Atheistic Evangelism

I remember the good old days in college. Myself and an agnostic friend would dress up in suits and ties (an odd arrangement considering we were both UNIX hackers and rarely out of blue jeans and weird T-shirts), then go out on campus during times when lots of people would be about. In our hands would be some thick religious-looking book (usually the book would be on the subject of Evolution), and we would have all the poise and charm of a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses.

We would approach a person or small group, and ask, "Have you considered a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?" Or, alternately, with "God?"

The usual response was twofold. Either they would say, "No!" hoping we would just go away.

Then we would reply, "GOOD!", hand them a pamphlet from our two-person Atheist organization (usually a page at most), and walk away. Lots of odd stares, but we feel we had an effect on the population, if only because we acted like Jehovah's Witnesses, then left people alone. :)

What happened when the victim said, "Yes!"?

We'd say, "WHY????", hand them a pamphlet, and walk off.

Again, stares and the feeling of having done something good for the Universe... :)

Ahh, the good old days...hmmm, y'know, I had been wondering what to do with all my free time Saturday morning... :)


My little bird suggests that we do this next term in NUS. Heh.

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The Gods Must Be Crazy

A fascinating collection of book reviews on Islam and Christianity. Choice lines:

"As one expert noted, "In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and (the obligation to) convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force"--which, if true, would make peaceful coexistence an impossibility from the start. As much as one would like to dismiss such sentiments as typical of the bigoted Orientalism that Said denounced so vigorously, the expert in question happens to be the fourteenth-century Arab thinker Ibn Khaldun, whose opinions on this topic, needless to say, are not so easily dismissed. Yet in the years since, Islam has passed through periods of dormancy in which jihad seemed to be the farthest thing from anyone's mind, which suggests that Ibn Khaldun is as irrelevant to contemporary events as the Book of Joshua is to Israeli policy in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

"As for Shariah, the notorious legal code that Americans associate with forced amputations and the stoning of adulterers, What's Right With Islam maintains that Shariah should be understood first and foremost as a moral framework for the promotion of five all-important facets of human existence: life, mind (i.e., psychological well-being), religion, property and family. Since many or even most Americans also embrace such goals, Abdul Rauf contends, the United States is a better Muslim society, more "Shariah-compliant" even, than any number of regimes in the Middle East."

"While arguing that Islam respects the rights of Christians and Jews, he acknowledges that it makes no allowance for those who reject the idea of a supreme being altogether. Even if mullahs do not go about issuing fatwas against atheists and freethinkers, the implication is that, even at its most liberal, Islam will remain deeply uneasy in a society in which many people regard skepticism and free expression as the highest virtues. Abdul Rauf also defends the veil, on the grounds "that covering up...can actually empower women by allowing them to rise above fashion, appearance and figure," provided, of course, that such covering up is "purely voluntary." But such words are extremely problematic in this context. While the hijab has served as a symbol of resistance to Western colonialism in Algeria, Palestine and elsewhere, it is simultaneously a sign of submission to an alternate form of authority in the shape of religion and patriarchy. It is a sign that the wearer has surrendered her free will. Yet volition is the one thing that a free individual cannot voluntarily relinquish."

"Al Qaeda was really more "a database," Kepel writes, one "that connected jihadists all over the world via the Internet." It was a postmodern organization married to a premodern worldview. Yet the neocons, firmly in control under Bush II, preferred to do battle with a conventional military force, which is one reason they declared war on Saddam Hussein."

"Pacific as the Gospels may be, the religion they gave rise to has been remarkably violent. According to the historian William McNeill, Western Europe during the so-called Age of Faith was the most warlike civilization on earth, with the exception of Japan. The Arabs were stunned by the brutality of the Crusaders when they invaded Palestine in the eleventh century. The "parfait gentil knights" were bad enough, but the fanatical hordes known as the Tafurs were even worse. Barefoot and ragged, armed only with clubs, sticks, hoes and other crude implements, they charged into battle gnashing their teeth, feasting afterward on the roasted flesh of whatever poor Muslim they managed to get their hands on. Yet the knights were so impressed with these holy cannibals that they gave them the honor of being the first ones over the wall during the climactic assault on Jerusalem in 1099."

"Telling people how to behave is one thing, but telling them what to believe means invading every intellectual nook and cranny in order to root out contrary ideas. It means robbing the individual of his last shred of privacy. From Christ's demand for complete psychological surrender, Drury contends that it was only a step to the great heresy hunts, book burnings and religious massacres of the Middle Ages."

"Harris is a doctoral student in neuroscience at UCLA, yet the nice thing is that there is still something of the undergraduate about him. Everyone knows the type, the smart aleck in the back of the room who isn't afraid to raise questions that everyone else is too polite to ask, questions like: If bad ideas lead to bad acts, then why should we allow individuals to entertain ideas that are incorrect? If a friend mistakenly believes he is dying of cancer, shouldn't we disabuse him of the notion so that he doesn't do something drastic, like throw himself under a train? If he believes, similarly, that unbelievers are destined for hell, shouldn't we disabuse him of that so he isn't tempted to speed the process by shooting or blowing them up? Harris recounts the tale of a thirteenth-century bishop of Toulouse, who, on hearing that an old woman had fallen victim to the heresy of Catharism, had her carried in her sickbed to a nearby field and burned alive. Considering all those souls who would have been robbed of their chance of salvation had the infection been allowed to spread, the good bishop felt he had no choice."

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Useful Terms: Fanfiction Terms

Finally! Now I know what the hell all those terms mean:

antific- Meaning a fanfic where the author puts a disliked character into numberous undesirable situautions and may ultimately kill them. Can be humourous.
ATG- Short from for 'Any Two Guys'. This is a slash fanfic that is so poorly written that, with a few name and minor detail changes, the main characters could be mistaken for any two guys off the streets.

boyfic- A fanfic with lots of explosions, action and violence but with little to no character development. A sarcastic term.

fangirl- Basically, an over-the-top fan who's so into the characters that they wish they were real, want to marry them, etc. Fanfics written by this strange species (haha, just kidding) are usually wish-fulfilment stories and are usually not fun for anyone to read but the author.
fanboy- The male version of a fangirl.

GWLBWLB - Stands for 'Girls who Love Boys who Love Boys'. In short, shounen-ai and yaoi fans.

lemon- A story where the characters have explict sex. For 18 and over.
lemonade- Put a lemon and some fluff into a blender and you get lemonade.
lime- A story where the characters have non-explict sex, sort of fade to black. For 18 and over.

PWP- Meaning 'Plot, what plot?' or 'Porn Without Plot'. Basically, a pointless and plotless story were the characters do lemony things.

seme- The one who acts as the male for homosexual relationships. He's the 'giver'. When listing homosexual pairings, the seme's name always goes first. Example, SasuNaru, with Sasuke was the seme.
shipper- A supporter of two characters in a relationship. For example, I am a Syaoran-Sakura shipper, a Tamahome-Miaka shipper and a Sasuke-Naruto shipper. The seme or male is always listed first, when listed properly.

uke- The one who acts as the female for homosexual relationships. He's the 'receiver'. When listing homosexual pairings, the uke's name always goes second. Example, SasuNaru, with Naruto was the uke.


What I don't get is why there necessarily must be a 'male' and a 'female' partner in homosexual relationships. That's as stupid as saying that all lesbians use dildos on each other.

Another mystery is why it's always homosexual relationships that these fanfic writers explore. Maybe it's a reaction to and rebellion against the profusion of stereotyped smutty romance novels on the market.

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Patience and Absurdity: How to Deal with Intelligent Design Creationism - "Patient analysis of creationist blunders and sham reasoning (definition: ostensible inquiry whose conclusion is fixed in advance) has as often done harm as good to the life sciences. Biologists are confronted endlessly with touring companies of debaters and religious charismatics who present the scripts of “scientific” creationism. Most evolutionists and other biologists who are aware of these performances take the easy way out: they ignore all religion-based commentary on science, justifying indifference by declaring that to argue would dignify absurdity. Or worse: they shrug off sham reasoning with a glib dismissal: “Nobody really believes that stuff.” The excuse is itself absurd: Vast numbers—indeed, a majority—of our countrymen do believe that stuff, even as they are ignorant of the real science."

Does Affirmative Action Hurt Black Law Students? - "A new study that challenges a 'cherished' admissions practice has critics lining up for a rebuttal"

Worrying death threat - "[The] hot topic of the last couple of weeks in [the] Persian blogosphere has been a blog called "Islamic Army" in which its anonymous author has threaten a big list of Iranian blogger for their "insults" to Allah, Prophet Mohammad and other Shia Imams."

Judge called for jury duty in own court - ""You are hereby summoned to appear as a prospective juror at the Town Court ... (of) Hon. Michael J. McDermott, Justice," reads the notice, addressed to Michael J. McDermott... Being judge and jury isn't an official excuse in the law"

Japanese Guzzling Hawaiian Deep-Sea Water - "Desalinated deep-sea water from Kona is the state's fastest-growing export with demand soaring in Japan. Super-cold water sucked up from thousands of feet below the Pacific Ocean's surface is being marketed as healthy, pure, mineral-rich drinking water. Koyo USA Corp. already is producing more than 200,000 bottles a day and says it can't keep up with demand in Japan, where it sells 1.5 liter bottles of its MaHaLo brand for $4 to $6 each. "

Stranger Redecorates Woman's Home - "A woman came home from a vacation in Greece to find a stranger playing house, changing utilities into her name and even repainting a room she didn't like."

Use of 'Kemosabe' upheld as not demeaning to Mi'kmaqs - "Is Kemosabe a racist greeting? Not according to a Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission board of inquiry, which spent an entire day watching episodes of the Lone Ranger to decide whether being called Kemosabe demeaned a woman's Mi'kmaq heritage."

Rude sign downs chopper - "The four crew members of an army Iroquois helicopter have been stood down from duty after flying over the Indy 300 motor race on the Gold Coast with a sign urging spectators to "show us your tits"."

Couple Allegedly Has Sex in Shoe Store - "Two out-of-towners got caught in a rain shower, and decided to seek refuge by breaking into a shoe store. Then one thing led to another — at least that's what the couple told the officer who found them having sex amid new boots in the store's display window."