Friday, 15 July 2011

As discussed earlier, I hosted an episode of Atheists Talk in June that featured local librarian Mindy Rhiger talking about her favorite books for young free thinkers. Very young free thinkers, that is. Most of the books she cited are probably best suited for those in the under 10 years old category. If you have a child or grandchild between 1 and 10 years of age, I suggest you get some of these books. A short description accompanies each one, and the webmaster (not me) provided a link to Amazon.com to purchase the books. Many of the books are available at the public library, too.

Here is the complete list of books we talked about during that show. Here is the iTunes podcast list for the show, though at this moment it has not been updated to include June’s episode yet.

And here is Mindy’s blog, including her “Secular Thursday” posts that feature new books for children every week.

And as long as I’m directing you to go to other places on the web, check out my buddy Tim’s latest blog post, in which he shows off his new baby girl and his photo-taking prowess.

Saturday, 16 July 2011

After Owen’s unprecedented acceptance of Star Wars, I felt the need to bring some Star Trek into his life. As everyone knows, Star Trek > Star Wars, and my wife came up with the idea that showing Owen the animated series may be the best way to introduce him to that universe.

This is a great idea, really. The original series, I felt, would be too boring and dated for him. Next Generation and Voyager are way more fun to watch, but there’s also a lot more violence and other things that are, perhaps, inappropriate for a six-year old. But the animated series seemed perfect: half hour episodes of Captain cartoon Kirk flying around saving the galaxy.

We watched the first two episodes a few days ago, and this evening we watched episodes 3 and 4; “One of Our Planets is Missing” and “The Lorelei Signal,” respectively.

So far, Owen loves them! Both times he has requested watching a second episode (I would rather limit the TV viewing to one episode a night but, come on, this is Star Trek). He was very excited to learn that episode three indicated a missing planet, because he thought it meant that there must be a weapon strong enough to destroy entire planets. I told him that might be the case, but he was sure to be disappointed if he went looking for a Death Star in every sci fi world he entered.

Anyway, there are only 22 episodes total. (How come all the shows I like have so few episodes? Oh, wait – not all the shows I enjoy are like that.) Seeing Owen’s enjoyment of disk 1 has led me to put the other disks on the Netflix queueueue. I may have to bump them up to higher positions.

Also, I’ve been meaning to say: Happy Independence, South Sudan! Yes, that’s right, this month marks the beginning of a new nation in the world, bringing the total up to 196. I believe this is an all-time high. In other news, it now means THIS QUIZ has 54 answers now, instead of 53. Just to be sure, I played the quiz to ensure I could still get 100%. I can.

Tuesday, 12 July 2011

So, we were gonna go to the Mille Lacs Indian Museum in Onamia this morning but, in keeping with the to-hell-in-a-handbasket nature of the rest of the state, it was closed. My father-in-law then immediately enacted his modus operande, which is stipulated thusly:

On the final day of any vacation, participants should, without fail, proceed with all due haste back home. They must neither stop for meals, entertainment, nor any other diversions.

So, they drove back home. We got in our car, too, and proceeded southward.

However, we first drove through a certain small town that was practically screaming our name. So I asked Jennifer to take some pictures (I wanted the whole family in the shot, but a quarter of us were sleeping).

After that egotistical layover, we ventured to the city of Big Lake. We used to live there and, though I’ve gotten close, it wasn’t until today that I actually re-entered the city for the first time since the day we moved out.

It was a little bittersweet, really. The house has been fixed up nicely – new siding around the windows, a new roof, some pretty landscaping in the front (where I could never seem to get the grass to grow) and a shed in the back yard. We pointed out where Owen’s bedroom windows were, but he said he had no memory of living there. As we rounded the corner and drove out of town, we pointed out so many memories: the library, our favorite pizza place, our grocery store, the place where we purchased our first cell phone, even the mailbox where we mailed the letter saying “fuck you” to the elders.

We then sped on to Elk River, where we visited the historic downtown area. I was pleased to see that the city has continued in rejuvenating this area, and it appears to have transformed into quite the hubbub of activity. We stopped at our favorite bakery ever (we hadn’t been there since the day before we moved out of Big Lake – over 3 years ago). We bought three loaves of bread, enough to give us our Diamond City fix for a couple of weeks, at least, and then walked over to a local restaurant.

In the evening, Jennifer and I watched Babel. Skip it.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

First of all, Happy Birthday to my sister! She continues to lag behind me by several years but, from a percentage viewpoint, she is catching up.

Second, at Toastmasters today, I gave speech #5. I got off to a quick start in Toastmasters, giving speeches #1 – 4 in December, January, February, and March, respectively. But I wasn’t assigned any speeches in April or May, and I declined a speaking assignment in June due to my super-stressful college class.

My speech today was titled “A Short History of #1” and I based the content of my speech on THIS BLOG POST. I went overtime on my speech for the first time ever – but not by much; I probably wrapped it up within 15 seconds.

The Competent Communication book that comes with membership to Toastmasters has ten units, each one a different speech and a different aspect of public speaking to work on. So now I’m already half done with those then. Once I finish all ten, I get an award, which includes a certificate, a letter to my manager, and a couple of free books (on public speaking). I’m gonna shoot for that goal. Five more speeches. I hope to accomplish this before my next birthday (I have just under 11 months).

Thursday, 14 July 2011

Today I carpooled with a co-worker. I haven’t done much carpooling lately, but today he and I decided to try making a go of it.

I think I probably put more miles on my car in the past 12 months than any other comparable time frame, actually. For the first several years we owned the Cavalier, I didn’t have to drive that far to work.  From 2006-2008, I carpooled to work with a couple of people. That was great, because they met at my house, meaning that on days that they drove, I didn’t even have to start my car. There were some weeks when I only drove my car to work once.

When we first moved to St. Paul, I again began carpooling with a couple of people. One person was an intern, so she left for college pretty early on. The other guy eventually moved to Roseville, so he wasn’t as convenient anymore. He’s the same guy I carpooled with today. The downside is, I still have to drive as far as Roseville even on days that I don’t drive. But the upside is, less wear and tear on the car.

Saturday, 09 July 2011

Today we got ready for our little vacation, slated to commence tomorrow. It’s difficult to keep a six year occupied and happy on a day when all we are doing is packing, but Jennifer has come up with the idea of making schedules for Owen.

For example, today I wrote up a schedule with him that says

1:00 – ride bikes

2:00 – get the mail

3:00 – water the plants

5:00 – eat dinner

7:30 – read books

The problem is, Owen really wants to stick TO THE MINUTE (not sure where he got that behavior form). So he says things like, “Daddy, it’s already 1:03 and we are not riding bikes yet.” Even if I try to get things going right on time, he still gets alarmed. “I don’t have to get the book yet, because it’s only 7:29, and we are not supposed to read until 7:30.”

A couple of times today, he could be seen sitting in our bedroom staring at the digital clock. This, of course, is extremely boring, so it only lasts a few minutes. But in the meantime, it gives him something to do.

Today, I accidentally switched around the bike riding and the plant watering events, and Owen was rather disconcerted that I deviated so egregiously from the plan. So, we’ve still got some work to do.

Sunday, 10 July 2011

This morning, we loaded into the family car and headed north to Mille Lacs. If it seems odd to be leaving for a vacation on a Sunday, consider this: No traffic! And…cheaper hotel rates!

Before checking into our hotel, we briefly left the country by stopping at Grand Casino Mille Lacs. We waited inside for a few minutes for Jennifer’s parents to arrive, during which time Owen noticed the room was filled with smoke. Despite the temperature approaching 90 degrees, we decided it would be better for our health to stand outside. I explained to Owen that people are allowed to smoke indoors at the casino because the Ojibwe get to make their own rules, since they were here first. Owen felt this was logical, but thought that Ojibwe should have the presence of mind to outlaw smoking indoors anyway, since it’s bad for your health regardless of when your ancestors arrived in America. I told him that the primary concern of the casino, however, is to remove money from visitors’ wallets, and the longer people stay, the more money they are likely to waste. Owen seemed to think this was a good theory, but later we discovered that the casino serves no alcohol. Wow! Is that ever a wasted money-making opportunity. I should open a bar right across the street.

A few minutes later, we feasted at the casino’s buffet. In contrast to my last experience with a Grand Casino Buffet, I endeavored to not make a pig of myself. Alas, I succeeded only somewhat. On the upside, I did not vomit this time. On the downside, the mass-produced pesticide-ridden comestibles just burrowed right through my gut down to my —-

Monday, 11 July 2011

Today was largely a day of failures, though, since we were on vacation, they didn’t seem like that big of a deal.

First, I tried to walk to the Mille Lacs Kathio State Park with my dad-in-law this morning. Since the government has seen fit to kiss off billions of dollars in revenue and lay-off thousands of workers in the midst of a recession, this state park, like the rest of the state, is closed.

No problem, we figured we’d just walk there, hop over any barricades, and take some photos. We walked a whole mile to get there, and then turned around. Only it wasn’t due to any “Closed” signs. Nope, it was due to the horse flies. They were everywhere. They chased us the whole way, and I had to keep swinging my arms just to keep them from landing on me. My father-in-law was bitten twice. I had to blow one out of my nostrils, and I had to take my sunglasses off to get one from attacking my eye. They kept getting caught in my hair, too.

Later, we all drove up to a photo studio where we were supposed to meet up with Dad-in-law’s friend and tour her studio. When we got there, the place was closed.

Wisely deciding dad-in-law shouldn’t be in control of the day, we drove down to Onamia and stopped at a couple of stores. One store had an old-fashioned Mrs. Pac-Man arcade game. Owen had never played one before, so (even though we have the video game at home) I popped in a couple of quarters and we played it old-school style. Owen lsot out pretty early on, but I got far enough to see Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man’s baby delivered via stork. Our home-version of the game does not have those mini-movie interludes, and Owen thought they were quite hilarious.

Later, I stayed back at the hotel with the kids while my wife went to the casino. She returned with more money than she had left with, so that’s all I care about. I didn’t go gambling; having played Mrs. Pac-Man earlier, I had spent all I needed to spent on electronic video games.

Friday, 08 July 2011

Have you ever heard of the Iowa-based group FAMiLY Leader? Yeah, me either. Don’t worry, it’s not important.

However (you knew that was coming, didn’t you?), yesterday they released a document that they would like to have Presidential candidates sign. They are claiming that candidates need to sign this document if they wish to secure future endorsements from certain organizations.

HERE IS THE DOCUMENT.

You can read it if you want. It’s a boring pdf, though, so I’ll just highlight a few things. First, the document puts for a 14-point pledge titled “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family,” so even without reading any further, you already know it’s going to be homophobic and filled with scriptures. They begin by saying they want to ensure certain Jewish and Christian rights, such as gender equality. Because, of course, nothing says “gender equality” like the bible. To prove their point, they footnote three scriptures, including Genesis 2:25, where we read, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

They claim this pledge is needed because divorce rates keep going up, and children often suffer the brunt of these fissions. They note that lots of babies are born out of wedlock each year. Oh – and they also claim they wish to stem the tide of the “debasement of marriage,” including a popular bias that posits homosexual behavior optimizes individual health. I’m not sure where they go that one from – does anyone know of any source that claims that, in order to optimize your health, you need to behave gay?

Anyway, the pledge has 14 points, all footnoted. The only two I can really get behind are points 1, 2 and 5. But since I already pledged point #1 on my wedding day, I see no point in re-asserting it now. Point #2 also seems decent, but it’s a bit vague. There are some marriages that I wish did not happen. There are people who got divorced, and I’m glad they did (my parents are primary examples). So was I not respecting their union? I don’t know. Or maybe the point is just intended to get me to pledge that I won’t sleep with anyone else’s spouse. But since I already agreed to point #1, then this is also redundant.

Regarding point #5: sounds good to me. This is why we should legalize gay marriage.

I’d like to agree with point #3, that all judges be faithful to the Constitution but, again, this is a bit vague. Obviously the Constitution is not perfect, and the authors knew this by allowing for methods of amendment. So I think it’s fine if judges respect and are faithful to the Constitution, yet also feel that it is incomplete or fuzzy in certain areas. The footnotes clears up the meaning by noting that some judges have rejected heterosexuality (what? who?) and that Iowa voters have rejected three such judges (at the insistence of FAMiLY Leader’s leader, no less). It also says some judges are trying to interpret the Constitution to mean that gays can have equal rights, too which, in contradiction to their preamble, is not something FAMiLY Leader wants. Clearly, the Founding Fathers did not want same-sex marriage, just as they did not want women to vote or black people and Indians to count as citizens. Ahh…the good old days.

Regarding the last seven points… Rejecting all forms of pornography and prostitution? Again, this violates the documents preamble of human rights: If two people consent to sex provided one of them pays the other, then I see no problem. And pornography is free speech, man. How would we ban “all forms” of it, anyways? Is any movie with a nude scene considered a porno? I think Tim Pawlenty’s face constitutes a form of pornography, so… would he be banned from appearing in public without a burka? Oh – that brings me to…

Rejection of Sharia Law…I agree with that one, because I oppose all theocracies. However, we don’t live under Sharia Law here in America, so I’m not sure why I would need to agree to this. Shouldn’t I also state that I disagree with the Chinese system of government, and the Cuban one, and Libya’s, and Rwandas…

That last point sounds good on the surface, but it’s couched in such loaded language (anyone who tries to keep state and church separate is “undermining” and showing “intolerance”) that I could not sign it without suspecting ulterior motives. It incites a persecution complex; a tactic I’ve seen all too often in my time.

Fun fact: Michele Bachmann signed the pledge today.

Thursday, 07 July 2011

First, grades for the summer semester were posted today. On my final project, the professor gave me a perfect score and wrote:

“James, Wow–this is a very strong, theoretically-sophisticated and well-developed analysis. While a couple of points could be reinforced and a couple of transitions could be further strengthened, this is, overall, very impressive work.

I received an A in the Women and Literature class, scoring 99 out of the 100 points available (I got *only* 4.5 out of 5 points on the first two assignments).

Second, I made a few new quizzes over at Sporcle. So go there and play them. And, if you are a registered user there, be sure to rate my quizzes. And if you’re not a registered user there, what’s your problem?

First quiz: Who’s had a #1 song? Part 1

Second quiz: Who’s had a #1 song? Part 2

Third quiz: Who was President longer?

Third, I get plenty of comments on my YouTube videos, especially the ones that concern the Watchtower Society. Many of them are complimentary, or they offer some sort of criticism. Of course, some of them are Witnesses railing against me – some just call me names or accuse me of being wicked, others say that I made a poor argument in one area or another. All in all, those comments are very predictable.

But two weeks ago, I received what might be the most bizarre argument put forth by any Witness apologist on any of my videos – he (or she – I can’t tell with a user name like “pussylumpessru”) claimed that my video Using Our Power of Reason uses faulty logic because (are you ready for this?) God is not alive.

Here’s his first comment:

“where did God come from?”

-God isn’t life, therefore he does not need to have prexisting life to exist. he GIVES life, life is something that requires cells, and can die. God cannot die because he is not alive, because he is not made of cells.

-Think of numbers, how they never end or start, the same thing with the existence of God. It had to beginning.

So then I replied:

“God isn’t life”

…I agree!

So then pussylumpessru said:

go away.

Ahh, such a typical Witness response; they make their argument and then, if I respond in a way that is anything other than, “Oh my, you are sooo right, I guess I’ll start going back to the meetings tomorrow,” then they just run away, possibly leaving a stupid quip like “go away” in their wake.

Fortunately, I’ve learned how to rope them back in to further discussion. The trick is to simply point out that I know they are scared to talk to me because they’ve been instructed not too. So here’ s what I said to pussylumpessru:

I know how you feel. When I was a Witness, it disturbed me greatly that there were people who held contrary beliefs. I too wished they would just “go away.” The WT Society does a great job of demonizing those people and convincing their members to cut off any contact with them. It’s sad, but when a belief structure is held up so tenuously, they must shun all dissenting opinions or risk losing members. I hope you have the courage to leave one day.

In another typical Witness maneuver, pussylumpessru dodges the topic at hand and moves on to a different topic. In this case, the one that he/she first aired. He/she responded thusly:

but i took away half the meaning of your video. I don’t understand why you still behave as if you’re right..

This was somewhat baffling to me, so I said:

I’m not sure where you “took away half the meaning” of the video, nor where I am behaving as if I’m right. My argument is that God is more complicated than a cell, and your tired apologetics don’t disprove that. Besides, the video was intended to show many of the errors in the brochure – so even if I am wrong in my assumption that the JWs believe their god to be more complicated than a cell, the other arguments still stand.

pussylumpessru did write back, but he/she sent me a private message (likely due to feeling guilty for talking with an ex-Witness so extensively). It read:

you stated in video “Where did God come from? If the society claims life can come from preexisting life, surely somebody created God.” Life is something that can reproduce, grow, and adapt to the environment. The most simple form of life is a cell. God does not grow, can’t reproduce because he does not have sperm cells, adapt to the environment, he does not have a digestive system, a liver, or bones. By definition, God is NOT life. So- going back to the “preexisting life has to come from other life” can’t apply to God because he is not life to begin with. He is not made of cells.

Wow. How insane is that? Essentially, he/she is arguing that we can have confidence God exists because He isn’t alive. Man, I didn’t even know where to begin with this one. I have never, ever heard this rationale espoused by any Witness or in any Watchtower publication ever. Here’s my response:

This seems funny to me, in that you are arguing that my video holds little merit since god “isn’t life.” In my decades as a Jehovah’s Witness, I never once heard any of my fellow believers make this claim. In fact, it’s hard for me to see how any sincere theist would ever make this claim unless they were trying to win an argument using linguistic backflips.
Your definition of life is an odd one. For one thing, I don’t think the ability to ejaculate sperm cells should count as a defining aspect of life. Many organisms reproduce without ever manufacturing a single sperm (my wife, for example). Binary fission, budding, spore formation, and parthenogenesis also come to mind. Additionally, I know of several people who are unable to reproduce who would be quite hurt to learn they do not fit your definition of life. The bible claims God has the ability to create life, and surely this — especially angelic beings — one of whom he calls his first-born son — counts as a form of reproduction. And while the Witnesses god may not have a digestive system, liver, or bones (I’m not sure how you know this), neither does most life on our planet, either.
Here’s another definition of life, found in my Webster’s Dictionary: ” 1) the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body; 2) a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings.” …So is the god of the bible alive, or is he dead? Is he animate, or inanimate?
If theists (and Witnesses in particular) now hold to the idea that god is not life, then my assertion still holds. Since the Watchtower Society claims that life can only come from pre-existing life, then god (who, according to you, is “NOT life”) could not have created life, because then life would have come from NOT life, and this violates the Watchtower’s teaching.
Of course, you are free to hold to whatever definition of life you prefer and if you feel that excludes deities, then that’s just fine. As I implied in my first paragraph, however, my video still makes a valid point in that my main argument is that Witnesses believe god is more complicated than a cell. Whether or not god has sperm or bones or even cells is beside the point. I think nearly all Witnesses — present company excepted, of course — would agree with this assertion. Additionally, they would also firmly assert that their god is alive, a belief they would no doubt back up by referencing their favorite book…
-“As Jehovah lives, if you had preserved them alive, I would not have to kill you.” (Judges 8:19)
-“For as Jehovah, who is the Deliverer of Israel, is alive, even if it is in Jonathan my son, yet he will positively die.” (1 Samuel 14: 39)
-“As Jehovah is alive, not as much as a single hair of his head will fall to the earth.” (1 Samuel 14:45)
-“Immediately Saul swore to her by Jehovah, saying: ‘As Jehovah is alive, guilt for error will not befall you in this matter!'” (1 Samuel 28:10)
-“‘Therefore, as I am alive,'” is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, ‘Mo´ab herself will become just like Sod´om,'” (Zephaniah 2:9)
-“As Jehovah is alive in truth, in justice and in righteousness!’ then in him the nations will actually bless themselves” (Jeremiah 4:2)
-“‘As Jehovah is alive!’ just as they taught my people to swear by Ba´al,” (Jeremiah 12:16)
-“‘Therefore as I am alive,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah” (Ezekiel 5:11)
-“‘as I am alive,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah” (Ezekiel 14:18)
-“‘as I am alive,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah” (Ezekiel 14:20)
-“‘As I am alive,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah” (Ezekiel 16:48)
-“‘As I am alive,” is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah,” (Ezekiel 17:16)
-“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: ‘As I am alive, surely my oath that he has despised'” (Ezekiel 17:19)
-“‘As I am alive,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah” (Ezekiel 18:3)
-“‘Therefore, as I am alive,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel,” (Zephaniah 2:9)
…I could go on but, being as these are bible quotes, I’m already bored.
The bottom line is, if you think god is not alive, then the two of us can agree on that point. I’ll leave the video up online here for the benefit of the other 6 million Witnesses who do think their god is alive.

I haven’t heard back from pussylumpessru, but it’s only been a few hours. I’ll keep you posted.