I'm a people, you're a people . . .

I watched Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral this morning. It was, I am compelled to say, abysmally sad. Watching a Catholic funeral (yawn) that exalted Sen. Kennedy in a religious manner was also abysmally sad, considering that, at heart, I believe he was a Humanist of the highest degree, and so I am inspired to write a little (I'm tired) about Humanism.
It seems so simple: humanity is the measure of all things. That being the case, how we treat each other is the measure of our own worth on this earth. We, as a collection of social, mostly sentient critters can (and have) create a moral code without having to worry about Yahweh at one end of the spectrum and Old Scratch at the other.
See, our highly-evolved brains have enabled us to realize that success as a species depends wholly on cooperation and social laws to govern behavior. Y'know who else does that? Ants, birds, sardines, dolphins, bees, termites, et. al. Wacky, huh? How come god didn't create those fabulous specimens of social morality in his image too? Oh, that's right, because god (standing in here for the words 'god,' 'gods,' and 'goddesses') was created by man in his image. You have to figure that in a few eons (or maybe not even that long) there will be a First Church of Sardine-us Christ (Reformed) on every other street corner under the sea. It's an inevitable product of brain evolution that eventually, sentience will result in the asking of the "Big Questions." Sardines will only be able to assume (and rightly so (from a sardine's perspective)) that their world was created by a creature that looked and acted remarkably like them.
Hopefully, after the sardines struggle through the Dark Ages, some of them will cast off the blinders and see the light. Hopefully, they will reexamine the "Big Questions," and decide that:

• Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis.
• Sardines are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.
• Ethical values are derived from sardine need and interest as tested by experience.
• Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of sardinian(?) ideals.
• Sardines are social by nature and find meaning in relationships.
• Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness.

Just to be clear, I would like for you to replace "sardine" with "human" in the above bulleted list to get my point, which is that we don't need Jesus or Buddha or Vishnu or Yahweh or Mohammed or Gaia to tell us how to act in society. We don't require the promise of heaven or the threat of hell to dictate our social actions. Instead, we require only that we realize our potential, both individually and as a society and ultimately as a species, in order to be fulfilled. We require a rational, logical, empirical view of the world we experience, if only so that we may experience it more completely, since it's all we've got. We require reaching out (and sometimes back) to grasp the hands of those who need us to pull them closer. We need to stop being so fucking ashamed to be homo sapiens. Instead of cowering in fear of punishment and reward from a vengeful, spiteful, homicidal, genocidal, hypocritical god (and that's just the Judeo-Christian one), we need to stand up and proclaim ourselves as the best homo sapiens on the planet. You know those sardines could stand to be taken down a peg or two.

Albert Einstein believed that. Except the part about the sardines. So did Isaac Asimov, Jonas Salk, and Bertrand Russel. Margaret Atwood and Gloria Steinem still do. Pretty good company, but perhaps the most influential of all was John F. Kennedy, and by extension, Sen. Kennedy (see how I'm bringing it around? That's how you know I'm almost through).

See, when JFK (". . . but I thought he was Irish Catholic." Well, sometimes you have to pretend really hard just to get where you want to go) told the disillusioned people of an America facing civil unrest, ideological assault, and an un-winnable war to ask not what their country could do for them -- but what they could do for their country, he was invoking a basic humanist belief: Working to better the whole improves the self. Edification and fulfillment lies not in placing blame, passing bucks, pointing fingers, or bombing Afghani villages into Democracy. It didn't lie in bombing Vietnamese villages either, turns out. It doesn't lie in shouting down elected officials at town hall meetings, nor in assassinating MLK. It doesn't lie in stealing money from the sick, old, and frail to build golden monuments to Jesus and dress his preachers in clothes befitting only the sleaziest of pimps. It doesn't lie in beating homosexuals to death and leaving them for the coyotes, nor in detonating a car bomb outside a cafe in Belfast, Sarajevo, Baghdad, Kabul, Islamabad, Oklahoma City, Mogadishu, or Jakarta. It doesn't lie in signs reading "God Hates Fags!" or telling the viewers of The 700 Club that Hurricane Katrina was punishment for legalized abortion. It cannot be found in condemnation, hatred, violence, intolerance, or any of the other social sins of religion.

Look at all the horrible things I just pointed out. Imagine if just one iota of the energy that we, as a species, have spent on religion had been spent on bettering ourselves collectively. I won't even guide your thoughts -- just . . . just think about it.

Let's make a pact then, to start to look for what we can do to make our society and species better, bigger, stronger, faster . . . wait a minute . . .. But seriously. The tools are there: our big ol' brains, our iPhones, laptops, Facebook, video cameras (thanks to Jeff, Kathryn, and the rest), blogs, novels, scripts -- a host of forums that are relatively untapped. Remember, a few sardines swimming in the opposite direction can turn the whole direction of the school. Let us not forget those who parted the waters. RIP Senator Kennedy.

Also, check out this clip from Real Time with Bill Maher with Bill Moyers that inspired this rambling, ill-thought-out little rant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gSQ2DWkVE0.

A time to plant . . .

A call to action within a blog is a bit like a fart in a field -- no one hears it, and it doesn't even make much of a stink. Be that as it may, I am calling my readers to action (all one of you) in hopes that a level of awareness can be reached regarding an issue that, regardless of your persuasion, is affecting all of you:

Religion.

Yep. I'm painting a target on the back of belief. Fire at will.

Afraid to? Embarrassed? Wondering what your parents will think? Don't want to disappoint Nana and Grandpa? I can't say as I blame you. There is a stigma against those speaking out against religion in this country (supposedly founded with ideals regarding freedom of it), because it's disrespectful. Well, you don't get many more juicy targets than that, so go ahead . . . take a pot shot . . . see how it feels.

The first question is: Why is it disrespectful to criticize or denounce religion? I have a few ideas:

1. You were raised at least a little religious (church on Easter and Christmas, Sunday School, etc.). Yeah, me too. It's tough to go against the things we were taught when we were little, especially when the threat of eternal punishment for sins committed in this life was hung over our heads. Even still, most of us who are not believers (and even quite a few of you who claim to be) recognize the ridiculousness of religion, but it is difficult to denounce it in the face of childhood lessons learned.

2. Society has conditioned us to be tolerant. Liberal minds (which, by the way, are more conservative these days than those occupying the brainpans of the Religious Right or the Christian Conservatives, or the GOP, for that matter) are trained to be tolerant, accepting, and willing to acknowledge and embrace the Other (capital "O"), even in the face of overwhelming evidence that their beliefs are dangerous, foolhardy, bigoted, violent, intolerant, self-righteous, and bass-ackwards, precisely because those individuals are free to hold them. It goes against logic. Richard Dawkins, advocate of atheism and author of The God Delsion (among others) makes this point regarding female genital mutilation. Is it best for the young girls being subjected to this barbarous act (designed specifically by religious leaders within the community to deprive them of sexual pleasure) by their elders? By those they should be able to trust not to hurt them intentionally? Every fibre of your body should be screaming "NO!" Is it an important part of their cultural heritage that we (as progressive, forward-thinking, accepting individuals) should respect as being different than ours? We're caught in our own web, I fear. But there is an answer (and I'll get to it).

3. The fallout from the religious. This especially goes for those whom we call friends, and it is perhaps the most difficult reason to overcome when speaking out (or ill against) religion. My best friend, Scott, is a believer, and the love of his life, Carrie, is even more so. Am I more cautious about what I say around them than my wife, Miranda, who is a fervent atheist? Of course. I don't want to offend my best friend or his girlfriend. I don't have a great answer to this one. All I ever do is hope that my friends (and parents, and co-workers, etc.) will be as intellectually cogent as I attempt to be. We'll talk more about this in future postings.

So how do we get around this? What is the "call to action" (remember? Check the top of this posting) that I'm talking about?

Alright, here we go.

Step 1: Actively denounce any faith you may have had. Sure, you went to Sunday School. Big deal. Sure, you like Christmas (we'll talk about it later), but it's mostly for the presents, the family time, the food, the booze, rather than the bastardized version of the myth regarding the birth of Saturn. Change your Facebook information concerning religion from "Spiritual, but not religious" to "no, thanks." Tell your loved ones that you are an atheist. Tell your friends, your co-workers, your etcetera. Let everyone know that you aren't buying in to the lies and fabrications designed to oppress free thought, suppress women and minorities, subjugate homosexuals, destroy local and indigenous cultures, promote genocide, murder, abortion clinic bombings, 9/11, the USS Cole, missile attacks on countries from Pakistan to Korea to Bosnia to Somalia to Iraq to Israel, suicide bombings, war, divisiveness, domestic abuse, I COULD GO ON! If you read that last bit and thought "sounds about right," then I fear for the rest of us. However, if even one item sparked a little fire in your brain, do the work. Connect the dots back to belief. Horror should be setting in . . . now.

Step 2: Stop giving such a colossal shit what other people think. Recognize the validity of what you think. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson don't care what you think. Their legions of minions (along with those of the Ayatollahs, the Pope, Rabbis, etc.) at a minimum think you'll be burning in hell for all eternity, and at a maximum want to send you there a little faster, so forget about them. Focus on yourself, and on the people around you. Be proud of your ability to separate fiction from fact, scientific progress from reading of tea leaves, enlightenment from fear of the unknown. Turn that spark into a torch -- a beacon of progressive thought and rationality.

Step 3: Engage in rational, logical, informed debate with the other side. In order to do this, start reading. A lot. Start with the Holy Bible (pick your version -- the political agendas behind the lies are fairly meaningless, considering many of them were made in the 1600's). Follow up with the Qur'an, the Torah, and any other scripture you can find. Know why? Because a) most of the people you will be debating against haven't read the book they "believe" in, and b) as Sun Tzu always said . . .. Next, read atheist literature. Start with Darwin and work your way around. Dawkins is great, as is Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, author of one of my favorites: God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Of course, after you are informed enough to begin discourse, do so! Poste-haste! In addition, (spoiler alert: shameless self plug) check back with this blog. Leave messages. E-mail me. Of course, that won't (and can't) be the only thing you do. You have to engage the Other on the field of intellectual battle. Talking only to others who agree with you is how a lot gets said and nothing gets done.

Now, having said that, if you disagree with me, read up, and we'll talk.