This was my present to myself. I got a bunch of “shocking” presents from Shocking Fun for different people, and the one I self-indulged with was this memory game. It plays a pattern of lights, which you need to repeat, and the pattern gets longer on every iteration… And if you get it wrong, ZAP!, you get a mild electric shock. I love it!
Speaking of “shocking”, when we picked up Nefarious at the airport yesterday, on the way home we were chatting about the various things we did on our respective vacations, and she’s like “Oh, oh, oh!!! I have to tell you the craziest thing! You’re not going to believe this!!!”
“Did you know that Grandma believes in God?” — as if it’s the nuttiest, most hilarious thing she’s ever heard (everyone else in her life is effectively atheist) — “she thinks praying really works!”
Followed by much “can you believe it” laughing…
I suppose Nefarious is in one of the first generations where the vast majority of people she comes in contact with do not believe in a deity of some sort, so the idea of someone believing even in a Christian God is as silly as someone calling out to help from a fairy godmother… She has lots of books on mythology — creation stories from different cultures and such — so from her experience it really is just fairy tales; stories that reflect on the lyrical richness of a society, but have no bearing on the objective reality of the universe. Anyway, it was really very funny to hear her how shocked she was.
19 Comments
It’s like Simon Says with a kick!
lol…it remembers me my younger brother, when he was about 4 years old, screaming at the street: “Look mamma!!! a chinesse!!!” He could not believe it, of course, he was in Venezuela…so it was strange for him…lol.
I’d be so proud, no seriously I would! Free thought is the greatest gift you can give a child!
I was not raised religiously and don’t remember ever believing in god, but I did seriously believe in Santa until I was 7. Does she or did she ever believe in Santa or the Easter Bunny?
I dont know if I would feel comfortable playing a game where the reward for failing is a shock treatment.:P
Haha that’s so good.
I’m glad that someone knows how to raise their children. A free mind and a strong will, maybe the next generation can actually get something good done.
God Bless America
Careful what you say about fairy godmothers. If you piss them off, they won’t bring you any more glass slippers.
As someone who was raised by two Born Again Christians, I can honestly say I have had my fill of Christianity.
However, as funny as Ari’s reaction was to her grandmother’s beliefs, I don’t know if laughing at someone based on what they choose to believe in is really nice.
Granted, I know that you’ve said that it was more of her shock at someone who actually believes in an invisible hoodoo and not you all laughing in unison saying, “THAT STUPID OLD LADY! SHE SURE IS STUPID!” but you should explain that some people find comfort in having something/someone to pray to, and believe in. And as long as her grandmother isn’t forcing her views onto Ari, I don’t see anything wrong with it.
I actually take more of a Dawkins view — that it’s fundamentally WRONG to be religious. I don’t think it’s ok, and I don’t think it should be coddled or accepted. I think it’s the root of far to much evil to treat as acceptable.
That said, there was definitely no derision going on.
As someone who was raised by two Born Again Christians, I can honestly say I have had my fill of Christianity.
However, as funny as Ari’s reaction was to her grandmother’s beliefs, I don’t know if laughing at someone based on what they choose to believe in is really nice.
Granted, I know that you’ve said that it was more of her shock at someone who actually believes in an invisible hoodoo and not you all laughing in unison saying, “THAT STUPID OLD LADY! SHE SURE IS STUPID!” but you should explain that some people find comfort in having something/someone to pray to, and believe in. And as long as her grandmother isn’t forcing her views onto Ari, I don’t see anything wrong with it.
THAT’S RIGHT Allahkat
George Carlin had money making take it to the bank piece; it is on youtube “God Bless America”
But if you’re in a bar down here in the South, you might think twice about mocking God or America, as you’re not a dead standup comic but if you don’t shut the fuck up you may be dead or missing your front and back teeth.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with or being the student of teachers or masters not merely at the PhD level but beyond to know first hand that belief or non-belief in God does not seem to have any mapping to that does the Noble Prize Level Physics.
Sure you can make up lists but lots of those guys are doing it for the fame fortune and millions.
It is as simple as a google to discover that minds as creative as Newton believed a much of crazy stuff. That is as simple as the fact that to be that creative you jump way out of the box and while sure there is no god you know there are fairies in Ireland.
As far as I am concerned right now mocking a Christian is right up there will pulling wings off flies. String Theory is a mess; we went by the tipping pt. Two years ago, methane release, and no one has found a Higgs Boson. We got nothing. Any one who claims to be more than a
Knight of Ignorance is well – could be an atheist.
To assert there is no “god” is way outside the scientific method and an over reaching.
of course there was no derision on Ari’s part
and when as I hope she has a part in the development of BrunoBrunhilda Death Dealing Rat SNAKE GOD
it will work it’s way thru
where I differ from approval of DAWKINS but do approve CARLIN is that Carlin is funny and he’s not saying there isn’t a god he is saying well go listen to it
dawkins is saying there is no a god – if anyone challenges him – he’ll back down – because no one with a brain can assert there is not a god
the rest is just comedy -
my god has a bigger pisser than your god
A while back I viewed a brainiac video on youtube about walking across a pool of custard, and they went on to mention that no one could walk on water (except they hinted about God).
I did mention (as a acientific item) that you could walk on water – provided it was frozen. After that I received 2 messages stating I was a smarta$$.
I guess for me, I tend to go with the ideas that Start Trek: TNG posed — that if a developed species visited cavemen, the cavemen might think the species was a higher power.
Then again, I have experienced and seen things that (at least for me and a few people) seem like a cosmic set of gears and everything worked together to “line up” to allow certain things to happen.
God could not have “objective reality” because God cannot be an object. Objects or things have limitations. God, in order to be God, could not have those.
To treat God as another being among beings is to be fundamentally confused about what constitutes Godness.
Incidentally, this is what makes atheism and thorough-going theism very close cousins. If God doesn’t exist as an object, but instead ought to be conceived of as existence per se or as the Being of beings, then to interpret the experience (of God) as nothing is very nearly as true as a more religious interpretation: God is the active existence of everything and more.
Check out:
Jean Luc Marion, “God Without Being”
Merold Westphal, “Overcoming Onto-Theology” and “Hermeneutics of Suspicion”
Its for this reason that I find myself, as a Christian, agreeing w/ the new atheists. I want to say to them, “You’re right. That THING is not God. Very good. Furthermore, worshiping that THING is idolatry and is of course bad for people. You might even call it a sin.”
For that reason, I often find that atheists are better theists than most religious people I meet. They have a requisite respect for the standards of what would qualify as God than most christians, muslims, jews, mormons, etc.
I’m curious..why do you think it’s wrong to be religious?
This is actually funny indeed….I understand that it may be shocking to some people, but if my daughter showed up with a comment like this, I d be really glad, especielly at such a young age..I suppose she doenst benieve in Santa Claus either..
Carmen : I personnally believe that religion as an institution has brought more arm than good in the world. And mother teresa and a few others are not enough to balance centuries of obscurantism, crusades and mass murdering. On a personal level though, I do not see anything wrong with it
Just my 2 cents
While I am not religious and in general terms agree that blind faith has been a great disservice to mankind, (one which the masses do enjoy for the most part) I disagree with the idea of a belief in God and prayer being so shockingly laughable. Prayer works. I imagine this virus inside of me questioning it’s universe. My God is the God of the virus. Breathing in and out, all that is and all that is not is God. Tangible to me as a kitten. My children and I disagree on this but I do strongly discourage them from mocking the spriritual experience of others. They still do of course, growing up in the Bible Belt…
We are the rhizome, the borg, etc and the matrix is. Explanation in scientific terms cannot make the snowflake any less wondrous.
Is it such a bad thing, a laughable matter to be awestruck by life?
Klem..well I do believe that religion has brought lots of problems into the world..though only because human are so basically corrupted..so they will want to do evil and base it on whatever they can (including their religion). Most people are simply waiting for their excuse to act like idiots. But I don’t think that makes “being religious” wrong. It is not the religion that is the bad part, it is the person embracing that religion. Honestly, crazy, psychotic people just want to find any reason to do harm.
“They still believe there’s an invisible man in the sky!” is one of my favorite quotes. (it’s from Mac Lethal)
However,
Even though I don’t think there is an invisible man in the sky, it really irks me to see/hear kids looking for approval from their parents by taking their parents views without thinking about it.
It reminds me of mock elections at school that seem to always mirror the outcomes of their parent’s actual elections.
Free thought is important. I discourage my own children from being my echo as much as possible.
That said, I’m not making any assumptions or judgements about the way Shannon raises his own daughter. This post just reminded me of my own experiences.
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