1. Should Galileo's tomb be opened for DNA tests?

Comment #141609 by jonahemery on March 10, 2008 at 9:22 pm

I think doing a DNA test is not disrespecting Galileo's body. It's a bit sad that this is even important given all the more pressing research that could be done.

As for HourGlassmemory's suggestion about the camera's and such... that doesn't sit right with me. I know I'm dead and it doesn't matter to me, but I wouldn't want my bones on for show like that.

2. Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Comment #141605 by jonahemery on March 10, 2008 at 9:12 pm

It is my understanding that sin is not being perfect as the Catholic god is supposed to be. Everyone "sins" and "falls short." By adding more rules to follow, thinking that by following them they can avoid hell or get some higher attainment with their god, is by nature against what the Christian religion is supposed to be about.

The "good news" is about how Jesus came to save people from sin, not condemn them for it. The Catholic church is on a condemnation bent that goes against the core of their supposed faith: condemning scientists, condemning humanists, etc. Where exactly is the good news Pope Benedict? Is the glass half empty or half full?

I think virtues are wonderful, all joking aside, and a wonderful way to experience this life safely. But their roots are not religious.

Reading stuff like this makes me happy to be truly free from this band of legalists and guilt mongers.

3. Debate between Richard Dawkins and Madeline Bunting

Comment #127448 by jonahemery on February 15, 2008 at 9:51 am

I have found great healing and practical life lessons from the religion of Buddhism. Such things as present minded awareness, the impermanent state of all things, or the moral codes helped to restart a life floundering in deep medical depression.

However, truth is more important then Buddhism and science is more important then Buddhism. Although I strongly draw from Buddhist sources in my personal life, each claim is evaluated under the lense of the scientific method.

It's a testament to that religious philosophy that many portions of it seem to survive personal examination while whore parts of Christianity can not. But bunk survives in any religion, including Buddhism.

4. The Pagan Christ

Comment #102182 by jonahemery on December 22, 2007 at 12:52 am

It was the Pagan Christ, which I read in the Summer of 2006, which deconverted me. I was a youth minister until I read this book!

Christianity is nothing but a copy and the biggest story ever sold.

5. Democratic Candidates on a Personal God

Comment #64360 by jonahemery on August 19, 2007 at 6:41 pm

This is how I heard the question:

"Are you emotionally strong enough to handle life and nature's challenges?" In that interpretation it is an important question for one of the most influential nations.

Most of them do not have the internal stuff to lead. Clinton seemed to be the most weak. While the guy, whom I don't even know his name, seemed to be the best adjusted when he spoke about love and such.

I suspect Clinton, Edwards, etc. could be a personal psychological mess. That's not a bad thing. We all have messes. Hell I've got mine.

But I would like to see a very stable US President if you asked me.

6. The Politics of God

Comment #64359 by jonahemery on August 19, 2007 at 6:23 pm

Reading this article just rammed home the fact that anti-theism is not enough. There must be a positive movement that advocates against the narrative and "purpose" religions offer. Humanism, to me, is that narrative. The religion of Einstein, or the vision of Sagan. Sagan's series Cosmos matches the Bible, heck exceeds it because its true, in the feelings of being attatched to something larger.

My positive atheistic religion?

The Pale Blue Dot.

7. 'I have never been happier' says the man who won gold but lost God

Comment #52531 by jonahemery on June 27, 2007 at 7:53 am

When I read this I remembered how I felt just a few months ago. I became a fundie 7 years ago, and I was in ministry prep for three of those. I excited religious delusion in May 2006.

It is much like seeing the world with new eyes.

Better eyes.

8. Row over religion's role in US jails

Comment #51985 by jonahemery on June 25, 2007 at 7:36 pm

It is salvation based on lies. It is offloading their previous life on a "sinful nature" instead of their own choices. It is giving people hateful views that they are saved while others are lost. It divides, not unites.

The same could be done in a secular setting. The fact that you only get one life, and spending destroying yourself is a terrible waste. Showing the ways of happiness and knowing your place in the cosmos - based on fact, not fiction - could do the same thing.

Just no one is doing it.

9. Supreme Court nixes suit over faith-based plan

Comment #51861 by jonahemery on June 25, 2007 at 12:09 pm

I don't understand why general American's don't view something like this with outrage. America was founded as a great lighthouse of hope upon the fact religious authority and dogma was finally divorced from political power. Look at all the liberty, social progress, and happiness that has resulted.

Is American leading us towards a dark age? As a gay humanist... I shiver at the thought.

10. Manliness is next to godliness

Comment #49192 by jonahemery on June 11, 2007 at 12:25 am

If they were really men they wouldn't need some authority figure who majored in fantasies to tell them who to be. That's so sad.

A real man engages the world head on with reason and compassion and hopefully leaves it a better place.

These people are just nuts.

11. A Bunch of Monkeys

Comment #38348 by jonahemery on May 7, 2007 at 8:48 pm

What I wanna know is when we stopped picking each other for bugs. ;)

12. Sex, Love, and SSRIs

Comment #31180 by jonahemery on April 11, 2007 at 9:12 am

On the possible effects of an SSRI with religious experiences...

I went 14 years with undiagnosed major depressive disorder. When I finally went down the last time, reached out for help, and went on Effexor (stay away from it; it's a horrible drug, now on Paxil), it changed my life.

Before Effexor I was in ministry, a fundamentalist Christian, with all kinds of personal religious convictions to suit my belief. One month of treatment and I was a deist at most, left all organized religion, and understood most of my supernatural religious experiences were a development of abnormal brain chemicals. I also understand the depth of emotional manipulation I endure under the hands of religionists.

There were a lot of mentally ill people in my seminary... that I have no doubt of.

13. God and His Gays

Comment #27538 by jonahemery on March 25, 2007 at 7:52 am

Genetic proof that homosexuality is not a choice will do much to correct Biblical interpretation and will remove the hate. It's sad that science is needed for this moral issue at all. Do you need science to prove that black people are biologically equal to white people and indeed are the same type of species? It should be morally apparent.