If God created the universe, then God created everything inside that universe. If evil exists in the universe, then God created it. The responsibility for evil cannot be passed to mankind if God created it; He would be responsible for it. If God has the power to stop evil, then his refusal to stop evil is by choice, his choice. If there is a God, he is to blame for all bad things, because he has the power to correct it.
On the other hand, if God did not create the universe, God would not be responsible for creating evil, and evil would be the result of the one perpetrating it. By this logic, is it safe to assume that by the existence of evil, it shows that an all-powerful, all-creating God cannot exist?
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
A Lesson in Mathematics
Doesn't it suck when you think you have a really, really good idea, one that you feel no one has thought of. And then you review your math and realize it's completely flawed. 1,000,000 x 375,000,000 is much more than 400,000,000. It's somewhere in the vicinity of 375,000,000,000,000. I checked the math. 700,000,000,000 divided by 375,000,000,000 is about 1866.67. That's about how much the government is going to spend on this second stimulus package per American citizen. But we won't see a dime of this stimulus package. It's going to go straight to propping up Wall Street...
Saving the Economy
This week Congress will decide whether or not to give Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson $700 billion in federal aid to bailout the American economy. I think this is stupid. What the hell costs $700,000,000,000? I have a better idea.
Let's give everyone in America a million dollars. I've never had a million dollars; chances are you've never had a million dollars, but I think this is a better alternative. First, since there are only about 400 million people in America, my plan will only cost about $400,000,000. This is less than 1% of Secretary Paulson's plan. Second, since there are so many problems with subprime mortgages, my plan will actually help homeowners make their mortgage payments, if not payoff their mortgages in their entirety. It will get rid of many of the bad assets plaguing the market right now. Third, it will stimulate the economy. If I had a million dollars, I would save some of it, but I would spend a lot of it too.
The wrong answer is to bail out these Wall Street banker fucks, who got us into this mess in the first place. I think we should allow taxpayers to pay off their mortgages, have a little left over to cover them during this "crisis," and let the bankers rot in the fucking gutter while we take turns pissing on them...
Let's give everyone in America a million dollars. I've never had a million dollars; chances are you've never had a million dollars, but I think this is a better alternative. First, since there are only about 400 million people in America, my plan will only cost about $400,000,000. This is less than 1% of Secretary Paulson's plan. Second, since there are so many problems with subprime mortgages, my plan will actually help homeowners make their mortgage payments, if not payoff their mortgages in their entirety. It will get rid of many of the bad assets plaguing the market right now. Third, it will stimulate the economy. If I had a million dollars, I would save some of it, but I would spend a lot of it too.
The wrong answer is to bail out these Wall Street banker fucks, who got us into this mess in the first place. I think we should allow taxpayers to pay off their mortgages, have a little left over to cover them during this "crisis," and let the bankers rot in the fucking gutter while we take turns pissing on them...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
It's a boy...maybe
Anna and I went to the doctor today. We thought today was the day when we'd find out the sex of the fetus we made last spring, but her placenta got in the way. Doctor says most likely it'll be male, but we didn't get a definitive answer. Oh well. Better luck next time. October 8 we should know for sure. Besides that, we learned the baby has no discernible birth defects, at least none yet. I'm always paranoid about those birth tests. What if it does have birth defects? What would I do then? What could I do? I guess it depends on the severity of the birth defects. Would he just be retarded? Would he be able to function at all? Would life really be worth living if you couldn't experience it the same way everyone else does? Or on the opposite spectrum: Does anyone want to experience life the same way as everyone else does? Definitely not. Being retarded might be a blessing these days. Retarded people can genuinely feel happy. How often do people of normal intelligence (whatever the fuck that means...) experience happiness? I would argue that retarded people are much happier unaware of the impending catastrophes awaiting themselves and mankind.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Why Sarah Palin is a bitch...
With John McCain having chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate this year, I've been thinking an awful lot about abortion. Palin is pro-life. She believes human life begins at conception, that this human life ought to be protected by federal law, and that having an abortion or aiding in an abortion to be a violation of criminal law. Pro-life advocates want Roe v. Wade, which extended the right of privacy to include the decision to have an abortion, overturned. The thought of having Roe v. Wade overturned and abortion made illegal scares me for several reasons.
First, look at alcohol prohibition. Making it illegal for someone to consume alcohol didn't stop people from drinking alcohol. It just made them turn to a black market to get it. Ridding the supply does not kill the demand. Abortion will do the same. Instead of stopping abortion, a constitutional ban on abortions will push abortion into a black market. The price will be staggeringly higher. The black martket abortion surgeon may be licensed, maybe not. The equipment used will be outdated with low standards of sterilization. There will be no legal recourse for malpractice, neglect, or battery allegations. Making abortion a black market commodity will hurt women, not help them.
Second, it will be a criminal offense. Women who choose to have abortions will have no protections under the law; they themselves will be outlaws. When someone is prosecuted in this country for violating criminal laws, their identities become part of the public record. Everytime someone does a background check, the abortion will show up. Anytime someone applies for a job, the abortion will show up. Anytime someone attempts to buy or sell property, the abortion will show up. Making abortion illegal will force women to don a scarlet letter. Their decision will be placed out there for all to see and for all to judge.
Third, there are other ways besides a constitutional ban to stop abortions. Women don't just wake up in the morning, look at the sun outside their window, and decide to have an abortion. There are a million variables and causes that lead up to a woman's decision to have an abortion. Not all of them are within her control. Poverty, crime, drug abuse, and unforeseen unfortunate events all contribute to the total number of abortions. Attacking these problems will do more to curb the total number of abortions than a federal law will. Abortion is a symptom of the problem; not the problem itself.
What I don't understand about the pro-life position, being that many pro-lifers are conservative and for "small" government, is its reliance on government intervention to fix the problem. Making abortion illegal will greatly increase goverment involvement in people's reproductive choices. The entire justice system will have to begin devoting more time and resources to persecuting people caught and arrested for being involved with abortions. Instead of helping teenage mothers in their situation, we're going to add the burden of criminality and expend valuable taxpayer resources to do it.
For these reasons, I consider myself of the pro-choice opinion. I don't know what it really means to say "life is sacred." I only know that I value my own life, and I'm willing to bet others out there do the same. I don't believe there's anyone out there who truly wants people to have abortions; I believe the question is largely one of strategy. The real question is: what is the best way to curb the total number of abortions? Pass a law or fight it at its roots? Governor Palin believes it should be the justice department's job.
First, look at alcohol prohibition. Making it illegal for someone to consume alcohol didn't stop people from drinking alcohol. It just made them turn to a black market to get it. Ridding the supply does not kill the demand. Abortion will do the same. Instead of stopping abortion, a constitutional ban on abortions will push abortion into a black market. The price will be staggeringly higher. The black martket abortion surgeon may be licensed, maybe not. The equipment used will be outdated with low standards of sterilization. There will be no legal recourse for malpractice, neglect, or battery allegations. Making abortion a black market commodity will hurt women, not help them.
Second, it will be a criminal offense. Women who choose to have abortions will have no protections under the law; they themselves will be outlaws. When someone is prosecuted in this country for violating criminal laws, their identities become part of the public record. Everytime someone does a background check, the abortion will show up. Anytime someone applies for a job, the abortion will show up. Anytime someone attempts to buy or sell property, the abortion will show up. Making abortion illegal will force women to don a scarlet letter. Their decision will be placed out there for all to see and for all to judge.
Third, there are other ways besides a constitutional ban to stop abortions. Women don't just wake up in the morning, look at the sun outside their window, and decide to have an abortion. There are a million variables and causes that lead up to a woman's decision to have an abortion. Not all of them are within her control. Poverty, crime, drug abuse, and unforeseen unfortunate events all contribute to the total number of abortions. Attacking these problems will do more to curb the total number of abortions than a federal law will. Abortion is a symptom of the problem; not the problem itself.
What I don't understand about the pro-life position, being that many pro-lifers are conservative and for "small" government, is its reliance on government intervention to fix the problem. Making abortion illegal will greatly increase goverment involvement in people's reproductive choices. The entire justice system will have to begin devoting more time and resources to persecuting people caught and arrested for being involved with abortions. Instead of helping teenage mothers in their situation, we're going to add the burden of criminality and expend valuable taxpayer resources to do it.
For these reasons, I consider myself of the pro-choice opinion. I don't know what it really means to say "life is sacred." I only know that I value my own life, and I'm willing to bet others out there do the same. I don't believe there's anyone out there who truly wants people to have abortions; I believe the question is largely one of strategy. The real question is: what is the best way to curb the total number of abortions? Pass a law or fight it at its roots? Governor Palin believes it should be the justice department's job.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)