My Religious Beliefs

My Conversion

I used to be blinded. I was a taoist/buddhist due to my upbringing and then became an atheist. But I am blinded no more. I have opened my eyes to the wonders of the world and see the need for a creator behind everything. And that creator is the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The one true Creator!

While I have to note first, I have 5 religions. Pastafrianism is the one true religion and I primarily worship our creator the Flying Spaghetti Monster. But I also follow the belief held by the Missionary Church of Kopimism that sharing information, including file sharing, is sacred. I also worship the Force, the mysterious force that runs through all life, you could say I am a Jedi wannabe.

One of our most respected clergymen!

In the past few days, I have been further enlightened. It had been a grueling month for me as I was struggling in my spiritual choices, I was considering a fourth religion, and Christianity was my top pick. But in the end, I settled for Mormonism as my fourth religion due to the charisma of Joseph Smith and Scientology as my fifth religion since it is endorsed by Tom Cruise, I mean a celebrity's choices can't be wrong right?

Who would trust those ugly atheists over this handsome man?

I say, put a stop to the religious wars my fellow theists! Don't try to kill each other and compare religions all the time. Know a new religion that's almost as cool as Christianity? Don't feel threatened, feel enlightened! Embrace that religion and place an idol of your new secondary god beside an idol of Jesus! This the life man.

This is my testimony as a man who is happily engaged in 5 religions, and I say the more the merrier! Get your new religions at your closest religious institution today! It's free*!

*Fees may be incurred in the form of requested donations.

My Pity For Atheists

I used to be an atheist, like I said before. It is much to my chagrin that I used to be so sad and deluded. Wake up atheists!

Here's what I think about your moronic fringe group's ideas!

The universe is obviously created by a complex designer that may have existed all along and/or came to being out of nothing, and most importantly it cannot be due to something absurd like the big bang, the universe being created out of nothing? Don't make me laugh! That's impossible! A creator that existed out of nothing due to his omnipotence is much more likely.

I'm not sure why even I couldn't understand such a simple process the last time, this is probably something even three year olds can understand! Shame on you atheists.

Also, that evolution thing? Yeah it's true. But you know what? It was actually guided by the noodly appendages of the Flying Spaghetti Monster! There is no way such complex changes in an organism could be caused by nature, out of nothing, that is simply absurd! It has to be guided by a designer, who is there to guide all of the organisms! Never mind the multiple 'flaws' you find in organisms, the FSM did it because of his sense of humour! It is still much more intelligent than you!

Now, I am also a follower of such other great religions like Mormonism, so I do not discount the fact that Yahweh God could have done that instead, but the FSM is my primary deity.

I pray for your souls and I hope the FSM blesses you with his noodly appendages and lets you into the stripper factory and beer volcano when you die.

Giggling At People Who Claim Atheism Is A Religion

Atheism is a religion! And Christianity is a social and political affiliation! It's not true you say? Why? Because of the various definitions laid out of what "Christianity" is? And because you know that Christianity is a religion because you are able to decipher that from real world knowledge?

Impressive. Apparently, some people can't.

'Atheism is a religion!', they say. 'You are just like us!', they say. How many people think its true? How many people who think its true are atheists or any kind of learned man? I'm guessing the numbers dwindled greatly in the second question.

What constitutes as religion? Religion is the belief in higher powers. It is based purely on faith and belief.

Then what constitutes as atheism? It is the disbelief in any gods. It is not the belief that there are no gods, unlike what many theists would like you to believe. Many atheists are unconverted former-theists who actually believed in imaginary friends like you, but they realised that their friends were imaginary because of evidence or experiences or rationalism of some kind. They would very much have preferred to belief that there are gods, but they can't belief in gods because there are no gods.

Atheism is a wide category, just as religion is. There are various religions, and for atheism, it is even more diverse. A basic analogy would be that someone isn't a stamp collector, his hobby could be anything else that isn't stamp collection. Or someone isn't a socialist, he could be of any political ideology except socialism. For an atheist, he could believe the universe was created by itself, he could believe the universe always existed, he can believe the universe is just a figment of our imagination etc. These all fit into the definition of atheism. All babies are atheists because they don't have understanding of religion and creation, that's the basic concept.

'But they preach about the evils and fallacies of religions, they are like us!' you say? Yeah, Occupy Wall Street is a religion about anti-corporatism, Socialism is a religion about sharing your property with others and the Republican Party is a religion preaching about the greatness of Ronald Reagan.

Atheists preach about the evils and fallacies of religious out of a social and moral obligation, they believe everyone should not waste their time and money in such garbage. It is similar to when Christians preach about joining their ranks, because they don't want others to burn in hell. Christians who preach about the greatness of Yahweh, however, are different from us, because they are not doing it for social good, but for their imaginary friend.

These atheists that do such 'preaching' are 'militant atheists' and/or 'anti-theists', who oppose religion because of it's poisoning of society. It is more of a social movement rather than a religious movement. They preach to have people to leave religion and also to install secularism, a political status where there is a separation of religion from government.

But there are also 'closet atheists' who don't do anything to anyone, they are just atheists and keep to themselves. Then there are 'atheist religions' which are mostly non-theistic religions, that practice common philosophy, this is probably the closest to religion atheism is.

Another thing is, they don't gather frequently for prayer and religious services like theists do. Most atheists educate people just like Occupy Wall Street does, through the internet and peaceful protests. There are no religious connotations, only social well-intentions.

If atheists are a religion, they should receive tax breaks and other benefits enjoyed by organised religions, but why don't they? Because they are not recognised anyway legally by the government.

Atheism is not religion, never was, never will be. I know because I was a former atheist, and now a proud Pastafrian and a Kopimist, and considering third or fourth religion(s), I am happily living as a theist now and I love this life.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945)



Today, January 30th, is the birthday of one of the greatest men i history, FDR. In this short essay, I shall describe why FDR is such an influence to me, what I thought of him, and expand on his greatness. My knowledge might be shallow, or even inaccurate and biased, so feel free to correct me, but I believe he is a great man nonetheless, and I cannot be too far from the truth.

I am not a American. However, as a liberal from the 21st century, I daresay, that the United States of America never had a better president than the 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who presided over the nation for three presidential terms, from 1933-1945, until his untimely death. I will even go so far as to say, hitherto, I have never known of a better leader of a country.

One would follows American politics would have to know of the pedigree of the Roosevelts, with two Presidents hailing from the family: Teddy and FDR. Both great men of ambition, Teddy led the progressive movement prior to FDR, and FDR led the New Deal coalition during his time.

FDR was a great man, and his Presidency was unprecedented. Not many Presidents before FDR had brought so much to the table. He occupied the White House over some of the greatest and unprecedented crises of the World: Namely the great depression and World War II.

He started many trends, while their practicality and benefits can be debatable, they are nonetheless trends. It was first under him that deficit spending became popular, he ended with one of the largest increase in debt. He started the presidential trend of radio addresses to the nation with his fireside chats, which roused the morale of millions of Americans, even conservatives like Ronald Reagan. And the public's attention of Obama's first 100 days is also due to FDR.

FDR was a trailblazer, he was a revolutionary.

But perhaps what he will forever be remembered for, is his influential and courageous wave of sweeping reforms and sound policies: The legendary New Deal.

HIS POLICIES

The New Deal was a particularly populistic, and possibly socialistic, set of policies and reform, which reflect FDR's love for the nation and compassion for all Americans, rich or poor. My favourite piece of legislation from the New Deal has to be the Social Security Act. Social welfare is paramount, and the federal government should ensure that its people get all the welfare they deserve. While not a Nordic Country-Scale welfare system or a peerless system, it is a step forward for the backwards country that was the US, it covered public pensions, unemployment benefits and healthcare to a certain extent.

FDR also helped workers by passing the National Labor Relations Act(NLRA). With the NLRA, he strengthened workers by empowering labour unions, and giving workers more rights and more bargaining power. He also passed the Fair Labor Standards Act(FLSA), which implemented minimum wage and effectively outlawed child labour.

You would think that such policies such have existed prior to FDR. But no, the USA was still fairly barbaric prior to FDR, that was due to conservatism in olden days, but FDR did bring about social welfare evolution and paved the path for future democrats.

Economically, he did fairly well too. He passed reforms that helped enforce regulations over financial institutions, such as the famous Glass-Steagall Act that was meant to separate commercial banks from investment banks, and the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act that regulate over trading of securities in the market. And obviously, the Emergency Banking Act, that closed down banks during the crisis for federal inspection and deciding which banks were allowed to continue.

He was also man that envisioned global unity, and it was under him and the allies in World War II that the world saw the birth of the United Nations(UN). So many great things can be attributed to this man.

HIS SPEECHES

If you have the chance, you should listen, or read some of his incredible speeches. Not only was he a true visionary, he was an incredible orator as well.

One example is the Four Freedoms speech:



Another is his proposal for a Second Bill of Rights:



HIS FLAWS

As you have seen, this essay is a praise essay for the man that was FDR, but he was not a perfect saint by any means. He did have his flaws, such as giving in to opponents such as the Southern Democrats and the Republicans, like giving up on the anti-lynching bill so as to retain support from the Southern Democrats. It was a highly political move.

Another flaw of his was his rather harsh mistreatment of the Japanese Americans, sending them to concentration camps. Which is another highly political move, since the Americans feared the Japanese Americans at that time, just after Pearl Harbor.

And furthermore, he packed the Supreme Court with judges, another highly political move, in order to pass his New Deal.

FDR was a great leader and visionary, but he was also a shrewd politician, he had to play along with the other politicians, he had to outmaneuver them. He was by no means a saint throughout his presidency.

But even the greatest men have their flaws and make mistakes. I mean even Ghandi was a genuine racist during his younger days in South Africa. I am enchanted by this man and I'm sure many other people share my awe. FDR was a great man that the USA had never met before, and what the world needs now is for another charismatic hero like him.

More shockingly, FDR had disabilities in movement, from the waist down! He had to move using a wheelchair most of the time. The media respected the President, and his disability was not widely known, and there were little pictures of him in wheelchairs. He tries to stand using metal braces and some human aid during public appearances like speeches, to not demoralise the nation.

THE GREATEST US PRESIDENT

FDR was loved by the American people, even by his party's potential opponents such as Ronald Reagan. His populism touched the heart of the American people, his leadership was admired by many, that is why he is the only President who attempted for another term after his second term and managed to attain Presidency again, and the only president who won four elections. He made the greedies politicians from both parties dread him, and trembled in fear of genuine Democrat Populism and educated Democrat leadership, in fear of a second FDR, who will be adored and admired by the people and get elected more than two terms. That is why the 22nd amendment was proposed, to prevent a second FDR.

No US President president before or after him did or will match his greatness or his influence. FDR is a legend in his own right (or left).

Racism Is Funny

I'd touched on Racism before, on why it isn't as taboo as people think it is, but today I'm touching on why Racism is funny.

Yes my personal stance on racism is that people should be "colour blind" and there should be no racial distinction, and there should not be any exceptional treatment of any other race based on their race alone.

But racism is very much present around us, even today.

The most glaring flaw of racism is that there is no basis for racism! It's like saying all Republicans are stupid (many are, but there are many shrewd ones that exploit the stupid ones) or all Christians are fundamentalists or evangelists (many are, but there are also many peaceful and rational Christians out there), in other words, it's stereotyping.

But racism goes beyond stereotyping. Racism is stereotyping people based on their race, and feeling a sense of superiority and entitlement over other races, because of your own race, and that leads to despising the other races. And your contempt for these other races makes you treat them harshly compared to your own race or other races, or project hostility and animosity towards them due to their different race.

Racism is just a baseless ego problem that is like nationalism, but even worse. Racism makes people think they are better because they were born into a certain race. But these racists do not realise that it's all just luck and coincidence, you are not born into a "superior race" because you are better. And just because you are born into a "superior race", it does not make you automatically better as well.

Furthermore, there is nothing "superior" about your race, these physical differences between you and other races are just a result of natural selection. They might prove to give you an edge over other races for survival in the wild, and give you adaptability to the local climate and terrain, but when you are living in a modified environment, what "superiority" does that give you?

What really moulds a person is the way he led his life, his education, his life philosophy, his social upbringing, his political views, and perhaps his religious views. If a Chinese was raised in a Western country, he would fit in well with the Westerners, with the only difference being his physical attributes.

That is why Racism is funny: It's a sense of self entitlement and superiority of egoistical people that over-think an insignificant factor (race), and treat people who look different from them harshly. In fact, I think these people are just primitive humans that cannot accept people who are different from them, and they fear them, they do not understand the true concept of race, and judge people with their amazing ignorance!

The True Meaning Behind Christmas Pt. 2

Now, after the long talk about the stupid claims by the pagans that today isn't our dear lord, saviour of the world, son of God, Jesus Christ's day of birth (How dare they!), which leads

to implications that the many elements of the Christian religion are actually

made up and many of the previous leaders of the Catholic Church used the religion as a political tool (We all know how untrue this is! Well except for the Protestants, that is.), I am now going to talk about the non-religious side of Christmas.

The most concept of Christmas, I dare say, is actually not that of the birth of Jesus Christ. Rather, the most mainstream and popular concept of Christmas, is the version romanticised by literature genius Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens, through his acclaimed classic novel, A Christmas Carol, conveyed that the Spirit of Christmas is generosity and charity.

During that time the Protestants were in power in England, and they being Pope hating (but still very nice) people denounced Christmas, leading Christmas into decline. But Charles Dickens literature was so powerful and touching, it rekindled the Christmas spark.

So for atheists, protestants, non-Christians, and so on and so forth out there, please don't forsake Christmas celebrations just because it might be a made up celebration by the Catholic church. I know it might sound cliche: The true meaning behind Christmas is spending time with your loved ones and spread generosity, and show love.

I myself don't really celebrate Christmas(no tree, no presents, food yes but not the traditional feast), since my family is not particularly westernised, but I would love to celebrate it.

But touching on generosity, which leads one to think of the gifts Christmas herald, I would have to do an extension and touch on commercialism as well. It seems that, people are crazy over gifts and commercialism is strong. It's good for the economy really, and people enjoy it. I don't see the point in whining over it, if it doesn't get in the way of the Christmas spirit. Getting together with family and friends, having a feast, and watch as kids unwrap their presents with expressions of absolute delight, and listen to their elated shrieks or look at their wide but restraint grins when they see presents they love. That's part of the joy of Christmas, is it not?

The Pope though, seems to mind it a lot: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/24/world/europe/vatican-pope-christmas/

Superficial glitter? Yes, Christmas is heavily commercialised and is a mainstream pop-culture festival. So? Just because people don't commemorate the birth of our dear savior - who might be born sometime earlier than Winter - doesn't mean you can't appreciate it. Are Christians goddamn hipsters or something now?

The modern Christmas, unlike its previous incarnations, are accessible to everyone from all the different religions and culture, its like a amalgamation of all the Winter Solstice celebrations into one Super Festival, Christmas does not belong to Christians, not anymore.

The true meaning behind Christmas is simple: Generosity and charity, and enjoying yourself with your family. People tend to ignore such stuff throughout the year, so why not just relax and enjoy this day?

The True Meaning Behind Christmas Pt. 1

Ah, the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas, the heartwarming holiday set on 25th of December to celebrate the birth of our saviour, the son of God, Jesus Christ. Don't stop believing that Christians, keep the faith strong.

I am confused by some articles I read online lately. While there is much debate and controversy, I present you with the other side of the story, which I gathered from batshit insane and extremely radical anti-Christian sites that hate you guys, the lovely Christians to death:

Jesus isn't actually born in December, much less December 25th, his exact date of birth could be considered controversial, it is a mystery. But there is a special time of the year, winter solstice, where they experience the shortest day and longest night of the year. The pagans hold festivals during this time. And the Catholic Church set the holy date of Christmas during the celebrations.

For a more detailed alleged and self-proclaimed debunk of the Jesus' Birthday myth: http://www.truthbeknown.com/first-christmas.html

If it proves to be true, the choice of Christmas as the celebration of the birth of the holy saviour was nothing but a political and popularity-winning move, to provide an alternative to the celebration of the winter solstice celebrated by the Pagans. Thus effectively converting the poor, misguided pagans to the one true religion.

The Catholic Church adopted the festival following the Pagans, which mainly fall on dates nearing the end of December, close to solstice. If there was no winter solstice, you could very well say the choice of 25th December was arbitrary and the Church did not respect our much revered saviour.

Though I do admit, if this is true, the Church did prove to like its followers, and wanted them to have the same celebrations the Pagans, whom the hated so much, so they could enjoy themselves.

But who's to say this assertion is true? After all, the Pope is infallible right? Oh wait, there are those Protestant guys.

Thus ends Pt. 1 of my Christmas special, the audacious claims by pagans that the 25th of December isn't actually the birthday of Jesus. I shall continue to talk about the meaning behind Christmas in Pt. 2.

The Battle Between Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Speech v Freedom of Religion

Personally, as an atheist, I view religion as an evil and irrational concept that the world doesn't need and I try to convince religious people to steer away from their path. But I respect that people have their views, and if I cannot convince them, they should be allowed to practice their religion -like how Republicans are still allowed to run for elections- I cannot forcibly separate a fool from his toy; That would be cruel.

But I see that many fools so infatuated with their toys, they worship their toy to such a crazy extent, they place the toy's well being far before anyone else's and they want to protect the toy from any sort of harm. These religious folk are what I consider to be culprits who assume the freedom of religion supersedes the freedom of speech.

And I can tell you, they are very wrong.

Many of these fools come from this country they like to mistake as a "Christian country" on the continent of North America, located South of Canada, the United States of America. For those of you unfamiliar with this country full of misguided people (this is actually directed at Americans, they don't even know their own country), it consists of 50 states, including some famous states such as California (Hollywood here!!!), Hawaii (resorts here!!!), and Texas (Rednecks here!!!). It originally started off as 13 British colonies that grew fed up with the British Empire and declared independence through the American Revolution, led by a group of people commonly referred to as "the founding fathers". They are a democratic republic and the supreme law of the land is the document called the Constitution of the Republic of the United States of America.

Forgive me for my poor understanding and inaccurate information on the history of the United States of America, but that was instrumental in allowing our American friends to briefly understand the history of their country and the nature of freedom of speech and religion.

Where does freedom of speech and religion come from? The constitution of course. If you ever dabbled in American politics, you'd definitely heard of the holy "first amendment". So what is this first amendment? It is an amendment to the constitution to allow freedom of speech and freedom of religion. It also establishes secularism, that is the separation of church from state, whereby the state absolutely must not favour any religion over the other religions. It absolutely must not.

That is why the United States of America is not a Christian country. Not because we atheists say so, but because the supreme law of the land, the constitution says so. In fact, people should be prosecuted for treason for trying to violate the constitution. Anyone with basic knowledge of law should know of the rule of law, whereby no one is above the law, not even the majority at any time. It is ironic that many religious, the conservatives, are the ones that often tout constitutionalism, when they are the ones claiming the nation to be biased towards the Christians.

That aside, let me expand on how the freedom of speech is superior to the freedom of religion. Freedom of religion is only the freedom to exercise religion, citizens have the freedom to believe in what they want, and carry out practices in accordance to their religion as long as they don't violate any laws. It does not protect them from criticism, or gives them special rights in speech and press. Freedom of speech is the freedom to express your opinions and beliefs, everyone has freedom to express their views on any subject, as long as they don't violate laws or infringe on other's civil rights. That is freedom of speech.

Religious people can express their religious beliefs, but non-religious or people from other religions can in return, crticise their views. You can critcise someone's actions, as long as it doesn't go overboard and cause them immense emotional injury and social estrangement, that is defamation and bullying. Insults are fine to a certain extent, but bullying is definitely wrong, and you can be sued for defamation, as the government protects the individual's rights to a healthy reputation.

So before religious people spout off their mouth next time, saying "Keep your views to yourself, don't criticise my religion", they should rethink it. They have the freedom to say such audacious and moronic sentences, but everyone else has the freedom to form their opinion. They don't want to look like idiots, do they? (Though honestly, I think they look like idiots already.)