which were later exonerated.  Parent do not have contact 7/24 with even the younger children so they can pick up information no one is aware of until “discovered” by experts. (Elizabeth Loftus, S Ramirez, Daniel Schacter).

Relying on anecdotal testimony about NDE, ESP and Reincarnation is just that: anecdotal. Having one or a million does not prove any of them real. We have thousands of  “gods” as well and none of them are real. (see previous blogs). It is also typical that most of the testimonies about reincarnation are found in the cultures that believe in it. Showing again that it is a cultural phenomenon rather than reality.

No “before” life and no “after” life (see previous blogs on altzheimers, awareness and brain functions). After we die our awareness goes back to the place it was before we were born!

Let me end with a quote by Hippocrates:

Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations. ... And by the same organ we become mad and delirious, and fears and terrors assail us, some by night, and some by day, and dreams and untimely wanderings, and cares that are not suitable, and ignorance of present circumstances, desuetude, and unskillfulness. All these things we endure from the brain, when it is not healthy...

 

2 Comments

The Sixth Sense (ESP)

12/1/2014

9 Comments

 
Since Mediums claim to have a sixth sense and profess that they can materialize dead people and talk to them I have the following questions and I hope that someone can answer these.

! - All non-handicapped people are born with the 5 senses in an operational condition. There are people who are born blind, deaf or otherwise handicapped but they are a small minority. It is the other way around with the 6th sense. Only a few people have ESP and can use this as a means to become Mediums. Why is that?

2 - Do handicapped people get the full five senses in the afterlife?

3 – Is your age in the afterlife fixed at the age you die? Do babies grow up to become adults? Do very old frail people become younger?

4 - Do clothes dematerialize so you can use them in the afterlife or are the materialized dead persons naked?

5 -  It seems that materializations always happen in a darkened room. Is there no sun in the afterlife?

6 – Can materializations happen outdoors and if so could a casual passerby, who is not part of the séance see them?

7 -  If an ancient person such as Abraham materializes, how is he clothed and what language does he speak?

8 – Can a caveman be materialized and how would he/she react to the modern humans trying to talk to him/her?

9 – Can one get up and touch the ectoplasm, if it appears, which is a manifestation of spiritual energy?

10 – How can we distinguish between real materialization and hallucination, hypnotic trance, or collective obsessional behavior as a sociopsychological phenomenon?

9 Comments

    Ben Vande       
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  • HOME
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