Our indescribably large universe

http://youtu.be/Vz52N_SZvL0

The visible universe is incredibly large. Only recently have we had the experimental tools and observational data to truly get a grasp on the numbers, and the numbers are astounding. They are so large that even when we come up with analogies to describe them, as in the above video, they still are hard to absorb. The number of stars and galaxies are beyond astronomical (see what I did there?). And those are just the ones that we can see.

As big as these numbers are, they are nothing next to eternity or infinity. Those are some truly absurd concepts (outside of mathematics, where infinity serves very useful purposes). Christianity and other religions bandy about terms like 'eternal' and 'infinite' with amazing (and I would say alarming) frequency and nonchalance. It's as though to think about spending an unending amount of time doing, well, whatever one thinks one does in heaven, were analagous to a weekend vacation to the beach. Yet clearly it's not. And what's worse, we are charged with coming to believe an impossible story about an unknown and unproven afterlife, with the promise of unending pleasure, or the pain of unending torture. Aint that grand!?

Moderately religious?

I saw that phrase again today, moderately religious. I wonder what that means.


'Yeah, I believe in Jesus 'n Stuff™, but I only pay attention to him on Sundays and holidays.'


'Sure, the salvation of my eternal soul rests on the decisions I make in this fragile mortal life, but I don't like to make a big deal about it.'


'Well, I could be tortured forever in unfathomable agony if I do this, but those 8 seconds of pleasure will be well worth it.'


So, do the fanatics have it right? Because they seem to be the only ones who come close to truly understanding the choices and tasks that theists are charged with making and performing. I submit that if I believed that there were such a thing as an eternal soul or endless, excruciating pain, I would be doing everything I could to become saved, escape hell, etc. It wouldn't just be an important thing to do, another chore to check off my list. It wouldn't be the most important thing to do in life. It would be the ONLY thing to do. But that's just me...

A response to the open letter from Rabbi Adam Jacobs

This is a response to the letter in the link below:
Open Letter from Rabbi Jacobs to Atheists

1. Am I wrong, or did the rabbi spend the first half of his letter telling us how there are no true atheists, then starts the second half by saying that he's spent a sizable portion of his life as an atheist??? WTF? Having been so studied in the fields of belief and atheism, surely the author knows that an insignificant number of people would define atheism as he has. That can't have escaped his attention. Every atheist that I know of understands that a-theism means lack of BELIEF in god. This is still not clear to the rabbi after all that study? Jeez.
2. Appeals to authorities dismissed. What do I care if Antony Flew wishes to now call himself some kind of deist. Has absolutely no bearing on whether or not a god exists. Same could be said for Dawkins and Hawking...they don't know either.
3. I'm going to assume that you live in the US, and as such, you must either be pretending or seriously, seriously obtuse not to recognize the powerful influence that religion and those who claim to know/speak for/love/be on a mission for god have on social and political matters affecting ALL citizens.
4. Hitler, Stalin, etc. This AGAIN!!?? Are we pretending that those loathsome individuals were responsible for the deaths of millions of people? Are we going to pretend that the vast majority of those doing the actual killing were believers of one stripe or another? Puh-leeze.
5. 'The faith to which I ascribe has brought substantial light and unique meaning to the world.' Like what? Fear of hell? Body issues and being ashamed to be human? What has the faith to which you ascribe brought to the world that could not have been done through reasoned discourse, education, freedom of thought/action, etc.? My answer: nothing. On the contrary, I'd argue that we are worse off rather than having been bettered by faith.
6. "...you ask us to accept that it's the result of undetectable organizational forces..." NO! What most atheists reject is the supposition that there is some ultimate Truth out there that you and people like you have discovered. Instead of saying, 'I don't know, let's work together to grow, learn, and discover things about the universe', you say 'I have the Truth, and not only is it true for me, it is true for EVERYONE.' That certainty, that unmovable position, that FAITH that you have, is the single biggest objection that most atheists would probably have against the idea of faith. I think that the religious need to learn those three powerful words...'I don't know!'.

A Convenient Lie?

So I'm watching Monsters vs. Aliens the other day with the kids, and at a pivotal point near the end of the movie, a few of the main characters are trapped and their deaths are imminent. Two of the characters say their last heartfelt words to each other, "It's been an honor to know you" style. Another of the characters, who is literally a brainless amorphous blob, says to the others, "I'll see you two tomorrow." The other two say, with complete false sincerity, "That's right, Bob, and we'll have cake and ice cream." Bob brings his hands to his 'face' in absolute glee and says "Cake and ice cream!? It's gonna be the best day ever!"

This scene (like all the others) is played for laughs, as we, the audience, are in on the fact that the doomed players are simply consoling the blob in the face of their impending deaths. But I couldn't help thinking of the parallels between the movie scene and the many times I've seen/heard the religious say something along the same lines when people are dealing with grief, pain and anguish.

"It's alright, he's in heaven/with his Father/in a better place now."

Is a convenient lie better than a painful truth under those circumstances? Is it even a lie if it is believed by the one telling it?