This is Atheism

A good friend recently started an atheism inclined blog over at http://www.rationaltruth.co.nz. I always recommend these sorts of blogs, so please go and have a look.

On 12 December, Wayne posted an article entitled What is Atheism?, in which he expresses some disquiet with the implications of the term "atheist" and raises some questions about whether or not we should be comfortable being thought of, simply, as atheists.

While I have a deep respect for Wayne, and have enjoyed his blog very much, I disagree profoundly with this particular post. I would like to express a few ideas that might explain why I am perfectly happy to be labeled as an atheist, and even carry the label with a degree of pride.

Central to Wayne's thesis is the idea that atheism tells us nothing about what a person is, but only informs us of what they are not. From a logical perspective, however, this notion is fundamentally false. In data storage, a zero is not less significant than a one. The fact that someone identifies as an atheist tells us a bit about them, with no further enquiry. In fact, we know as much about them as we know about someone who proclaims themselves a methodist. In both cases, we can infer a lot of information about the world view of the person involved as it pertains to deities, and very little else. We know that the atheist might have a more flexible Sunday schedule than the methodist, but one fundamental quality of any "ism", be it atheism or methodism is that claimed membership of a group tells us very little about the morals and ethics of the claimant.

Wayne comments that, with reference to the general grouping called "atheists", "there are people and standards in here that I really don't like."

I am a member of a large number of groups in which I don't like all of the people and standards. These include, but are not limited to, my family, South Africans, libertarians, former students of Stellenbosch University, Toastmasters, former scholars of Queen's College, people who grew up in Queenstown, Alfa Romeo drivers, atheists, software developers, Cape Townians and Liverpool supporters. In fact, I don't think that I belong to a single group in which I am comfortable with all other members, and all standards that might have relevance in the group.

I don't think that any of us do.

Despite this, I remain proud to proclaim my membership of each of those groups, and many more beside, because the groups each represent a diversity of people who are united by one common quality out of the thousands that each individual possesses.

I understand exactly what Wayne was doing when he wrote his original post, and the fact that I have thought extensively on the matter is an indication that he has succeeded admirably in his goal. However, the conclusion of my thinking is very different from the one advanced by Wayne.

I am extremely happy to be just an atheist, and I am extremely happy to be thrown into the "everyone else" basket of people who do not believe in a god. While I am also uncomfortable with some of my fellow-atheists and the things that they do, I believe that not believing in god is the most important quality that binds us, and that this quality itself puts us in a position to demonstrate to the world that ethics, morals and the "goodness" of which Wayne speaks are indelible qualities of human nature, and not something that we need to learn from a god, or from a civilisation.

I also believe that, sometimes, human beings needs to do things that might be considered immoral, or perhaps unethical, and that these moments help to define ethics and morals in the future. Because atheists experience matters of conscience internally, without the intervention of a god-like figure, we are in a position to be more flexible and to analyse this flexibility objectively rather than simply discarding questionable actions as "sin". It might be thought that atheism is a very challenging and exciting place to be, and that its intractable and indefinable nature places it perfectly to explore and even define the future of the human race.

To fragment this amazing forum of human development in the name of comfort is tantamount to giving up your freedoms in favour of security. I would be comfortable doing neither, and I would mourn anyone who did as a fallen comrade.

Civilisationism, as espoused by Wayne, is not for me. I don't believe in progress for the sake of progress, and I don't believe that civilisation has brought any less human suffering than religion. At the heart of my atheism is personal freedom. Sometimes that means that I have to deal with a small amount of discomfort or unpleasantness, but I remain as much an acivilisationist as I am an atheist.

Hallowed Institutions

These practitioners have studied at the prestigious Havard University of Witchcraft in the U.S.A, which is presumably only slightly less well known than HIT (The Hogwarts Institute of Technology).

I can haz plasenta?

Today we learn from Princess Balongo that all of our problems can be solved by considering a number of questions, one of which is, "Do you have plasenta?" (sic)

Responsible People

In the wake of the large number of "vehicle insurance for women" ads that I have encountered recently, I was pleased to find this in my Facebook ad bar this morning:

Other responsible please? What... like other men?

In my country, we call this thing "food".

A few months ago, the mail pixies delivered to me an advertisement for a miraculous product. A veritable panacea for all 21st century ills, it can help you with anything.

The product becomes even more amazing when you read the other side of the leaflet.

Amazing! However, nowhere does it actually tell you what this product is. Even if you visit the Web site you won't be any the wiser. All you with find is some very suspicious before and after photos and a form so that you can provide your contact details.

That raises a huge red flag for me. You see, Big Pharma has built a billion dollar industry on the principle of developing cures of maladies, and then telling you all about them through advertising. Karl tells you nothing. If all of these claims of nutritional miracles were replaced by claims of night-time performance improvements, with no other details of the nature of the proffered product, would you even consider calling Karl? No? Well, I hope you wouldn't consider calling Karl at all until gave you at least a hint of the medical foundation of his wares.

Until then, here is some advice for free: If you are fat, eat less fried chicken. If you are thin, eat more fried chicken. If you are happy with what you weigh, drive through and keep doing whatever you are doing. Uncomfortable? Well, get a better chair.

More Christmas Wierdness

While on the subject of strange Christmas merchandise, here is something I found a year ago during the run-up to Christmas '07:

Why does the Xplore Arctic Mammoth Discovery Playset include a frikkin kangaroo?

Lullabies - Creepier than Clowns

Far be it from me to tell people how to bring up their infant children. I must freely admit that never having spawned myself, it's difficult for me to understand the levels of illogic that new parents can descend to in the face of chronic sleep deprivation and a detailed understanding of the digestion of lactose.

I do know some stuff about music, though, and also a bit about logic. I believe, therefore, that I can say for certain that you should not buy this for your kids:

You see, I found this in Musica, South Africa's favourite CD and DVD monopoly. They didn't have any Manu Chao or Mazzy Star, but they had this. They had more too!

In fact, there is an entire catalogue of these things that you can see here. Evidently, this line of products have won several awards and become quite popular among new parents.

My problem is that I cannot understand why anyone would buy this. I've listened to some of the sample tracks on the Web site and they are downright creepy. While there are certainly some nice tunes in popular music, the artists covered in this line include Metallica, Radiohead, Nirvana, Nine Inch Names (including the track Closer), The Ramones and AC/DC. Also, Tool. That's right. Tool. The bind that brought out an album called Ænima that includes a track named Hooker with a Penis.

There are three possible reasons that I can see for buying these CDs:

1. You are a young parent that is an avid U2 fan. You decide to buy Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of U2 in an attempt to instil a love of your favourite band in your child. You have forgotten that you didn't rock up at school on your thirteenth birthday with a tape in your new walkman that contained the theme tune from Noddy, or a complete recording of Sparky and the Magic Piano. I'm guessing that you had a bit of The Cure, perhaps some Ultavox, and some Sigue Sigue Sputnik. You have also not asked yourself the question of whether or not you will like U2 after you have spent hours listening to it being mangled by the Bhuddist Iraq Veteran's Xylophone Band of South Tennessee. Fail!

2. You are an older parent who feels their youth slipping away. You desperately want to do something to appear hip and progressive, and perhaps encourage someone to sleep with you - even your spouse. You are an idiot. Fail!

3. You are a single thirty-something that has been invited for Christmas dinner by one of your married couple friends. You desperately cast around for a gift of their new "arrival". You realise that there will be no heavy drinking, no prospect of encountering interesting new people that might sleep with you, and no waking up in another city on the 27th in someone else's clothes. Deprived if your normal Christmas festivities, you are smitten by a bolt of fear. Perhaps you will land up like them on day. Perhaps you secretly want to land up like them, and fear that you will be left behind to grow old and die alone. The dichotomy paralyses you. You stare aimlessly at the shelves until, suddenly, you see it. The gift that says it all, puts the "U" in the four-letter explative and ensures that if your buddy can't enjoy Led Zepplin while getting wasted with you anymore, he won't enjoy Led Zepplin ever! Like a drunk uncle arriving at a childrens birthday party, you defiantly present the wee sprog with the gift, secure in the knowledge that it won't be an item of contention in the divorce that happens in a few years time. Win? No. Dignity fail!

Unless, of course, you are willing to take that extra step, to embrace the giving of a gift that stacks lameness upon lameness - the gift that you know has no purpose other than gifting itself, the true embodiment of the 21st century Spirit of Chirstmas, that which was presented to the infant Jesus by the forth wise man that nobody likes to talk about. Mysterious, pointless, and Lucifer's own contribution of the festive season. Behold! The sound track of Hell itself!

Lekker Zef Komper!

A few days ago, I found this in the window of my local computer shop, Computers @ Bayside.

The product was an ATI Radeon X1300 Pro graphics accelerator. Unfortunately it proved really difficult to take a good picture through the glass, so I didn't get a good shot of the whole box. However, without doubt, that sticker says, "Lekker 3 Years Warranty."

The local importer of the Taiwanese Gigabyte range of products is Rectron, and they have a pretty close relationship with the manufacturer, so it is possible that this is part of some kind of custom packaging for South Africa. It could, however, have been applied by Rectron, or by Computers @ Bayside. Whatever the origins, it's a very cool find!

Not just for Africans anymore

DawgM, frequent commentator on this blog, kindly supplied me with the following advertisement for an African herbalist. Dawg lives in the UK, and picked this up outside the tube station in Tooting. Word!

Awesome Birthday

My birthday was on Saturday, and I really had one of the most awesome days that I can remember.

First, an old friend invited me to a gentle bunch that he organised for his extended family and I thus got to spend some time, and share some cake, with my favourite kids in the whole world. Thanks dude and dudette, it was really great to spend some of the day with you.

From there, I progressed to the more organised drinks party at the Lagoon Beach Wang Thai restaurant. They did a great job of hosting us, even calling before hand to adjust the arrangements based on their first-hand knowledge of the weather at their breathtaking venue. Even a minor logistic problem as we stayed longer into the evening than they had anticipated was resolved quickly and quietly. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for all occasions.

I really appreciated all the friends that arrived. I'm used to Cape Town people treating any event that happens on a nice day as if it were a very loose and optional arrangement. I was humbled by the number of you that turned up. It was great to see all of you, and especially nice to see so many different groups of people I know mixing so well. Aside from the great, thoughtful presents, the convivial company that you guys provided was the coolest birthday gift one could hope for.

Special thanks to the Canadian delegation. It was wonderful to have you guys there. The young lady who turned up after going AWOL from my friendship circle for 18 months also put a smile on my face, and Indiana Jane and Kyknoord deserve a free plug for the blogs.

Lest anyone that reads this feels that they didn't make the cut, let me explain that I organised very little. I returned from an unexpected trip to Johannesburg very shortly before my birthday and only had time to invite people by word of mouth. This makes the turnout all the more heartwarming. If you didn't know about the event, it just means that my viral advertising didn't reach you, and certainly not that I didn't want you to come.

To the special friends that dragged me off to the Table View house party afterwards, affectionate thanks as always. I know I didn't stay long, but your warm welcome of me and so many other people whom you had never met before speaks volumes about why you are my friends. I hear that you finished the night on a vigorously high note. :-)

I ended my day by taking my Southern Suburbs ladies to Pakalolo, the gateway to hell situated on the Table View beach front. We were welcomed graciously by the ever-gorgeous bar lady, and I was thrilled to be able to introduce some friends to the place that seems to be my local, for better or worse. I learned today that "Pakalolo" is an Hawaiian word for marijuana. While there was certainly none of that for us, I retied sober but relaxed after a most enjoyable day.

Finally, I have received good wishes from all over the country, and from Scotland, India, England, the USA, Ireland and Australia. I appreciate every one, although I have not even started to respond yet. You will each hear from me in the fullness of time, but know that my appreciation is deep. My friends certainly know how to make someone feel like a king for a day.