My roommate is in the math research program with me. He is a physics and math double major, and is pretty smart. And he is Mormon. And he does not believe in evolution. What force, other than religion, could make such a smart man of science reject perhaps the most important and the most well-documented theory in the history of science? Religion.
It’s one thing to believe in something for which there is no evidence one way or the other, like God. Call it faith, if you will. But it is quite another to actively ignore evidence and believe in something which the evidence has clearly ruled out, like creationism. This is just pure stupidity.
It is sad that, despite the back-breaking efforts of so many scientists, faith and religion is putting people back in the 16th century.
Last Sunday, I visited a local Mormon ward (equivalent of a church) with my Mormon roommate. It was a ward composed mainly of the tenants living in my apartment, and the service took place inside a chemistry lecture hall on the BYU campus. I could not help but notice the irony of the fact that there was a huge Periodic Table of the Elements hung at the front of the lecture hall. I was curious as to why we did not have service at one of the gorgeous (or cult-like) looking Mormon Temples I had seen around town, and I would soon find out the sinister answer to this later.
So the service broke apart into 3 parts. The first part is the most similar to a typical Christian worship – singing hymns, doing congregational prayers, etc… And you can bet that during the prayers, I proudly kept my head up and kept my eyes open. I was proud to be the only person in the room who was not superstitious. The one different thing about a Mormon service is that there is no sermon. In fact, the Mormons don’t have a pastor. They only have a Bishop, which is more like a guidance couselor for the ward with a direct line to God. So instead of a sermon, they have “testimonies”. And this is one of the most brilliant brain-washing schemes I have ever witnessed.
Here is the idea: during Testimonies, any ward member is free to volunteer, come up to the podium, and deliver a “testimony”. They usually talk about how they personally experienced the love of God, how God helped him/her during the week, etc. And nearly every person who walked up to the podium started crying. Mormonism is not a passive religion, folks. It’s not like the typical Methodist who just shows up to church every Sunday out of habit. It’s a bonified cult. The most striking part about the testimonies was that EVERY person repeated the line “I believe in Joseph Smith the prophet, Gordon B. Hinkley the president of the church, a seer, revelator, and a prophet, and I believe that this is the only true church on this Earth.” Of course, no body ever explained WHY they believe these things. Only a repetition of “I KNOW this to be true” could be heard. Talk about faith.
This really is brilliant. Rather than have some authority figure (like a pastor) lecture you on why you should believe, they have your Peers do it. How much more effective this must be! And the self-riteousness of these people who walk up to the podium and do these testimonies. They must feel as though they are somehow spiritually superior for doing so. The whole ceremony is a total brain-washing tool, driven by peer-pressure and a collective sense of riteousness.
From my experience, the main difference about Mormonism in practice (as opposed to its theological backgrounds) to other forms of Christianity is its emphasis on Revelations. They claim that because they are the only ones in direct communication with God, they are the only true Christian church. All the other churches and denominations are wrong because they have fallen into “apostasy”. In fact, the president of the church is believed to communicate directly with god. And so the president has the right to say “God told me this, so we will now do this.” This is how Polygamy was started and this is also how it also ended. The current president is Gordon B. Hinkley, a poor old 95 year old man having to carry the burden of divinations from God. What a pathetic lie. And then there are the 12 Apostles, which are sort of like the 12 board members of the Mormon Church, and they are also expected to communicate directly with God. How bizzare is this? In the 21st century, here is a group of people who literally think that their leader really sees, hears, and talks to God. And they don’t mean this in a metaphorical sense.
The second part of the service is akin to a Bible study, broken up into little groups. I followed my roommate to his group. There was alot of unjustified claims and igonrant remarks made during this session, and I had to constantly stop my self from voicing my concerns. But at on point, someone said “I think Science is alot like religion too in that sometimes, it is progressed through revelations.” I couldn’t take this any longer. I spoke out and said: “I think that is a gross mischaracterization of Science. Science progresses thorugh EVIDENCE. For you to think that Science progresses through revelations like your religion does is to spit in the face of millions of scientists who devote their entire lives to objectivity and collecting evidence.” After a silence, they just moved on. I was fuming.
The third part of the service was a meeting among just the male members of the church. The females also had their own meeting. I will not get into the sexual discrimination practiced in Mormonism in this post. In the male meeting, or the “Priesthood” meeting, we talked about the practice of sacraments. Nothing too exciting there.
All in all, I got the impression that if you are inclined to be religious, Mormonism might be very tempting. There is something about it that really draws you in. Perhaps its the fact that the Book of Mormon places the Americas at the center of Chrisitian Theology. Or maybe its the claim that Mormons are in direct communication with God. If that was true, Mormonism would indeed be the only true religion. From an atheist’s perspective, this makes it all the more dangerous. There are things Mormons believe that not even a Christian would admit to believing in. It was Hitler who once said “The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.”
And as to why the service did not take place at a Mormon temple, the temples are apparently not for worshipping in. In fact, they are closed on Sundays. The temples are used for Baptisms, Endowments, and other Mormon cult-like ceremonies. An Endowment is a ritual similar to a Masonic ritual where Mormons learn a secret hand-shake that will allow them to enter heaven (I am not making this up). Also, you need a “temple recommend” to be allowed to enter a Mormon Temple. Furthermore, you dress in all-white robes called “temple garments” to enter the temple. Needless to say, all this is very cult-like.
If you have free time, go search for images to a Mormon Temple. It certainly looks very beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, to the point of being haunting.
When was the last time you heard the sentence “The terrorists attacked us because they hate freedom.”? You’ve heard it so many times it probably doesn’t mean anything to you. But think about it. It should get your blood boiling.
Seriously, do these pundits and politicians have even a pinch of intelligence? Or do they think the average joe is such a fuck-tard that he wouldn’t see right through the bullshit? The terrorists attacked us because of our interests in Israel, our military bases in Saudi-Arabia, and because of religious dogma that pushes jihadism and violence. And that’s over-simplifying a complex foreign-policy issue. BECAUSE THEY HATE OUR FREEDOM??? WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT IS THAT?
The comedian David Cross makes a good point. If the terrorists hated freedom, they would’ve attacked the Netherlands first. Let’s actually LISTEN to Osama BinLaden. He himself says that this is a holy war of Islam against the rest of the world. He says get out of the middle east. Are we so inane that we ignore this and continue to think that they attack us for meta-philosophical reasons?
Now, none of this means that the terrorists attacks are ever justified. It is NEVER justified. On the other hand, it is important to recognize WHY they attack us, regardless of the legitimacy of the attacks. So when the presidential candidate (Republican) Ron Paul says “They attack us because we are over there.”, he makes a good point.
Of course the Neo-Cons, who are experts at concocting a dangerous mix of faux-patriotism and religion, will jump at your throat and say “DO YOU REALLY MEAN TO SUGGEST THAT AMERICA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTACKS ON 9-11?” Of course we are, you fuck-tards. We are a PART of the problem. It is the result of our failed foreign policy, along with other factors. Remember, this does not itself mean that we condone the attacks.
Either these republicans are really as dumb as they sound, or they are master manipulators. So the next time you see or hear a Neo-Con pull this sort of faux-patriotic, conflating different issues, appealing to the uninformed emotions, sort-of bullshit, call them out on it.
So here is another Mormon practice: they avoid any movies that are rated R. Even the adults. Why? Well, its easy to imagine why they think rated R movies are bad. The same reason the FCC bleeps and blurres out things on TV. Rated R movies usually have sexual content or obscene language, and the Mormons think its good to avoid bad influence.
But seriously, who are we kidding here? What sort of bad influence? Are mormons so weak and impressonable that listening to curse words leads one to use them more often? PLEASE. If anything, the resolve to be “virtuous” or whatever should make them less likely to be affected by bad movies. And they ought to give more credit to human resolve. And who cares if you use some taboo words? It is only an artificial social construction. If anything, the religious should transcend past such bullshit.
Last week, everyone our research group was getting together to watch Borat, which of course is a rated R movie. And my roommate, who is a mormon, declined to participating. I was disappointed.
Why do I care if Mormons want to censor themselves? Because it leads to ignorance. There is something to be said for being open-minded and experiencing as many things as you can. If you grow up never having scene someone serious go on a cursing rampage, and if you have never seen some nasty sex on film, what is going to happen to you? You’re being unrealistic. We live in a society that’s nasty, obscene, and absurd (by the religious view anyways. I happen to think these “obscene” things are part of human nature and we should celebrate them.) So lets get realistic and see the world for what it is.
It just gets me mad that religious people spend so much energy on something so unimportant. Let’s be more concerned about the REAL issues, like ignorance and the pain and suffering that results from it.
So I have been at BYU for about 2 and a half weeks now. I have generally observed that the natives here are much more “friendlier”. The reason I put that in quotes is because sometimes, the friendliness is so over-the-top that it seems too superficial. Here is a typical scenario:
::Maxx walks out of his apartment onto the 2nd floor balcony, and there are some people standing below on the courtyard.:::
Stranger: Oh Hi! How are you!
Me: Hi, I’m ok. You?
Stranger: I’m doing great!! What’s your name?
Me: Uh.. Maxx.. Yours?
Stranger: My name is ********. You’re with the math program here?
Me: Yeh…
Stranger: Awesome! What are you guys doing?
Me: We are still learning new stuff for the most part…
Stranger: Great!
Me: yeh..
Stranger: So do you want to join us later on? We are having a bible study and then a water balloon fight (or singing or watching some 60s movie.. etc…)
Me: Uh… actually.. no thanks..
Stranger: Aww.. why not???? So where are you from?
Me: I’m from NJ..
Stranger: Wow.. quite a trip out here huh? So do you like it here so far?
Me: Yeh.. I guess its a lot different here… I’m atheist so..
Stranger: I see… I went on missionary to Russia last year… this must like that for you! Like you were in Russia or something…
etc etc etc…
I was standing in line at McDonalds, and I ran into someone who lives right below my apartment. After the typical conversation above, he said to me,
****ApartmentMate: Isn’t America just so cool??
Me: Um…. depends on what you mean by cool?
****ApartmentMate: I mean the story of how we came to be.. this is such a great country…
I kid you not. The above conversation really happened.
The strong vibe I am getting about Mormonism so far is that the Mormons really truly believe that America is the direct result of God. The Book of Mormons tells a story of Jesus Christ visiting the US, so as far as they are concerned, USA is sort of like the new Israel, a holy land that was made democratic by the power of their God. So then why are they not outraged that America has become one of the least free democracies in the world? Do they even know this? Do they know that the Netherlands are more democratic than the USA?
This is the first post in about a month. I decided to stop writing for the summer, but I have come across something that I think will be interesting to write about.
Right now, I am in Provo, Utah at Brigham Young University (BYU), the bastion of conservative mormons. I will be living here for the next 2 months. As you know, I am a staunch atheist, so I feel like a fish out of water. You can bet I have had some contentious confrontations with the super-religious people here.
I’m in Utah to take part in a summer research program for undergraduates, called an REU. My research is in mathematical physics, and I am working with professors and grad students among with other undergraduate peers in this program. But the most interesting part is that all this is taking place at BYU, and I had no clue what this place was like until I got here.
BYU is a university founded and still funded by Mormons, a Christian sect originating out of the midwest United States in the 19th century. For a comprehensive (and probably more accurate)Â explanation of Mormonism, you can check out Wikipedia, but here is what I know: Joseph Smith was an American colonialist who claimed to have visions from God, and he apparently found some golden plates in the mountains, which he promptly copied onto paper and published. Of course, no body except Smith ever saw the plates. The contents of the plates tell a story of Jews migrating to the Unites States millenia before the colonialists settled there, and apparently the Native American Indians are the jewish descendants. Furthermore, Jesus Christ apparently visited the United States after resurrection. Obviously, there are no archaeological or historical evidence for any of this. But nevertheless, this document Smith claimed to have received from God is known as The Book of Mormon, and the Mormons use it as a holy text in addition to the traditional bible.
Being in Provo, Utah is a culture shock for me. Bible scriptures written in public places, college students singing hymns during their free time, and other unbearable religious practices. I’ve even had debates with my roommate, who is a Mormon.
The most notable part is that I was forced to sign an ‘Honor Code Agreement’ to live on campus and do research here. The code prohibits ANY use of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, pornography, profane words, rated R movies, sleeveless shirts, sandals, etc… You can see how ridiculous this is. I wouldn’t do most of those things anyways, but I disagree with it on principle.
The biggest inconvenience is my long hair. Apparently, guys are not allowed to have long hair or beards. The cafeteria, library, the gym, and other places will refuse me service unless I explain that I am a visitor and apologize. Thankfully, the professor who is in charge of are research group is quite liberal, and he has made some phone calls to make it easier for me.
But nevertheless, I am infuriated at the religious conservativeness here. On principle, I find this sort of censorship disgusting. What purpose does prohibiting profane words serve? Why take such a artificial social construction so seriously? If the religious are to claim that they have some superiority on the knowledge of how the universe works, they must realize this: curse words, long hair, pornography, or even drugs for that matter, is like a grain of sand in the overall scheme of the universe. How ever unpleasant it might be, human life is only a VERY VERY small part of the universe, and if there is a God, it may not even know where Earth is.
Stayed tuned for more of my misadventures of an Atheist in Provo, Utah.
Teachers convinced 69 sixth-grade students from Scales Elementary School that there was a gunman on the loose. One official has said the exercise was intended as a teaching tool.
The students were told to lie on the floor or hide underneath tables and stay quiet. After the lights went out, some of the children began to cry. A teacher, disguised in a hooded sweat shirt, pulled on locked doors.
Bartch, who was present, has said the scenario was intended as a learning experience and lasted only five minutes. “We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation,” he said.
What is going on in America’s grade schools? This story outraged me like no other. It underscores a problem with elementary and middle school teachers I have been suspecting all along. None of them are really the intellectual types, and put more focus on this type of bullshit than actually teaching itself. They also tend to be the type of bonehead teachers who care more about “disciplinary action” and enforcing rules than actually trying to enrich the kids with an intellectual and worthwhile experience. No wonder American schools are falling behind. Surrounded by teachers like this, what student is actually going to enjoy learning.
We need more intellectually and academically oriented teachers in schools. If anything, these teachers should be scaring the crap out of their kids with challenging material and lots of homework. The problem is that most teachers themselves in elementary and middle schools haven’t been challeneged intellectually before and they don’t know what academics is all about.
According to a strange mathematical law, about 1/3 of house numbers have 1 as their first digit. The same holds true for many other areas that have almost nothing in common: the Dow Jones index history, size of files stored on a PC, the length of the world’s rivers, the numbers in newspapers’ front page headlines, and many more.
-http://www.physorg.com/news98015219.html
What an interesting discovery. According to the article, scientists have been unable to find any a priori reason why one should occur most frequently as the first digit in various numbers. Somewhat expectedly, this law does not hold for numbers that are randomized or distributed in some deliberate way such as lottery numbers or telephone numbers. On the other hand, numbers that are not necessarily randomized or distributed in a certain way, such as the surface area of countries, mostly start with one.
The coolest part about this story is how the law was first discovered: apparently the physicist Benford was looking through logarithm tables and found that the pages that have numbers starting with one was the most crimpled and used. This suggested to him that perhaps data starting with one ocurred the most frequently in scientific research.
Although nobody may understand why this law holds, it has been put to good use. For example, it is used to detect accounting forgery and election fraud. If Benford’s law is shown not to hold in these data sets, one may suspect foul play. Of course, this does not constitute direct evidence of data manipulation. But given that Benford’s law has held true in so many different cases, lack of such a distribution of number is at least grounds for some suspicion.
I wonder if this law has anything to do with the fact that we use base 10 in numbering things. Perhaps other numbers can be shown to occur more frequently in the first digit if another base was used. If a similar result did not occur in other base systems, than this is evidence that Benford’s Law is solely an artifact of using base 10. On the other hand, if some form of this law still held in other base systems, then the mystery is still not solved. It makes sense that such a law would hold for house numbers, for example, only because you need the lower numbers to occur first before you get to the higher ones. But this makes no sense for things like area of countries.
If you are familiar with academic/scientific colloquiums and presentations, you will find this video absolutely hilarious. If you are not, well, then you are probably saner than any of the people laughing uncontrollably in this video.
