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Proud Heathen
The Out Campaign: Scarlet Letter of Atheism
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Re-re-reading
Tuesday. 2.12.13 6:39 pm
I am currently re-re-reading R Scott Bakker's books. Just finished Thousandfold Thought and moved on to Judging Eye. To this day, it's still probably the best fantasy series I've read. Yes, even better than Song of Ice and Fire. There's just so much about this series that makes it different but also interesting. It's far more brutal than Song of Ice and Fire, if you can believe that.


Both series aim to show the brutality and inherent wickedness of humanity, especially in the time-periods they represent, but Bakker shows some stuff that even Martin seems to gloss over. Also, Bakker has probably the most interesting and scary villains I've ever seen in a literary series. They're evil, and yet he manages to explain why they are the way they are, rather than just relying on "They're evil because evil".


Speaking of evil... I always hate it when people referencing things like 9/11, or serial killers or other horrific crimes try and refer to the perpetrator as evil. As an atheist, I don't believe in evil. I don't believe that there are people who do things bad for the sake of being bad. Human beings (normal human beings anyway) shy away from acts of brutality or murder because we have an inborn sense of empathy. People who can commits acts that we would falsely label as "evil", are broken human beings. They either don't possess a sense of empathy, or they have an illness so severe (like schizophrenia) that their mind allows them to justify their actions.


Then of course there are times when a human being can temporarily disable their sense of empathy. I'm not a psychologist by any means, but I'm guessing that for evolutionary purposes, our sense of loyalty to our tribe or in-group can sometimes allow us to override our sense of empathy to commit acts that we would otherwise consider horrible. This is how people can kill other people in times of war. We justify it by saying "Well, I'm fighting for my country".


Okay, enough rambling about psychology.

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Pope-be-gone
Monday. 2.11.13 2:57 pm
So the pope apparently resigned. I wasn't even aware they could do that. It hasn't been done for 600 years. Anyway, can't say I'm sorry to see him going. The man is responsible for more deaths in Africa (thanks to his "no condoms" policy) than warlords. Also, he was a nazi. He claims it was "against his will" but that just seems way too convenient to be true.



Looking forward to the Redwings game on wednesday, though we won't be able to watch it thanks to network blackouts. Which are bullshit by the way. As a hockey fan, if you want to see every single game your team plays, you're going to have to have NHL center Ice (which is between 60-200 dollars), an upgraded service plan on your cable/satellite (so you get channels like NBC/CBS sports) AND a regional sports package. Utter horseshit.



Glad to see that Fun. won 2 Grammys. Been a fan of them for a few years now and they deserve some recognition.

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