Throw those curtains wide

”I realised on Friday that I’ve had the best year of my life. Sitting in the Art Bar at the end of the day with three of the most wonderful friends I could ever ask for. This Art School malarkey has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

I wrote the above on the evening of my last day of first year at Art School. I’ve posted it here because I want it to act as a reminder. Since that day I’ve become a bit disheartened with the whole idea of this blog. Spending the last week trying to have intelligent discussions with Creationists, Religious Zealots and Conspiracy Theorists has really knocked the fight out of me. What’s the point? They don’t want to listen and I end up getting extremely frustrated and depressed. I feel like I’ve been putting so much time and effort into expressing my beliefs (or lack there of) in this medium, but I feel like no one is listening. So, I asked myself, what really is the point?

But I realised that trying to change peoples minds isn’t the ultimate goal. That is never the end goal. The whole point of doing something like this is to make your stand, no matter how small or insignificant. You have to keep fighting because we’ll never beat these people, but we’ll certainly make their lives and their ability to propagate ignorance just that little bit harder. I can’t give up.

The past 12 months have been the bes tof my life and I want this entry to stand as a reminder for that whenever I feel like I’m beat. Because no one can beat me after that : )

 

I’ll leave you with this very special video as life seems just that little bit after after these 10 minutes. Enjoy.

Me, a sceptic? I hope you have proof.

The aim of this blog is to share with you my passion for Art and Scepticism.  Now these subjects aren’t the easiest to combine to produce something engaging and interesting, but it’s an ongoing process for me and I’ve had a blast producing such work over the past year. This is probably the one that I think works best. All the elements fell into place and the medium of using a book to present the work was perfect.

Our brief centred around the word ‘belonging’ and what it meant to us.  I struggled to begin with because I didn’t really feel I belonged to anything in particular. But I am always an advocate for science and scepticism, and that seemed like a cool, and honest angle to work from. After a lot of research, I began to think back to the 12 year old me who was absolutely obsessed with everything paranormal. Ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs, you name it, and it hit me how equally passionate I was back then towards the complete opposite of what I’m into now. Artistically, it seemed like a far more interesting road to take this project down, so I ended up combining these two worlds and presenting them in a little Artist’s book. Two separate worlds  that at differing times in my life I truly felt like I belonged to. The end result is a little rough around the edges and I think I’d like to expand on it and maybe end up having it professionally bound. I had the best time making it and I hope you like it.

‘Bigfoot’, as seen in the famous Patterson-Gimlin film. This was always an image that scared the bejesus out of me when I was little.

Voyager 1 is now the farthest man-made object from earth and is well on it’s way to reaching interstellar space. Which is rather awesome.

I wondered how the hell I was going to portray ghosts, but I found these amazing Victorian ghost photographs which were all the rage back then. Obviously absurd, but they do have this very creepy quality to them, and I love the guy’s reaction in the bottom left picture…’ZOMG! GHOST!!11!”

20th July 1969. Man sets foot on the Moon….’nuff said.

Earth vs The Flying Saucers!

In 1990, Voyager 1 took a photograph of Earth that showed it as no more than a few pixels from it’s vantage point at the edge of the solar system. The Scientist and Astronomer Carl Sagan had pushed for the photograph to be taken, having in mind the magnitude of seeing such an image of our home planet. Carl is one of my all time heroes, his love and enthusiasm for science is a continued inspiration. The above is an extract from his book, The Pale Blue Dot, which you can hear him reading in this truly life-affirming clip…… it never fails to make me smile. (plus, it has a Mogwai song playing in the background….don’t say I’m not good to you!)

He is risen! (part 2)

Next on the hit list is Nicky Gumbel. Now, many of you may not have heard of him before, but he’s the developer and leader of the controversial Alpha Course, a series of classes and talks aimed at converting people to evangelical Christianity which just so happen to have a worldwide following and attendance. Nicky is a vicar at the Holy Trinity Brompton Church in central London, and to give him his dues, he’s a fairly engaging and charismatic speaker. But charisma can be a dangerous thing.

I’ve always been extremely sceptical of the Alpha Course and it’s methods., which border on brainwashing in their execution. It’s main prerogative seems to be conversion rather than discussion and it rather cynically prays on vulnerable people to achieve those goals. Case and point, when attending the course, at the half way mark members are invited to attend a day long or weekend getaway. This is the most controversial aspect of the course in my eyes as the main topic is the Holy Spirit, with the weekend getaway used as an opportunity to let the Holy Spirit enter your body, resulting in Glossolalia or speaking in tongues. Now we can all agree that even amongst other branches of Christianity, speaking in tongues is viewed with a very critical, suspicious and down right mocking eye, and rightly so. But it’s the act of taking it’s members away together, out of familiar surroundings that I have real problems with. It reeks of cult like behaviour, and having witnessed this particular part of the alpha course on a televised introduction a few years ago, I can see why.

You get a group of suggestible and vulnerable people together in one place then you can achieve a lot. People begin to speak in tongues and at first you feel awkward. It sounds insane and must look even worse; people lolling their heads back and spouting nonsense. More and more people join in. You feel even more awkward. But you don’t want to look like a failure. You don’t want to let the course leaders down. The noise levels increase and a sense of hysteria builds. The pressure is immense. Mob rule takes over and you join in. After all, no one wants to feel left out. I had to rely on second hand accounts from the course participants (some positive, quite a few concerned and confused at what had happened) because the good Mr. Gumbel would rather the actual event wasn’t filmed……funny that, isn’t it?

But, that’s by and by. The main subject of this entry is Mr. Gumbel’s views on homosexuality. It should come as no surprise that he isn’t the most liberal of supporters (what member of an archaic, abrahamic religion is!?) but I do feel the need to point out how fucking ridiculous he is being. What follows is an extract from a Guardian article by the journalist Jon Ronson, documenting his time with the Alpha course:

  “I was talking to a homosexual friend,” says Tony, “and he said that ever since he was a child he found himself attracted to other boys. So why does the church think he’s committing a sin? Are you going to Hell if you commit a sexual act that is completely normal to you? That seems a bit unfair, doesn’t it?” 

There is a murmur of agreement from the group.

“First of all,” says Nicky, “I have many wonderful homosexual friends. There’s even an Alpha for gays running in Beverly Hills! Really! I think it’s marvellous! But if a paedophile said, ‘Ever since I was a child I found myself attracted to children’, we wouldn’t say that that was normal, would we?”

A small gasp.

“Now, I am not for a moment comparing homosexuals with paedophiles, but the Bible makes it very clear that sex outside marriage, including homosexual sex, is, unfortunately, a sin.”

He says he wishes it wasn’t so, but the Bible makes it clear that gay people need to be healed.

“Although I strongly advise you not to say the word ‘healed’ to them,” he quickly adds. “They hate that word.”

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2000/oct/21/weekend7.weekend

Nicky, Nicky, Nicky! Where do I start!? To be fair, let me jump to your defence. I mean, those whiny Gays and their ‘feelings’, blowing everything out of proportion at the prospect of getting healed. God, lighten up you homos! The bible makes it pretty clear! No butt sex for you!!!

Now, if that wasn’t vile enough, we have a real humdinger up next:

”But if a paedophile said, ‘Ever since I was a child I found myself attracted to children’, we wouldn’t say that that was normal, would we? Now, I am not for a moment comparing homosexuals with paedophiles…..’’ actually Nicky, that’s EXACTLY what you are doing. What this shows is just how grossly ignorant, ill-informed and offensive Nicky Gumbel is. On the one hand, we have the act of having sex with someone who is under the age of consent…WHICH IS ILLEGAL. On the other, we have the act of two consenting adults having sex with each other, which, as far as I’m aware, IS LEGAL here in the real world.

Fuck Nicky Gumbel and the bullshit he spouts. Ok, he sugar coats his bigotry with the cloak of ‘Love the sinner, hate the sin!’ but that makes it all the more insidious in my eyes. His book, Searching Issues is full of outrageous lies and dangerous hyperbole on the subject of homosexuality.

“He [God] did not design our bodies for homosexual intercourse.”

Actually, stimulation of the male prostate can be extremely pleasurable and itself is essential for ejaculation. It’s no accident that it’s referred to as the male ‘G-spot’. You want to give it a bash Nicky, you never know, you may enjoy having your prostate examined. And you don’t have to jump straight in and shove a cock up there, a finger will do for now : ) (although I imagine the giant stick you have rammed up there must be doing a pretty good job.)

‘’There is a great deal of evidence that homosexual orientation is something that is acquired or learned.’’

No. Just no. It’s not, never has been and never will be A FUCKING CHOICE.

Not only does the text condemn homosexuals, it also condemns those who “not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practise them”.

That’ll be me and pretty much every other freethinking, rational and right-minded individual on the planet. Fuck me, heaven’s going to be pretty empty at this rate. Jesus, Nicky and some really uptight Christians. Sound like an eternal paradise to me.

Faith is a powerful and wonderful thing. But this isn’t Faith. This is a rotten, cult of personality at work. It’s the view and idea of Jesus, through the spiritual conduit of Nicky Gumbel. If you are looking for Him, find God on your own terms, not through this abhorrent arsehole.

This isn’t an attack on faith or those who have it. This is an attack on inequality. We can’t sit quietly and let things like this happen just because it’s part of someone’s religious beliefs, especially when they try inflicting their outdated and embarrassing views on the rest of us through laws and legislations. I don’t think I’ll ever understand the mind of someone who accepts these views as part of their faith. Someone who, outwardly has no malice towards gay people, but who will condemn them all the same because their big, scary god says so in some ancient text (this is 2009, right?) I don’t for one millisecond give a shit as to what your god thinks, why can’t you use your own critical thinking skills and realise how obscene your views are?

Equality. It’s a basic right. I pity those who deny it in others. Today’s events regarding Amazon show us that it’s still a spectre that looms in the background. There is no secret agenda* at work. No evil, secular movement trying to corrupt you. When you peel away all the layers, this is about love. And anyone who judges someone by who they fall in love with is a very small person indeed.

*(Although there is an idiot agenda at work and it goes by the name of the National Organisation for Marriage……or NOM. You can view the good work they do here):

I do love how they are called NOM, as it makes me think of NOM NOM NOM and the always entertaining LOLCATS. So what better way to leave you then with one of their perals of wisdom………..I CAN HAS GAISEX?

He is risen!

I’ve been a bit quiet in regards to talking about God and Religion recently, but that’s mainly been down to the small fact that I’ve not been especially bothered about it since the turn of the year. I’ve had lots of other work to concentrate on and I just haven’t had the time. But something popped up on my radar screen recently and I’ve been mulling it over with a few other subjects and decided Easter is the perfect time to talk about them.

Firstly, if you are celebrating in anyway, I sincerely wish you all the best. If the reasons for doing so are important to you, I hope you have a wonderful day. Equally, if you are using Sunday as an excuse to eat lots of chocolate (like me), then I hope you had a blast . This time of year is special and deserves to be celebrated. All religious nonsense aside, it’s a time of birth and of rejuvenation (I mean, the 2 biggest symbols of Easter are a rabbit and a giant egg……doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work that one out!). So, here’s to Spring and all that it holds.

But as always, there is a long and crooked shadow cast over this entry, cast by two figures who hold themselves as men of virtue and truth. The first is the Pope. Now, personal feelings aside ( that he is one of the most hateful examples of humanity to stalk this planet and as a result, is the perfect figure head for the vile industry of hate and corruption that is the Catholic Church), even by his standards he has been making some incredibly ignorant and dangerous remarks during a recent visit to Africa in March. In claiming that condom usage endangers public health and makes the problem of HIV and Aids worse he is putting the lives of millions at risk. We all know the Catholic Church aren’t fond of our lovely latex friends, but to actually fly in the face of all medical science and hard evidence is just jaw dropping.

 I want to say that this man is lying but I don’t think he is. When he’s alone at night do I think he is tormented by the thought that he is wilfully skewering the truth to tow the dogmatic party line? No. He’s just a guy doing a job and in a way I do feel sorry for him. This is his life and it’s all that he knows. It’s all that he has and as a result he’ll make sure he does what he can to remain valid. But his words do anything but protect human life. To withhold family planning from the poorest and most vulnerable of people is abhorant. I get so angry and hopeless when these archaic dinosaurs start stomping around in a childish attempt to show their influence. But recently that anger has turned to fatigue. Who really listens to what that pathetic old man has to stay? The sooner he goes the way of that senile motherfucker of a predecessor the better.

Even then the ongoing game of holy whack-a-mole will continue with yet another pointless human being taking his place. I think the rest of us just have to do everything in our power to do the opposite of pretty much everything the Pope has to say. At least then we’ll be doing our bit for humanity. Always remember, for every child-raping priest he grants protection and for every holocaust denier he pardons, never stop fighting.

For kicks, join this group to laugh at the absurdity of it all – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59644518773

Then do what you can by going here - http://www.avert.org/

 

 

After all that, you can bask in glory that you are doing far more for the continued survival of your fellow human beings than some Pious arsehole and his bullshit Religion.

(Part 2 is on it’s way. Kisses!)