Harold Camping and Family Radio

Judgement Day: they're idiots

Apparently, they've spent over 100 MILLION dollars advertising today, at 6pm, as the day of "rapture".

What a waste of money. You'd think they would spend it on doing good. Ugh.
God is not pleased.

The 89 y.o. Camping is in Oakland with his family. Maybe he'll spontaneously human combust or something. That would be cool. A hundred mil. she-it.

Agnostic

I'm convinced the only way God can be made real is to become Him/Her.

-because You are the only thing that is real to you? no, that's not quite right. or is it? "you-niverse"
-because goodness must come from within. hm, maybe not.
-the Creator is you: you create your own world; saying an external deity did so is just hypnosis
Your parents are your creators, of course. Nature and nurture, dna and environment, play a role, of course.

okay, it just seems right. I can't really nail down the logic.
I'm gonna steal from Nike, and say Just Do It.

If God is love, which is an emotion, but also a deity, a being, then for God to be real you have to be in love with someone, which could be just yourself, I guess, but is more happy if it's an actual other living, loving, in-the-flesh person. 'God' is just the hypothetical substitute for a lover or parents, who are probably imperfect.

If only God is good, you have to start with yourself. Otherwise, you're bad, and that doesn't help. Guilt and suffering ensue, with the possibility of hell and all. You should love yourself.

It's the only option if you're agnostic. Wikipedia link on agnosticism.
If God, out there, is unknown or unknowable..
You can at least Know Thyself.
Being good is an imperative, of course, because otherwise, you're evil.
If you want to be evil, then you must think it is good (so it's not evil).
But maybe you'll end up being raped in prison.
So, First, do no harm. Doing nothing is better than doing evil.
Of course, prison should not be evil, either.
"It's all good" is untrue, and in my opinion, evil.

If I weren't God, I'd be an agnostic atheist, or agnostic theist if I were in love.
An 'agnostic atheist' is atheist because he does not believe in the existence of any deity, and agnostic because he/she does not claim to know that a deity does not exist.
It all depends on how you define a deity.
I am concerned for the welfare of the universe and it's inhabitants, but I'm not omnipotent.
In fact, I'm infinitely small, in relation to the universe.
So all I can do is make my life good, which is what you should do, too, as
God of your own domain.
Religion is just set forth as principles for happiness.
I cannot know whether a deity exists or not, and neither can you (strong agnosticism),
UNLESS we make a God of ourselves.
So be good.
That's all it takes.

The Explaining Religion Project

Link, from the Economist

Sometimes I feel like somebody's watching me. Can't get no privacy. whoa o-oh.
Indeed, my two eyes and mind's eye are watching you.

There's a car being named the Karma

The idea of (religious/spiritual) karma is that misdeeds result in proportionate misfortune, and the opposite, that good deeds reap proportionate rewards.

If you think you're being watched/monitored, you're also more likely to act morally.

9 things you can do to be happy, link

Books

I've been on a reading bender

-The Best Spiritual Writing (2002)
-The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, 3rd annual collection
-There Are No Children Here, Alex Kotlowitz
-All The Money In The World (How the Forbes 400 Make and Spend Their Fortunes)
-On My Honor (Boy Scouts and the Making of American Youth), Mechling
-Cholo Style (Homies, Homegirls, and La Raza), Reynaldo Berrios
-My FBI (Bringing down the mafia, investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the war on terror), Louis Freeh
-God is Not Great (How Religion Poisons Everything), Christopher Hitchens
-The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
-Cell, Stephen King
-Hokkaido Popsicle, Isaac Adamson
-Brainiac (Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive world of trivia buffs),Ken Jennings
-Kingdoms of Sorcery
-Killing Monsters (Why Children Need Fantasy, superheroes, and make-believe violence)
-Bare Bones (Conversations on Terror with Stephen King)
-Smart on Crime , Kamala Harris
-Armed and Dangerous, William Queen & Douglas Century
-Dave Barry's Bad Habits
-Dave Barry's History of the Millennium
-Vietnam Now: A reporter Returns, David Lamb
-Chickenhawk: Back In The World, Robert Mason
-Madness Visible: A Memoir of War , Janine Di Giovanni
-Jarhead, Anthony Swofford
-Flags of our Fathers, James Bradley
-State of the World 2009, The Worldwatch Institute
-Plan B 3.0, Lester R. Brown
-The Areas of My Expertise, John Hodgman
-The Oxford History of Mexico

-The Best American Essays, 2007
-Mexico, A Traveler's Literary Companion
-Monty Python's Flying Circus, all the words, v. 2
-Malicious Intent, Sean Mactire
-Reason, Robert B. Reich
-Don't Drink the Water, Woody Allen
-The Writing Life, writers on how they think and work
-Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth

-Best American Short Stories, 2005
-Best American Short Stories, 1990
-The Oxford Book of Essays
-Blind Man's Bluff, (submarine espionage)
-The New History of the World, J.M. Roberts
-The Year's Best Horror and Fantasy, 2008

on deck
-Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond
-The Mustard Seed, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh