Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Journalism

Sometimes you get really lucky and you get to have a truly life-enriching experience.

You get to meet some folks and do somethings that really get your blood pumping and make you feel really alive.

Those two folks whose image you see, are Shane and Amy Bugbee. They run an amazing website called

A year at the Wheel identifies itself as true citizen journalism and that is exactly what it is.

Lifted from Eupraxophy.org

What it is


In ancient times, when the great minds of western civilization inquiried into the nature of our world and its meaning, science and philosophy were treated as one, as a common source of inquiry.

Over the last two millenia as we have specialized our understanding of the world through ever more precise means of defining the elements that make up our reality, the knowledge we have gained has become splintered to the point where even among the most knowledgeable there is ignorance of how all these bodies of knowledge relate to the make a whole..

The link between the uses of this knowledge and its ultimate meaning have become separated.
Eupraxophy exists to re-connect the links and make new ones.


Eupraxophy is an idea reconstituted from those ancient times, based on three concepts.

Eu:                 Good, Well
Praxis:         Practice, Conduct
Sophia:         Philosophic and Scientific Wisdom

In essence it is an emphasis on whole understandings and not partial ones...it's purpose is to creat wholes of parts and peices.

To reconstitute a whole from the many and apply the wisdom that has accumulated over the ages, informing ourselves in what we should do with the whole, making better choices in life and understanding its meaning.

To put it succinctly:

This is a rap video which states the creationist position on famous atheists. The video is hillarious, and extremely clever. But to me it is a clear critique of the atheist movement. Phil Plaitt says he doubts that the filmmaker is a creationist because he is to clever. I agree that it is clever, I think its memecraft, memetic engineering, and exactly what we have to contend with:

Speaking at North Texas Skeptics: There is No Soul

Starting off chapter two, which is entitled “Defining Science,” is a brief description of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, unknown to most, but a troupe of traveling masochists (or so it seems) who represent his caricature of science. These little side stories can have more of an effect than the reader understands, though. Right off the bat, science is seen as either freakish or trivial due to the association with that particular experience of his. Because of this, I find it necessary to give you the actual definition of “science”: 

1. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws

2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation…

4. systematized knowledge in general.

5. knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.

6. a particular branch of knowledge.

7. skill, esp. reflecting a precise application of facts or principles; proficiency. (from dictionary.com)

I've posted a new blog entry. This time it's about theists invoking the implications of naturalism as a reason against atheism. This is intellectually fraudulent and in my blog entry I'm explaining why.

Furthermore I explain why we still would punish people even if we would live in a reality in which Free Will is just an illusion.

http://christianrr.blogspot.com

Why I think Satanism is Relevant to us as Atheists, Skeptics, and Science Activists.

I am obviously paying attention to Satanism.

There are good reasons for this.

Satanism is the only "religion" that I can find that does not believe in the supernatural.

When I was a young boy I tried to dabble with Satanism, but I failed to do so because I believed that there really was a supernatural "magick," I suppose that with a childish mind, one fails to grasp the subtlety of the theatrics of satanic rituals and assumes prematurely that it is real supernatural witchcraft.

I missed this point as a child, just as all who miss this point now are currently children.

I was attracted to Satanism as a source of power and affirmation. I guess much like many use motivational tapes to provide, only in Satanism they don't make shit up like so many motivational speakers do.

No Satanism says life is hard, and rough, and often monstrous.

As someone who was sexually abused I could only concur.

But Satanists are epicureans who say find pleasure where you can, but never let pleasure be your ruler, because you must also be the ruler of all you can.

As a fan of Herr Nitezsche I can only see this worldview with fondness.

I failed as a child to see that Satanist do not believe in magic, or spirits, and I just descended into a fantasy world.

Then I traded one fantasy world for another when I became a christian.

Finally, today as a disciple of reality Satanism has caught my eye again.

Now, let me make myself clear. I am not a Satanist.

I've started a blog on www.blogspot.com. In hope to get some more audience to it I'll cross-write those entries on this website. (Maybe more condensed here)

The purpose of this blog is to write down and give thoughts about christian radio programs I listen to quite regulary. You can find this blog under http://christianrr.blogspot.com (Christian Radio Review).

To make it clear: This blog is a review of christian radio and not a christian review of radio.

As an atheist in Europe you will have to address the issue of the magnificent cathedrals that you find all over in Europe. Todd explained how this grandeur of those buildings reflect the greatness of God, how those building tell the believing Christian about God and his relationship with God in

making the person in the building feel exceedingly small in comparison to God.
Those cathedrals can't do that to me.

Even more, those cathedrals are the grandest failure in the history of Christianity.

These are some podcast episodes, revolving around skepticism and evolution.

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Yesterday I went jogging, and jogged all the way to a nearby grocery store that has a branch of my bank.

I arrived at my grocery store and began to hunt for my chosen poison, Diet Mountain Dew, lots of xanthines (caffeine) and no sugar! 

I come by the little coffee shop area of the grocery store, and I see what I think is a prayer meeting.

How do I know it was a prayer meeting?

I don't.

But I sure did go to a lot of morning prayer meetings when I was a christian, I know they are a fad, I know how they work, and I think this was one.

There is a homeless guy sitting next to them at a separate table and he has food all over his beard, he has surrounded himself with crumpled pieces of newspaper surrounding his chair, and he is weeping.

For some reason the orderly instinct kicks in.

If you haven't been following this blog then I should tell you that I was once an orderly at an institution for the mentally retarded and mentally ill. I have sense developed a good sense of when someone is mentally retarded or mentally ill.

So this poor bastard, who had built a newspaper fortress around himself, was definitely mentally ill.

I walk up to him, he extends his hand, which is covered in chewed food and possibly vomit.

I take his hand, though you better believe I hesitated.

 But I held his dirty hand, he had open sores on his arm, and he was still weeping.

He asked me to pray for him.