Posts By Crommunist

2 Because I am an atheist: jetboy

May 15, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s submission comes from commenter jetboy:

Neither death nor life hold any fear for me. I am a happier person knowing there is no purpose other than that which I assign. I am happier knowing that each atom in my body is as immortal as any being could wish for. I no longer wait for inspiration; I work until it comes.

Because I am an atheist, I no longer have any thing to attribute or any one to blame for the situations I find myself in. This means I can more easily extricate myself from those situations, or deal with events as they happen.

Because I am an atheist, I no longer tolerate the notion that one’s lot in life is predetermined or the result of cosmic justice. I no longer tolerate the idea that it is right to enjoy privilege while others suffer.

Because I am an atheist, I embrace the notion that each of us is only here once, and the only right thing to do is to make it as enriching as possible to as many as possible.

Because I am an atheist, I listen to my doctors and remain active in pursuing the cures to my illnesses, ones that remained untreated for too long. I exercise, I track my diet scrupulously, and spread the word about the diseases I previously thought were mere symptoms of some punishment laid against me.

Because I am an atheist, I am at peace. Even though I pursue my humanist causes with zeal and passion, I am at peace in the middle of struggle. I know now that there is nothing more that can be done to me than kill me.

Because I am an atheist, I am returning to school to finish my degree. I intend to spend my twilight years interpreting data from probes.

Because I am an atheist, I no longer feel obligated to tolerate the ridiculous and poisonous ideas infecting my friends and family. I am a happy, centered, life-enjoying, astronomy-loving ass. And I have most of you to thank for it.

14 We’ll tread that fine line…

May 15, 2012
by Crommunist
· blog · Canada · cultural tolerance · culture · First Nations · politics · racism · religion · secularism

I hope nobody mistakes my approach to racism and cultural tolerance as ‘the right way’. People a lot more well-versed than I am in the vagaries of anthropology, history, sociology, and psychology (just to name a few relevant fields that I am utterly clueless in) have time and again failed to find the surefire path forward to diplomacy and harmony. I can barely sweet-talk women at the bar. If there is a ‘right way’, and I don’t believe that there is one, I’m an unlikely candidate to be the one who comes across it.

That being said, I know that some methods are better than others. There may be few things that we know to be surefire correct, but there are a hell of a lot that we know to be just plain wrong. There are, like logical fallacies or lousy apologetics arguments or privileged whines, arguments that are uttered pre-refuted. We know colour blindness doesn’t work, we know that ‘reverse discrimination’ isn’t what people say it is, we know that dividing the world into ‘racists’ and ‘non-racists’ is a house built on the sand of bad psychology. We can dispose of these arguments just like we can the “well then why are there still monkeys” ‘proof’ that evolution is a liberal conspiracy from the Muslim atheist devil.

Some situations, however, are quite a bit more tricky: … Continue Reading

6 Because I am an atheist: Stephanie Zvan

May 14, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s submission comes from fellow FTBer (and friend) Stephanie Zvan of Almost Diamonds:

Because I am an atheist…

…I am alive. That sounds hyperbolic, but bear with me.

There is much about my life now that I love–being able to write for (a small amount of) money, having the kind of love life that most people will never even strive for because they don’t believe it’s possible, having excellent friends and challenging work both as an employee and as a volunteer–but I had to survive long enough to get here. There have been plenty of times when that was in doubt.

I was physically and emotionally abused at home. I was pathologically shy. I was scared of everything. I was a year younger than everyone else in my class in school. I was serious and brainy. I didn’t wear the same clothes or haircuts as other kids. I attended six different elementary schools in three states. I wasn’t uncoordinated, but I had very little interest in competitive sports. I was poor in the exurbs in the 80s. I was targeted by one sexual predator when I was about nine and another (more successfully) when I was fifteen. I dated more than one guy who blamed me for his inability to act like a decent human being. … Continue Reading

15 The paradox of science and conservatism

May 14, 2012
by Crommunist
· blog · conservativism · critical thinking · crommunism · liberalism · science · skepticism

I expend a great deal of time and effort in the disparagement of conservative ideologies. They oversimplify complex issues to the point where the ‘solutions’ that arise from such ideologies are often more harmful than the problems they purport to ‘fix’. Reality is a multifaceted state of affairs with a lot of moving parts that defy the panacaea of upper-class tax cuts and ‘common sense’, and yet those who hold conservative ideologies are often openly contemptuous of the nuanced view of the world that is required to make any headway or improvement.

Despite my irritation, I must confess a certain sympathy for conservatism. Not a sympathy borne of pity (considering the way in which conservative policies are decimating not only my own country but others around the world, there is no room left for pity), but one borne of understanding. The conservative impulse, in its essence, is the human tendency to grind to a halt when new challenges face us. To put that another way, it is to address new problems with the solutions that have worked before – tradition and ‘common sense’ (which, in light of this view of conservatism, is simply what we call those things which used to confound us but we have answers for now). … Continue Reading

7 Movie Friday: Even Handed Odds

May 11, 2012
by Crommunist
· Media · Music · music videos · Originals · personal

Some of you may know that I play in a band called CROWN. What you may not know is that I don’t play in a band called CROWN anymore. We changed our name back in April to Even Handed Odds, reflecting not only a change in our lineup (we added a drummer), but the fact that there are a million things out there called “Crown”, which made us really tough to find on the internet. Since the name change, we played our first show as a 5-piece at The Backstage Lounge, a restaurant/live music venue on Vancouver’s beautiful Granville Island.

We shot this video at the gig:

Anyway, more shameless self-promotion.

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3 Because I am an atheist: GodVlogger

May 11, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s submission was rescued from the comment thread of Hemant Mehta’s post about this topic, submitted by GodVlogger:

Because I am an atheist…

STRANGERS: I feel more connected with strangers, somehow realizing that we are all just spinning through space together on this ‘pale blue dot’ of a planet called earth.

SPACE: Speaking of outer space, I notice the stars more, and am more likely to have glimpses of the vastness of the universe compared with our own comfort zones.

FEAR OF DEATH: I was on a commercial airplane not long ago when we hit a LOT of turbulence the pilot announced that we should prepare for a crash landing. We ended up flying through the storm ok, but what amazed me afterwards was how CALM and peaceful I was during that time. I had practically zero fear of death. Not that I wanted to die, and yes I thought about being gone from my role as a son, brother, father, husband, etc., but it was more of a calmly nostalgic “Hey, I’ve had a pretty good run of it here, and if I don’t make it well I think I’ve done a lot of good for others and they’ll eventually get by without me”, rather than a frantic anxiety that would not be able to change the outcome anyway (I don’t know how to make turbulence stop and I know that frantically praying it to stop would do nothing).

GAYS: I find myself much more sympathetic to the LGBT folks, knowing that almost all of the discrimination against them is based on mythology and fairy tales.

NEWS: I notice religion creeping in all over the place in the news, etc., whereas before I mainly noticed the role that religion plays in opposition abortion. Now I notice religion impacting a whole spectrum of women’s health issues, condoms in Africa, worldwide terrorism, the religious blame game after natural disasters, the preponderance of Catholics on the US Supreme Court, laws against buying a car on a Sunday, God Bless You when someone sneezes, national prayer day (days like that I would never have even noticed before), etc. It’s like I see religion almost everywhere.

Consider submitting your own statement, by e-mail or as a comment!

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13 Movie Friday: RCA, Sony, and big black cocks

May 11, 2012
by Crommunist
· blog · crapitalism · movie · psychology · race · racism

Name three stereo types…

Animated gif of a young man shaking his head 'no'

No? Not even a little? All right then, let’s move on.

One of the things that stuck out for me when I was studying cognitive psychology is the extent to which our brains are happiest when they have the least amount of work to do. We have a wide variety of mechanisms evolved specifically to let our brains ‘coast’ and do as little work as possible. Stereotypes, whether about people or groups or behaviours (or anything, really) are one very popular and powerful way of classifying information without having to put a lot of thought into it. Of course, the downside of stereotypes is that they often lead us to make erroneous conclusions based on bad information.

Those stereotypes propagate, and we come to see the entire world through the lens of our own lazy ignorance. For example: … Continue Reading

18 It’s been a weird day

May 11, 2012
by Crommunist
· blog · funny · personal

So when I called the guy at the credit card company to report that my card had been lost, I told him “it’s been a weird day”. … Continue Reading

12 The worst thing in the world (Thursday edition)

May 10, 2012
by Crommunist
· blog · civil rights · crime · law · news · Occupy · police

Trigger warning: sexual assault and other violence. Also, police.

When they tore down the Occupy Vancouver tent city, I was there. I was all geared up to get arrested for peacefully resisting the destruction of what was ultimately an important and helpful resource, not only for Canadian democracy, but for the city of Vancouver. I called my parents to tell them I might be thrown in jail; I called my close friends to put them on notice that if they didn’t hear from me in the next few hours, I would need them to start making phone calls. Then I headed downtown, fully expecting to see the scowling face of a judge before I saw my own bed again. What I saw instead was a massive cleanup crew with police helping to facilitate the voluntary removal of a bunch of supplies. The square was cleared without any confrontation whatsoever.

My Occupy experience was entirely bloodless, with the Vancouver Police Department behaving as though they truly understood the concept of peaceful protest and civil liberty. Their professionalism and restraint stands in sharp contrast with what we’re seeing out of their comrades in New York City: … Continue Reading

2 Because I am an atheist: Rogue

May 10, 2012
by Crommunist
· Because I Am An Atheist · blog

Today’s submission comes courtesy of Rogue via e-mail:

Because I am an atheist…

Life has more meaning…and more pain.

There is only one shot. I cannot look forward to anything after this.
Whatever my life if going to mean, I have to do it here and now.

I will not see my daughter after I die, I will be just as non-existent as she is. Those who have died before me have only my memories and the memories of those whom they have touched. I must carry on without them even as I hold on to those memories.

Pain and suffering is not admirable and has no spiritual purpose, it only detestable and should be fought against. I cannot comfort myself with the “knowledge” that everything has a purpose from some wise director.

I am the only one who has the power to bring meaning to my life. This is an awesome power, and a great responsibility. And more than a little frightening.

Consider submitting your own statement, by e-mail or as a comment!

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