Three Excellent Atheistic Videos!

This is a wonderful video about what life is, and the fate of the universe. For a physicist, he is very easy to understand and enjoyable!

Such a logical thinker!  Sam does an excellent job of describing just how horrific the Bible really is, in his soft, calm voice.

David Fitzgerald shows how unreliable any historical sources are for the Bible.  Wonderful video!

Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Grass Fed Beef - The Test Results Do Not Look Good!

1.  Any Paleolithic humans who engaged in nutritionally motivated hunting would have done so in order to increase their food energy intake in order to maintain or gain weight, not in order to achieve weight loss… In view of this, the "Paleo diet" theory that overfed sedentary modern humans who need to lose excess adipose should regularly eat the fatty flesh and eggs found in supermarkets because active, underfed, extremely lean prehistoric people who struggled to meet their basic caloric needs ate lean game flesh or eggs whenever possible lacks basic credibility. Don Matesz

2.  Think “humane” meat is healthy?  Over a century ago, high rates of cancer were observed in Argentina which was inhabited by the Gaucho, a nomadic population that for months subsisted entirely on pasture raised beef. Similarly, a study carried out in Uruguay where livestock is predominantly grass fed, with no hormones added, found that a high intake of fresh red meat was associated with between a 87% and 290% increased risk of 13 different major cancers, independent of other food groups.

3.  You have read studies recently about saturated fat and cholesterol being fine, right?  “The evidence from thousands of experiments carried out over the last century has shown that the feeding of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat has accelerated the development of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries due to plaque buildup) in virtually every vertebrate species that has been sufficiently challenged. This includes mammalian, avian and fish species- herbivores, omnivores and carnivores, and over one dozen different species of nonhuman primates.  The article below is really fascinating, showing that cholesterol built up in every type of animal and their health declined in specific ways.

http://healthylongevity.blogspot.com/2013/04/cracking-down-on-eggs-and-cholesterol_7.html

Zoroastrianism's Influence on Judaism, Christianity and Islam

INTRODUCTION

Most people know that Pagan religions existed before Christianity and Judaism, and that many of them contained familiar themes:  an underworld, a hero/god/savior born of a virgin, powers of magical healing, and a resurrection.  For instance, we know about the vegetation god Tammuz who resurrected for six months each year.  We know about gods like Thor, who ruled a specific part of nature (God of Thunder), and we know gods and goddesses like Attis, Inanna and Osiris could have inspired the Jesus resurrection story.  But which stories are verified to have influenced Judaism and Christianity?  Were all of these similar stories just coincidence?   Although there is a very good chance these ancient religions leaked into the modern religions, and I can think of a few ancient stories that in my opinion “just had to have been the origin of stories in the Bible,” it is difficult to find when such links occurred or prove they occurred. 

ZOROASTRIANISM           
But there is one religion we know directly influenced the foundations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  It is the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism.  We can be certain that these following themes came from Zoroastrianism:  a war in the world between good and evil, God versus Satan, a warring of the human spirit between good and evil, and the idea of one god only (monotheism), with a hierarchy of angels and archangels underneath.  Additionally, the story of the “slaughter of the innocents,” the idea of a general resurrection, the wording “a present age of darkness with a coming age of light,” and the concept of a final judgment at the end of the world with a savior who will “come very soon,” all derive from Zoroastrianism.

How did the Israelites pick up these ideas?  An exile occurred in 597 B.C.E. and continued until 538 B.C.E.  Approximately 10,000 Israelites were sent into exile to Babylon where they were surrounded by Zoroastrian beliefs, and when they returned, their own writings took a sharp turn and emphasized all of these new themes.  Nearly all religious historians are in agreement that Zoroastrianism was the reason for these beliefs in Christianity, Judaism and Islam; of course, some fundamentalist Christian scholars disagree.  

HISTORY OF THE UNDERWORLD

Many Pagan religions believed in an underworld, with Hades as guard to keep people from escaping.  A very few dead people negotiated with Hades to return to earth, including Tammuz and several of his dead friends.  Hades, himself, was a god who “got the short end of the stick” and had to rule the underworld when three gods, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades drew straws.  Zeus became King of the Gods, Poseidon the Ruler of the Sea, and Hades the Lord of the Underworld. 

The Israelites had a similar underworld they called Sheol, which, in early writings, was just a vague, gloomy place where everyone went when they died, like other descriptions of underworlds.  It was thought that when people were buried, they fell into the Underworld and lived underground.  Stories as far back as when Sumerians lived spoke of gods visiting the Underworld, and the Underworld and Sheol were what the early Israelites believed in until they were exiled and decided a place of punishment for sinners was more exciting.  (The Bible has mistranslations, and the word Sheol is called Hell in a lot of Bibles, whether it was the gloomy place or the punishing pit of fire.)

The book of Daniel was written after the exile to Babylon.  It has the first description of a Hell as a direct opposite to Heaven.  Anyone can see how a story would improve with an arch-enemy and wars and fear put into it!  The Israelites did not admit they had just absorbed Pagan, Zoroastrian beliefs and called all these beliefs their own.

Does anyone wonder why most of us never heard of Zoroastrianism?  Here it is, one of the oldest religions in the world, and we know nothing about it.  But, a few of us will recognize the phrase (and book) “Thus Spake Zarathustra!”  The Prophet Zarathustra (which means “shining light”) also became known as Zoroaster.  The writings of Zoroaster are in the Gathas and date to 1300 B.C.E.  Many claim the religion is much older than that, some saying it goes back to 6350 B.C.E., but the “evidence” is not of a type that can be seen, so I am going by when the words were written down, because that would be the time period Zoroaster would have lived.  At 1300 B.C.E., it still puts Zoroastrianism as one of the most ancient religions, along with Hinduism.

ZOROASTRIAN BELIEFS

Let us learn exactly what Zoroastrians believe.  Our Yahweh sounds like the descriptions of the “good” Zoroastrian god, law giver and judge, Ahura Mazda.  Ahura Mazda is the supreme creator and all that is good, but he is battled by the evil Angra Mainyu (our Satan), so there is this strong duality between good and evil.  Angra Mainyu is the evil god of snakes and scorpions, and Ahura Mazda is the god of all other animals.  Zoroastrians believe in seeking good and in doing good deeds, because the more good they do, the more good will be in the world, and one day evil will be destroyed.  They believe in a warring duality both in spiritual thoughts of the body and the warring of Ahura Mazda versus Angra Mainyu in the world.  There is only one god in Zoroastrianism; it is credited as being the first monotheistic religion, but there are many angels and arch angels working under Ahura Mazda.  They believe Ahura Mazda and his son, Saoshyant (which means Savior), will judge in next world and he will bring the end of evil.  Keep in mind all of this was written before any of these ideas appeared in Judaism and before Christianity existed.

No one wants to admit that their religion evolved from earlier religions, because it would negate their religion as chosen, special - the only true and right religion, with the writers being inspired by their god.  But credit should be given where credit is due:  the prophet Zoroaster founded most of the major, underlying concepts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 

The Death of My Gay Friend

I had a friend (we shall call him Kevin) who died a few months ago, at 25 years of age.  His cause of death is not mentioned, but I can assume it was either suicide, drug overdose, or a sudden illness.  His mother wrote that he, "went to bed and did not wake up," so at first I thought it could be a heart problem, but then I saw where one of her friends had talked about a different boy who "went to bed and did not wake up" and I see that Kevin's mother simply took and copied those words as her own so she would not have to explain what actually happened.   Certainly, I suspect it was suicide.

Kevin was gay and became a freethinker, and most likely an atheist.  He never achieved his academic goals, and I doubt he was employed.  His great intelligence was not being used, and I am sure it frustrated him.  He "met me" on YouTube in the comments section of a Human Rights video, and he supported me because he could tell from my exasperation at responding to a troll that I was new to the Internet.  It was so cute that he was taking care of me!  Later on, Kevin said he wished I were his grandma – I chuckled a bit because I didn’t think I was that elderly looking, and imagined myself more of a mom figure.  But the grandma persona was a real compliment and I wish I could have been his grandma too! 

His family was very religious and what I did not know until after his death is that he had a twin who is a born again fundamentalist Christian.  I did know he had family issues because of religion and because he was homosexual.  His mother seemed supportive of him, but also was very religious.  

His Facebook page has been turned into a Memorial page, and all the people say they will “See you in Heaven” and “I believe in the power of Jesus!”  It is funny how some of them probably told Kevin he would suffer in Hell when he was alive because he was gay, but once they missed him after his death, they wrote "Kevin will be waiting for us in Heaven.” 

The top of Kevin's page shows the flying spaghetti monster as his profile landscape picture (because they probably can’t change it).  Kevin knew who he was, but now that he has left, the comments have all become religious.  I do not respond to them because these people are grieving.  The mother is so sad and I am sure guilt plays a part in all of the family’s grief.  Yet they turn to one of the main causes of Kevin's turmoil – their religion.  For them, it is the strongest comfort they can have, and they do not see the contradiction in worshiping “the god who does all things and took their son away.”  I “like” their comments to give them support, and know there are times to fight religion and times to let people do what they need to do.  I miss Kevin too, and that is what his FB page is about now.

I grieved quite a bit myself, as I truly liked this young lad.  He will always be remembered, with his true personality and thoughts.  We had great conversations together.  I am thankful to have met him online and to have been his friend and “grandma!” 

Response to Pegan Diet of Dr. Mark Hyman

There is a new diet craze in the United States, and at first I felt insulted that Dr. Mark Hyman had the nerve to combine the words Paleo and Vegan into one word.  The fact that anyone would combine a diet word like “paleo” that is high meat protein and requires killing animals with the word vegan is disgusting enough, but the word “Paleo” to describe a diet from the Paleo era is totally inaccurate and unscientific.  The Paleo diet was voted the worst diet by U.S. News and World Report, so it should not continue being used.

Of course, since Americans love fads, they are ready for the newest diet craze and the Pegan diet is it.  Let us look at the gut of this diet: Dr. Hyman cuts out all fibrous wheat breads and carbohydrates except for gluten free ones, simply because of the extremely small percentage (1%) of people who are actually allergic to gluten or have FODMAP (6%) and gave up only gluten whether they are sensitive to that or not.  Dr. Hyman also does not allow beans because beans give some people gas and can raise glycemic levels.  Guess what - carrots raise glycemic levels too!  Why take away these good, nutritious foods?  We know it is fat that causes diabetes, not beans or carrots! 

The Pegan Diet is just another meat and vegetable diet like the Paleo diet, but it does call for organic foods, and lots of fruits and vegetables, and smaller portions of meat - so that is an improvement.  This diet, however,  is way too high in fat from the meats and fats allowed, and we all know the consequences of meat in a diet!  Any amount over 1 ounce a day of meat for a woman or 1.5 ounces of meat a day for a man is not safe from a cancerous standpoint and a fat standpoint!

Don't forget, we have many x-rays showing total reversal of heart disease from Dr. Esselstyn and other doctors who advocate a low fat vegan diet.  And, yes, when studies involving meat or dairy are done they are put up against a 35% fat vegan diet instead of a 7% to 10% vegan diet, because they know it would be "game over."  I am glad Dr. Hyman points out that a lot of studies are cherry picked and flawed, but we do know what causes heart disease and high cholesterol, because those recent saturated fat studies that claim saturated fat is fine to eat are terribly flawed!  

Many vegans eat pasta, rice and other simple sugars and we do not have diabetes or weight problems, but Dr. Hyman tries to make the vegan diet seem less ideal by mentioning simple sugars. We vegans who keep up with nutrition by reading articles by Dr. John McDougall and Dr. Michael Greger know to keep sugars low, but we also know sugar is not as bad as fat in the diet!  After all, severe diabetes and kidney problems have been cured with the Kempner Diet, a temporary diet of white rice, fruit juice and fruit – all sugars!  

As you can see, I was offended by just about every aspect of this “new” Pegan diet.  But then I took another look.  It’s an improvement over the Standard American (SAD) diet (which shows just how unhealthy most Americans eat)!  It contains no dairy, which is a real point in its favor.  This diet calls for eating only “sustainably raised, grass fed meat,” but we know sustainable is a misused word, and grass fed beef is not sustainable.  However, the fact that he calls for cutting down on meat makes it more sustainable than the SAD diet.

I wonder how many people actually buy grass-fed beef?  Do they buy it at restaurants or seminars or eat it at other people’s houses?  Of course not!  I have caught people who argue for organic beef with “humane” killing (humane?), eating regular beef in photos on their Facebook pages.  The only person I met who did not eat meat if it was not grass-fed thought he was allergic to "regular meat."  Still, I am sure there are some people who think they are being moral or are trying for better health by eating grass-fed beef.  Trust me, cut the beef out all together for better health!

But I have to thank Dr. Hyman, for getting people more familiar with a vegan diet!  Even though I still find the combination of vegan and Paleo offensive, I think he did vegans a favor, by breaking people from the horrid dairy habit, getting them to eat more fruits and veges and uncontaminated food, and making the word, vegan, more acceptable!

Being More Spiritual Can Backfire!

Most spiritual people are open-minded and easy going, and never bother anyone.  But I keep coming across spiritual people who seem to spend their days on Facebook giving people irrelevant advice about how to be more spiritual.  For instance, I wrote a status on Facebook about how I am in a writing contest (about being a vegan atheist), and that writing it is a labor of love, but having to cut out 232 words in order to make the 400 word minimum is stressful!  Right away, she pipes up:  “It’s only stressful if you let it be (smiley face).”  Constant comments about how I dare have emotions and do not smother them, gives me one more emotion:  annoyance!  I’m annoyed by these pseudo-Buddhists who tell everyone not to let anything in life bother them, and try to “one-up” everyone else with the same advice about turning off any feelings about our lives.  It just feels condescending to me.

I happened, the night of her comment, to have a son who got in some fairly serious trouble, a daughter who is getting married and has turned into Bridezilla, a husband who keeps giving our dog food she is allergic to, a Vegan newsletter deadline, a deadline for an article in our local town’s online magazine, and this contest - on top of working full time.  On top of all this, I am naturally wired to be a worrier.  How can I be expected to have my Zen on all the time?!  "It's only stressful if you let it be" grates on my nerves!

Of course, I just put a “like” on her comment and decided not to rant about it.  After all, I could improve my stress levels a bit; but being told continuously that I am not spiritual enough gets stale.  After all, even on my most stressful days I take time to actively enjoy either the scenery or appreciate the people around me.  But trying to be calmer when someone is critical of me and trying to ignore life’s situations just makes me more stressed! 

Gemini!

June! Gemini! Do you know the story behind the constellation called Gemini? It’s a good one. Twins were born to Leda, the mother, but there were two different fathers. Tyndareus, Leda’s husband (the king of Sparta) impregnated her, and Zeus (also known as Jupiter) came to her disguised as a swan, and impregnated her – on the same night! (Do you dare picture her with a swan and wonder why she had such an attraction?)

Anyway, Leda gives birth to the twins, Castor, who is a mortal, and Pollux who is immortal. As they grew up, Castor became skilled with horses and Pollux was just plain strong. When they started warring with enemies, the mortal son, Castor, was killed. Pollux mourned his brother’s death, and asked his father, Zeus, if he could make some arrangement to share his immortality with Castor. Zeus got creative and put them both up in the sky as the constellation Gemini, for all of eternity. 

Two stars that look about the same size represent the heads of the twins – Castor is actually six stars in one - three binary stars and is white, and Pollux is more golden. They are very visible in the northern hemisphere in the winter, and are not visible at all from June 21 through July 20th due to the sun which stays within Gemini during that time.