Monthly Archives: August 2017

More and more Puneites come forward to donate body for research … – The Indian Express

Posted: August 3, 2017 at 10:02 am

Written by Anuradha Mascarenhas | Pune | Published:August 3, 2017 6:34 am Taher Poonawala

The family of Taher Poonawala, a rationalist who died on Monday night, donated his body for educational and research purposes at the Sane Guruji Hospital, Hadapsar. This is not an isolated case as, according to anatomy experts across the city, the practice of body donations is increasingly being seen in the city. Taher Poonawala had already pledged to donate his body for medical research several years ago, said Dr Girish Kulkarni, associate professor of the Department of Anatomy at the Sane Guruji Hospital.

The hospital has the capacity to preserve as many as 30 bodies and every month, they receive at least four forms pledging body donations. This is a trend that has picked up over the years. Noted socialist leader G P Pradhan had donated his body and several prominent people had pledged to donate their bodies, said Kulkarni.

At the B J Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, Professor B H Baheti, head of the Department of Anatomy, said that nearly 40-45 bodies are donated every year. The trend has picked up. In fact, the hospital has a capacity to preserve 30-35 bodies and we receive a lot of applications pledging body donations, said Baheti.

The Armed Forces Medical College has also seen an increase in body donations, said official spokesperson Colonel Abhijit Rudra. This year, till July, we have had 10 body donations and many have also filled forms pledging body donations. Overall, the awareness levels have increased and people are encouraged after they see a sympathetic interaction between the staff and relatives of those who donate their bodies, said Colonel Rudra.

Other activists remember Taherbhai: A grateful salaam for him

For several activists in the city, the death of eminent rationalist and progressive thinker Taher Poonawala was a huge loss. Taherbhai was a friend, philosopher and guide for my father Dr Narendra Dabholkar. A strong supporter of the Maharashtra Andhashradda Nirmulan Samiti, he was the one who actively supported the need for progressive thinking, said Hamid Dabholkar, son of the slain activist. Poonawala, who was 95, died on Sunday night. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Anwar Rajan, who was a member of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties along with Poonawala, recalled how he had been ex-communicated due to his revolutionary views.

Phir bhi kisike saath dushmani nahi thi. (Still, he did not have any enemies) We thought his shop would shut down due to immense pressure but Taherbhai is an example of how the ex-communication turned out to be a good opportunity to spread his progressive thinking, said Rajan.

Social activist Razia Patel said Poonawala had strongly opposed orthodoxy in the Bohra community. It is difficult to stand up against religious authorities, but he did it. In his personal life, he staunchly followed principles of secularism and rationalism. How can we ever forget him? A grateful salaam for our Taherbhai, said Patel.

Ajit Abhyankar, a member of the CPI-Ms state secretariat, remembered Taherbhais kind heart and great sense of humour. He was a committed rationalist and was associated with several social organisations like the Mahatma Phule Samata Pratishthan, Rashtriya Ekatmata Samiti, Samaji Krutdnyata Nidhi and Peoples Union for Civil Liberties.

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We can’t rehabilitate our way out of Baltimore’s crime problems – Baltimore Sun

Posted: at 10:02 am

The Readers Respond comments regarding crime and punishment in Baltimore (Yet another reminder of why I left Baltimore, Aug. 1) prompt reconsideration by Baltimore civic leaders on how best to address our horrific homicide rate and increasing criminal activity. Their perspective on the causality of crime, and the corresponding more lenient sentencing trends, seem rooted primarily in a belief that the best approach to mitigating crime is through a rehabilitative approach. While rehabilitation and resolution of some of our systemic poverty issues are certainly needed, our city leaders need to not forget that there are other mitigation models that must continue to be used in order to prevent further rampant crime and homicide in the city.

In 2010, David Mulhausen, Research Fellow in Empirical Policy Analysis for The Heritage foundation, testified before Congress on the foundations analysis regarding theories of punishment and mandatory minimum sentences. In his testimony, Mr. Mulhausen cited the generally accepted methods of reducing criminal activity: deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation.

Deterrence postulates that increasing the risk of apprehension and punishment in society deters members of society as a whole from committing crime. In layman terms, deterrence ensures that the administration of punishment is certain, swift, and imposes a severity commensurate with the crime, sending a message that crime will not be tolerated. According to the deterrence model, criminals are no different from law-abiding people. Criminals rationally maximize their own self-interest subject to constraints that they face in the marketplace and elsewhere. Increasing the certainty, swiftness, and severity of punishment will result in the utilitarian goal of reduced crime.

Incapacitation does not require any assumptions about the criminals rationalism, or root causes of the criminals behavior. Incarceration is beneficial because the physical restraint of incarceration prevents the commission of further crimes against society during the duration of the sentence.

Rehabilitation assumes that society is the root cause of criminality. Under this model, crime is predominately a product of social factors. Consequently, criminal behavior is determined by societal forces, such as poverty, racial discrimination and lack of employment opportunities, so the object of criminal justice is to mitigate or eliminate those harmful forces. Assuming that structural defects in society cause crime, then criminals deserve rehabilitation, not punishment. Supporters of the rehabilitation model hold the perspective that correctional treatment programs can successfully reduce crime.

The study found that while rehabilitation is an important societal goal, it cannot come at the expense of deterrence and incapacitation. The root causes (poverty, racial discrimination and lack of employment opportunities) are systemic issues, and discussions about the best approaches to mitigate those issues are under continuing debate. In the meanwhile, criminals will continue to commit crimes, which is detrimental to society, including those living within the root causes environment cited above. Rehabilitation is a much needed and important component of mitigating our crime problem, but it cannot be used in isolation. The immediacy of criminal activity and the safety of our citizens require a recognized use of deterrence (swift and sure punishment) and, when warranted, incarceration as well. Society cannot rely solely on altruistic thinking while criminals continue to threaten our safety and well being. This type of broad, holistic approach will better serve the needs of our city.

Jerry Cothran, Baltimore

Send letters to the editor to talkback@baltimoresun.com. Please include your name and contact information.

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The Campus-Speech Debate Spends Summer Break in Statehouses – The Atlantic

Posted: at 10:01 am

Until this summer, the debate about free speech on college campuses was shaped by small groups of student activists, forcefully protesting an ever-expanding list of controversial speakers, and their critics and defenders, who were mostly reactive.

The clearest conflict, amid many shades of gray, concerned the subset of those activists who went beyond mere protest and tried to shut down events. They usually purported to do so on behalf of a historically marginalized group, contested the notion that liberal tolerance is a sacrosanct campus value, and rejected the philosophy set forth in Yale Universitys 1974 report on free expression: that the history of intellectual growth and discovery clearly demonstrates the need for unfettered freedom, the right to think the unthinkable, discuss the unmentionable, and challenge the unchallengeable; and that to curtail free expression strikes twice at intellectual freedom, for whoever deprives another of the right to state unpopular views necessarily also deprives others of the right to listen to those views.

Those most extreme activists succeeded in denying campus platforms to some speakers, generated a lot of media attention, and seemed for a while to suffer no consequences, even as observers like the socialist activist and academic Freddie deBoer cautioned that, for few if any gains, they were courting an inevitable backlash.

That backlash is now upon them.

Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia have all passed campus-speech bills, with the Virginia bill garnering broad bipartisan support and a Democratic governors signature. And in North Carolina, a campus-speech bill was just approved by the state legislature and passed into law when a Democratic governor declined to exercise his veto.

That law, modeled on draft legislation created by the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank, may portend more of the same. The North Carolina Restore Campus Free Speech Act accomplishes the lions share of what the Goldwater model proposed, including important steps forward on discipline for shout-downs, Stanley Kurtz argues at National Review. Goldwater-based bills are under consideration in several states, with more likely to follow next year. Any state bill can be strengthened in a second legislative round if universities continue to abuse their powers.

As he sees it, Campus speech legislation is now in play as never before. Administrators will have to take that into account when they decide how to handle free speech.

Indeed, bills based on the Goldwater Institute model, or very similar to it, are under consideration, or likely to be considered, in states including Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Louisianna, Michigan, and Texas. Variations and amendments could make the difference between a law that would do more harm than good and vice versa.

In Wisconsin, for example, I argued that a campus-speech bills flaws made a vote against it the best course. But in North Carolina, legislators appear to have improved on the Goldwater Institute model, informed by analysis from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. It offers improved free-speech protections to students without chilling mere protest or mandating overly harsh punishments.

In states where such bills are still being debated, legislators need to avoid prohibiting negligible disruptions, like booing, a form of dissent perfectly consistent with robust free speech; and laws that overburden universities with significant new administrative requirements, or incentivize frivolous accusations and disciplinary investigations, which can themselves be used to chill freedom of speech and expression.

So far, most of the action in state legislatures, congressional hearings on campus speech that I noted earlier this week, and Claremont McKennas decision to severely punish students who shut down a speaking event featuring Heather Mac Donald have come during the summer months, when many student activists are away from campus. One wonders whether the fall semester will include protests against these actions; or more attempts to shut down speech; or declines in no-platforming.

Given that Congress, the Supreme Court, most state legislatures, a majority of voters, and huge numbers of college students and faculty oppose the tactic of event shutdowns and no-platforming, at least insofar as they happen at public universities subject to the First Amendment, it is hard to see what more shutdowns would accomplish, and easy to imagine legislative blowback that goes much farther.

And for what?

In the name of free speech, Republican legislators in North Carolina just passed a bill that will better protect core rights of marginalized groups at all state universities.

And as deBoer has noted, the left doesnt seem to have workable plans for regulating speech: No one can state a remotely plausible system where a constitutional amendment would pass the House, Senate, and state legislatures necessary to abolish free speech, and no one can tell me how it would work out where the left actually would be the ones acting as the censors and not the censored.

There are scores of more pressing issues facing leftist activists than pursuing this dead end.

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Anti-Trump Protesters Target Benson, Coulter at Politicon Free … – Fox News Insider

Posted: at 10:01 am

Guy Benson said anti-Trump protesters proved their critics' point this past weekend when they interrupted a panel discussion on free speech.

Benson, author of the new book "End of Discussion," explained on "Fox & Friends" what happened at Politicon, where he and Ann Coulter were speaking about the attempts to curb conservative voices on college campuses.

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A few protesters wore Nazi garb as they tried to shout down the speakers, while another group interrupted with a large red banner and chanted "Trump and Pence must go!"

"It was like: you're proving our point," said Benson about the panel discussion, which was about denouncing censorship in favor of the free flow of ideas.

Benson said he reminded the protesters that there is an election in 2020, where they're free to make their choice for president and vice president. He said their actions "were not constructive at all" as the hecklers yelled at Coulter rather than listen to her statements and offer opposing arguments.

Despite the incidents, Benson urged young conservatives to still go to college campuses so that students are exposed to differing viewpoints.

Benson recalled that he spoke with his co-author at Princeton last year and the school needed extra security because some students found them too controversial.

"What's alarming is some on the hard left have conflated speech with violence. They say your hate speech is violence and we can shut you down using any means necessary. It's very Orwellian," said Benson.

Last week, Ben Shapiro spoke before a House hearing on attempts to silence conservatives on campuses.

Watch the interview above.

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Nick in the AM: National free-speech tempest hits Galesburg college – Peoria Journal Star

Posted: at 10:01 am

Nick Vlahos Journal Star reporter @vlahosnick

Good morning, troops. It's Thursday, Aug. 3.

As another academic year looms across America, did you realize Carl Sandburg College and its hometown of Galesburg have turned into Yale University and Berkeley, Calif.? At least as far as threats to free speech on campus are concerned?

That's what some national right-wing media would have us believe.

Sandburg, a junior college that includes a branch campus in Carthage, received attention recently from Campus Reform. It's a website that considers itself a watchdog that exposes bias and abuse on college campuses.

A Campus Reform story posted July 19 stated Sandburg students could be subject to disciplinary proceedings for using offensive language or "hate speech." Campus Reform linked to a page that no longer can be found on the Sandburg website. Apparently, the webpage listed the school code of conduct.

(Sandburg provided this link to the school's disciplinary and due process procedure.)

Campus Reform quoted a representative from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education as saying Sandburg could be subject to a lawsuit if it enforces this policy.

Last week, another article about the Sandburg code appeared at National Review Online, a mainstream conservative website. That article cited the Campus Reform piece and also quoted Sandburg spokesman Aaron Frey, a Bradley University graduate.

The National Review author, Katherine Timpf, chastised Frey and stated the policy is about giving administrators broader power to control the speech of students. That could include ideological limits.

Nick in the Morning decided to get to the bottom of this by asking a Sandburg representative for comment. Late last week, the college provided a statement. Here it is, in full:

"Carl Sandburg College students are free to engage in any type of speech protected under the Constitution. Our policy reflects and fully supports this idea. The college is in no way interested in pursuing discipline against or penalizing those who lawfully exercise their right to free speech.

"We encourage free speech and the exchange of ideas, but we also need to be mindful of the rights of those who seek an education in a welcoming, healthy environment. That's where our policy draws the line. When speech potentially threatens or endangers the health and safety of others on our campuses, we are obligated to look into that kind of activity.

"The conversation at campuses nationwide is where the line between free speech and speech that creates a harmful educational environment is drawn. We welcome that conversation and hope it, too, can be honest, productive, inclusive and civil."

To us, that sounds more like a "Don't be a jerk" policy than a "Students have every right to silence someone with whom they don't concur" policy.

Of all places, college campuses should be havens for open expression of ideas. All ideas. Even ideas with which the majority of students might disagree or even find offensive.

In that process, students should not be subject to abuse, threats and intimidation. Then again, what constitutes abuse, threats and intimidation can be in the eye of the beholder.

Freedom of speech on campus has become a big issue recently. Some colleges and universities have disinvited or restricted guest speakers, usually from the right side of the political spectrum, because of student outcries.

Nick in the Morning isn't sure a junior college based in a smallish, fairly ordinary Midwestern city should be Ground Zero for the latest free-speech skirmish. If there have been massive protests recently at Sandburg, or if students there have been harassed to the point of intervention by higher powers, we and Galesburg media must have missed them.

Perhaps Campus Reform and National Review Online can dial down the outrage they direct toward Sandburg and save it for situations that really require it. In other words, heed the song heard on the way to work.

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Direct, indirect attack being made on freedom of speech: Gopalkrishna Gandhi – Economic Times

Posted: at 10:01 am

NEW DELHI: Opposition vice presidential candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi today alleged that direct and indirect attacks are being made on freedom of belief, thought and speech and that a "new partition of a psychological" nature is being sown in the minds.

He also said that there was need to stop the "projectiles of communalism" in their tracks.

Explaining the context in which his election is held, Gandhi in a letter to the public said though the partition is now a thing of the post, yet a "new partition of a psychological division is being sown in our minds and "we must stop the projectiles of communalism".

The letter has been written for the common people, days after he sought a debate with NDA candidate Venkaiah Naidu on the role of the vice president.

"Direct and indirect attacks are being made on democratic freedoms of belief, thought and speech. And institutions serving public causes feel a palpable pressure on them to conform where they wish to dissent, to be silent where they wish to speak up," he said in his letter.

Gandhi also said, "When it comes to mutual trust, intolerance and bigotry have risen to an all-time high."

He said six months from now will mark the 70th year of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and the wounds of partition.

"That Partition is now a fact, the riots of 1946-47 a thing of the past. And yet a new partition is being sown in our minds, a psychological division.

"As the late philosopher Ramchandra Gandhi put it, the Mahatma, on his way to prayer, was not stopped by three bullets of hate. Rather, he stopped with his heart full of prayer, those three bullets in their track. We must stop the projectiles of communalism in their tracks," he said.

Mahatma's grandson also said that the ideals of Freedom, Justice, Equality, drawn from the goals and values of our great struggle for Independence in the 70th year of independent India, "have acquired a compelling urgency. They are facing challenges."

While hailing the Election Commission for conduct of free and fair polls, he asked, "We have to also ask ourselves: In the larger arena of free choices, how free are we? Are we free of fear? Are we free to choose our way of life, our forms of thought and expression? Are we free to tell the bully and the bull-dozer in high office or on the street corner, off?."

He also asked whether one is free and able to "tell giant industries to not pollute our rivers, our air and not to dump their toxic waste in our environment".

He also described the two Constitutional offices of the president and vice president are the "fountain-heads of our Republic's very life stream".

Quoting the first vice president of India, he said, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan entreated - 'Look far ahead, be not short-sighted'.

"Let us pledge ourselves to India's greatness in freedom, justice and in an unbreakable inter-community bond, bringing us the gift of peace," he said.

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Senryu pries open ‘The Jaws of Life’ to explore death on latest … – Maryville Daily Times

Posted: at 10:01 am

It took six years and approximating death for Wil Wright to make another full-length Senryu record.

The band, which celebrates the release of The Jaws of Life Saturday night at The Pilot Light, has been a part of the East Tennessee music scene for nearly 17 years more than half of Wrights life, ever since he started it in 2000 with percussionist Steven Rodgers, the only remaining original member of the bands lineup. In that period, Wright and Rodgers have grown up, fallen in and out and back in love, entered into marriage (Rodgers earlier this year, Wright later this month) and cobbled together a band thats been solid for nearly seven years now: brothers Andres (a multi-instrumentalist) and guitarist Dan McCormack, and bassist Zac Fallon.

I dont remember a time before Senryu, Wright told The Daily Times recently over brunch at Petes Coffee Shop in downtown Knoxville. I ring at rock n roll records. For me, its just about keeping my brain hungry, about feeding it to help make records I can stand behind and be proud of. And weve made so many Senryu records that doing it a song at a time doesnt really work. The only reason to keep making records is to explore concepts that are interesting to me.

Which brings us to death. Hes spent the past several years thinking about it, ruminations brought on by the natural rate of attrition to the circle of family and friends of a man whos racing toward the apex of life expectancys bell curve. At the outset, Wright said, he felt certain he had it figured out, which in the beginning dictated a different sort of concept. The album was going to be called Perfect Nothing, he added.

I thought I was going to make a real upbeat record about how nothing happens after you die, because thats so much more uplifting, he said. But then I started reading about pantheism and the science behind seeing the tunnel, and what I found was that writing a record about death and finding inspiration is tough. If youre here to talk about it, then you didnt die, so its difficult to do the research. So I started digging into preexisting theories, and I started to imagine a record about the last moments before you die, and the first moments after.

His research eventually led him to a sensory depravation experience in Asheville, N.C., where he was enclosed in a vault containing roughly 1,500 pounds of salt in, at most, 2 feet of water. Completely dark and soundproof, is was the closest to approaching death and the absence of the body as he could find.

Thats as close to nothing as you can get, because once you get settled in, your body vanishes, he said. Your eyes stop working, and everything physical goes. You stop feeling, you stop being aware of your breathing, your eyes stop working, your ears go. Its quiet for a minute, and then it gets really, really loud, because you just become your mind. Reducing it to the ghost in the machine, to the spark to me, thats what I believe death is.

And it left me completely baffled and more clueless than ever. What I figured out is that I dont know s---, but its so much better to admit you dont know and to just be alive.

And so the context of the record began to change. Its meditative and contemplative, which is most certainly the bands wheelhouse; with the McCormacks, Rodgers and Fallon, Wright is given a canvas on which to explore grand ideas through intricate, delicate instrumentation, and if lovely is an acceptable descriptor for Senryu, then it applies to Night of the Twisters, the albums lead-off track. But the band sheds whatever emo tendencies it may occasionally flirt with on songs like Heaven Can Wait, Dream of Nothing and the howling maelstrom that is Summer Death March, a too-painful-to-look-away tale of madness and breakdown. Wright has never flinched away from documenting his emotional turmoil through song, and while his other projects LiL iFFy and Skeleton Coast, to name a few have been personal ones, none have allowed him to document the journey of his own existence like Senryu.

This was a three-year album making process, and when the title changed, the record stopped being about the stopping and became more about the continuation, he said. The body is the wrecked car, and the end pulls whatevers left out and keeps it going. Over the course of this record, I experienced a personality death six or seven times; I was getting my perspective rocked about the death of self and rebirth, and the constant through it all was, Im making this record.

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Mysticism Merges with Atheism – Patheos (blog)

Posted: at 10:00 am

Editors Note: A former Self-Realization Fellowship monk and current Clergy Project member informs us, with careful scholarly backing, about the similarities between atheism and mysticism. I dont think most mystics would approve.

==============================

By Scott

Self-deception is not difficult. Most of our brains processing goes on unconsciously, without our awareness. Our brain needs tricks or shortcuts so that we can function in our daily lives. But we must understand we can never trust these tricks of our brain completely, especially when we are trying to decide truth from fiction. We are highly susceptible to errors in our thinking and perceiving.

There are two common and natural errors in our thinking that everyone should be aware of:

Seeking Meaning In Toast and Buns

You know what pareidolia is when the image of Mother Teresa shows up in a cinnamon bun, or when the Virgin Mary can be seen on a piece of toast, or, my favorite, when Jesus decides to appear on Fidos buns. Pareidolia is the tendency to recognize patterns, shapes, or familiar objects in vague and random experiences. Our brains try to make sense of meaningless information. There are many cases of people seeing visions, ghosts, and other likenesses in what are actually only random patterns that just happen to look like those things.

Faces In Clouds

Anthropomorphism,attributing human characteristics to nonhuman things and events, is at the core of religious experience.If we subtract all the qualities from our notion of god or deities, theres nothing left to these notions, according to Stewart E. Guthrie, Ph.D. from Yale University, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Fordham University. People find a wide range of humanlike beings plausible, such as gods, spirits, Bigfoot, HAL the computer, and Chiquita Banana. We find messages in random events such as earthquakes, weather, and traffic accidents. We say a fire rages, a storm wreaks vengeance, and waters lie still.

Guthrie says that our tendency to find human characteristics in the nonhuman world is rooted in a deep-seated perceptual strategy: in the face of pervasive (if mostly unconscious) uncertainty about what we see, we bet on the most meaningful interpretation we can. If we are in the woods and see a dark shape that might be a bear or a boulder, for example, it is safer policy to think it is a bear. If we are mistaken, we lose little, and if we are right, we gain much. But, survival or fight and flight methods aside, what would happen if we stopped giving humanlike qualities (anthropomorphism) to nature and the universe?Isnt belief in cosmic intelligence, itself, just a projection of a humanlike quality?Can you name a divine or godlike quality or attribute that is not also humanlike (anthropomorphic)? We have made gods in our own image, rather thanthe other way around.

Silence Is Not A Religion

If a God is inconceivable, that is, if He is beyond all time, space, and matter, then nothing justifies conceiving of Him as a Person, Creator, Protector, Benefactor, and the embodiment of Justice or Love.This is where mysticism merges with atheism says Comte-Sponville, one of Frances preeminent contemporary philosophers.If nothing can be said of a humanlike God, then neither can it be said that he exists or that he is God.All the names of God are either human or anthropomorphic. But, an unspeakable, indescribable God without a name would no longer be a God. Ineffability is not an argument. Silence is not a religion, claims Comte-Sponville.

Though we hear, all too often, that an Infinite God is beyond our finite human intelligence,believers and atheists must use the same concept of God. God is a humanlike Subject or Spirit, and he made us in his image. But atheists deny that ultimate reality is not subject or spirit, but rather reality is matter, energy, and nature without humanlike attributes. Non-believers say gods are made in our image.Religion and irreligion both operate from the same concepts, both are without proof (Comte-Sponville), but the irreligious arent fashioning gods from meaningless patterns ina random universe.

The concept of God, Supernatural Power, Spirit, Deity, or in whatever other term the essences of Theism may have found expression, has become more indefinite and obscure in the course of time and progress. In other words, the God idea is growing more impersonal and nebulous in proportion as the human mind is learning to understand the natural phenomena and in the degree that science progressively correlates human and social events. (Goldman)

We give form to the formless, name to the nameless, and make gods in our own image.We can find human agency- spirits, souls, ghosts, demons, demi-gods, energies, life forces- in nature, our bodies, the wind, the weather, virtually everywhere and anywhere we let our human imagination run rampant and unchecked.

The ninth-century Buddhist master Lin Chi is supposed to have said,

If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him. (Harris).

A great master, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, who saw God constantly as Mother Kali, conversing often with Her, later said: I had to destroy that finite form of my Mother with the sword of wisdom, to behold Her as the formless Infinite. (Yogananda)

Even the spiritual masters realized there is no humanlike god and their ultimate enlightenment was to destroy the god conceptin them.Eventually, these mystic sages came toworship onlyformless, nebulous phenomenathat are neither called god nor religious.

If you meet Mother Kali or Buddha on the road, kill her. Kill him. Its inevitable thatthe progress of science, rationality, and critical-thinking willkill godsoff anyway.

=================

Bio: Scott was a monk at the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) ashram for 14 years before leaving to complete his education and enter the business world. Raised Roman Catholic, he got into eastern religious practices and was influenced in his 20s by reading The Autobiography of a Yogi by SRF founder Paramahansa Yogananda. He is now a member of The Clergy Project and a successful business consultant. He discusses the hidden, and sometimes-dangerous side of meditation practices, systems and groups at SkepticMeditations.com. This post is republished from his blog with permission and with light editing.

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Taking The Bible Seriously Pushed Me Towards Atheism – Patheos (blog)

Posted: at 10:00 am

I frequently hear from and read articles by Christians getting frustrated with people who take the Bible seriously whether those people are fundamentalists who view the Bible as a historical chronicle or skeptics whose journey to skepticism began with them reading the Bible. The behavior of frustrated Christians typically includes comparing atheists to fundamentalists and using the word fundamentalist as an insult. I am annoyed by this and want to address as best as I can but let me start by pointing out the obvious: if youre a member of a religion and have a problem with your religions fundamentalists maybe your religion has some problems that need to be worked out before you start antagonizing people who left your religion because of whats in your holy books.

In this discussion of the Bible have a picture of one.

When I read the Bible I took its claims seriously. The seriousness with which I took those claims compelled me to research the claims and the further I researched the claims of the Bible the more I realized that the claims the Bible made were lacking in evidence and were often doubted by historians, particularly the claims in the Old Testament. From the Exodus, to the Flood, to the supposed slaughter of the Canaanites, the historicity of the claims of the Old Testament are gradually fading away. I examined these claims throughoutmy life, believing them to be true for many years and gradually realizing that this wasnt the case and this impacted my world view substantially. I did this because even as a child I valued and value truth. I took the Bible seriously and didnt think itsclaims should be unproven but rather ought to be examined objectively by historians and either confirmed or rejected as having actually taken place.

I take the Bible seriously. I am annoyed by how much this annoys modern Christians. Supposed followers of Christ often get on my case for refusing to believe a book that has made claims that have been repeatedly seriously studied and found to be at best lacking in evidence. Theres nothing special about Christianity or its Bible, even if Christians refuse to admit this themselves. Its easy and it might be fun to claim that theres something bad about taking the Bible seriously, even among Christians nowadays but this is a weird thing to say. It reminds me of the Christians who claim to hate religion and love God, because they understand that religion is a bad word, but God isnt. This is a similar trend where being a Christian and twisting Christianity to fit a modern fold is popular but taking it seriously and refusing to conform isnt, and while this its a good thing for modern society that Christians have shown a willingness to mold themselves, at least to an extent, its frustrating that they have used this willingness to antagonize both atheists who once seriously examined the claims of the Bible and other Christians who arent as willing to leave behind their values and modernize their understandings of the Bible and their perspectives on the world at large.

I dislike that not everyone will seriously examine the Bible. I dislike that some people prefer to maintain their current worldview without an honest desire to find the truth and that that laziness can instill in them a hostility towards others who do seriously care about the truth and understand that a genuine desire to know truth means that one lives their lives perpetually seeking out new information and continuously being aware of ones own opinions and being willing to change those opinions upon gaining new information.

I am an honest seeker of truth and that that annoys some Christians is both sad and very revealing about the current state of Christianity and the dilemmas facing Christian leaders as they discuss theology and how to keep people both believing in Christianity and attending church. Once I realized that some Christians had clung to their beliefs through hallow justifications like its the morality that matters here or the lessons of Jesus were superior to the lessons of other religious figures or even when you die youll know! I realized more and more that at least some Christians didnt care about whether or not their beliefs were backed by historians, scientists, and those who study the world itself. That bothered me because I wanted Christianity to be true more than I wanted to feel like I was right, or to feel like I was safe from the threat of Hell. As an honest person I wasnt originally happy realizing I no longer had a rational reason to believe in God but I readily accepted that I had become an atheist almost by accident. That being said: as a lover of truth I needed to accept my own truth before I could begin to search for other, external, truths. And so I did. I hope that you readily accept your truth as well. And that in doing so you examine it and take it seriously, not just because its convenient.

If you care about truth, even if the conclusion you arrived at is different than the one I did I salute you because you are a rare breed. I hope that this post made you think and that we can have a neat discussion down below in the comments section!

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Taking The Bible Seriously Pushed Me Towards Atheism - Patheos (blog)

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KABAKA PYRAMID + One-A-Chord & DJ Spleece – SantaCruz.com

Posted: at 10:00 am

Keron "Kabaka Pyramid" Salmon is a multi-talented artist and producer hailing from the streets of Kingston, Jamaica with a unique musical style blending the power, energy and melody of Reggae with the lyricism of Hip hop. He is based out of the Bebble Rock Music camp and through his liquid and hypnotizing delivery spreads the positive messages of spirituality and conscious evolution that forces you to listen.

The name "Kabaka" is Ugandan for "King" and the long lasting survival of the Pyramids of ancient Africa represent his desire for longevity in the music and deep connection to Kemetic roots; leaving messages for generations to come.

He is an ever-evolving artist that has numerous ways of expressing his creativity. The ability to watch and learn from others around him has made him into somewhat of a Jack-of-all-trades, writing lyrics, producing tracks, engineering/recording himself or other artists, mixing songs, editing video/photos and even playing the guitar!

His passion for music began at an early age when he would change the lyrics to popular songs and record his own version on his mother's tape recorder. What began as a humorous venture was actually a stepping-stone for the artist we know today. Reggae music has always been a strong influence on the Kingstonian lyricist with Sizzla Kalongi and Peter Tosh providing a great source of spiritual inspiration in his life. During high school Hip Hop music also captivated him; reciting his favorite Canibus lines constantly with Nas and Common serving as great examples of the success of conscious music. The influence of both genres can be easily detected as he seeks to find the perfect fusion of the two cultural expressions.

Kabaka spent his early years as a rapper to underground success. He was awarded a place on internationally renowned; Dj Green Lantern's "Myspace Invasion" Mixtape as well as released two Mixtapes for himself The Transition Vol 1 and 2 and a collaboration album Bebble Business as part of the Bebble Team group dedicated to his fallen brother in music Rap Brown (Taiwo McKenzie). With these projects he cemented himself as an artist with deep spiritual messages and proven lyrical ability and was instrumental in raising the bar on the standard of Hip Hop in Jamaica.

Pyramid also released a few reggae and dancehall tracks including Carry on and Never be the same and achieved chart success in Bermuda with the track "Love is all I see" featuring Ashanti. Also as a producer he saw chart success in the Bahamas for Dead Man Walking.

In July 2011 Kabaka Pyramid released his Rebel Music EP free to the public at http://www.kabakapyramid.bandcamp.com. This project is a fusion of roots rock, reggae, dancehall and hip-hop and made waves in the global landscape, particularly Europe and North America. It has received an overwhelming worldwide response gaining homepage features on websites and magazines such as Reggaeville and United Reggae and gaining over 14,000 downloads with the 10-track CD regarded as a classic in its own right.

Kabaka has since achieved top spot, placing #1 on the BILLBOARD Next Big Sound Charts Worldwide and also been featured by the popular music conglomerate MTV Iggy. A solid global fan-base has developed that connects with the messages in his music.

He has been awarded breakthrough artist of the year 2013 by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association and was also nominated for Song of the year 2013. The lyricist has also been nominated for best reggae recording 2013 by Canadas highly respected Juno Awards. This follows up a successful 2012 where he was nominated by the Jamaica Star for Break-through artist of the year and named by Popular New York Publication Largeup.com as in the top 10 Caribbean artists to watch . He had also been tipped by the Jamaica Gleaner as one of the top 4 (four) artists to watch in that year.

Releasing singles such as Free from Chains, No Capitalist, Mi Alright, and King Kabaka as well as music videos for the popular Free from Chains, King Kabaka, High and Windy, Warrior featuring Protoje and World Wide Love; he has achieved regular rotation on local and international airwaves. Kabaka is being touted by many as strong part of a new wave of powerful artists coming out of Jamaica.

In 2013 Kabaka embarked on his 9 country 20 show Rebel Music Tour performing on major reggae festivals spanning from the US West Coast to Europe. He has brought his message and power to stages such as Reggae on the River, Rototom Sunsplash and the Chiemsee Reggae Festival. He has certainly developed a solid global fan-base that connects with his music.

He has also performed in Toronto, Canada at the Manifesto Arts Festival and travelled to Costa Rica for the Rebel Musik Fest series of shows to great response from the people. 2012 was his first visit to Europe completing his 6-week, 13 show "Ready fi di Road " tour where he headlined sold-out club shows in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Locally; Pyramid has graced the stage of major local concerts such as Rebel Salute, Trench Town Rock and the Dennis Brown Tribute Concert as well as live national TV performances to rave reviews. He has made a significant impact on the Live Music scene performing at many shows in and around Kingston including the Manifesto Jamaica Festival, JARIA Reggae Month and Live from Kingston shows as well as venues such as Tracks and Records, South Beach Caf, Emancipation Park, Wickie Wackie and Pulse.

His new EP Lead the Way released in November 2013 has been making waves in the reggae industry debuting at #9 on the Billboard charts. He also featured in the Top ten iTunes reggae charts all over the globe building on his success earlier in the year where he achieved top spot, placing #1 on the BILLBOARD Next Big Sound Charts.

With a mission to steer future generations towards harmony and unity Kabaka is primed and focused on bringing a righteous and conscious way of thinking to the masses through Reggae and Hip Hop Music.

With a solid list of skills not only in the booth but on the mixing board, and an array of lyrics that preach a message of love, self-awareness and African pride, Kabaka Pyramid is well on his way to a career that should not only lead to greatness but also lead a lot of fans to righteousness Aesthetics Now Mag.

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KABAKA PYRAMID + One-A-Chord & DJ Spleece - SantaCruz.com

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