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"Businesses may come and go, but religion will last forever, for in no other endeavor does the consumer blame himself for product failure." ~ Harvard Lamphoon, "Doon" (paraphrase) "Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child." ~ Robert Heinlein, "Notebooks of Lazarus Long" "The believer is happy; the doubter is wise." ~ Hungarian proverb Let me just state here that I am a "concerned father" of three, married to a "concerned mother" and feminist. I am a geek. I love my hardware and wish that my code was up to snuff. I like to game but rarely have enough time for it (life!). I'm not really a huge car fan, and my mushroom eating days are long over, but I like games where I get to kill things....blow em up, gun em down whatever, and the more realistic the better. After a long hard day at work dealing with crappy crabby customers it's nice to be able to blow a few away. Of course, I do this in the privacy of my own room, on my private sytem, just like I save certain adult movies (not those...sheesh!!) for after the kids are asleep. What makes me a concerned parent? The idea that I, as an adult, may not have the freedom to choose make my own entertainment choices because of a small but loud mouthed group of under educated people. That when my five year old son gets a little older and wants to play something a little harder than "Lego Racers" the option won't be there. That when they get done with the games and movies they will move on to the books and artworks. That someone, somewhere, will legislate against my right to raise my children as I see fit and place that power in someone elses hands.....and all because some other "concerned parents" are too lazy to actually do their job. ~ a slashdot user He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. ~ Albert Einstein The Christian view that all intercourse outside marriage is immoral was, as we see in the above passages from St. Paul, based upon the view that all sexual intercourse, even within marriage, is regrettable. A view of this sort, which goes against biological facts, can only be regarded by sane people as a morbid aberration. The fact that it is embedded in Christian ethics has made Christianity throughout its whole history a force tending towards mental disorders and unwholesome views of life. ~ Bertrand Russell Interesting side note: The only way to change a law at the level of the supreme court is to first break that law. Constitutionality, morality, or ethics cannot by themselves get a law changed. So doesn't it follow that breaking the law is justifiable (in specific cases) under ANY law-abiding system? Those who refuse to follow are doomed to lead. If you try to suppress it, you only increase its power. Confuseus say war does not determine who is right, war determines who is left. "In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move." ~ Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say that one is an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or agnostic. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time." ~ Isaac Asimov And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? ... Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. ~ The "Holy" Bible ~ Num.31:15-19 There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. ~ Ansel Adams There is an objective reality out there, but we view it through the spectacles of our beliefs, attitudes, and values. ~ David G. Myers, Social Psychology Suicide is man's way of telling God, "You can't fire me - I quit." ~ Bill Maher, on Politically Incorrect, 1995 They tell us that suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice... that suicide is wrong; when it is quite obvious that there is nothing in the world to which every man has a more unassailable title than to his own life and person. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." ~ Albert Einstein A penny will hide the biggest star in the Universe if you hold it close enough to your eye. ~ Samuel Grafton Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. ~ Source Unknown To succeed with the opposite sex, tell her you're impotent. She can't wait to disprove it. ~ Cary Grant Don't knock masturbation - it's sex with someone I love. ~ Woody Allen "When man learned that he could not live by bread alone, he invented the sandwich." ~ Bob Barnes "If you love something, let it go. If it comes back it's yours. If it doesn't, it never really was in the first place." "Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so." ~ David Grayson "Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy." ~ Nora Ephron "Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while." ~ Kin Hubbard The best computer is a man, and it's the only one that can be mass-produced by unskilled labor. ~ Werner von Braun All that glitters is not gold. All those who wander are not lost. ~ J.R.R. Tolkein "Patience is a virtue, they say, but too much patience goes absolutely nowhere." ~ Doctor Who "SPOOOOON!" -the tick. "there is no spoon" -Neo "there simultaneously IS and IS NOT a spoon." -Schoedinger. If Brute Force doesn't work you're not using enough. "Trouble is, just because it's obvious doesn't mean it's true" ~ Terry Pratchett "If you don't control your mind, someone else will." ~ John Allston His power lies apparently in his ability to choose incompetent enemies. ~ Crow T. Robot, MST3K, "Prince of Space" "A witty saying proves nothing." ~ Voltaire Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and tactical nuclear weaponry. In theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice they're different. As Woody Allen said, some people try to achieve immortality through their work, others through their children. I hope to achieve immortality by not dying. "There's certainly a strong case for people really disliking Microsoft. Most of that is because their operating systems really suck." ~ Linus Torvalds "Bill Gates is just a monocle and a Persian Cat away from being one of the bad guys in a James Bond movie." ~ Dennis Miller "When Avon holds out the hand of friendship, watch his other hand - that's the one with the hammer." ~ Vila, Blake's Seven "He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot, is a fool; and he who dares not, is a slave." ~ Byron The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. ~ Bertrand Russell Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. ~ Ambroise Bierce Question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there be one, He must approve the homage of Reason rather than that of blindfolded Fear. ~ Thomas Jefferson The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one. ~ David Hume I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it. Reason should be destroyed in all Christians. ~ Martin Luther Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword. ~ Jesus, Matthew 10:34 "Power attracts the corruptable. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptable" ~ Frank Herbert Threats are the hallmark of a wicked creed. "If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others like?" ~ Voltaire (1694-1778) Be careful not to fall into the trap of believing something simply because you want it to be true. No longer should we quail from declaring that it is with religion itself - the willing adherence to supernatural propositions because of the emotional satisfaction they bring, rather than any intersubjective demonstrability of their truth - that the problem lies. "Think Before You Believe" Stupid laws deserve contempt. I find the distinction between freedom and power useful for thinking about the ethics of political issues. Freedom is when you control activities that affect you most closely; to control activities that mainly affect other people is power, power to dominate others. When software users can change and share a program, that is exercising freedom. When software developers make a program proprietary, and place restrictions on the users, that is exercising power. Protecting essential freedoms is always a matter of restricting the actions that would deny them. Remember, your freedom to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose. |