There is No Such Thing As Atheism

Posted by admin on August 7th, 2009 | No Comments »

There is no such thing as atheism.

During my senior year of college, a group formed on campus called something like “Atheists Unite.”  In my recollection, in order to draw a following they started posting ads for their group around campus with anti-god jokes and quips…almost putting down or making fun of people who chose to believe in some kind of God or supreme being.  I was annoyed by these posters because I didn’t understand why a lack of belief in God had to warrant such derogatory energy towards active believers.  Holding myself as an agnostic, not identifying with any religion or dogma but non the less somebody who firmly believes in God: the “higher self” within me as well as a greater, unknowable “thing” or “being” outside of me, I was upset by this groups seemingly sarcastic nature.  At the time I dismissed them as lame, but in retrospect I wish I had gone to a meeting to see what they were all about.  A “god” lover like myself, immersed in a group of possible God-haters.

These are the questions I would ask them:

1) What is the benefit of choosing such active disbelief?  What is the pay-off in thinking that something greater doesn’t exist?  What do you gain from it?

2) How can you actively NOT believe in something that is always and forever unknowable?  Aren’t you, by actively saying “there is no God” giving God credence and existence by NOT believing in it?

Take the idea of racism as an example.  Racism can only exist when somebody becomes aware of somebody else’s race.  For young children, the concept of black or white is usually, depending on the parents, not even a realm in the child’s consciousness.  An example from my own life, I had a black baby sitter when I was a toddler.  I didn’t even know she was black until I got old enough to differentiate.  The awareness of race is the first seed of racism.  Now, once that seed is planted, we can actively choose to not believe in discriminating groups of people based on race or ethnicity…but as long as the awareness of race exists in our consciousness…we have racism within us.  Everybody does…and except for the young child, there are no exceptions to this.

It is no different for atheism…or unicorns or fairies for that matter! If you were a true atheist, the concept of God, the idea of something greater than yourself wouldn’t even be on your radar…would not even enter your consciousness.  If you are saying there is no such thing as “such and such” then “such and such” exists for you in the realm of things not to believe in…so therefore, you are acknowledging “such and such’s” existence…even in the realm of your mind or your imagination.  Even in the realm of disbelief.

The entirety of God…whether you are a Christian who believes every word of the Bible, or an agnostic like myself, or a Buddhist who believes that God is within…is forever unknowable.  Faith is the practice of believing in the unknowable, of believing in that which can’t be known or seen.  In church, people experience their idea of God permeating their being; they cry, they weep, they sing, they are filled with the Holy Spirit.  In my life I have felt such things…such immense joy and love from what I call “God” but could easily call “Spirit,” “Universe,” “The One” and a million other names.  A Buddhist might say he knows God after he is enlightened.  None of the above truly knows the entirety of God.

Like Death, we can only speculate.  We may have strong beliefs about what happens after death, or about what God is…and our faith in our beliefs may indeed be so strong that we feel in our whole being sure of the answer.  Yet we can never truly know for sure.  And this is what is so awesome about God.  For every amazing thing that I personally believe God to be, I also believe that the acceptance of the possibility of something greater than this life, this self, this humanity, is the death of narcissism.  And atheism is the most powerful practice in narcissism…

Visions of beauty and splendor,
Forms of a long-lost race,
Sounds and faces and voices
From the fourth dimension of space;
And on through the universe boundless,
Our thoughts go, lightning-shod;
Some call it Imagination,
And others call it God!

This One’s For The Ladies… (Stay Away From Cosmo Ladies…)

Posted by admin on June 16th, 2009 | No Comments »

At some point during their four years at Middlebury College, statistically, 1 in every 2 women that I went to college with battled with anorexia, bulimia or some other form of eating disorder.  1 in every 2.  ONE in every TWO woman…50% of woman who I went to college with at some point, battled with eating disorders.

Who is to blame for this astoundingly depressing statistic?

Cosmo fucking magazine.  We are all so quick to blame a girls upbringing, her parents, institutions etc for the reasons why somebody might have body issues, but let us also point our fingers also at organizations like Cosmopolitan Magazine:  a magazine that condones self-expression and self-empowerment and instead promotes the efficacy of masking ones true self, true feelings, true emotions and true desires based upon some bastardized and distorted concept of how to be a woman in the world.   The sad thing is that this bastardized Cosmo-concept of womanhood is largely based upon  an equally distorted and ephemeral view of men.  Ladies…, just for the record, Cosmopolitan magazine does NOT know ANYTHING about men.  PLEASE believe me.  Cosmo magazine is the silent perpetrator, the true killer of woman, the devil in disguise…and the scary thing is that 78% of woman in America read their trashy dissertations.

Now, before I delve into some details, don’t get me wrong…everybody has a right to indulge in some trashy entertainment.  Soap operas, sports illustrated, the Bachelor, Playboy, even American idol etc. etc. are all forms of male and female oriented “trashy” entertainment.  However, when a magazine positions itself as an authority on issues of body, sex and relationships…and in turn promotes extremely unhealthy and harmful ways of taking on these areas of life…the organization should be burnt to the ground with all of it’s members safely outside of the building (so nobody gets hurt) but still, forced to watch it burn in flames.

After spending some time perusing their website and reading an issue or two, the general Cosmo-view of how to be a woman in the world is to largely hide your “imperfections” and present yourself in a sellable, pretty package (stick thin and blemish-less) so that you will be able to attract a man.  Men, according to Cosmo are for the most part all liars, only interested in sex, are turned off by your vulnerability and insecurities, aloof, unemotional and have no integrity.  Now, a lot of men ARE indeed like this and these kinds of men, as any self respecting woman knows are not worth anybodies time.  However, not only does Cosmo promote and direct woman in how to “catch” a man like this, but they also promote hiding ones personality in order to appeal to some cosmo-idea of what men actually want.  In addition to this, they don’t seem to understand that there are men out there in the world that have all the qualities of a “mans man” but who can still talk about emotional things and dare I say…welcome your vulnerability and yes, fall more in love with you as you reveal the beauty that you really are…both inside, and outside.

Here is an example…taken from their “advice archives on their website”

My boyfriend has one female friend. They’re really close, they hang out by themselves, he never asks me to join them, and oh, yeah — she’s gorgeous. Is he going to cheat on me with her?

Ah, the age-old question: Can a man be friends with a woman he finds attractive? As a guy with a few hot friends myself, I’ll admit, I’ve definitely thought about fooling around with them. And the hotter the friend, the greater the temptation.

Still, you shouldn’t assume your guy is going to cheat just because he spends time alone with this girl. The fact that he never asks you to join them could just mean that he likes to talk to her about things he couldn’t talk about in front of you — namely, you and your relationship. And assuming the friend isn’t an evil skank, chances are, she has your back in those conversations and advises him on how to make you happy.

But sure, there’s a chance he will be or already has been unfaithful. You just need to trust that he’s not, and in order to do that, you need to get to know the girl. Since your guy isn’t making that happen — that’s an insensitive mistake on his part — suggest that he invite her along next time you’re hanging out in a group setting. Say something like “A bunch of us are going to this bar later on, and you should bring so-and-so — I’d love to meet her.” Don’t put any pressure on him or come across as suspicious. Then, when you see them together, let your woman’s intuition guide you. You’ll know if something’s fishy.”

Anybody see something wrong with this piece of “advice.”

How about instead of planning a big dramatic scenario of secretly spying on how your boyfriend behaves with some female friend of his while you guys all drink together at a bar…you just ASK HIM?  I know it’s a novel concept–open and honest communication, but it is one of the secrets to a happy and healthy relationship…DUH.  However, according to Cosmo, men don’t like it when woman communicate about their feelings.  It’s not “sexy.”  You come off as “pathetic.”  But for some strange reason, you aren’t pathetic when you strategically set up a drama as suggested above????  You aren’t pathetic when you are too much of a coward to simply open your mouth and “ASK.”

Another thing they also forgot to mention… If your boyfriend is spending a ton of time with another woman, talks about your relationship with her and doesn’t want you around the two of them…THAT’S WEIRD and you should ask him about it.  You guys should talk about your relationship, TOGETHER and if he thinks it’s weird, if he can’t handle your honesty, or your insecurities or jealousy…then he is a fucking pussy and you should dump his ass and go find yourself a real man.

To be honest, I could go on and on about the rage I feel towards a magazine like Cosmo.  Sadly, the advice and lifestyle that this magazine promotes turns woman pathetic.  Disembodied.  Unaware of their power within.  Unaware of the existence of great men and refusing to settle for less.  Living from lack as apposed to inner abundance.  This kind of lifestyle is the birth of deep fear, the kind of fear that breeds eating disorders, body image problems, lack of self love and confidence…lack of seeing who you really are.  In short…stay away from Cosmo ladies.