Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Christianity: When you're short on crazy and/or nonsensical gibberish.


Related story

So I'm watching CNN just flipping around, and I come across a report about former President Bush and his pardons of two border patrol guards before he left office. Now I don't really care all that much about the story to be honest; that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish down Mexico way. I only caught the tail end of it, but on the screen comes Rep. Walter Jones from North Carolina. Now he's a Republican and I wish I could say this was something only a Republican would say, but I doubt it.

Here's what he said as he faced the camera:

"I said 'Mr. President, you profess to be a man of faith. Please get down on your knees and ask god if you should commute or pardon these two men, and listen to god and I believe he will tell you yes.' I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I think god did quite frankly."

Now, if someone tells me that they are religious because it makes them feels good, or gives their life meaning and direction, or a feeling of belonging, that's cool, I can understand that. Lots of people belong to clubs and associations and such for various reasons. And they all have their beliefs and bylaws, so I understand why people are religious. We all want to feel like our lives have some sort of meaning. They don't really believe everything they practice is based on fact, but they need or want it.

But, there are some people that take it beyond that and really insist that it's all real and true, and there really is a god about. And again, that's fine as well. Some people are in deeper than others and they are the credulous type, or they kind of person that can't do something halfhearted and so they force themselves to believe it's true.

But here's the thing, when you're a United States congressman, I'm expecting that you're going to be a little more intelligent than the general public. And when you clearly demonstrate that you're not in an incredible display of hubris and superstition, I'm taken aback by it. You're a goddamn congressman for christ's sake--act like it. You're not some rube that's easily taken in by the latest conman, or at least you shouldn't be.

Let's break this down:

- "Mr. President, you profess to be a man of faith."

There's NOTHING admirable about being a man of faith. It's the faithful, credulous, and unquestioning fools that bring despots and corruption to our world.

- "Please get down on your knees and ask god if you should commute or pardon these two men"

Say what? You're asking the President of the United States and a grown man to bow down to a superstition to decide the fates of two men?

- "and listen to god and I believe he will tell you yes."

So not only do you believe that such a thing as an actual god exists and you just happen to worship the correct one, but you also believe you know what it thinks about a given situation?

- "I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I think god did, quite frankly."

In other words it couldn't be that Bush examined the case and consulted legal experts before coming to a decision based on the facts, could it? No no, it was your god that either told Bush what he should do, in person I assume, or your god violated the sacrosanct "freewill" that Christians endlessly prattle on about when excusing their god for condemning people to hell and it made Bush pardon them--is that it? I realize that Bush wasn't real big on facts and never saw one that got in his way of his version of the truth, but damn, you're a fucking congressman, at least pretend like you're not a blithering idiot.

It just stuns me to hear an elected official, a person that makes important decisions on our behalf, say such incredibly idiotic, childish nonsense. People like him keep blathering these supercilious tautologies that have no basis in reality and just expect intelligent people to just nod approvingly or something. That's bad enough, and trying to convince people to think before they say stupid shit like that is probably a battle that's just not worth fighting. But seriously, shouldn't we expect people like him to make a little more sense and not talk to us like we're goddamn children, especially if we're expected to address them with the honorific of "The Honorable" so and so? Because damn, there ain't nothing honorable about Christian gobbledygook; and I'll be damned if I'm going to respect idiotic shit like that.

Copyright ©2009 Rum Tickled Humanist

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Mass Transit or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Setting Next to Strangers

American Public Transportation Association

I live in Indianapolis. Let me say from the top, if I had my druthers, I would be long gone from here. It's not that I hate the city or the people. Like all cities, it is a mixture of all sorts of different peoples and cultures. Other than access to the Pacific Ocean in a warm climate, which is my number one requirement for where I want to live, it has just about everything that any other city has. We don't always get visited by the best musical acts, but the city is close enough to those that do, and with a little effort and sacrifice, I can see my favorite artists.

No, the stumbling block for me is the lack of vision culminating in the lack of good mass transit. I cannot fathom why something hasn't been done already. No doubt this malady affects other cities as well, but it strikes me as something that shouldn't even need debate. It's certainly understandable that the how and what would be debated, but not the need. But debate shouldn't be a substitute for action. This is not a choice or an option.

Some cities seem to be at least making strides, from what I gather. Cities like Portland and San Diego have taken steps to ensure that they will be ready for the future by building rail systems with plans for further expansion. Certainly there were challenges that needed to be overcome during implementation of such an ambitious project. But they were smart enough to realize that they really didn't have a choice. With more vehicles creating more congestion and pollution and ruining the quality of life, this is a step that all major cities will have to take. You can argue about the how and what until you pass out, but as a large city, the choice of whether or not it should be done in the first place, has been decided for you.

Here in Indy we are approaching a critical mass. Our air quality is already not the greatest, and people love their cars in this city. The number of vehicles is only going to increase. The number of commuters using IndyGo, our local public transportation bus service, has increased since the spike in gas prices, but not enough to make IndyGo a short term answer for a long term problem. The money just isn't there for them, and it would take a lot more riders to make it feasible for them to increase their capacity. But at any rate, bus service alone can only be a short term solution. We do need to change the car culture in this town, and in fact that may happen organically as the ever expanding road system fails to keep up. Clearly the gas spikes have demonstrated that it can happen. However, if we are able to ween ourselves from our cars, there will need to be a system to accommodate those people; and the bus system will quickly be overwhelmed.

As I see it, there are two factors that will bring this to a head. First, there is the obvious reality that you can only keep expanding the road system for so long before you run out of room to expand. And second, there is the reliance on gas powered cars. Adding more cars to the roads over the next few decades is only going to make the air dirtier. Yes, you can solve that with hybrids and electric cars and such, but that won't address the capacity issue. And to me, the money spent in research on new types on vehicles, could be better spent on new transportation systems. This way you could dramatically slash emissions which would give us time to develop new forms of nature-friendly transportation without the need to rush into something. We are already pretty much at the peak of our knowledge about transportation systems, or at least closer to it, then we are our knowledge about the best and most viable forms of next generation vehicles. I think this would also make it easier for people to accept new car technology because they would no longer be so attached to their cars, and would be more accepting of public transportation when they see it functioning reliably and properly.

All we need to do is to look at the big cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Where would they be without it if they would have refused to look forward to the future, or if they would have half-assed it? People in those cities probably see it as a normal part of life, and don't even think about whether or not it's a good thing. Yes, they are certainly not without problems; they all make blunders from time to time. But no major city would survive without mass transit. Every city must decide what works best for them. Here in Indy it looks like some sort of light rail system or trolley is the way to go instead of only buses--although we will need many more bus routes if we as a city decide that public transportation is the way to go. What I really find sad is that our local government does nothing to promote using the bus system, absolutely nothing. No one will willingly give up their car, as long as they can afford them, if they don't believe they have a viable and more convenient alternative. But at this point no one is taking it seriously, all they do is have meetings and half-hearted exploratory efforts.

Sure it's a scary and extremely costly thing to consider, and a tough sell in this town, but the cost isn't going to go down. In a matter of decades we will be at the point were it is no longer an option, and the cost will no longer be an issue. We might as well do it now when the cost will be less, the logistics will be more tenable, and we aren't the last city our size to pull our head out of our ass. Aside from the quality of life issues, and the simple pragmatic issues of having too many vehicles and not enough pavement, any hope we have of being seen as an international city and attracting business in the future, will vanish like gossamer in a hurricane if we have to slap together some last minute solution to gridlock and putrid air quality while other similar sized cities have long ago left us in the dust and looking like the backwards and non-progressive state that we have a reputation for being--which is often justified.

In other words, our politicians need to get off of their asses and stop worrying about their jobs and do something now while we still have the luxury to be judicious in our planning and deployment. Besides, politicians always have a way of landing on their feet. But their feet will be made of lead if we don't give them a kick in the keister and tell them to stop talking and just get it done.

Copyright ©2009 Rum Tickled Humanist