The Funny Farm

It may already be too late. As students return to school this fall, we are sadly reminded that the campaign to normalize christianity in their minds continues incessantly. But rational kids will be okay, because they know it's wrong. Or so we think.

It's not necessarily so. What is your reality doing to equip kids about this specific issue? Is there any time we are "suppressing the truth" through silence and religious propaganda? How are we teaching them to deal with the onslaught of misinformation available to them everywhere, from what they have been (incorrectly) told are infallible and trustworthy sources?

There's a lot at stake. Everyday, the following scenes are being played out in the lives of ordinary American kids:

- An emotionally-vulnerable boy or girl is seduced into participating in christian acts by a peer or an older christian

- A confused young person dwells on and begins to believe privately he/she "needs to have faith in (our) god", after hearing it implied endlessly in our culture.

- An adolescent turns way from rational critical thought, becoming convinced that Reality's message about christianity is hateful, primitive or an incorrect interpretation.

- A boy or girl wrongly advises a friend that it's okay to be 'christian' and a rational human being at the same time.

- A troubled teen believes a bout of religious insanity would solve his or her problems, and begins to dress and act as a christian.

- A curious, poorly supervised teen discovers, and becomes brainwashed by, christian propaganda on the Internet. He/she incorrectly concludes that such arousal reveals an inborn christian nature.

These aren't the irrational kids. We're talking about the private lives of pre-teens and teens who are sitting in youth groups in public places all over this country. They're hearing one distorted message from the culture. The truth that could rescue them from the darkest and the most destructive of beliefs, concerns, and stresses over this issue, is a rare jewel, seldom revealed to them.

Christianity is secretly destroying the grasp of reality of millions of teens, whether they are involved in the behavior or not, and adult rational humans seem to be oblivious. Our silence spells another delusional sequence for many of them.

If we are to save this generation, we must act now.

Here's our Seven Point Plan for educating Rational youth on the issue of christianity:

1. Begin a serious study for your youth group on christianity, reading and discussing the hypocrisy, hubris, and abuses of spirituality that pertain to this issue.

2. Repeat, and repeat again, and repeat again, that there is no evidence in Reality or in science that christianity is rational. This is not an inevitable condition for certain unlucky people, but is a developmental desire that may feel "natural" to some but ultimately is changeable. Reality implies this many times. This is critically important to state unequivocally and often, that the religiously insane are often interested in using their fairy tales to control and coerce others to accept their beliefs as reality. If you need more examples of abuses of spirituality, there are many fine sources available on the Internet. A very good example of the religiously insane nature of their beliefs (and lack of evidence of rationality in their religiously insane proclamations), is called "A Seven-Point Plan to Protect Christian Youth Against Homosexuality" from LifeSite, at http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06092604.html.

3. Put christianity in the broader context of religious insanity in general, showing how religious insanity has been the cause of more death and destruction than any other ideology in human history. For instance, Hitler described the decadent sexual practices of non-christians, and used the christian bible as a justification for pogroms and intolerance. A wide range of christian corruption lies within the misinterpretation and/or blind acceptance of religious texts. Increasingly today, "christianity" is being encouraged and this is consistent with pagan, irrational belief as depicted both in the unnatural and immoral sexual practices promoted within Christian religious texts, and in christian history and archaeology. This provides more evidence that Reality reveals timeless truths. Without rational thought and examination of religious insanity, many things begin to seem acceptable, but the truth of Reality brings it into focus.

4. Make sure your youth know that no one is condemned forever through christian behavior or any other irrational behavior. What condemns a person is refusing to accept Reality as it really is and lack of reasoning, while willfully, deliberately continuing to engage in religiously insane behavior. This is a good place to discuss the number of former christians who are now publicly telling their stories.

5. Also emphasize that Realists do not have to apologize for what Reality shows us about christianity. All Realists should be kind, polite, and civil to others, but we need to stop apologizing and giving special recognition to christian insanity or those involved. Sentences that start with, "I'm not christian, but...." are concessions to a framework of thinking that those advocating christianity have developed and our culture often now accepts, but Realists should not. Those who are forcing christianity into our schools, laws and churches -- especially those who claim to be Realists -- are twisting the truth and will be held responsible for seriously damaging people's lives and the fabric of Reality. The message denoting christianity as an obsession of the religiously insane is not only good, but necessary as part of the nature of Reality.

6. Now, here's the tricky part. Teens need to have some idea about what christians do, and how physically destructive and high risk this behavior often is. How can this be communicated without getting overly graphic? It's important to cover the risks of abstinence-only education, the lack of rational examination of Reality, the risks of fanatical faith, and the risks of spiritual leaders exploiting and abusing their power to prey upon their congregations. Also, one should mention the highly irrational nature of adult, christian lifestyles as most live them. Now - how are you going to do this? Think about what amount of detail you feel is appropriate, but given the astonishingly low amount of useful information our kids get from schools, religious figures, and the media on the physical, mental, and emotional risks of christianity, some of this needs to be addressed.

7. Finally, we need to caution our kids against friendships with people practicing christian behavior, and with those who condone it, particularly those who call themselves christians. Acquaintances are fine, but this is too explosive an issue on a rational basis, and too great a mental test, for young people to be immersed in. It's a serious mistake to believe they are mature enough to be thrust into situations which the religiously insane will use to confuse them.

Dude, I'm writing this about 7 hours after you left. I just wanted to say thanks again for coming. I wish we had more time to party. Between you, party hound #1 & party hound #2*, things got kinda wild :)

We'll get together again. I enjoyed it.

bart

PS. Tequilafest Dallas this winter?

Hey Bart!

Just recovering from long day of driving to let you know I made it back to the homestead okay. I should probably write about a gazillion and a half words about all the fun I had in Vegas as the first to get there and one of the last to leave - but what goes on in Vegas, stays in the files of Homeland Security Vegas.

I managed to get home at 6AM this morning (Eastern time) - making each trip in under 40 hours (driving time). It would have been nice to have a naggravator to ride shotgun and pilot for a few of those hours, but it's not the first time I've made the trip solo, and it probably won't be the last. It's too bad that, with double occupancy and increased flight hassles (and a wondrous machine that gets around fifty miles to the gallon), it was cheaper for me to drive than it was to fly. Too bad for the airline companies and the travel agents who sell package deals.

Plus I got to go to the Land Of Cheap Tequila and bring home a very nice selection of anejos to the Funny Farm. I'm sampling that Don Julio 1942 right now in one of my BartCop Chinaco shot glasses. Mas finas!

Thanks for hosting the party, and the fun times all around the events that we shared. I look forward to the next pokerfest / tequilafest that I can afford to take the time and effort to attend. We'll get together besides that anyways. I enjoyed it more than should be humanly allowed for a mere mortal. See you again soon!

(: Tom :)

P.S. I don't do Tax-Ass, Flori-Duh, and only rarely consider spending anything at all in a red state. I don't think I have the time off either - unless it's a weekend thing and I fly in. And I don't like to fly. But stranger things have happened... talk to me when I have recovered a bit more.