THERE IS NO GOD

I feel that there is a double standard when it comes to those who do not believe in a supreme being. 95% of the world's population believe that there is some kind of higher power, and that small 5% are discriminated against constantly. The constant preaching of our gods who watch over us and take care of us is tiring. With the Christmas season coming along, I feel more and more alienated by those who affiliate themselves with a religion. The greeting deemed politically correct for the season is 'happy holidays', but I argue that even that is offensive to the non religious. Happy Holidays was adopted because everyone was wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, but not everyone belonged to the Christian faith. Changing it to Happy Holidays seemed to satisfy every religion and make them all feel equal -- but again, the non religious were left out in the bitter cold of the winter. I maintain that the 'holiday season' is based on religious holidays. Holidays.

To me, December, or this time of year, is just like any other month. Do I enjoy the break I get from school for two weeks? Of course I do, but just as much as I do Spring Break. Do I exchange gifts and reap the benefits of the 'holiday season'? I do not. I tell my Christmas celebrating family not to give me gifts because I will not be giving any myself. For years now, my Grandmother and I didn't put up a tree, or cook a fancy meal on December 25th. I don't celebrate the holidays. I don't celebrate Easter either. Thanksgiving I do. It's not based on a religion -- even though it has been swallowed up by the churches as one of its own. Remembrance Day is my favorite holiday -- odd statement, I know -- because it is celebrating history, and lives that lived and fought for you and I, and our rights. It would be hard to twist World War I or II into some kind of fantasy novel.

Anyway, as long as stores, and businesses represent all religions equally, they're safe from ridicule, but it still offends me. If I were to display signs or memorabilia that suggests there is no God, or Jesus Christ, or that nature is what determines our fate, not a supreme being, I would be offending. I believe in science and nature. Actually, no I don't. I don't BELIEVE in science and nature. Science and nature are testable, concrete things. I know. Science and nature is not a belief but a knowledge that I posses. Religion, supreme beings, anything based on an influence outside of our natural world is belief. It takes strong emotions to convince a person of their "truth", where science and nature is hard to deny. So this 'holiday season' -- which, I would like to point out that HOLIDAY is not a season, WINTER is a season -- when you're decorating your trees, and displaying your menorah I'd like you to also set up a display of a telescope, or a microscope; a calculator, a magnet, some kind of scientific tool to make sure you're also representing the minority.

If I have offended anyone... too bad. You've been offending me for years.

ONE WAY TO MARS

I was emailed a link to a scientific journal that focuses on the topic of the human race colonizing Mars. A seminar is being given on the topic on Friday at my school, so I did a little bit of reading into it and found it very interesting. Here's the journal: click here, and the first 'abstract' blurb about the project is really all that needs to be read to understand.

Now that you've read it, we can discuss. One way mission to Mars. Scary. Talk about loneliness. If the individual understands what they're getting in to and voluntarily goes, I mean, to each their own, but could one really make that decision without fully experiencing what this actually entails. It wouldn't be like moving across state, to a new country, or even to a remote area of the antarctic by yourself for research. There would be no one. There would be no way home. If I were going I would only hope that I was right about the spirits on Mars. If the dust storms seem to be whispering my name, at least there's some kind of communication.

Much like communism, it looks good on paper, but I don't think the desired results will come about based on the fact that the astronaut will go a wee bit loco, I'm sure. Ever hear of cabin fever? This will be Mars fever. I guess we all do crazy things in the name of Science.

I have a few philosophical questions that I'll leave you with: would the same laws and rights apply to those on Mars? What country has rights to Mars, if any? When it comes to the Moon, it's considered to be like international waters here on earth with no country governing any of it, so would Mars follow that same rule? How could it, though? International water do not generally have any inhabitants. If there is a God, would he be watching over those on Mars like he is Earth? If two people were to birth a child on Mars, would they be considered Martians? Would there be restrictions to who could go to Mars, and who couldn't? Is it morally right to send a human to Mars with the risk of death? Would it be the same as sending a soldier to war?

ONLY GEOLOGIST GO TO HEAVEN

Still stuck on the topic of death. A very good chunk of people believe that there is something more than just the lives we lead on Earth here and now. An afterlife. Some people believe that when we die we become spirits or ghosts. Once we die we move from our mortal world to another state. An afterlife, or heaven. Imaginably, it would be a glorious place ideally that would make those in it very happy. So, if we do die, and become ghosts, then we would roam the earth, right? So, as we die, and our species becomes extinct, along with all other life forms and our planet itself dies, all that will be left is a rocky surface that will mirror Mars. So the ghosts will go from haunting attics and old factories to haunting beds of rock. Whose ideal afterlife would this be? Geologist, probably. Therefore, only geologist go to Heaven. No fair!

HOW DO WE DIE?

How does someone die? Clearly there are various ways that our life can come to an end: sickness, accident, murder, etc, but my question is how do we go from being aware, conscious, alive, to... dead? To nothing? How is it that you can go from being a person to not? From existence to non-existent? What is it like? Those who are sick, do they really go through a slow fading away course of events where they slip away gradually? Or is it instant? Is it as simple as one moment you're conscious, the next you're not? What about those who are in comas and do not ever regain consciousness? Are they dead? So blood still runs through their veins, but without consciousness, are they truly alive? You probably don't even hear it coming. That's scary. The fact that you can be and then suddenly you no longer are, that keeps me up at night. Maybe it's just like cutting to black, but are you aware of this blackness? Do you know you're dead? If and when I die, I don't want to know that I'm dead.

CURVATURE OF THE EARTH

One of my favorite things is experiencing those random moments where you're reminded that you are only this teeny tiny spec on a rock in the universe. You look up to the sky and see the clouds moving across the sky and follow your eyes down to the horizon and see the curvature of the earth. How powerful. You look up to the moon or sun and picture your planet among all the others, just floating in space. It makes all of the daily worries that you have throughout the day, your life, seem small and insignificant. For most this may be depressing, but instead I find it exhilarating. To understand that we are apart of something much much bigger is exciting. When I say "something bigger" I am not referring to some kind of spiritual world, or referencing the existence of a higher power, or a "plan", and that's what makes it all so exciting! The fact that our planet, Saturn's rings, the billion other suns like ours! Black holes, light, galaxies, and the enormous space that we could never understand, is concrete and there. It's provable and physical. It all sounds like the work of an imagination but it's not. It's enough to distract a mind for eternity.

LIFE ON MARS

Have you ever seen a ghost? Had some creepy feeling when alone at night? Felt as though you weren't alone? Many people all over the world have ghost or spiritual experiences where they feel that they are not alone. People have claimed to have witnessed ghost appearances, or the actions of ghosts present. What are ghosts exactly? Well, they're the spirits of those who have passed on. Some think that they are stuck between worlds or haven't been able to cross over -- regardless of why they are here, a growing number of people believe that they are. So on planet earth, where there is life, and there is death, there is also an in between where you remain a spirit walking the planet. So does that mean  if this turns out to all be true, that if there was at one time life on Mars that has since passed on that there could potentially be ghosts still roaming its surface? Maybe the after life for those on earth is to go to Mars? Nah, that's a stretch.

Another theory that remains in the world of the paranormal is that ghosts still live and see in their time period. If a women died in a hotel room in the 1800s, her ghosts, although now the 21st century, will still experience the hotel as it was when she stayed there. So in some reality, or alternate universe, where ever ghosts exist, could there not possibly be a blossoming Mars full of life?

MATH IS TOO ABSOLUTE

I can't do math. I'm a philosopher. Ask me what the meaning of life is; ask me if there is an after life; ask me what person hood is, or if apes should be given the same basic rights as a human. Ask me what is right and wrong; ask me what reality consists of; ask me if there is a god. I could prove or disprove the existence of a supreme being or higher power quicker, easier, and much better than I could ever participate in anything as concrete as mathematics. There's a word for philosophers who solve math problems... physicist. Math is just too absolute.

CALLING ALL LUNATICS

The moon influences the tides on earth. From the gravitational effects that the sun and moon pose on the earth during rotation the waters in our oceans are pulled up and down. When the tide is coming in, the moon is probably coming up. The human body is roughly 75% water, right? It varies based on age, health, gender, body type, etc. So if the moon influences the tides, wouldn't we be safe to say that the moon does in fact influence the human body? During each phase of the moon, it is in the sky for varying amount of time, with the full moon having the most allotted time. So, during a full moon, there isn't any more gravitational effect that any other phase of the moon, but it is in the sky longer. Last night was a full moon. The shenanigans you got in to are of no fault of your own, you may blame it on the moon.

What are the implications of this? Not to free you from charges when you act like a maniac because there was a full moon. But, if the moon does influence us, then is it so hard to believe that so do the stars? Astrology may be on to something. The gravitational effect the stars have on us would be much weaker considering their distance, but, who knows. Maybe the reason you felt so much energy the last few nights was because Venus has been in our visible sky. Maybe since Pluto was designated a dwarf planet instead of a full planet, its sad demeanor has been passed on to you. Who knows.

STAR STUFF

Our universe was born, some 14 billion years ago. Within that universe large amounts of elements, dust and gas mixed together and formed stars. When their inner fuel ran out, they, just like all other things, die. As they die they expel all of their matter. They explode. All of those elements mixed, and formed new elements and were now free in space to once again pull together forming a new star. Exploding. Releasing new compounds. Forming new stars. A space recycle system. Through those many recycled stars, eventually our galaxy was created. Our sun. Our solar system. Our earth. Our lives. If you trace our origins farther than our ancestors, farther than the earth and farther, you will find that we all are just star stuff.