More satire. Of course I support gay marriage. Don't you know me at all?
This list is not new, but I still like it:
1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.
So a movie is coming out in October called Religulous (religion + ridiculous = religulous). Here is the trailer:
Honestly? I want to see it. I think I will enjoy watching it. I think I will laugh and smile and have a good time, especially if I am a theater full of other atheists/agnostics/skeptics, etc.
Though I also think it would be entertaining to watch it with a bunch of Christians. I can imagine them laughing at first saying "Oh those Buddhists, how can they believe something so crazy?" But then the movie would start showing the ridiculousness in what Christians believe and they would get so offended. "Oh no! We are so persecuted! Atheists are so horrible!" (Sidenote: according to this Gallop poll, atheists are no longer the most hated group. Its now Scientology.)
It reminds me of a quote:
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." -Stephen Henry Roberts (1901-71)
More later... maybe I'll see the movie in a few months and write a review.
Showing their truly hateful colors, here is a video of some members of the Westboro Baptist Church protesting at the gay marriage celebration in San Francisco. At least they aren't protesting at a funeral this time. Plus I love the guys chanting "We're getting married."
If you can't see the video, you can go to it here.
I don't understand how some people can have such hate for others, especially in the name of a loving god. How can love and commitment be so wrong? Don't the Westboro Baptist Church people know that they are doing more harm than good? Not only are they driving people away from belief in their god, but they are tarnishing Christians everywhere.
Someone told me once that the Westboro Baptist Church protests at places like funerals, parades, and schools (they went to my brother's school once) in order to incite violence against themselves. Once someone punches them, as I'm sure plenty of people do, the 'church' sues. This is how they make money.
So if you are ever unlucky enough to be faced with these people do everything you can to avoid hurting them, no matter how much you want to. It would only help them in the end. Instead why don't we give them some food and water, after all it would be like heaping coals on their head (Proverbs 25:21-22). Of course I bet they wouldn't get the irony of their queer atheist enemy knowing the bible better than they do.
Well it is June 14th and I haven’t posted since May, so I feel obliged to post a little update about my life and things coming soon (read: eventually) on this blog.
As far as the blog goes, I am working on a post about “intelligent design” in which I argue that it is bullshit and definitely not a scientific theory of any kind. Instead it is propaganda and an insult to intelligent people and to science. I am also going to post a few other things about my atheism and atheism in general. There will also be a revamped list of grad schools soon, I may post a draft of my personal statement, and maybe even a resume so I can get some feedback from you all if possible. Plus, you know, anything I think of randomly or find interesting online. If I manage to remember to post, that is.
And as far as my life in the last month? I worked as an intern for CMC alumni relations from the time school got out until June 1st when alumni weekend was over. It was a great time. I met a man named Dan Vadala who graduated in 1948 (CMC was founded in 1946!!) as a ‘pacesetter.’ Pacesetters were CMC’s first students who came back from the war and went back to school. They only took 2-3 years to graduate because they had already taken some classes before fighting in WWII, and their education was paid for by the GI bill. Vadala stayed in the dorms during the weekend and enjoyed the parties.
Which reminds me, CMC alums are boozers. I swear the alums are bigger alkies (alcoholics) than the current students. They were cracking me up with stories of the old days when they would play large-scale pranks almost every day. Plus, it was founded as a men’s school (it was originally called Claremont Men’s College and there were no women until 1976) so it was basically one big frat for the first 30 years. Luckily for them there was a women’s school (Scripps) right across the street and it was cute to learn that many of the alums were still married to Scripps alums. Overall it was a good time. I was totally busy all weekend from 9am to LATE at night, but they paid me well and the alums were great so it was worth it.
For the remainder of June I have been working at the Claremont-Scripps-Pitzer Joint Science Department. I’m in the same lab that I worked in during the school year doing research on vocal learning. Things have been going well. The goal has been to do two experiments a week as well as doing two lesions a week, and some histology. Of course we have been having some trouble maintaining that pace… but if we keep the goals high then even if we fail we still did plenty. I love it. I love science, I love doing science, I love talking about science, I love reading about science. It’s pretty much awesome.
What else? Hmm, pretty much nothing. I live in the lab (some days I work from 8am to 11pm). And if I’m not in the lab I’m hanging out with people from the lab. For example, Thursday night the lab went over to Prof. Coleman’s house (my mentor) and I have never laughed so hard. It was a great time.
Okay, more to come soon I swear, but that’s all for now.
