I emerge from another self-imposed public exile with a mind overburdened with the daily privation of intellectual discourse. Every day I read another piece of excrescence from Dinesh D’Souza, or a local opinion column about the collectivism, communism, or statism of non-belief, about how atheism is teaming up with Islam, threatening our kids, or destroying society; everyday I force myself, for some unknown mental sadistic reason, to scroll through another contentious and jejune dictum on the greatness of superstition and mental obedience. I came home last night to another piece of D’Souza’s agitprop, and that shit-eating grin of his, and I lost it emotionally. The unending stream of garbage spouting the same refuted points is exhausting. I don’t have the time or the energy to single handily combat all of it. Most of the time I pass the articles over to AANR, sometimes I feel better commenting myself, but of late it just seems to be gaining momentum. One-liner punditry, worthless, and devoid of any real substance, spewed over and over; I marvel at my passionate contemporaries’ ability to brush off most of it as merely the death throes of a wasting and dying religion.

Let them have their precious beliefs one might say; and I hear you. My issue is not the lay-believer, the weekly participant, or even the piously devout who twist their own revelations towards reason to fit into society. On the contrary, my problem lies with the twisting of reality to fit into the revelations! The revision of history, the systematic theology of apologetics and Christian defense of Theonomy, and the current political Theocratic Dominionism prevailing through our culture and politics.

The abuses of the clergy and their megalithic churches is undeniable. It is a matter of principle and reason, and chiefly a matter of philosophical understanding.

The modern day atheist is the intellectual descendant of Enlightenment monism. This is not a theory, this is fact. It was with even greater courage and greatness that any true non-believers existed prior to 1859, to mollify the mental disposition towards authoritative natural conscience would have required profound intelligence, prevalent in men like Spinoza and Hume.

Today it is easier to obtain the truth, requiring nothing more than selective readings of great minds. I always ask that in the spirit of discourse one reads and understands the best the opposition has to offer, as to realize that their best is wholly insufficient. Scientists do balk at the “atheism” of evolutionary science, but evolution is the final brick in the philosophical destruction of revealed religions. Today it appears as if every major politician and leader must pander to the believers in our time in a way that is more barbaric than the early founding of our country. The deism of Jefferson, Paine, Franklin, Allen, Washington, Madison, and Adams was contrary to every utterance of the modern churches. Rights are endowed by the Creator, or Nature’s God, but the the rule of the people is by the people, not a god, and certainly not the god of the revealed religions! A single quote, completely in context, can sum the entire disdain for some of the most important Founding Fathers, if there still remains any uncertainty about the subject. In context, imagine Hillary Clinton, John McCain, or Barack Obama saying any of the phrases, and having a chance to remain in Presidential contention. Christianity has changed little since this time period, but it has gained tremendous power, against all expressive attempts to prevent a Theocracy. Imagine, as I have, the response Washington gave to Hancock about chaplains being assigned to the military; “Among many other weighty objections to the Measure, it has been suggested, that it has a tendency to introduce religious disputes into the Army, which above all things should be avoided, and in many instances would compel men to a mode of Worship which they do not profess.” He would not get away this today!

John Adams:
“Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days?”

Thomas Jefferson:
“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”

James Madison:
“The difficulty of reconciling the Xn [Christian] mind to the absence of a religious tuition from a University established by law and at the common expense, is probably less with us than with you. The settled opinion here is that religion is essentially distinct from Civil Govt. and exempt from its cognizance; that a connection between them is injurous to both; that there are causes in the human breast, which insure the perpetuity of religion without the aid of law; that rival sects, with equal rights, exercise mutual censorships in favor of good morals; that if new sects arise with absurd opinions or overheated imaginations, the proper remedies lie in time, forbearance and example; that a legal establishment of religion without a toleration could not be thought of, and without a toleration, is no security for public quiet & harmony, but rather a source itself of discord & animosity; and finally that these opinions are support by experience, which has shewn that every relaxation of the alliance between Law & religion, from the partial example of Holland, to its consummation in Pennsylvania Delaware NJ, &c, has been found as safe in practice as it is sound in theory. Prior to the Revolution, the Episcopal Church was established by law in this State. On the Declaration of independence it was left with all other sects, to a self-support. And no doubt exists that there is much more of religion among us now than there ever was before the change; and particularly in the Sect which enjoyed the legal patronage. This proves rather more than, that the law is not necessary to the support of religion.”

Benjamin Franklin:
“…Some books against Deism fell into my hands….It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quote to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations, in short, I soon became a thorough Deist.”

Thomas Paine:
“The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion.”

Ethan Allen:
“Denominated a Deist, the reality of which I have never disputed, being conscious that I am no Christian.”

—In this, I share only the philosophical belief that the enemy is not the religious, and that other atheists and agnostics ought to take the word Freethinker instead. “Revealed” religion is the enemy of reason, that which accepts revelation as in any way a reliable source of knowledge and information about the world. All religions that profess revelation as this source, are the enemies of reason, and contrary to the Freethinker, contrary to the Founders of this country.

Another organization posing as a legitimate “watchdog” group has emerged and defecated an interesting new study (By study, I mean in the theistic sense, where one has a revelation of a hypothesis and fills in the answer themselves). The organization is called the Culture and Media Institute, and it’s the child of the infamous Media Research Center whose fair and unbiased headline reads “Documenting, Exposing, and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias”. I don’t exactly know what neutralize means in this context, but all joking aside, that is rather alarming. So this is how it works. The organization says something, for instance in this case, that atheism is given favorable coverage in the press, and instantly, several major batshit news organizations write Non-Op pieces about the “study” that has effectively exposed an evil atheist conspiracy in the news media. You can find examples of this phenomena here and here.

What is particularly disturbing about this tactic is how these collective bodies of news organizations are attempting to flood the media with certain memes. One parent organization creates a “research” group that then funds a “study” which is then given to the collective news organizations to spread around… Before long the image that the “liberal” media somehow protects atheism (something we personally know is absurdly false, thanks Paula Zahn) is tossed around the in people’s heads as if it were a legitimate or valid claim. The meme flooding is not entirely unique, it exists in less fashionable form by organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the Discovery Institute, both of which are infamous for trumping “talking points” that have no basis in reality.

The head of these organizations is a man named Brent Bozell, who looks eerily like a block of stomach cheese and a viking.

I feel like we shouldn’t be condoning vikings to run media research groups. They may try to keep the fact that they raped and pillaged as a bloodsport out of the news.

From a padded leather chair encrusted with diamonds, a fat ass with a golden microphone weighs in on the rising costs of fuel:

“Make more money.”

The absurdity of this demand, as if it were so easy, that we as a people simply chose to ignore, on a desire to sit at home and eat from handouts and charity, the potential for easy money. That people working 60 hour work weeks, a higher average than any other country, to try and make ends meet, are somehow too stupid or unable to simple make more money to pay for gas.
This man is evil. As is the entire corruptive forces of Conservatism. Supported by your tax money, massive corporate welfare is a behemoth of a machine. Only in a fiat of total control, can disparity of wealth be so offensive, so utterly against the principles of humanity. This is not class warfare, this is not distribution of wealth. This is the allowance of the Divine Right of Kings. The mixing of the religious right with corporatism has created a modern version of the Tudors.
We are returning to the God Instituted Monarchy. In the 20th century we called this Fascism. This is absolutum dominium.

Welcome to the 21st century, the beginning of true Authoritative Dominionism.

NPR had a fascinating discussion this morning about the apparent increase in religious fervor around the world. Alan Wolfe with the center for Religion and Public Life at Boston College on the show made the case that the idea that religion was increasing is false. In fact, the world is becoming far more secular, which is not only good for economic and social wealth, but also good for peace. Of course, America is an open sore of an exception. Increase of wealth usually means a decrease of religion, but in America the increasing religion is in extraordinarily divisive, although it is not a revival, it may be a sign of a real religious death.

It gets me thinking.

As America moves closer towards a fascist state, liberal democracy has been turned into almost a swear word. No longer is it important if prosperity exists as an opportunity for all, no longer does equality of opportunity matter, no longer does civil rights and basic freedoms matter. Our country glorifies corporatism on the corporate owned venues of media and literature, (DaneAndrade.com is owned solely by me, Dane Andrade fyi) our country promotes strong militant nationalism and a national religion. It scoffs at violation of basic freedoms like privacy and freedom of association, one national language, one style of culture, and one desired ethnicity, and it wills a strong federal government. This is called, ironically, Conservatism.

Conservatism can’t be dying, but perhaps it is the cause of dying religion. Of course, by dying, I don’t actually mean that it is dwindling… rather, the highest producers, largest educated minority of this country, the most charitable and giving factions of this country are quickly turning away from dogma and the fetters of Christian hegemony.

There is a worrying trend however… Some have argued that where the open economy and free market exists, old world religion will also die.

This is where the flaw exists. Prosperity may kill religion, especially in the early stages., but the evolving religion will find a way to inject itself into free systems, like a tree killing vine. Here, the most prosperous country in existence, religion is killing us.

Prosperity Gospels.

The religious answer to the free market. The religious answer to growing secularism. Brand the faith under Joel Osteen and mega-church, and watch it flourish. Now, rampant monopolistic corporatism coupled with faith-guided politicians is destroying any residual essence of free market culture, ideas, and will ultimately cripple the economy.

What does Christianity offer Americans? Overpowering federal legislation that allows the government more power in the churches and the churches more power to enact powerful freedom destroying laws.

I’m done insulting benign faiths. My target remains forever, till the day I die, the fundamentalism of evangelical faiths in America and other countries. I have eternally sworn that it will be over my carcass that any words of the Bible are ever put into law in this country. As a member of Americans United I have found religious allies in this… people who understand that basic religious freedom starts with preservation of your own enemy’s faith.

America is the most powerful country in the world, and it is becoming a theocratic fascist state. This is undeniable. There is no compelling argument against it. Nothing. The only argument there is, by some, is that this is an acceptable path for this country.

I beg to differ.

I have graduated from school and inherited a world devoid of the promises of liberty and  the freedoms I read about in school. Instead of fighting for new freedoms, instead of marching down the streets as a new generation, new knowledge, better understanding, I find myself fighting unbelievable regression. Backwards. I can’t fight for new things, I have to fight for things that were once already decided. Things as simple of as the basic religious freedom of the citizenry. I did not inherit a free country. I walked into the scene as the destruction of law and the understanding of history were beginning. Instead of fighting for the rights of others, I have to fight for basic rights away from people who should know better… We have never regressed before… we have never gone backwards, towards darkness, like we are doing today.

This is an open cry to my ruling countrymen and women. You fucked things up for us. And you better believe we are pissed. Baby-boomer generation has royally ass-raped this country and my generation. Never before can I look back at a past generation and decide with such anger and bitterness, that they have failed their sons and daughters. This country is not safer. This country is not freer. This country is not more prosperous. What the fuck were you people doing this whole time? Worrying about what other people were doing in their bedrooms, worrying about fetuses, worrying about growing a massive military while stripping basic infrastructure growing programs to shreds, worrying about who was the sexiest actor in Hollywood, worrying about what people injected into their bodies… In the name of the things that offend you personally, you have crippled the people you meant to save. Damn you.

Everyone in my generation should be PISSED. These aging morons in Congress, on both sides, are living in age of personal self satisfying, while acting like they are giving anything back to us. An entire generation has raped for itself, leaving us with a dying planet, a dying ecosystem, a dying economy, and dying freedoms.

Their own system of self-preservation is also going to fail under them… What happened to the desire to leave this world a better place for your children? Overweight, television watching, moron voting, failures.

We don’t owe you anything. What have you given us? An opportunity to succeed? An opportunity to create? Massive national debt, limited freedoms, never-ending wars, terrorism, dogmatic religious fervor… Those are wonderful things. Thank you.

This doesn’t include them all. There are many people in my life, including my parents, who are superb exceptions. But they are outnumbered by the Fox News watching zombie horde.

You are even voting against us… as if you know better at this point. Why is my generation so against yours? Why are we voting so differently? Greedy bastards.

We are voting this time. Maybe I’m a cynic. It just seems like we’ve been lied to…

All I can say, I promise you my generation will be voting this year… and you will be seeing a change.

I couldn’t have said it better.

I’ve been bitching to my buddy Micah (Like, actually whining, I don’t know why he puts up with me sometimes) for the past few months about the abuse of the Middletown Police Department and the local government. I’ve avoided local politics, and for the most part, been keeping my nose clean with any local activism. I’m accustomed to being pulled over for one thing or another, in my mind usually for my “controversial” car decals (Two Darwin Fish…). Here, I’ve been pulled over twice for a “random” check. I’ve been asked in malls to remove my hands from my sweater, and I’ve had my keys confiscated by a police officer for not having my Environmental decal displayed, who then proceeded to lie to me about the suspension of my registration. I had to attend a Tribunal to argue in front of the judge that the suspension of my registration was against the law, seeing as I didn’t break a law. I wrote a lengthy and well written complaint to internal affairs about the whole ordeal, to which the local Middletown Police refused to acknowledge. I brought the issue with the local government, with no proper confirmation or acknowledgment that my complaints reached the right sources. Meantime, the cops are all driving brand new Dodge Chargers.

From Micah:

“Providence AP. Middletown School District. Wow. We are famous as privacy abusers. You are right Dane (Savor that, by the way), Middletown is fast becoming a police state.”

Scrolling across Faux News the last few nights has been the headline that here in Middletown, RI, our lovely local government and school board will place electronic tracking devices in Elementary School Students to test better communications between teachers and parents with students.

Ironic. I happen to be in the right place at the right time. This was actually my elementary school in the short time I lived here, almost 20 years ago. There is still a time capsule in the playground from my Kindergarten class, I’m sure, long forgotten.

No, it’s really not funny. The big guns (ACLU) are coming in for this one, and coupled with national attention, it won’t be an issue for too long. This has been Micah’s home for a lot longer than mine. We both have come to a fairly solid middle-ground, myself leaving behind the fetters of a Big Government economy, and Micah leaving behind the detritus of Big Government social values. Perhaps we should consider running for local government, if anything, to protect our neighbors and friends from abuse of the system, something that is clearly necessary.

“Nothing is more difficult and nothing requires more character than to find oneself in open opposition to one’s time (and those one loves) and to say loudly: NO!” -Kurt Tucholsky

Nothing extracts from me greater inner turmoil and frustration than the Christian self-aggrandized claim that their source of morality is the greatest in the world. The bogus axiom is a sort of mantra of the Christian orthodoxy, so much so, that it rears it’s ugly face during every major election. Our favorite Joseph Smith worshiping candidate even added his two cents when questioned by Tim Russert on Meet The Press:

MR. RUSSERT: But when you say freedom requires religion, can you be a moral person and be an atheist?

GOV. ROMNEY: Oh, oh, of course. Oh, of course.

MR. RUSSERT: And participate in freedom?

GOV. ROMNEY: Oh, of course. Yes, this…

MR. RUSSERT: So freedom doesn’t require religion?

GOV. ROMNEY: Well, this–the, the context was talking about the, the founding of the nation and the, the sense in this case of John Adams describing the fact that our constitutional form of government and this American experiment required morality, which in turn required religion. And, and yet, of course, on an individual basis, you have many individuals of great morality and–that, that don’t have any particular faith.

How touching. I’m about as moved by Romney’s sincere tone as a dying country dog on a front porch. I know I’ve touched on the issue many times, but I can’t emphasize it enough; the general assumption, in all forms of media, that somehow, and someway, morality comes from a religion, is, absurdly offensive. I’ve seen debates, much like the one’s Dinesh D’Souza contributes, in which the particular non-believer on the other side seemingly gives a pass to the egregious falsity. I am not unlearned when it comes to the bible, and I am well aware how life lessons and morality can be deprived from the book.

The religious go from declaration of rights from the holy book, to denouncement of rights with the book, and continue to take credit for the morality of this generation, while ignoring the morality of previous generations. If a morality can be deprived with considerable effort from such an ancient text, this same effort should not be exhausted in the effort to exonerate themselves from the evils of their own history.

Morality is an accepted code of conduct. This is not a statement of “merely” but rather an authoritative pronouncement of certainty. One cannot paint a proper picture of the entire origins of the current Moral Zeitgeist, but one can identify the occasional leaps in understanding. Often, these turns come at the cost of human life and dignity, like the 1940’s Holocaust. Our general ability as a society to accept certain behaviors is sharpening the focus constantly away from transient barbarism to ever increasing levels of social ratiocination, humanity marches towards a generally better “accepted code of conduct”.

Christianity deserves credit for the commercialization of the most modern forms of morality. The ability to stamp ownership on the progress of human behavior is unique to the great Monotheism. Where every moral and bit of wisdom could claim origins in some other combined effort of social groups, it is with Christianity that the first real arrogant claims of moral development present themselves. The only thing worthy of this title is in fact, progress. Instead, society is told that the bible contains all the real world morality society needs. I disagree.

The New Testament is a decaying pasture of morality. Even when raked, sowed, and fertilized, often it’s with the carcasses of it’s own making, there is little, if any, practical standard of behavior to gain from it. If at anytime in humanity’s history the doctrine of Justice, Mercy, and Love were at the forefront of Christian past, I am willing to publicize my oversight. I believe that first and foremost principles in the early Christian and modern Christian religion is the doctrine of faith. Faith that God was a man, and a man was a god. Faith that man is born tainted, and must atone for this crime of being born by choosing to believe that this taint, this evil was cleansed by a man, 2,000 years prior. It is this faith that guided the marching armies of believers so many times throughout our history. It is through lack of faith that so many were put to death by so many who announced themselves of the most faithful. The doctrine of belief without reason first, is the doctrine that claims moral superiority over other creeds.

When faith is obtained, enter the doctrine of Jesus sayeths. It is not enough that the man spoke first and foremost to love, which, I am ever convinced, that if the man existed, he was a morally superior, vastly progressive liberal, to which I cannot take this from the author of these teachings. These teachings failed when the first Christian put to death a non-believer. These teachings continue to fail everyday, whenever someone goes out of there way to make another person’s life more uncomfortable, more stringent, more adverse, more dire. These teachings fail the second those feelings of hate emerge when a Christian reads that others don’t agree with them. It is the greed and desire for immortality that pushes the Christians, and it is the doctrine of faith that cements it. It is with this version of morality that continues today. Whoever can speak loudest what they think should be derived from the texts, is the leader. We are superior in morality because we say so, and the morality we speak of, is right here, when I apply this particular utterance to everyday life. The commercialization of this sort of morality takes on this form. Nowhere does the bible forbid abortion, or slavery, or torture, but everywhere the Christians march with tape on their mouths in defense of woman’s reproductive slavery, comparable, but philosophically no different than the coercive enslavement and ownership of other peoples.

But I am not done, because it is with Christianity as well, that the most unimaginable and unmistakable evil is forged. If we are to give credit to Christianity for Western Morality, than we most give it credit for the most disturbing and unequal evil ever conceived by man. The doctrine of hell. Nowhere is there more evil buried, than in the concept of eternal torment. An everlasting pain. Everlasting fire. Everlasting torture. This concept, this unthinkable and mind-numbing revelation, is nowhere to be found in the Old Testament, and not within the understanding of the New Testament. The same effort that could be applied to remove the simple and dreamlike sequences of imagery of a hell, are instead implied to demonstrate the prowess of the text to explain the good behaviors of society.
They are to blame for the good, yet, allowed exemption from the evil?

Finally, ask yourself this. If the same effort to deprive morality from the New Testament, the non-literal, metaphoric understandings of Jesus, were equally employed in the understanding of the punishments described in the odd, and obviously metaphorical rantings of Revelations, would Hell be a distinguishable concept at all? And, given that this is an obvious answer, why then, even promote it?

It is my opinion that it is a stretch to claim that morality is sourced with Christianity, but it is not a stretch to see how the modern concepts of Hell are used to lure and keep people believing in the original commercialization on the religion.
Ask yourself, why, as a body and extension of society, has Christianity not rejected the doctrine of hell?

The answer is because it has no real monopoly on morality. It is in fact, a source of regression and decay. The anti-love. A reasonable and loving and just person rejects the concept of hell out of common sense. Yet, people still preach about it and attempt to scare others with the inconceivable evil, and at the same time, exonerate themselves from it’s fabrication and endless promotion. The most hateful and virulent forms of behavior done in modern times, are people who believe in a heaven and hell; themselves always the recipient of the eternal paradise.

I have raised money for Ron Paul, I have recruited people to the campaign, I have defended his positions, and I have stood out in the cold to help get signatures. I have also contributed over 300 posts to the Ron Paul Forums, and was considered a Senior Member.

After posting recently four major concerns about atheists and Ron Paul’s policies, the thread was effectively deleted. Upon pointing out that I did not violate any of the forum rules by criticizing his stances, (concerning abortion, separation of church state, racism, education, and his views on evolution and science)the new thread was also deleted, and I was banned permanently from the forums.

This is what a campaign begins to look like. The Ron Paul supporters can congratulate themselves, they are mainstream, and they are acting like it. I have no real equivalent explanation to the behavior. This is a campaign that swears on the Constitution and our freedoms, a quasi libertarian movement that attempts to be above everyone else, especially in regards to our first freedoms.

What can I say about this? This is representative of the campaign and the movement. I have received personal return mail on the positions of every candidate or campaign except Ron Paul. One can only assume that he is offended by my non-belief, which means he will be offended by your non-belief. The grassroots campaign has become a cult whose rabid fans continue to expouse freedom as a qualifier of their authority under the guise of Christian Dominionism oozing with distant echoes of white supremacy. The real libertarians have been ejected from the role they started in the grassroots effort. In its place, this, an odd collection of pseudo-intellectual self-appointed arbiters, who believe in some sort of political panacea who, armed with single sentence cliches, run to the defense of Ron Paul’s policies despite the goatse like holes that have gone unfilled.

Am I bitter? Maybe. I don’t exonerate myself from a part in any of this… It was not like I was a troll or an obnoxious presence. I have merely been a presence of dissent that was deemed dangerous enough to the campaign to delete and ban permanently, without even a defined reason.

I believe in freedoms. There isn’t a freedom that someone could convince me to with enough reason and rationale.

What is this? This is what it has become? Suppressing a dissenting opinion? For what end? What reason, other than the fear that what I have to say may in fact reach a few people?

In no way do I intend to imply that I lost support for Ron Paul because of this event. I apologize for that misconception. My opinion changed because of issues I have yet to discuss. I would like to point out this post was more about the hypocrisy of being banned from a Ron Paul Forum in light of the claim of supporters to adhere to the principles of freedom. Many Ron Paul supporters have also attacked other forums for deleting threads about Ron Paul.

1. I did not endorse another candidate.
2. I did not break any of the forum rules.
3. I brought up a long list of issues and concerns in my consideration for Ron Paul as a candidate.
4.  Thread was deleted
5. Bringing up the deletion got my account banned.

Savvy?

Discussion on Facebook.

Remember when a Ron Paul Thread was deleted by Sean Hannity Forums?

Our friends at Connecticut Valley Atheists, who are only a short drive down the road, received another shout-out from a rather insightful columnist. The short article highlights a sort of “can’t help but laugh at yourself” feeling towards Holiday time creche.

I actually laughed when I read this part:

“But the clock was ticking this year; there was nary a creche debate to speak of in Connecticut. According to reliable sources, several opinion professionals said a little prayer to God, who, on short notice, brought forth onto the Earth the Connecticut Valley Atheists, to give us something Christmas-like to quarrel about.

There it was, in early December, a billboard kind of a sign thing, in Rockville’s Central Park, to acknowledge the “winter solstice,” and, of course, to advertise the notion that the World Trade Center towers might still be standing, if not for religious insanity. “Imagine No Religion,” the atheists communicated.

Bravo, you crafty little atheist troublemakers. It was a creche practical joke in reverse. Instead of despoiling the public square with Jesus stuff, or competing Hanukkah stuff or nondenominational reindeer, the Godless Ones not only dumped on the Son of God at Christmas time, but also question whether Dad is a source for good.”