Moderate Christian, Muslim, Judaism

The problem atheist people face most is the "what about these guys" red herring. When pointing out the flaws in one delusion, someone always has to say something like "at least it's not as bad as these other guys."

This is a fallacious red herring used only to avoid responsibility, all religions are delusions and all delusions are bad. The primary reason is that indoctrinating their children is abusive.

Dragging kids through church, or any religious practice, is child abuse, plain and simple. It is indoctrinating them, forcing them to pretend they believe the nonsense until their sanity breaks and all doubts vanish.

Ask a child of ten who was raised without religion to read one bible story, then ask what they think about it. You will always get the same reactions us atheist people have, it's just some poorly written and unbelievable story.

Religion is also inherently tribalism, it requires you oppress, ridicule, even actively oppose anyone different. If it does not do these things, the religion fades into obscurity, as we are seeing happen to the pagan religions who have modernized.

Another red herring is the "moderate" comparison, which is as fallacious as the no true Scotsman fallacy. People who claim to follow a doctrine can be judged by said doctrine, if such a doctrine commands them to kill someone but they claim that it's just a metaphor, they are leaving it open for reinterpretation later, like a bookmark for future reference to justify killing someone.

So there is no such thing as a "moderate" in religion, the doctrine is there, it offers them an excuse to revert to barbaric behaviors, so they can be judged based on that doctrine. This holds true for all religions, even Muslims.

Pagans have simplified their doctrine to possess only one basic principle, don't hurt other beings. It is because of this simple doctrine that we cannot judge the modern pagans harshly, it is also why the religions are vanishing.

The old doctrines of pagans were as horrible as all the modern Abrahamic religions, full of human sacrifices, torture, commands for war, excuses for vile acts. But unlike the the gods of Abraham, the pagans never claimed it was unchanging, so they modernized and improved.

Christians and Muslims still claim their god is unchanging, so does Judaism, and their doctrine still contains commands and excuses for horrible acts. So yes, I will judge them all based on the doctrine they claim to follow even if they currently ignore the horrible stuff.

Marijuana Woes in Washington

I have a friend who is currently fighting a system of corruption. His story is not unique, but seeing the stress it causes him encouraged  me to type a blog post on the subject.

As everyone should know, Washington made pot "legal," by removing the ban on it's consumption. Recently the state changed the regulations of processing and sales of the plant, but established operations were allowed to work under the old regulations until further notice.

That notice did not come with legal counsel, or representation, instead it came with a gun and a badge. The police of his city defied the laws and took matters into their own hands, ruining his legitimate operation.

He was not making millions of dollars selling pot to recreational smokers, this operation was offering the plant and chemicals extracted from it to people who were in need for very low prices.

He extracted CBDs from the plant for some, a promising new field of research shows that these can help fight cancer. He also sold the plant to people who suffered from hyperactive and eating disorders, THC has a known benefit for such cases.

His only crime was undercutting the state's profits. Ironically, he's a conservative and he use to be a patriot, perhaps he'll open his eyes now.

Because he did not actually break any laws, the courts are trying to prosecute him with simple misdemeanors. He does have a chance to change the political landscape though, and he's going to try to sue for damages.

His lawyer appears to believe there is a case for damages, but seeing the stress begin to take it's toll on him worries me. So I want to tell his story before it hits the media spin machine, before the lies compound his problems.

He is not a bad person, not a drug pusher. He only tried to help the only way he knew how.

Social Animals

When I adopted Pepper, I went to the Humane Society with no expectations, the most I had was the name of one cat who they were having trouble getting adopted. That one was, luckily,  just adopted hours before I showed up.

So I just hung out with the cats there, when I first entered one cat came directly up to me, begging for affection. Another came to me, head bumped my leg, then disappeared.

Unfortunately, the first one was bonded, and I was using the bus for transportation. So I went back into the room, and dug through the records to find which ones were not bonded.

I found one that had been declawed, a horrible procedure that amputates part of the cat's paws, I almost adopted him out of sympathy but knew he would be in high demand for a household with young kids. So I continued my search.

Most were from bad homes, abused an neglected, torn away from their lives and discarded like toys. You could see in their faces that they were just begging for it all to end, a nightmare for any animal.

Then I found the one that had head bumped me, she was so depressed she had just curled up into a ball and watched everyone from a high vantage point. It was as if she had given up completely.

She had no friends, no family, and her previous homes obviously did nothing to help her confidence. She was terrified of the world around her, and only knew that there was something about my scent that was familiar.

Her name was Pepper, and I just wanted to cuddle her. So she came home with me, frightened of the cat carrier itself, even scared of the people around us.

She tried to pry the door open, until we got on the bus. Something about the bus lulled her a bit, she calmed but was still on high alert.

I spoke to her the entire time, letting her know that I was there the whole trip. When we got home, she was so glad to be out of the carrier she did not hesitate to explore her new home.

During that first year I learned of her problems, ironic that she suffers from the same psychological issues I had, the reason she was adopted. But I needed to start working, and that meant being gone for long periods of time, and she did not like being left alone.

I'd find her in her cowering locations, curled up under the bed in the farthest corner or in the kitchen cabinet. It broke my heart to see her scared, and did nothing to help my own problems, but you can't just trade them in, she was with me forever now.

There is a saying, "cats come in pairs," and after wracking my brain I finally decided the only solution was to get her a friend to keep her company. The problem came from the fact that she was not friendly with adult cats, and I don't actually like babies of any species.

For me to be healthy, she needed to be healthy, so I bit the bullet and started searching for a suitable kitten. The idea was that if she didn't like the kitten, it would be easier to get the kitten adopted out.

I also knew that if she did like the kitten, she could train them to coexist with her better than an adult cat. So I took a chance, and found little Rhodey, I named him to keep the Iron Man theme.

She first regarded him with fearful curiosity, but eventually she learned that I was not going to hurt her for standing up to the little runt. He did have to learn manners, and who better to teach him than another cat.

After only a few months, they are inseparable, and now the little runt also has a place in my heart. The changes I have seen in Pepper are amazing, she has more confidence, rarely cowers, and even came out on her own to meet a neighbor.

Ironically, Rhodey doesn't like other cats either, but he is more aggressive than Pepper. Rhodey is more courageous and willing to try new things, like go for walks outside on the leash.

With these two in my life, I am now beginning to socialize in a beneficial way, making contacts to earn a reputation as a marketing consultant. A talent I didn't even realize I had, but a friend I recently met recognized it.

This is what it means to be a "social species," unlike what psychiatrists have told us, we need to be social with other species. By socializing with other species we are able to socialize with our own better, ask any psychologist.

Abortion Is Murder

Now that the videos which the anti-choice idiots were debunked so thoroughly, the goal posts have been shifted. Not a big surprise, but the new posts are so easy to debunk it's pathetic.

They claim "human lives" are killed by abortion, but getting them to define "human life" offers fuel for mockery. Often they will define it as "a living organism with human DNA," which actually includes sperm, every organ, eggs, and even tumors.

Tumors are the key to this, they are a parasitic organism, by definition, which is made up of human DNA, specifically the DNA of the one suffering from them. In essence, the tumor is exactly like the fetus, the fetus only develops to a stage that allows it to, eventually, become self reliant and sentient.

Scientifically, every cell is a living organism, even the cells in a tumor. So they are forced to redefine what life is, often they will jump to life being sentient. The vast majority of life on Earth is not sentient, viruses and bacteria still dominate the planet.

Sentience does not begin until the brain begins recording and processing the surrounding world. It does not actually appear fully sentient for several months in humans.

Yes, the brain is where we actually are, every cell in the body is it's own organism, but the individual is the collective responses of the brain. The heart is just another colony of living organisms, symbiotic association to the rest of the body.

Each organ is a colony of single celled animals working together, symbiotically working with all other organs. The brain is the most vital organ, it is you, the rest can be replaced without killing you.

This throws a monkey wrench into the entire anti-choice platform, reducing them to religious claims and pseudoscience. So yes, abortion is killing it is not murder, but it is no different than removing any other organ that becomes parasitic.

Conservative Conundrum

Republicans are facing a crisis of faith, those who once had blind faith in following them are now beginning to see their true colors. Having alienated all minority groups, they have inadvertantly alienated over half of the majority.

The end result is a last ditch effort to maintain what masses they still have fooled, the ignorant mouth breathers who thump bibles with assault rifles. These masses are lulled by minorities paid by Republicans to be self hating, a despicable yet all too common tactic.

Yes, the Democrats have done this same thing in the past, but the Democrats learned from their mistakes and moved forward. In contrast, the Republicans have moved backwards.

The few respectable Republican politicians are beginning to pull away from the GOP, going independent rather than be stuck with the label that is now synonymous with hatred.

Now for those thinking the Republicans are conservative, they are not. The GOP has stolen the label of conservative and polluted it to mean something which it does not.

Conservatives, like me, do not like the idea of bans, censorship, or any other restriction to personal freedoms. This does not me we oppose regulation of industries, so long as those regulations benefit individuals equally.

An example is gun regulations, a conservative does not oppose preventing criminals and potentially dangerous individuals from obtaining deadly weapons. Regulations help protect the sane and law abiding citizens, it's not a perfect solution but it is fair.

Another example is abortion, a conservative should not oppose a woman's right to choice, since they are affected by this much more than males. Of course some regulation is required to ensure that there is justifiable cause, but banning abortion only encourages a criminal market and removes personal responsibility.

Less government does not mean we should embrace Anarchy, nor does it mean we should allow a theocracy to be established. Less government means fewer restrictions on personal freedoms, not "do the exact opposite of liberals."

Ironically, liberals should be the only ones calling for bans and censorship, yet they have become the moderates in the USA. In the mean time, most conservatives in the USA now endorse a theocracy, a form of government that the original Republicans and conservatives warned against.

This is the landscape today, the USA has gone completely backwards, inside out, and insane all because people here have misused words for so long. The positive side effect of this, the deluded freaks that now support the Republicans are no longer able to hide from criticism.

The Dangers of Vaccines

Anti-vaccination is not about offering a choice, it's about removing a well established and proven safety net for everyone. Vaccines have all but eradicated some very serious illnesses, like polio and whooping cough.

Many who were born prior to these vaccines existing, or who have conditions preventing vaccination, are kept safe only if the rest of the population is vaccinated. Also, a vaccine does not always prevent you from contracting the illness due to biological factors.

The idea is called "herd immunity," and it requires that the majority of the herd be made immune. This is extremely important in light of how dense our population centers have gotten due to over population.

The only way to justify offering parents a choice to endanger the entire population is by discrediting vaccines. To date, no one has come forward with any empirical evidence suggesting any major risks are associated with vaccines.

Let's look at autism first, a common claim is that vaccines cause autism yet these people who make this claim are only looking at numbers increased by medical advances which allow for better diagnosis. Most autistic people would remain unnoticed in the past, often dismissed as just "slow," "unsocial," etc.

Today we know that autism is a spectrum and many instances remained undiagnosed in the past, a vast majority of autistic people suffered in silence. We also know it's genetic, as for exactly how it's contracted, there is still some debate among scientists.

It is jot something you contract later in life, you are born autistic or not, that we do know for certain. So there is no connection to vaccines in any way, we just know more about autism now.

Another that is being linked to vaccines by the deluded anti-vaxxers is SIDS. A horrible event in which an infant dies for no apparent reason. The fallacy here is in the abuse of the term, ironically.

SIDS is not an illness, it is like the term UFO, it means we don't know what caused it. With today's media, even known causes of death are often called SIDS, which illustrates my point very well.

Media is rarely a source of facts, and media is also the only real driving force of anti-vaccine. The cases of actual SIDS should be lower, but parents are often too lazy or dishonest to have a full investigation done, usually the parents are directly at fault.

Seizures seem to be a new one, okay, there is a possibility of this being true. However, the chemicals that can cause those are no longer present in vaccines, oops.

A very common tactic of the anti-vaxxer is to present old, outdated, even outlawed vaccine formulas. Modern vaccines use only demonstrably safe chemicals, chemicals present in almost all medicine, food, and living organisms.

They avoid the modern formulas, even denying that those are used now. This is a display of cognitive dissonance, remove the chemicals that have low overdose levels and they lose their entire argument.

Male Privilege

Privilege is often conflated by statistics showing misfortune, such statistics could demonstrate many things but none of it is privilege. So, the lesson in what privilege is begins, using male privilege as the example.

Bring victims of crime does not show privilege, criminals are not the system of governing in power. But a statistic showing wrongful prosecutions, harassment by law enforcement, and unfair judicial rulings does show privilege.

Women are often plagued with rape and abuse, men do as well, but the difference is what happens when such instances are reported. Often the woman is blamed in every instance, regardless of who actually perpetrated the rape, and shamed for "dressing wrong" or being courageous enough to stand against their attacker.

Most rapes of men are never reported, yet the few that are reported will always blame the attacker. In instances of abuse, the men are treated with dignity and respect while women run to homeless shelters for protection.

In the media, male victims are always portrayed as strong, while female victims are portrayed as weak, even in nearly identical stories. When society blames the victim it is always the female they are blaming.

Even in courts of law, you often hear the persecutor make statements about the clothing, location, or choice of transportation instead of presenting facts. To make it worse, the judges do consider such ignorant statements as facts, if the victim is female.

A well dressed woman walking down the street alone is often harassed and accused of prostitution by law enforcement, while males are almost never harassed just for looking good and being alone.

In domestic abuse cases men are usually never prosecuted, even though the law states that perpetrators must be prosecuted. Female victims are usually left with the abuser and told to file their own report, while female perpetrators are arrested on the spot.

These facts are common knowledge among social workers, most women who are in the shelters are hiding from dangerous abusers and not even reported in statistics. Anonymity is a rule in women's shelters, punishable by banishment or even criminal prosecution, depending on who breaks it.

So before anyone presents any idiotic statistics about men, present the ones of those reported rape and abuse cases where the perpetrator was prosecuted and the victim made safe. Present the homeless statistics of those who are fleeing from a dangerous situation, not just homeless by circumstance.

Present the statistic showing the deaths caused by abuse, number of officials who are female, how easy it is to get medical care, ...