Silver

Today’s a special day and so it seems
it falls to me as the eldest to say a few things.
25 years is how long its been
and they met before that whilst in there teens.
25 years.
And if we counted the minutes, some people would faint.
13 million, this woman must have the patience of a saint.
Not that I mean any disrespect to my Dad,
as far as blokes go, he’s not too bad.
The voice of reason, my go to guy.
If I’m down in the dumps, he will always try
not to give me what I want, but to give me what I need
to make me feel better and he will usually succeed.
But if you were to ask him, he would probably adMIT
that without my Mum he would probably be a bit . . . Different.
Behind every good man, a good woman and I stress,
I’m talking about a lioness of a woman and nothing less.
It hasn’t always been easy over the years.
I’m personally responcible for quite a few tears.
Everyone goes through tough times but I honestly feel
that she protected this family like a morphic field.
She never stops, always got her plate full.
I’d like to take this chance to let her know that I’m grateful.
So thanks Mum.
Thanks for all that you have done.
Thanks for steering my path so I didn’t turn into scum. 
Thanks for helping my Dad become the mman he is now.
I don’t think many could have done it somehow.
So 25 years, that’s how long its been.
25 years of sharing dreams.
25 years of laughs and screams.
25 years of Keri and Dean.
25 years of “that’s the last time”.
23 years of these escapades of mine.
25 years of always be there.
25 years of someone to care.
25 years that have gone before

And here’s to hoping.
At least 25 more. 

If a person opposes even the possibility of there being a God, then any evidence can be rationalized or explained away. It is like if someone refuses to believe that people have walked on the moon, and then no amount of information is going to change their thinking. Photographs of astronauts walking on the moon, interviews with the astronauts, moon rocks – all the evidence would be worthless because the person has already concluded that people cannot go to the moon.

When it comes to the possibility of God’s existence, the Bible says that there are people who have seen sufficient evidence, but they have suppressed the truth about God. (Romans 1:19-21). On the other hand, for those who want to know God if he is there, he says, “You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you” (Jeremiah 29:13-14).  Before you look at the facts surrounding God’s existence, ask yourself, If God does exist, would I want to know him? Here then, are some reasons to consider…

1. Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.

Many examples showing God’s design could be given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:

The Earth…its size is perfect. The Earth’s size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth’s surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter (R.E.D. Clark, Creation (London: Tyndale Press, 1946), p. 20).  Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.

The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. If it were any closer, we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth’s position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.

And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents (The Wonders of God’s Creation, Moody Institute of Science, Chicago, IL).

2. Does God exist? The universe had a start – what caused it?

Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists: the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself.

Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, stated, “The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion…The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen.”

Robert Jastrow; “Message from Professor Robert Jastrow”; LeaderU.com; 2002.

Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, “the universe was about a hundred thousands million degrees Centigrade…and the universe was filled with light” [Steven Weinberg; The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe; (Basic Books,1988); p 5.].

The universe has not always existed. It had a start…and what caused that? Scientists have no explanation for the sudden explosion of light and matter.

If I told you that the watch on my wrist was designed by a team of engineers, skillfully crafted by a team of highly trained technicians, sent to a jobber, and from there to the store where my wife bought it as a gift for me, would you believe me?

Well, let me tell you what really happened: Millions and millions of years ago there were atoms freely floating through the universe. Cosmic winds drew them together, clustering them into various materials: silicon, crystals, metals, and other various parts. Through the random effects of chance, over millions of years, of course, these various elements were thrown together in to his interesting device that now adorns my wrist, and it has been keeping accurate time ever since! 

Ridiculous, isn’t it. The notion that this complex little device “happened” by the caprice of chance alone is, of course, absurd. It is obviously the object of careful and skillful design. Strange that we reject the notion that this watch happened by accident, yet it is vastly simpler than the wrist upon which it resides.

The watch is a simple “open loop” design. The wrist is a “closed loop” servo system, which is vastly more sophisticated. It adjust to ambient conditions, fights off invaders, even repairs itself and involves design elements we are only just now beginning to understand! Why is it that we require a designer to explain the origin of the watch, yet are willing to ascribe the biological systems which it adorns chance?

3. Does God exist? Design parameters of the universe.

The limits and parameters of the universe have come within the measuring capacity of astronomers and physicists, the design characteristics of the universe are being examined and acknowledged. Astronomers have discovered that the characteristics and parameters of the universe, and our solar system are so finely tuned to support life that nothing less than a personal, intelligent Creator can explain the degree of the universe being fine-tuned It requires power and purpose.

Approximately two dozen parameters of the universe have been identified that must be carefully fixed in order for any kind of conceivable life to exist at any time in the history of the universe. Here are a few examples of these given below.

1.Gravitational coupling constant. If larger: no stars less than 1.4 solar masses, hence short stellar life spans.  If smaller: no stars more than 0.8 solar masses, hence no heavy element production.

2.Strong nuclear force coupling constant. If larger: no hydrogen; nuclei essential for life are unstable. If smaller: no elements other than hydrogen

3.Electromagnetic coupling constant. If larger: no chemical bonding; elements more massive than boron are unstable to fission. If smaller: no chemical bonding.

4.Ratio of protons to electrons. If larger: electromagnetism dominates gravity preventing galaxy, star and planet formation. If smaller: electromagnetism dominates gravity preventing galaxy, star, and planet formation.

5.Ratio of electron to proton mass. If larger: no chemical bonding. If smaller: no chemical bonding.

6.Expansion rate of the universe. If larger: no galaxy formation. If smaller: universe collapse prior to star formation.

7.Entropy level of the universe. If larger: no star condensation within the proto-galaxies. If smaller: no proto-galaxy formation.

8.Mass density of the universe. If larger: too much deuterium from big bang hence stars burn too rapidly. If smaller: no helium from big bang, hence not enough heavy elements.

9.Age of the universe. If older: no solar-type stars in a stable burning phase in the right part of the galaxy. If younger: solar-type stars in a stable burning phase would not yet have formed.

10.Average distance between stars. If larger: heavy elements density too thin for rocky planet production. If smaller: planetary orbits become destabilized.

11.Solar luminosity. If increases too soon: runaway green house effect. If increases too late: frozen oceans.

12.Fine structure constant (a function of three other fundamental constants, Planck’s constant, the velocity of light, and the electron charge each which, therefore, must be fine-tuned) If larger: no stars more than 0.7 solar masses, if smaller: not stars less than 1.8 solar masses.

13.Carbon to Oxygen energy level ratio. If larger: insufficient oxygen. If smaller: insufficient carbon.

14.Decay rate of proton. If greater: life would be exterminated by the release of radiation. If smaller: insufficient matter in the universe for life.

The degree of the universe being fine-tuned for many of these parameters is utterly amazing. For example, if the strong nuclear force were even two percent stronger or two percent weaker, the universe would never be able to support life. More astounding yet, the ground state energies for He, Be, C, and O cannot be higher or lower with respect to each other by more than four percent without yielding a universe with insufficient oxygen and/or carbon for any kind of life. The expansion rate of the universe is even more sensitive, it must be fine-tuned to an accuracy of one part in 10⁵⁵! Clearly someingenious Designer must be involved in the physics of the universe.

4. Does God exist? Origin of life

Life. What is it? Where did it come from? What makes it different from dust, the air and the water on earth? From the time we humans achieve self awareness there develops a fascination with the things that crawl, slither, walk, swim and fly. This fascination with the “living protoplasm” on earth is basic to our constitution. This fascination with living things leads us all to the point when we ask “where did they come from?” The question of the origin of life has bee debated by philosophers, theologians, scientists for thousands of years and is at the very core of the debate between the atheists and the creationists. Creationists see the creation of life as powerful, visible, manifestation of an awesome designer, creator, God. To the creationist, life is the product of the greatest chemist, biologists, mathematician and engineer in or out of the universe! To the atheist, life is viewed as incredibly lucky result of billions of years and countless violations of the laws of nature acting on non-living matter. As some have put it, life is “The fortuitous occurrence of accidental circumstances.”

Atheists assume that 3 to 4 billion years ago, non-living, inanimate, inorganic matter developed into highly complex living organism, by random chance. No one knows where it happened, but it generally assumed to have occurred somewhere on earth, in a “primordial ooze”, near hot oceanic vents or some shallow tidal pool. No designer, no blue prints, no instructions, no concept or purpose are allowed in the evolutionary scenario of the origin of life. Only the laws of nature, random chance and long periods of time are allowed to act on the raw materials of life.

5. Does God exist? The DNA code informs, programs a cell’s behavior.

All instruction, all teaching, all training comes with intent. Someone who writes an instruction manual does so with purpose. Did you know that in every cell of our bodies there exists a very detailed instruction code, much like a miniature computer program? As you may know, a computer program is made up of ones and zeros, like this: 110010101011000. The way they are arranged tell the computer program what to do. The DNA code in each of our cells is very similar. It’s made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. These are arranged in the human cell like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on. There are three billion of these letters in every human cell!

Well, just like you can program your phone to beep for specific reasons, DNA instructs the cell. DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual.

Why is this so amazing? One has to ask….how did this information program wind up in each human cell? These are not just chemicals. These are chemicals that instruct, that code in a very detailed way exactly how the person’s body should develop.

Natural, biological causes are completely lacking as an explanation when programmed information is involved. You cannot find instruction, precise information like this, without someone intentionally constructing it.

6. Does God exist? Encyclopedia on a Pinhead: Chance or design?

At the moment of conception, a fertilized human egg is about the size of a pin head. Yet, it contains information equivalent to about six billion “chemical letters.” This is enough information to fill 1000 books, 500 pages thick with print so small you would need a microscope to read it! If all the DNA chemical “letters” in the human body were printed in books, it is estimated they would will the Grand Canyon 50 times!

The information on the DNA molecule is transferred to RNA and ultimately to proteins in the form of structural and functional proteins. A fundamental dilemma for the evolution theory is that the duplication and translation of the information on the DNA molecule requires the employment of proteins. However, living cells cannot make proteins until the DNA replication and translation machinery is in place! The only rational explanation for this dilemma is that the protein production and DNA replication and translation machinery system arose simultaneously! This could only happen by design.

Question: Would a DNA molecule that arose by chance posses any information, codes, programs, or instructions? According to the basic principles of information theory the answer is clearly NO!

7. Does God exist? A Complex Engineering Puzzle

Suppose you were asked to take two long stands of fisherman’s monofilament line, 125 miles long, then form it into a double helix structure and neatly fold and pack this line so it would fit into a basketball.

Furthermore, you would need to ensure that the double helix could be unzipped and duplicated along the length of this line, and the duplicate copy removed, all without tangling the line. Possible? This is directly analogous to what happens in the billions of cells in your body every day. Scale the basketball down to the size of a human cell and the line scales down to six feet of DNA.

All of this DNA must be packed so the regulator proteins that control making copies of the DNA have access to it. The DNA packing process is both complex and elegant and is so efficient that it achieves a reduction in length of DNA by a factor of one million. When the cell needs to divide, the entire length of DNA must be split apart, duplicated and repackaged for each daughter cell. No one knows exactly how cells solve this topological nightmare, but the solution clearly starts with the special spools on which the DNA is wound.

Each spool carries two “turns” of DNA, and the spools themselves are stacked together in groups of six or eight. The human cell uses about 25 million of them to keep its DNA under control. DNA is wound around histones to form nucleosomes. These are organized into solenoids, which in turn compose chromatin loops. Each element in this complex, yet highly organized arrangement is carefully designed to play a key role in the cell replication process.

8. Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God revealing himself to us.

Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world religions and you’ll find that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you’re looking at him. Though he talked about his Father in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in him, believed in the Father.

He said, “I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).   He claimed attributes belonging only to God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free them from habits of sin, give people a more abundant life and give them eternal life in heaven. Unlike other teachers who focused people on their words, Jesus pointed people to himself. He did not say, “follow my words and you will find truth.” He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:6).

What proof did Jesus give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can’t do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed people… the blind, crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people from the dead. He had power over objects, and created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several thousand people. He performed miracles over nature, walked on top of a lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People everywhere followed Jesus because he constantly met their needs, doing the miraculous. He said if you do not want to believe what I’m telling you, you should at least believe in me based on the miracles you’re seeing (John 14:11).

Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving, aware of our self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a relationship with us. Jesus revealed that although God views us as sinners, worthy of his punishment, his love for us ruled and God came up with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sounds ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving fathers would gladly trade places with their child in a cancer ward if they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because he first loved us.

Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions known to humanity, only through Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to himself. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, he offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and genuinely loved by God. He says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jeremiah 31:3).  This is God, in action.

Does God exist? If you want to know, investigate Jesus Christ. We’re told that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

God does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of his existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth’s perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ.

If you want to begin a relationship with God now, you can.

This is your decision, but if you want to be forgiven by God and come into a relationship with him, you can do so right now by asking him to forgive you and come into your life. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] and knock. He who hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him [or her]” (Revelation 3:20).  If you want to do this, but aren’t sure how to put it into words, this may help: “Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You know my life and that I need to be forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now and come into my life. I want to know you in a real way. Come into my life now. Thank you that you wanted a relationship with me. Amen.”

God views your relationship with him as permanent. Referring to all those who believe in him, Jesus Christ said of us, “I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-29).

So, does God exist? Looking at all these facts, one can conclude that a loving God does exist and can be known in an intimate, personal way.

Hi

 

I have taken some time to read through your email and would like to rebut some of the points which you have made. I hope you will afford me the same time which I extended. 

 

 

Firstly may I agree with your first point regarding a person who makes no allowance for the possibility of a god existing. An atheist who cannot allow for a chance of that, however small, is no better than a fundamentalist of any other kind. As an amateur scientist, I have to recognise the importance of being able to admit that you were wrong in the face of overwhelming evidence. This is how the human race has progressed over the whole of its existence, with particular emphasis on the last 200 years. 

 

 

That said, I must advise you that a great majority of atheists will not be moved to a new position with quotes from the bible. I personally believe it to be a work of fiction and therefore its claims mean nothing to me. Certainly, I could be persuaded that events in the bible happened, given the right amount of historic evidence, but that evidence cannot be found inside the book itself. 

 

 

I would like to address each of you points in turn.

 

 

1. Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.

This is an argument which I would refer to as “The Goldilocks Zone”, that is to say that we exist in conditions which are “just right” for carbon based life forms. There are three important things to consider here. 

The first is that if we didn’t live in these very specific conditions, we would not be alive. This means that we would be unable to consider ourselves as lucky and wonder at exactly how perfect the conditions are. 

The second point is to do with the vastness of the universe. Whilst the conditions on out planet are indeed unlikely, we must scale the probability to the size of the universe. A small chance multiplied billions of times gives an overwhelming probability that there should be life somewhere. Drakes equation is a rough estimate of the number of planets in our galaxy which should have the conditions suited to life as we know it.  The parameters involved are a hot topic in the scientific community and there is a great deal of variance, however even the most conservative values predict the number of suitable planets to be in the hundreds, with the less conservative giving tens of thousands of possible planets. Remember that this is in our galaxy alone, so when we consider that there are far more than 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, the chance of there not being life somewhere is as small as to be ridiculous. Conversely we must also consider how many “useless” planets are in existence, why should there be so many lifeless rocks in a designed universe. Not only this but the amount of time which the life-bearing planets have the right conditions is tiny in comparison to the life span of the planet itself. Very soon the temperature of the earth will change drastically and conditions will no longer be suited to life as we know it.

The final argument on this point comes from a philosophical point of view. I personally believe it to be incredibly small minded for human beings to think that carbon based sentient life is the only possibility. The universe is incredibly vast and unknown, which means that other forms of life, completely inconceivable to us, could exist. It therefore follows from an evolutionary position, that we have developed the way we have in accordance with the conditions of our planet. This means that we have suited ourselves to the earth and not visa versa. 

2. Does God exist? The universe had a start – what caused it?

This is commonly known as the first cause argument. However for myself, postulating the existence of a god to explain this answers no more questions than it poses. If a god was indeed the cause of the universe, then from where did it appear. In the example of your watch we could take the argument further by asking where the watchmaker came from, the answer of course being his parents, but what about them, and so on and so forth. Apart from anything else, the first cause could be something other than a deity, it could be explained by the existence of other incomprehensible dimensions or the snot of a being from another universe. Even then, we reach the same wall, what caused the first cause and with today’s scientific knowledge, we cannot pose an argument with any reasonable evidence to credit it as anything more than a basic theory. 

3. Does God exist? Design parameters of the universe.

This is merely an extension of the Goldilocks Argument. The same principles apply in terms of not being able to ask the question if the conditions hadn’t been so. Also, most of the mentioned parameters are more to do with the existence of the universe itself, rather than the life it harbours. I won’t go into each individual constant as I feel that they can all be wrapped up in the aforementioned principle. 

4. Does God exist? Origin of life

I find myself at a loss when it comes to de-constructing this argument as you have already outlined the cause of life which I consider most plausible, that in which an initial set of conditions gives rise to the first living organism. I am amazed that people consider it more likely that life was purposefully designed. This poses the question of who design the creator, whereas such an argument isn’t needed when the reaction happens by chance. Also remember that once again we are imagining vast periods of time in which a small probability is given enough chances to grow into something which is likely. It is up to those in the field of abiogenesis to provide us with the initial reactions which gave rise to a complex, self replicating organism, but this is something which is entirely plausible given the existing arguments including the iron-sulfur world theory.

5. Does God exist? The DNA code informs, programs a cell’s behavior.

and

6. Does God exist? Encyclopedia on a Pinhead: Chance or design?

and

7. Does God exist? A Complex Engineering Puzzle

Your closing argument to this section is a worry to me. To say that biological causes cannot explain DNA is so misinformed as to be ludicrous. Whilst our scientists have not yet arrived at a complete solution as to how original DNA arose, there are certainly theories being developed and tested to try to solve this problem, including theories surrounding RNA. After this we have to consider that the DNA in early life was much less complex than that which exists now. Evolution is driven by mutations in DNA and this leads to much more complex life. Those arguments aside though, I feel that it is a cop-out to use the existence of a god to explain a puzzle which we have not yet solved. If we ask the same questions about the god we are then told that he is mysterious or that we cannot possibly understand his nature. This does nothing to enlighten us or to present evidence for a god.

Also, it strikes me as a fairly silly way to create life if you are an all powerful being. Why code something so small with the information to create something human sized, when you could simply have the fully grown human blink into existence. It seems to be self indulgent to create a self replicating, horribly slow process just to demonstrate ….. what? Your ability to code? Also, a huge majority of our DNA is redundant, in the fact that it does not code. The best theory for why this is, is that it has lost its application over the years but was previously useful at some point during evolution. Why would a deity include this useless information in a code which should be concise to the needs of a human, when it could simply have the redundant DNA erase itself after it lost its use. 

It saddens me to see deities used to explain complex things and seems to me to be incredibly lazy. If we don’t understand something, we should strive to fine the cause of it or the reasons why it happened. The complexity of biological structures are necessary, if they were not so the thing would not be as it is, this doesn’t mean that it had to be designed, merely that it had to be. 

8. Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God revealing himself to us.

Earlier, I mentioned that the bible can not be used as evidence for Christianity being correct. This is the argument for which this fact is most pertinent. Despite what the Alpha Courses across the country would have their attendees believe, there is not one scrap of evidence for the existence of Jesus outside of the bible. Certainly, there are mentions of Jesus on historical documents but it was a popular name of the time, there is no mention of a Jesus of Nazareth or any of his other titles. For instance, there is no census or other document with reasonable proof. This means that the only evidence given is that of the bible, which aims to prove itself true. Any good lawyers could point out major flaws in this type of argument.  

Concerning Jesus’ radical claims to be God, I only think that this shows the perversity of the Christian religion. Vicarious redemption, the idea that our sins are forgiven through Jesus, is a horrific concept. It absconds us of any responsibility for our own actions as long as we choose to believe in a certain person and his other 2 constituent holy parts. It is also a foul idea that god should choose for anyone to suffer to forgive sins, if his aim was to do so then he could merely have forgiven, there was no need for sacrifice as he would be all powerful. Instead he chose for his son to die and for this we are told that we should be grateful. These are not the actions of a god who loves us, but those of an egocentric amoral being who experiments with his own inventions as if they were insects in his lab. 

Lastly, in you closing point you said that from the facts it could be concluded that a loving god exists and can be known personally. If I had taken your arguments to be good evidence then at best I could have concluded that there was indeed an intelligent designer of the universe, which in no way implies that we are loved by it. In fact, we could look at the unnecessary suffering in the world and conclude instead that this designer was a perverse monstrosity with an appetite for sadism.

I went with my Dad and stayed in the disabled camping due to his arthritis.  Whilst a part of me missed the madness of the main camp sites, it was more than compensated by having the car next to the tent. This meant that we could have a beer cooler, an ipod docking amp, more bacon than you could get off a pig, a BBQ and a battery to recharge both the cooler and phones.  I stayed with me Dad for most of the weekend and we had an awesome time.

The festival itself was a lot smaller than Download, which is my usual haunt and lacked a bit in the “random encounters” which I associate with festivals.  Nonetheless, there were a good selection of the usual shops etc and a bit of comedy which is always a bonus.

Friday saw the aforementioned Big Four, after some heavy Slayer pitting resulting in multiple bruises, it was nearly time for Metallica.  After a set which I have to admit, I found underwhelming, the big four band came on stage together to perform the Diamondhead/Metallica classic “Am I Evil?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlH-5aAHSYs . I think the reason I wasn’t massively impressed with Metallica (my favourite band) was to do with the awesome set they played when I saw them at Wembeley, where they played the Master Of Puppets album in its entirety.  I think that Mustaine enjoyed being in the big 4 band, where he could pretend he was a part of Metallica again, I imagine that he spends his time backstage playing Metallica band hero.

Limp Bizkit were awesome, Wes was in an outfit which consisted of black liquid latex up to his nose and then white face paint upwards http://www.prphotos.com/mas_assets/thumb/7961/LMK-037961.jpg . If I could pull that look off I wouldn’t need fangs for Wendy House.  After determining the mood of the crowd, Bizkit played a set full of the classics, the notable lack of Nookie was compensated for in the presence of Break Stuff.

As usual I spent some time watching bands who fall into the category of either unsigned or unknown to me.  I went to watch a death metal band called Gojira, on the reccomendation of a friend and they were awesome.  I definately topped up my Slayer bruises in the pits there.

The highlight of the weekend had to be Richard Cheese.  If you don’t know who he is, go do the research.  He remakes metal songs into Vegas lounge style, best known for the Osbournes theme tune.  You haven’t lived until you here this Slipknot classic lounged up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfEtnHE6MU . I thought I would never get the chance to see him live as he stopped playing due to laryngitis and never comes to England.  It was my lucky day!

All in all it was a great weekend, despite the changing weather.  The last act I caught was Bill Bailey as I had to miss Slipknot to catch a train home due to starting a new job on the Monday. Oh well, there’s always next time.

P.S  Since when has he been Kirk “The Ripper” Hammot.

The Self-fulfilling Coffin

Item #:  SCP-651

Object Class:  Euclid

Special Containment Procedures:  SCP-651 is to be stored in a room 10m cubed, secured in an electronically operated, carbon steel clamp with surface measurements no less than 2.1m x 1m, the dimensions of the surface of SCP-651. The room is to be kept locked and should not be accessed by any personnel of less than level 4 clearance. Camera surveillance of the room should be monitored two times a day by no less than two level 2 personnel at once, this should be performed only when monitoring shows the clamp to be in working order. If the clamp fails and cannot be repaired externally, trained personnel should attempt to repair the clamp with all lighting to the room eliminated.

Description:  SCP-651 is an obsidian coffin, inscribed with runes (unknown origin) and pictographs similar but not akin to those used in ancient Egypt. Hieroglyph experts have claimed that the pictographs tell a story about [DATA EXPUNGED] proving that fate can only be changed until foretold.

When an observer looks upon SCP-651, the lid swings slowly open, as if it were on a hinge, although none can be observed. SCP-651 will contain a corpse identical to the observer, usually showing horrific injuries which leave no ambiguity in the cause of death. In 100% of recorded cases the observer will die in no more than thirty seven days but in some cases within less than one hour. The observers death is invariably caused from injuries identical to that of their deceased double.

SCP-651 remains open from initial observation, until the death of the observer. To date, attempts to close SCP-651 once it has begun to open have been unsuccessful. SCP-651 can, however, be weighted to prevent it from beginning to open. The vice which currently secures SCP-651 measures an upward force of 100 KG per square meter when SCP-651 is under observation.

SCP-651 was found in the Mexican village of █████ where the locals revered it as a god, locking people in the temple in which it was stored, as a way of sacrifice. It was brought to the attention of SCP when a teenage backpacker (█████  █████ ) managed to overpower the guard of the temple and report his experience to the local police station. Upon leaving the police station Mr █████ was hit by an outbound police car and died of massive head trauma.

Addendum:  Experiment 651-B Attempt to Secure Observer from Injury

D-651-4 was introduced to the room containing SCP-651. The coffin opened to show a severely malnourished D-651-4. D-651-4 was taken to a secure room containing padded walls, one padded chair and no other furnishings. Upon trying to unlock the room to take food to D-651-4, it was found that the lock was jammed shut. All attempts to unlock the room were unsuccessful, including an attempt with SCP-005. After 28 days the room became able to unlock, D-651-4 was found dead from starvation.

Experiment 651-C : Observation by Camera

D-651-5 was instructed to view SCP-651 from an observation room. A live feed was shown to him on a LCD screen. D-651-5 reported that as soon as the feed began to play, SCP-651 swung open to show a corpse identical to D-651-5. The corpse showed lacerations to the wrists with no other observable injuries. D-651-5 was visible disturbed by what he had seen and so was given a class 2 amnesiac. Although the suspect had no memory of his observation, he later used a metal desk to cut open his wrists and died whilst under treatment from level 0 medics.

Experiment 651-D : Observation by Delayed Feed

D-651-6 was instructed to view the SCP-651 from an observation room. A feed delayed by 60 seconds was shown to her on an LCD screen. After 60 minutes D-651-6 reported no change to the closed SCP-651. This finding is consistent with previous experiments which showed no effects from viewing photographs of SCP-651.

Experiment 651-H : Simultaneous Observation by Two Personnel

D-651-10 and D-651-11 were both instructed to watch an LCD screen which started with no feed. When the feed of SCP-651 was played to the D personnel, 33 seconds went by with no reaction from SCP-651. After 33 seconds the SCP-651 opened to show D-651-10 inside with severe bruising. Footage of the D personnel suggests that SCP-651 became active only when D-651-11 blinked. We believe this means that the SCP-651 can only become active when one sole observer looks upon it. D-651-11 attacked and killed D-651-10 before they could be removed from the observation room.

Unfortunately, we seemed to have arrived at the only place in England which was overcast. It was also high tide so we decided to stop for a cuppa in the nearby cafe.  I am sorry to say that it was the most miserable, dirty, run down, disgusting little shit hole which I have ever had the pleasure of visiting.  It was like an 80s prison canteen with depression.  Even the squirty cream on by brew didn’t compensate for the nasty packet cappuccino which they used.

When finished we headed down to the beach which spanned at least 20 meters.  We spent a good ten minutes throwing stones like the men we are, my own efforts at least slightly less manly than George or Norm, before deciding to walk down the cliff coast to the nearby lighthouse.  We stopped for a couple of beers and a fish and chips, which was actually delicious and clearly fresh.

Next we headed down to the beach near the lighthouse which was a lot more exciting than the previous one.  We spent some time trying to pick limpets off the rocks and smashing up chalk before heading round the coast to an alcove. The multitude of seaweed about meant that I couldn’t resist my best Old Greg impression http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OW7OVn9liA .  When we got to the back of the alcove I saw something strange. It was only after my initial thought of “That’s a fucked up manky dog” that I realised we were looking at a seal.  It looked pretty fed up and must have been left there when the tide went out.  It has a slight injury to its side and wasn’t doing too well.  I decided to play Matthew Robertson of the day and ran up the steps back to the top of the cliff to get a phone signal.  I rang the coast guard who came and had a look and rang seal rescue.

We trekked back to the car park near the first beach and the party in Kat’s car decided to call it a day.  As we drove back to Leeds we passed the clouds into the boiling sun.  After playing a part in rescuing that seal, you can imagine my amusement when I took off my hoody and realised the t-shirt I had chosen whilst half asleep that morning. http://bit.ly/lltXXN 

Being involved with Leeds Atheist Society (http://leeds.atheistsoc.org/) and more recently SecularOU (https://groups.google.com/group/secular-ou?hl=en), the weekend was a great chance to do some networking, not only with other student groups but also with my fellow SecularOU committee for the first time.  The event was being hosted at Conway Hall, which is the home of the South Place Ethical Society, who have a long history of exploring humanist values.

The day kicked off with a “fair”. A good chance to mingle and have a look at the various stalls.  Apart from the assorted student societies, appearances were made from Camp Quest (a secular and scientific alternative to bible camp), the NSS, the BHA, The Pod Delusion and more.  After playing 20 questions with camp quest, a lovely young lady tried to enlist me to a BHA choir practice workshop, unfortunately I think my Sting karaoke already goes a little to far.  After a nice bit of further hob-knobbing it was time for the talks to begin.

The speakers were introduced by President of the AHS Richy Thompson and after an introduction from SPES the first speaker was Lord Warner.  He spoke about the science in politically policies and the privileged of the bishops in the house of lords, which Warner is a member of for Labour.  Next up was Gerard Phillips, VP of the NSS and he was followed by Andrew Copson, chief exec of the BHA.  Both spoke about their respective organisations and I couldn’t help feeling they had gone a little off the mark, after all, the people who attended are already aware of the good work that the BHA and the NSS do.  I thought the talks could have focussed a little more on the relevance to students, but the fact that they are both great public speakers, especially Andrew, meant that I enjoyed the talks all the same.

After a break it was time for comedian Robin Ince to talk.  He spoke primarily about the beauty of science and life without the need for a god.  Robin is a fantastic public speaker and his talks are amazingly inspiring. Also I must point out that he does a brilliant impression of Richard Dawkins.  About a year ago he was kid enough to come and do a talk for LAS on my request.  I managed to collar him during one of the breaks and was a little humbled that he remembered me, after all the man meets a lot of people and I think it is fair to say by now, that he is an A-list celebrity.

Robin was followed by Johann Hari who I have been aware of for a long time but never read his columns knowingly.  His speech was concerned with the divisiveness of faith schools and multiculturalism and a close second to Robin for being most inspiring talk of the day.  The best bit had to be when he called the Dalai Lama a bitch.

At this point I should point out the struggle that some atheists go through from time to time.  Sometimes I stop and wonder what the importance of atheism and secularism is, is it just a chance to elittle somebody’s beliefs?  Is it just a reason to feel smug and intellectually superior.  Sometimes it takes something striking to make you realise the importance of what we, especially as Secularists are doing. So I would just like to give my thanks to Robin Ince and Johann Hari for relighting my confidence in the secular movement.  Robin for reminding me of the beauty of this life without a god and Johann for highlighting the problems we face if we don’t push for secularism.

The last talk of the day was given by A.C.Grayling who’s mane of hair always reminds me of the lion of a man he really is in spreading the word about moral values for human reasons.  His talk was really good but possibly a bit similar to when I heard him speak at the press launch two years ago.

To round of the event was a performance from the BHA choir, who sang beautifully. The two highlights were their rendition of “Every Sperm is Sacred” and Steve Martin’s “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs”.

In conclusion the day was brilliant. The turnout was great, the speakers were fantastic and the coffee stand didn’t run out of cups.  It is really great to see such a well organised event in the atheist community.  In fact it is proof that atheists are not a bunch of stand alone philosophers who don’t need anybody else as the impression so often seems to be.  We are a community in our own right and we can pull together and do good.  We fight for what we believe in and we have fun doing it.  Thanks to the AHS for a fantastic day!

For those who want to listen to the speakers, you will find all the talks online courtesy of the ever popular pod cast The Pod Delusion which can be found at http://poddelusion.co.uk/blog/category/specials/

A few months ago I was in the states, well, one state, specifically Florida.  The tourist nature of Orlando can often cause the usual Brit to forget that Florida is a southern state, ie Hicktown or Red-neckville.  A couple of hours drive will take you to places such as Homassa Springs where the scenery will become an exact reflection of the scenes from Deliverance.  Trailers and wheel-less cars become standard.  However for a real taste of red-neck life this year, my father and I travelled no further than a handful of miles from the Villa to attend Oak Ridge Gun Rangehttp://oakridgegunrange.com/ .

Neither my Dad nor I had shot any kind of gun before, with the exception of air rifles, BB guns and plastic things which plug in the front of games consoles. As we highlighted this fact to the “GunShopMan”?  I prepared myself for a long winded run down of everything from loading the gun to wiping you arse, as would be the British way in a HEALTH AND SAFETY GONE MAD culture.  What followed was a 5 minute run down of how to load and fire the first pistol of choice, a Beretta 9mm. http://bit.ly/gLYUZ7   After this we were promptly handed some goggles and some ear muffs and pointed at a steel door. “You’re in lane seven”.

At this point I am shitting in my pants.  Not only am I about to shoot for the first time, I’m expected to do so with not so much as a demonstration.  AWESOME.  First thing first, attach a target to the automated clips. There were lots of targets to choose from ranging from simple targets to zombie Michael Jackson, my target of choice.  Once that was done I locked and loaded.

There is nothing as terrifying as pulling that trigger.  I say pull but it is actually more of a light squeeze, nothing like I would have imagined.  It’s amazing to feel those bullets fly out of the gun, knowing that each one has the potential to kill a man.  The price of the ammo is ridiculously cheap for what it can do.  We chose to only load the clips up to 6 bullets each turn and swap between us.

After firing some bullets from the Beretta, we moved on to a Colt 45. http://bit.ly/h8BZTI  We had great fun firing the two guns and my Dad challenged me to a shooting contest using the bull’s-eye targets.  We sent the targets down the full 50 feet to the end of the range and commenced the competition.  I really impressed myself, hitting one straight through the middle and needless to say, I kicked my Dad’s arse both times.

After this my Dad insisted we moved on to a shotgun and who was I to argue.  The gent at the counter asked if we wanted the bullets which killed squirrels or men.  We decided on some of each.  Let me state now that after seeing the state of poor MJ, I never want to see a Floridian squirrel.  The “big bang” rounds were incredibly fun and the next day I had a yellowing bruise from the recoil.

In conclusion I felt like more of a man than ever that day.

One thing I found strange was that we paid on the way out, being given a gun with no deposit save for out passports.  To my knowledge, passports aren’t a necessity on a gun rampage.  I found the thought of how easy it was to get the gun quite scary, imagine for instance somebody suicidal asking for a gun:

“How many bullets?”

“Two ……… just in case I miss.”

Or possibly a psycho

“How many bullets?”

“How many people work here?”

I would definitely recommend going to a gun range if you’re visiting the states as it is just a fantastic experience and everybody wants to be able to say they have fired a real gun.  On second thoughts I should have tried a sniper rifle.

Ok, so I have been in Florida for a little under a week now and so far it’s been great.  I love the states immensely from their sense of customer service to their unreasonably large all you can eat buffets.  If I were to talk about everything I have done, this blog would be pages long and as I want to get out doing more stuff I just want to talk about two things in particular.

The first one is my visit to the new Harry Potter World, in the Universal Studios – Islands of Adventure resort.  The place is fantastic.  You enter into a little village which is a mix of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.  You can pop into Olivander’s shop to find a wand or stop off at Zonko’s to pick up some practical jokes.  The Hogshead is incredibly dark and dingy, whilst the Three Broomsticks is much grander.  The butter beer comes on tap and tastes delicious, it is kind of a butter infused cream soda, with toffee foam on top.  The frozen butter beer is equally delicious. 

As you reach the bottom of the shops, Hogwarts becomes visibly on top of a hill.  This is the main feature of the new area and the ride inside is pretty damn good.  You wander into Hogwarts and make your way through the greenhouse, Dumbledore’s office and lots of halls of portraits.  Yes the portraits talk to you and move through the frames as you pass.  I was really hoping that Dawn French would be there and sure enough, you pass the Fat Lady.  Eventually you sit in a seat which is suspended from a convey belt of sorts.  The ride is a mix of huge screens and animatronics, you escape a dragon, enter the spider’s layer, narrowly avoid the whomping willow, etc etc.

Overall, the area lived up to the hype, however it was nowhere near the standard of the second thing I want to talk about. . . Universal Halloween Horror Night XX.

Basically they spend an hour in the afternoon changing the whole park to a dark Halloween theme.  This consists of 5 different scare zones (out in the park) and eight different walk through “houses”.  Each zone and house has its own theme and most of them were awesome.  The first scare zone was all the classic movie monsters.  Chucky, wolfman, Frankenstein’s monster and lots of other weird creatures.  I was particularly fond of the hot dead girls, who had more artistic license with how to scare people than say, a zombie.  The other scare zones were themed on Day of the Dead,  Steampunk, the Coven and Zombie Mardi Gras (FTW).

The houses were awesome and for anybody who has been on the likes of the Passage Del Terror, they put it to shame.  Each one was a massively intense experience, I only had time to do six of the eight but I think I chose the better ones.  The ones I went in were themed on:

1. A general scare house of weird creatures of all sorts, including a psychopathic surgeon, and a little girl eating the guts out of a corpse.

2. A zombie combat training programme which went somewhat wrong as you progressed through it.

3. An orphanage, enough said.

4. An insane asylum which has been left to its own devices for 10 years. (Insane people creep me out anyway)

5. Catacombs from the years of the plague.  Lots of people in those creepy pointy plague masks.

6. A dog soldiersesque theme.  Military genetic experiments which had gone horribly wrong.

The night was absolutely fantastic and for anybody who is coming to Florida in October, I strongly recommend it.  Nobody goes all out like the Americans for Halloween, and of them, nobody does it like Universal.

“As I walk though this city, I take a look around at the streets. The people here walk quickly, yet they seem to be in a trance, the two opposing ideas creating a hypnotic rhythm to the foot traffic. Men and women alike, glassy eyed, hypnotised, thinking only of their destination. No thought to the world around them, to the city, to the streets. I see the streets, I see the people. That’s why I hate it here.

Stop for a second. Stop. Now look around. See the world through my eyes, disconnect yourself from your own sorry affairs and take in the “Big Picture”.

I see a little girl, exiting a fast food joint. She must be seven if she’s a day. Alone, she carries the brown paper bag back towards the bad end of town, where her mother must lie in wait, probably in a heroine induced stupor. The staff have just served her, too afraid to help, too afraid to ask who she is with. Too afraid of repercussions.

I see women, no, girls, on the street. They dress in next to nothing. They leave the house with only the drink in mind, only the chance to throw away their dignity, give away themselves as if they were nothing. Some of them have boyfriends at home. Some of them have husbands. Some of them have children. Some of them have a spring in their step and a smile on their faces. It feels good to lose dignity.

I see the nerds. Introspective, self examining, rejected by all that they know. They live in a digital world of twisted in-jokes. That world makes more sense to them; it stops them having to look at the streets. Stops them from having to look at the real world. They lie in wait, they know their day will come. Between their four walls, with a plug in one, they have more freedom than any amount of open fields.

I see the suits. Callous, uncaring people. Looking for their next victim to screw over for a quid. Preying on those who are too stupid to know better. I see the stupid people too, blissful in their ignorance, thinking only of the evolutionary drives. Mate, Feed, Kill, Repeat.

I see uneaten food, thrown in bins next to people who have no homes to go to, no job to feed them. I see people who wear their bigoted, misogynistic beliefs on their sleeves like a badge of honour. I see people who hide their own morally superior beliefs, for fear of being targeted. For fear that the world isn’t yet that ethically advanced.

I see the streets. I see the people. I see the selfishness. That’s why I hate it here.

That’s why I can’t leave.

]]> http://theblindking.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/i-hate-it-here/feed/ 3 theblindking http://theblindking.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/i-smell-a-rat-zinger/ http://theblindking.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/i-smell-a-rat-zinger/#comments Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:36:21 +0000 theblindking http://theblindking.wordpress.com/?p=36 ]]> As you embark on the journey of reading this, my latest post (at least at the moment), please prepare yourself for somewhat higgledy-piggledyness as I am currently furious. Only one man in the world can trigger this bile within me, a mostly peaceful person and that man is the persistently alive Pope Benedict XVI.

The Successor of the Prince of the Apostles arrived in the country today 16 September 2010 and immediately spew vile sweepingly general bullshit for the arsehole on his face which we refer to as the “Tongue of God”. The speech in question was his first official one of the visit. I particularly want to concentrate on what he said about Atheism and Secularism and for my purposes I will quote the relevant parts of the speech. For a full transcript visit http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/nazi-youth-pope-aligns-atheists-with-nazis-bi

The first part of the speech which I would like to address is as follows:

Where to start, there is so much wrong with this quote that I find it somewhat overwhelming. The temptation is to make attacks on The Vicar of Jesus Christ’s involvement in the Hitler Youth. This would be somewhat childish as it was a necessity to join the group for German teenage boys and evidence shows that Ratzinger’s father was somewhat opposed to the Nazis. It is however fair to say that some people in the country ( a large number if small fraction) put up resistance to the Nazis and the Ratzingers weren’t amongst them.

I suppose it is better then to tackle the atheism of the Nazis, an argument which comes up often when talking to the less intelligent religious population. We can fairly say that the views of the Nazi party were indeed the views of Hitler. For many political parties, this would not apply to the same extent but any educated person knows that the Nazi party was Hitler’s dream, completely. This means that we have to look at Hitler’s own views on religion which are somewhat shrouded in mystery, in my opinion this is due to the attempts of the religious to use Hitler as an example of an atheist. At the very least though we can say that he was by no means “definitely” an atheist. For instance in “Mein Kampf” he writes “Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”

In the 1920s, long before his rise to power he gave a speech which included the following:

“My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savoir as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God’s truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice… And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own” (Norman H. Baynes, ed. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939, Vol. 1 of 2, pp. 19-20, Oxford University Press, 1942)

So not an atheist at all, in fact it is fair to say that his anti-semetic views spanned from his religion. Lets us also remember that the Catholic church offered its support to the Nazi Party in Germany, but that’s a different story. So the Nazi Party were not an Atheist organisation at all, their aims and methods were not driven by atheism and at no point were they trying to eradicate religion.

Next then to “Atheist extremism” which has apparently given us some sobering lessons in the last century. This may be a fair point, it may be that my own views on religion has blinded me to the truth and led me to be able to see only the religious extremism which in my mind has dominated the major world events for the past half century, if not since time immemorial. This is a common annoyance to me. Let me make it clear that nobody does anything in “The Name Of Atheism”. People may act out of opposition to religion but this is a separate thing. To act in atheism would be to act on nothing, it is a lack of a belief, it does not have its own views even if atheist may share common views in many cases. The Catholic church was responsible for huge bloody crusades throughout the last millennia. Has anybody gone across the world on the end of a sword in the name of Nothing? has anybody ever beaten and tortured associates of an artist who drew Nothing with a bomb on its head?

The next part of the speech is this:

“Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society. In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate.”

Firstly can I point out that this multiculturalism is apparently the reason why the Popes advisor Walter Kasper to feel that landing in Britain is like arriving in a “third world country”. http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/09/popes-aides-branding-uk-third-world-sparks-race-row-britain.html Is it again my own preconceptions which point me towards the underlying vomit in the above quote? Respect? Respect for a religion which covers up child abuse to protect it own, which surpresses women and allows them no power. Which offers a place in paradise to criminals of all kinds provided they accept Jesus. A religion which brands protected intercourse as evil and persuades the uneducated populace of AIDS ridden countries that condoms actually spread AIDS.

No Mr Ratzinger, I have no respect for Catholism, I have no respect for “Tradition for Tradition’s sake”, I have no respect for those who prey on ignorance. But let me make this absolutely clear you foul, vile mouther, biggoted, sexist, hate mongering, lying Hand of God. First and foremost I have absolutely, well and truely NO respect for YOU.