Tag Archives: religion

Church of Satan: It’s Not What You Think It Is

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The magic of YouTube is such that I can be watching a lecture on four dimensional pseudo-Riemannian manifolds and in the related videos section see a documentary on the “Church of Satan”. I would love to see the inner workings of the Google suggestion algorithm that came up with that based on my YouTube history.

I was very surprised to learn what Satanism is, and in the process got a valuable lesson about the danger and the power in what you name your organization. It’s clear that people will often literally judge a book by it’s cover, and will often passionate and aggressively oppose an idea or group based on nothing more than its name. We are truly an awesome silly primate species.

When I say “Satanism” or “Church of Satan”, what do you think it is?

If you’re anything like me, I think of some variety of heavy metal fan, everything from the melodic 80′s metal of Iron Maiden to the absurd intensity of death metal. Perhaps those of you who are Christian (or were brought up Christian) probably imagine something on a religious theme, maybe a group of people who embrace the evil aspects of human nature.

Well, in reality, as about 30 minutes of reading has led me to understand, Church of Satan is to religion is what Stephen Colbert is to the modern Republican party. There is nothing religious about it, it’s just a giant dark satirical Halloween party. It was started in the 60′s by one guy, Anton LaVey, who basically enjoyed provoking people, and in the process picked up a large following.

What he and the Church of Satan are is just “objectivists in halloween costumes”. PS: Objectivism is the name adopted for Ayn Rand’s philosophy. It’s an organization that promotes atheism, rational thinking, individual freedom, and a productive life. But it pushes that further into embracing all the natural things that are often condemned by religion such as sexuality, competition, aggression, envy, etc. I think it gets a little weird in the sexuality aspect, but no more weird than nudist parties. It’s strange but harmless.

To be honest, these folks creep me out a bit. They are certainly not the type I would want to “have a beer with”, but I think the Church of Satan is kind of funny at least in its original intent. Its founder (Anton LaVey) is clearly a very funny (in a sick way) guy. The problem is when you name your organization after the symbol of evil for many religious people, you’re going to get the kind of attention that could be counter-productive.

So next time you start a business or a club, try to avoid using Satan in the title unless you’re starting an Ozzy Osbourne fan club, in which case Satan might be a good call.

By the way, when I hear “Satan” the first image that pops into my head is probably the most hilarious cartoon character of all time: Satan from South Park (pictured below).

Satan's Sweet 16 Halloween party from South Park 1011

Why Not Talk Politics and Religion

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There seems to be a general consensus in the United States that it’s not “proper” to bring up politics or religion in conversation with people, even friends.

There is a feeling that no one wants to engage in discussion on those topics. And when discussion does happen, it seems to devolve at the first sign of disagreement. Where the hell are the heated arguments? Why can’t one friend tell another friend that he is completely and utterly wrong in his belief that, for example, the building of the Keystone XL pipeline will have a positive economic stimulus on the nation? You don’t have to have your facts straight either. You can just yell back and forth and learn in the process.

To me, a “passionate” discussion has to be a way of life. Whether you’re talking about heavy literature, personal triumph or tragedy, why not challenge ourselves, without name-calling or personal attacks, but a simple debate of the issues from the biggest to the most minute.

Of course, there are different personalities out there. Some love confrontation, some hate it, but I don’t see a statement like “interesting point, but I still disagree” as confrontational. I see it as invitational; it’s saying “let’s think and learn about this crap together”. But perhaps it is true, that the subjects of politics and religion are fundamentally plagued with emotional landmines and so as conversation topics they are breeding grounds for strong disagreement. So, for now maybe I’ll stick to philosophy, science, literature, and the weather.

Real Debate with Real Questions and Plenty of Time for Real Answers

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I may be naive or “elitist” or some wonderful mixture of both, but I have a dream that one day U.S. politicians, especially ones running for president, will engage each other or perhaps other great thinkers in a number of real debates, each focused on a specific topic.

I draw inspiration for this dream from the following debate between prime minister Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddsz9XBhrYA

The balls that Tony Blair, a head of state, has to go into a debate against Christopher Hitchens on the topic that the latter is a world renowned expert on are enormous. Why do we not see such debates between presidential candidates and other representative scholars such as Hitchens?

The answer is probably that our presidential candidates, even ones that can hold their own in such a debate (few though they might be), see little benefit in it, but see a huge potential cost if a damaging sound bite can be extracted from it. The culprit here is the 24-hour “news” media channels that have made the game of politics into a game show.

Sarah Palin can win a game show, but certainly not a debate against Christopher Hitchens.

A candidate that can argue intelligently for 2 hours about a topic that they care about deeply is a leader our nation desperately needs, to look up to, to learn from, to follow.

Will the World End Before or After Dinnertime?

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The world is going to end next Saturday, May 21, 2011 according to Harold Camping.

My natural first reaction is to write some sarcastic criticism of religious extremists. However, I won’t. Religion is important to a lot of people, so I try to avoid making light of it, no matter how absurdly it may contradict the world of rational ideas.

About 2-3 months ago, I was driving from the airport, tired, flipping through radio stations. I came across a soothing voice and left it there, half zoned out. The voice was that of Harold Camping, a religious scholar, who hosts a radio show that answers call-in question about the Bible. I remember listening to him several times in the past. For someone I disagree with intellectually on almost everything, I like the guy. He doesn’t, from what I heard, spew hatred and intolerance. In either case, I like listening to people I disagree with (or don’t understand at all) every once in a while.

On that particular show, as I tuned in, he was talking about a new firm prediction of his that the world will end on Saturday, May 21, 2011. He was citing a bunch of “evidence” for this from the Bible. He’s made this prediction once before, but according to him, this time he was really sure and staking his reputation on it. This, to me, meant that he really believes it, fully, on the intellectual and emotional level. That, to me, was and is fascinating!

The best part of the show that I caught was when a lady called in asking if Mr. Camping knew whether the world will end in the afternoon or evening of May 21 and what time. The reason she wanted to know is because she wanted to have a special dinner with her family prior to the world’s ending. A last supper, if you will.

37% of College Graduates Don’t Believe in Evolution

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A gallop poll released on December 17 confirms my long held belief that the fundamentalist religious groups are still going strong in the United States. Here is a key statistics:

  • 40% of American don’t believe in evolution. Meaning, they believe that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so”.

As you would expect, there is a correlation between your level of education and whether you “believe” in evolution. However, what’s remarkable to me is that 37% of people that graduate college don’t believe in evolution and 22% of postgraduates don’t believe in it. Is it fair to assume that those are not scientists and engineers, but are students of humanities or subjects less related to evolution and the thinking process characteristic of the scientific method?