Tag: religion

my email response to Katherine Albrecht talking about “God” during a radio interview about privacy/tracking and her reply to my response

First listen to this audio clip from Coast To Coast AM :

Then read the emails :

me :

I just listened to your latest Coast To Coast interview and I think you’re doing a commendable job as far as the privacy issues go. If companies like Google and Macy’s are invading our privacy as you say, they should be exposed.

But you should stop with all the religious nonsense; at-least until you’re able to back your Bible claims with real evidence, as opposed to blind faith; because it sort of undermines all the good (real-world) work you’re doing.

Katherine Albrecht :

Hi, Marcellee:

Thanks for weighing in. Fortunately, there are plenty of people talking about privacy without tying it in with religion, so people who don’t share my religious views can find others to carry the banner for them.

For me personally, I have to be true to what I know in order to keep doing this work at all. I would rather tell the truth even if it means I am not taken seriously by some than distort the truth and have everybody listen.

2012 ( July 20 )

audio review : Happy People | U Saved Me ( albums ) … R Kelly

audio review : Happy People | U Saved Me ( albums ) ... R Kelly

R Kelly suddenly has a 2-track mind and sex has little to do with either. It’s about love; romantic and religious; as this double album suggests. Happy People, which comes off the heels of his club hit Step In The Name Of Love, consists of night dance music for “steppers”. U Saved Me is a collection of soulful gospel ballads.

There isn’t really much else, musically nor conceptually, so the songs on each set generally sound alike, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because they’re so damn good; especially when the singer puts his angel wings on, does his best Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye impression and lets the music fly up to the heavens.

my rating : 4 of 5

2004

Religion is a smart way to control stupid people …

It’s true. If you’re given a world of stupid people to rule over, a smart way to keep them under control is to create something akin to religion. They may not care enough about spending time in jail. Even the thought of being put to death wouldn’t stop some people from breaking your rules. But if they think they’ll be, say, tortured forever, they’ll probably think twice.

People can’t really torture people forever though. The torturers will get tired, their machines will malfunction, the torturees will eventually die or something else will happen to end it. Even if it never ended, the rule breaker would have to get caught first. So you have to create a “God” who knows everything and has the power to do anything. That way there’s no escaping.

But don’t just make God a punisher. You don’t want people simply living out of fear. So tell them that, while being bad will result in eternal bad for them, being good will result in eternal good. If they follow all “His” rules, they’ll be rewarded to an eternity in the best place imaginable; a place of happiness and bliss, where their dead loved ones will be waiting for them.

Smart people will demand proof for such a place, but don’t worry about them because they don’t exist in your world. Your people will believe anything you say because it comes from “God”. If they want to end their lives to get to God quicker, tell them suicide is a sin. You can’t have them offing themselves. You need them there to work for you and keep the population going.

If them having sex for other reasons goes against current social norms, tell them God says no sex before marriage and homosexuality is a sin. Are you a sexist male? Tell them women came from men. Are you a white racist? Tell them black slavery is fine. Put it all in a book, kick back and give yourself a pat on the back for making your job as ruler a lot easier.

audio review : That’s Why God Made The Radio ( album ) … The Beach Boys

That's Why God Made The Radio

The Beach Boys sound like they did decades ago. It’s as if they’re stuck in the past, not even aware that; with the invention of the internet, iPods and such; AM-FM radio is a dying medium. That’s not a bad thing. The point of this album is to take rock and roll lovers on a trip down memory lane where they’d cruise the streets in a relatively recent creation now known as the classic car.

The harmonies are nice and the concepts are fitting. Titles include words like Spring, Ocean and Coast. Brian Wilson’s soundscape is there, but the Boys sang better melodies in the past. As serene as these songs are, there isn’t a gem in the sand. It’s also debatable whether or not “God” made the radio as opposed to hard-working people who’d probably take umbrage with such a claim.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012

question : Was The Virgin Mary really a virgin?

That might be a loaded question because it assumes The Virgin Mary really existed when she might only be a fictional Bible character. If she did exist, I’m quite sure she was a virgin at birth, so, unless she somehow had sex before birth, which is virtually impossible, the answer is yes.

How long she remained a virgin is another question. If she got pregnant, as The Bible claims, it’s highly unlikely she was a virgin when it happened. Without artificial insemination; a modern procedure; the likelihood of a virgin getting pregnant when Mary supposedly lived was even lower.