Panthera Tigris (Bengal & Siberian)

The Tiger is one of the most spectacular animals in the world. They are well known for being fast and powerful. There are 9 recognized subspecies, but the White Tiger isn’t one of them and that surprises may people. Experts feel this is a coloration difference and not a true subspecies.

Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. Tigris

Perhaps what draws people to the tiger is their lovely appearance. These cats have a muscular body with a large head. They have long legs with large paws that also have sharp claws on them. They have powerful jaws and sharp teeth so that they can grab and consume their prey.

They are skilled hunters and use the element of surprise to get close to their prey. They also blend in well to their surroundings so they can move close and then spring into action. The element of surprise is important as a tiger can’t afford to expend large amounts of energy for a hunt and then see their target escape. They are nocturnal which means that they mainly hunt at night. However, they can also hunt during the daylight hours.

They are meat eaters, known as carnivores. They are able to take down prey that is more several times larger than it is. They are able to use their teeth to dig deep into the neck of the prey so that it dies rapidly. Then they use their other teeth to hold it and to rip apart large portions of the kill. They will eat large amounts of food when they are able to find it. This could be up to 88 pounds of meat!

The size of a tiger can be very different depending on the species. The location where it lives and the diet are also factors. Genetics also play a role in the overall size of an adult. They can be from 100 to 670 pounds and close to 12 feet long. Tigers have a very long tail that can be more than 3 feet long.

No two tigers have coloring, stripes, and patterns that are the same. They also don’t have symmetrical designs on them. This means the appearance on one side of the body can be different from the other side of it for any given tiger.  One of the biggest problems for tigers is the destruction of their natural habitat. This means it is harder for them to find shelter and to find enough food.In some locations, this has resulted in tigers attacking humans and livestock. They are moving into the same territory that humans share and that can be difficult. Some ranchers and villages have taken to poisoning or trapping tigers to feel protected as well as to protect their animals.

Tigers need to live in areas that give them access to water. This is because their diet is carnivorous and they have to find food sources that rely on water. If there is no water, they won’t be able to find enough food to survive. They need to have a large kill at least once a week and then several small meals that they can count on. The tiger is unsuccessful most of the time with hunting so they eat all they can when they can.

There isn’t a set mating season for tigers, but November through April seems to be when it is more frequent. The cubs that are conceived will arrive in about 16 weeks. After mating, the couple go their separate ways. The female has the responsibility of creating a den where the young can be born and to be safe. They will remain in the den for many weeks with her before they come out to the world. During that time, they will consume milk from her body. She will have to leave them alone when she has to hunt for her own nourishment.

Even though she will do all she can to protect the young, the mortality rate is very high. More than 50% of them will die before they are 2 years of age. This makes it hard to get numbers to increase in the wild. The average age for tigers in the wild that do survive to adulthood is about 8 to 10 years. In captivity it is about 16 to 18 years.

The tiger is one animal that is ingrave danger of extinction. While there are conservation efforts in place, there are huge barriers. The loss of habitat as well as people misinterpreting them as killing machines are hard to overcome. They don’t have a large genetic pool remaining and that creates some concerns for overall health. Many of the conservation efforts in place focus on breeding in captivity. Sadly, many species of the tiger are already extinct but it is hopeful that the remaining species won’t end up that way.

Bengal Tiger
One of the well-known tiger subspecies is the Bengal Tiger. Due to where they live, they are often referred to as Indian Tigers. They are the most commonly known tigers. They account for approximately ½ of all the wild tigers remaining in the world. They are also well known in the Indian traditions and folklore.

The deep orange color of the Bengal Tiger is one that is quite attractive. They also have wide black stripes that help them to blend into their surroundings. No two of them have the same markings in terms of the size and location of the stripes. This distinction can help them to be able to be easily identified by researchers. The males can weigh up to 488 pounds with the females weighing about 308 pounds. The tails of the Bengal Tigers can be up to 43 inches long.

The White Tiger isn’t identified as a subspecies of the tiger. Instead, it is believed to be a recessive gene belonging to the Bengal Tiger that creates that coloring. There are very few of them that survive in the wild because they don’t have the camouflage to help them blend into their surroundings. Most of them have been bred in zoos and other locations but the problem is that it weakens the genetic pool for them. As a result, continued breeding of them in captivity isn’t recommended.

India is the primary location where you will find the Bengal Tiger living in the wild. They are also located in areas of China and Bangladesh. They live in both wet and dry forest regions, grasslands, and even mangrove forests. Some of them live around the mountain terrain. They are often found in locations around water. They may drag their food to the water or they may cool off in the water when it is hot. The water also allows them to find food easier as prey will come to those locations to drink.

Like other subspecies, the Bengal tiger lives an isolated existence. The only exceptions are when they are mating or when the females have young to care for. They are very aggressive tigers and they often have large home range territories. This is why destruction of their habitat is such a huge problem. They will mark their territory with their scent to keep intruders out. Females will have a smaller home range and it often overlaps the territory or several males.

The Bengal Tiger will rarely hunt during the day, finding their food sources at night. They consume a variety of medium and large animals. They can include buffalo, wild pigs, and deer. They are able to hide well in the environment due to their markings that serve as camouflage. They are able to quickly spring into action to get their prey. With speed and powerful jaws on their side they can deeply bite the neck of their prey and then take them down. They can eat up to 60 pounds of meat at once!

Even though most of the do avoid humans, they have been known to attack and even to consume them. This type of behavior is mainly those that are too old or that have been injured so they aren’t able to successfully hunt as they normally would. Loss of habitat and lack of food can also be driving factors behind such aggressive behavior as well.

Mating can occur any time of the year. The females are ready to mate when they are 3 or 4 years old. For males it is slightly later, around 4 to 5 years of age. The females will go into estrus for several days at a time. During that period of time, her strong scent will attract males to her. After conception, it will take about 100 days for the young to be born.

The females will have to care for the young on their own as they part ways with the male after mating for a couple of days. There can be up to 6 cubs per litter that they will have in a den to protect them. The young are about 2 pounds at birth and they are blind and helpless. The mother will feed them milk from her body. When they emerge from the den, she will continue to nurse them but also teach them to hunt for food when they are about 6 months old.

The young will become more independent with time. They spend lots of time playing with their siblings but that helps to prepare them for hunting and protecting their territory as adults. There is often a hierarchy among the young from the very start. There is a mortality rate that is about half of the cubs, they won’t make it to adulthood. They will leave their mother to find their own territory when they are about 18 months of age. The males tend to leave their mother sooner than the females and to move a longer distance from their mother.

The Bengal Tiger has been heavily hunted by trophy enthusiasts that are looking or a challenge. They have also been poached for their fur and for their body parts to be used in various forms of Chinese medicines. They are currently endangered and there are several protective programs in place to try to help increase their numbers in the wild.

There are believed to be less than 3,000 of these tigers that remain in the wild today. Yet they seem to have the highest numbers of all subspecies of tigers in the world right now. Reducing poaching problems and preserving their current habitat are very important if they are going to be able to survive. They seem to do well in captivity, and there are several breeding programs in the zoos that help to improve the genetic pool as well for Bengal Tigers.

Siberian Tiger
The largest of all cats in the world is the Siberian Tiger or Amur Tiger. They are well known for their elegant walk and their purring sound. They are often found in books, movies, and various types of folklore. This is a type of tiger that many people are familiar with the appearance of.

The Siberian Tiger can grow almost 11 feet in length. The males can weigh up to 660 pounds and they are larger than the females. This subspecies of tiger has a skull that is much larger than the others. The skull of the male is quite a bit larger than that of the female. They have a coloring that is pale in the winter and get bolder with the warmer temperatures and changing seasons. Some of them have darker stripes than others based on location. These stripes can be a dark brown instead of black. The fur is thicker than other subspecies due to the cooler temperatures and it is also very coarse.

They live in many locations, but the primary area is the birch forests of Russia. A small number of these tigers also live in North Korea and China. The climate that the Siberian Tiger lives in is harsh compared to other subspecies but there are some benefits found for them. For example, they have less issues with humans than other tigers due in various habitats. They also seem to have more of their natural home range left as it hasn’t been depleted as rapidly as in some other locations. The fact that the timber industry isn’t as widely developed in Russia as it is in other areas works in their favor.

Like other subspecies of tigers, they are very isolated other than when they care for young or they are mating. The home range of the Siberian Tiger is quite large, and they are territorial. The males are more aggressive when it comes to protecting that environment. They will allow several females to overlap with them though. Younger males have to fight to get territory from older tigers or they have to stay on the outer ridges where it is harder to get enough food.

They have been known to attack humans, but the accounts are very limited. This could be due to the fact that they don’t live close to much human activity. Most of the time it is believed such attacks are by females protecting young or by older/injured tigers that are struggling to successfully hunt animals in the wild.

The Amur Tiger is a very dedicated hunter, and they blend well into their surroundings. While they mainly hunt at night they have been seen out during the daylight hours to find food. They can travel a large distance in their home range to find food. They tend to look for the larger prey such as elk and wild boars. They use their powerful jaws to pounce into action after they have snuck up closely to their prey. They are able to take down animals that weigh several times more than they do.

Mating takes place at any time of the year for the Siberian Tiger. It generally will occur when they are about 4 years of age. The females will give off a powerful scent while in estrus. This is what attracts a male to her. After a ritual of circling and growling they will engage in mating over the course of several days. Then the male is off to find more females to mate with. The female will find a den in the days before the young arrive to keep them safe. It takes about 103 days after conception for them to be born.

The litter of cubs are blind and defensively so they need their mother to care for them. She is going to bond well with them and offer milk from her body. Yet she will have to leave them to go hunt for food to keep that supply going. They won’t come out of the den with her until they are about 8 weeks old. It will be about 6 months before they start to hunt on their own so she has a huge responsibility to them.

The young are very vulnerable out of the den when the mother has to search for food. This is why such a large number of the young are killed by various predators. Each litter can have up to 6 cubs and they will develop a hierarchy from a young age. When food is limited, the stronger and more aggressive cubs will survive.

The young will remain with their mother until they are about 18 months old. The males start to move on first and they will move a long distance from their mother. The females will linger and often create a home territory that is quite close to their mother.

It is estimated that there are only 400 to 500 Siberian Tigers left in the world that live in the wild. Some of the recent studies show that these numbers have been stable and that is good news. As long as the number isn’t declining there is hope that they can increase. Efforts to preserve habitat, educate the public about these tigers, and to reduce poaching problems continue to be to conservation efforts. Poaching has long been a problem though due to the black market demand for Chinese medicine and the fur.

The status for the Siberian Tiger is endangered at this point in time.  DNA samples though show that there is very little genetic diversity among them and that is a concern. One of the efforts of significant conservation is to help increase that genetic diversity. Breeding programs in captivity are a driving force behind such efforts.

Siberian Tigers are very popular at zoos, and they seem to do quite well in captivity. This is why so many zoos out there like to have them in place. It draws in crowds to their location which helps to generate money for their ongoing care.

Noah's Ark, a few reasons why it didn't happen.

Hello everyone. The past few days I have been seeing a lot of posts about this Ark that opened in Kentucky by the creationist Ken Ham. Let me define what a "creationist" believes.

This is a person that believes the literal words of the story of Genesis. They believe that God (Abrahamic usually) created everything. In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) God created everything in six days and took the seventh for rest. Thy also believe he created the trees and animals and then Adam and Eve at the same time if you follow Genesis 1 however if you follow Genesis 2 then he created Adam first then the trees and animals and then Eve was created sometime later. Hmmm...which to believe? Neither. Then after the talking snake an apple and banishment Adam and Eve had two sons named Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel and is banished from the Lord. He now settles in the town Nod, finds a wife and gets married. Where did she come from? Was she created as well? Was she his sister? Neither answer is good for this story.

Anyway after many years (remember somehow humans lived for hundreds and hundreds of years back then, 4-5k years ago). God has gotten irritated with humans. He then decided to kill literally every human in the world by drowning them. However he decided to keep one family alive. A family led by a man named Noah. Noah had three sons who had a wife each. God tells Noah to build a boat and take two of every animal on Earth onto the boat because he was gonna get rid of the wicked by drowning everyone. After this all the animals returned to where they came from and Noah and his family re-populated the Earth. Now that being said their are some that go a little deeper in the spectrum of ignorance. These people believe the Earth is 6-10k years old. They base this by adding the ages of people in the bible from Nebuchadnezzar back to Adam. Now out of the 48% of people that believe the literal interpretation of the bibles creation myth only 18% believe the Earth is that young.

There are numerous flood myths in human history. The Epic of Atrahasis is the oldest known myth.
Atrahasis was a Sumerian King of Shuruppak before the flood. The first tablet of the epic is a creation story, explaining the origin of human kind. The goddess Mami creates humanity out of clay to do the work that lesser gods refuse to do. Tablet two deals with overpopulation, as Enlil uses alternating periods of drought and famine to reduce the population and keep it under control. Enlil eventually decided to destroy humanity with a flood. Tablet three has the account of the flood which was likely adapted for The Epic of Gilgamesh. In it, Enki, the god of water, warns Atrahasis of the impending flood. Enki tells Atrahasis that he must tear down his home and build a boat. One that is of multiple decks and of a great size. When the boat is complete he boards the boat with his family and animals. The storm begins a floods for seven days. At the end Atrahasis sacrifices a goat to the gods. Now, this story is roughly about 1100 years older than the Genesis story. How many times does God need to flood the Earth to get rid of everyone? How come Noah didn't know about these other flood myths? I'll tell you why.

The author/authors of Genesis merely plagiarized from The Epic of Atrahasis or The Epic of Gilgamesh or a combination of the two. There are flood myths from every section of the world. They mostly all have deities and are a story of some kind of divine retribution. Now how do we know what really happened in these myths? Evidence of actual floods in these regions found by Archaeologists and Geologists. The geologic record shows them these floods that actually happened. However there is no evidence of a global flood.

So, let's get down to breaking down why scientifically and logically why this story didn't happen. First we start with Noah being 600 years old. We as biological creatures simply do not live that long. The average life expectancy 4,800 years ago was 26 years old. Not 750. Today with our modern medicine it has tripled to 78 years old. No where near the claimed 600 years that Noah was when he was tasked to build such a creation.

Secondly let's look at building a ship like this. The Ark was claimed to be 450 ft foot long, 75 ft wide and 45 ft high. That would require about 400 trees. The Genesis story was written in Israel. The picture below. How many trees do you see? I don't see any. Not one at all. Definitely not the 400+ Noah would have needed.

Now another issue with Noah building the Ark was that the only people he had for help was his three sons and their wives. None have any boat building experience, yet they are able to do what modern ship builders couldn't. Creationists have said that Noah had about 98 years to build this Ark. Seeing how he was already 500 years old what's another 98?

Next let's discuss the issue of the animals. The story tells us that two of each animal traveled to the Ark by foot. There are about 7.75 million different species of animal on Earth. This isn't counting the dinosaurs that Ken Hams creationist church (its called a museum, but it's not a museum) claims were also on the Ark. So, they are claiming that they fit 15.5 million animals in a 33,750 sq ft boat. That would mean the animals had 0.0021 ft of livable space or 459 animals per sq ft. I don't see how that's possible but hey what do I know? Now let's look at food consumption. Let's just say you needed an average of 1000 lbs of food for each animal that would be seven billion seven hundred and fifty million lbs of food alone. This isn't including water. 

Now one of the largest wooden ships ever built was the Wyoming. Built in the early 1900s it had a load carrying capacity of about 6,000,000 lbs. Just six million lbs. How could the Ark built by eight people with zero ship building experience achieve a payload capacity 1300 times more than the Wyoming? Again this isn't counting the weight of the water needed and all the animals. Another issue is the bible says that all the mountains would be underwater by a depth of 22 ft. Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth with a height of 29,029 ft above elevation. Adding 22 ft to that gives us 29,051. At this height the oxygen is at 33% of what it is at sea level. Noah and all the animals would have either frozen or suffocated to death. It just isn't possible.

Let's address how the animals arrived to the genocide barge. They are said to have walked here. To believe that you must believe that animals that are indigenous to their own countries and continents traveled across oceans (with none dying) to reach the Ark. Kangaroos had to cross the Indian Ocean to reach the Ark. Capybaras would have had to cross the Atlantic from South America to reach the Ark. This would have had to happen millions of other times. Also would have had to happen again for these animals to return to the ecosystems they came from. Ken Ham gives us an explanation for this a rather ludicrous one but an explanation all the same. He explains that the trees that were knocked down from the flood the animals used these to float back home. I am not fucking with you. Please look at the picture below. This is from his creationist museum.

The final part of this that I want you to realize is how this explains how we got here. If God killed everyone on Earth besides four men and four women then they believe that we are all descended from them. I hope you know how reproduction works. This means that Ken Ham and other creationists want us to believe that we are all products of incest. How do they explain all the different races of people if we are the descendants of eight Israelis? We would all be the same skin color. The genetic variation would be too small. Evolution by natural selection answers all these questions. We have the answer already! The religious just refuse to understand this fact because it goes against what their single book says. 

To understand evolution you must also humble yourself. The bible says that we have dominion over the other animals on Earth. Evolution teaches us the exact opposite, it teaches us that we are merely another life form on a planet with millions of others. We are no more important to this planet than a tiny floating plankton. To me this is way more gratifying than being some kind of ruler over animals. The chemicals that make me up are the same that make up the entire universe. I am not just a part of the universe it's also a part of me. This is way more grand than having a tyrannical supernatural dictator that controls every move I make. The problem with teaching our youth that this bullshit is real is that they become ignorant to the way the universe works. They are not taught truth. The reason I am able to type this on a computer online is thanks to scientists.


Jim Jeffries said it best (paraphrased)  "The Earth is like a train track and humans are the train. In the front engine room running the show are the scientists. The scientists are primarily atheists, in the second cart you have the wishy washy agnostics and then in the last cart are everyone else, the men with beards because they think they have to and hats on for no reason, women that are covered up and cowering and everyone is shouting man on a cloud, man on a cloud. This cart has so many cunts in it that we are hardly fucking moving! In the front cart the atheists and scientists are looking at this and saying, if we just pull this one peg, could you imagine how fucking fast we'd be moving!"

Please feel free to listen to the very video that made me question my religion. It is posted below.

Thanks again for reading and please feel free to post comments or questions below.

P.S. Ken Ham needed 100 million dollars, cranes, tyvex, steel, and numerous trucks and employees and guess what, it doesn't even fucking float!!!

Explanation of Luke 19:27

I am writing this today for a friend of mine. We had been discussing Luke 19:27 and he read all of Luke and wanted a little more clarification on why this verse shows that Jesus wasn't the hero Christians make him out to be, but rather just a maniacal tyrant and wannabe dictator that the god of the old testament was.

Luke 19:27 reads "But those, mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. KJV

Now, reading that alone completely justifies that Jesus surely was a close minded, unforgiving adjudicator on matters of ruling.

But one may be confused if you read the entire chapter of Luke 19. It seems that Jesus is talking about an unnamed king. This is when you have to remember Matthew 13:36-43. After numerous requests from his followers to tell them his messages in parables he begins to by telling the the parable of The Weeds.

Matthew 13:36-43
³⁶ Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷ He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

⁴⁰ “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears let them hear.

This parable isn't actually talking about seeds, weeds, and harvesters. It's an allegory. He is using this story to describe what happens to evil people and what happens to the good or righteous people. The same thing happens in Luke.

Luke 19:11-27 

11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 

12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 

13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back. 

14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, We don’t want this man to be our king. 

15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 

16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more. 

17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities. 

18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more. 

19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities. 

20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 

21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow. 

22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 

23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest? 

24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas. 

25 “‘Sir, they said, ‘he already has ten! 

26 “He replied, "I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 

27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.” 

So, what does that parable mean?

First he is talking about an unnamed man of noble birth who went to a distant country to be appointed king. Noble birth (Jesus) Went to a distant country (Nazareth to Capernaum) to become king (king of all men, son of god). He then says he calls on ten servants (followers of Jesus) to take money from him. In this parable the money is considered the gospel of the lord. So, he tells them to take the money (gospel) to work (spreading the word) until he returns (end of days). He says that his subjects hated him (Jews, non believers) but he was made king anyway (crucified and rose from the dead to heaven). Then he speaks of when he returns (end of days) that he calls upon his servants to see what they had done with their money (gospel). Some of them had done very well while others did not trust him and did not invest (spread) his word. This is where that very terrible verse of slaying anyone who would not have the unnamed king (Jesus) reign over them comes into play. 

Now, let me show you what he was actually saying.

"I had a noble birth and had to travel to a distant country to gain my birthright as king. I then called upon ten of my followers to spread the word of the lord. I wanted them to spread the word to as many as they could until I returned to claim them at the end of time. At first there were many among them that did not believe I was their king and should not rule over them. I then returned to find out how many people my followers spread the word to. I was very pleased with most of them. There was still the non believers. I will not tolerate this and demand them to be brought before me and killed at my feet. 

That is roughly what is actually being said. The character of Jesus is made out to be this ultimate liberal loving person. Yet, there are man verses in the new testament that contradict this very sentiment. 

Matthew 5:17-19, 8:12, 8:21-22, 8:32,

5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. So, all the terrible commandments of the lord from the Old Testament are to be fulfilled not cast aside? Slavery, child torture and murder, rape, incest, homophobia, misogyny, banning of shellfish and pork, genocide and many other terrible things are apparently to be fulfilled by Jesus not abolished. 

8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So, the Jewish kids should be cast out into the darkness, where they will cry and grind their teeth? How is that moral? All because these children are taught a different fairy tale?

8:21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. The guy couldn't even go bury his father? How cruel is that? How caring is that?

8:32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. Casting devils into a herd of pigs, making them run into a sea to their death from fear is moral and just?

These were just a few from Matthew alone. There are numerous more. I may elaborate more on this topic (maybe in a book). I just wanted to show why Luke 19:27 was such a bad verse and how it is Jesus referring to himself and not some unnamed king. Thanks for reading and post any questions below.

Facing our own mortality

Hello all, I am writing to you tonight about a serious topic that many people face when they lose their faith and develop an open, skeptical, rational mind. One that I faced myself when my mind was awakened. Our own mortality and life. Is there a reason to it? Do we have a purpose? This was sent to me yesterday by a fellow atheist and I was asked to respond.

"I can't process. I can't make sense of it. I just wonder why. Why are we able to partake in such magnificent, immense, grandeur thought processes; just to have it all wiped clean? Why do we bond? Why does our subconscious want our species to procreate; just to feel loss and end up torturing one another? Why don't we all just stop having babies and end the viscous cycle? Death leaves me feeling uncomfortable. Not because I'm scared of there being a hell; but the thought of being nothing, feeling nothing, thinking nothing...is unbelievably terrifying to me. How can everything just vanish in an instant? I'm overwhelmed."

This is a real issue that all of us face. Whether religious or not we all deal with our own mortality. After all we are mortal beings that have an expiration date we just happen to not know when. The differences between a theist and atheist answers are vastly different. A theist tells you that this isn't it, that there is more after we die. They will tell you this with an enthusiastic, gleeful cheer in their voice. I have no doubt that they truly believe this with all their heart. The problem with this explanation is they do not actually know. There are 4200 different religions being practiced today. All with their own versions of an afterlife. You have utopias in some, others state you spend eternity doing battle to earn your seat at the feasting table. There ares some that state you will get your own planet when you die, a few say that we are reincarnated into another living creature and the species of that creature depends on how you live your life. Some even combine a heaven and reincarnation, where you spend time in a utopia reflecting on the events of your life then you are reincarnated into another creature. There is even an afterlife where you must spend years upon years going through trials and tests to achieve utopia.

With so many different versions of an afterlife how do we know which one is correct? How do we prove which is real when the very ability to confirm it is to cease to live life as we know it. We cannot plain and simple. We cannot know which is correct and which ones are false. Are they all correct? Are they all false? We just cannot answer that question. Some Christians will claim that they have died, seen Jesus and then they came back to life. The issue with this is that this same thing happens to Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Norsemen, Greeks, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and the list goes on and on. So, we have to go back to the original question. How do we know which is right?

This is where Science comes into play. Science is our way to understand reality, ourselves, the Cosmos and everything in it. The great Carl Sagan once said

“The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us, there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.” Why does he say that the Cosmos is all that is, was, or ever will be? Because that's what we know. We know how time and space started, what we don't know is what happened before time began or what happens after it stops. But to say you don't know isn't admitting that it is unknowable but rather we are just being intellectually honest. I admit that an atheist cannot give you a comforting feeling by explaining to you the reality of life. But they won't lie to you. They won't lie right to your face just to make you feel better. A theist will lie to you, they will lie and smile while they are doing it. They may even want money to lie to you. This is one of the issues I have (among many) is the utter lies they will tell you to serve their own agenda.

Now back to the universe. There is no evidence to show what happened before or after. There are a few theories of what happened before the big bang happened like the multiverse theory which I personally think is the most logical explanation. We once thought that our planet was the center of the universe. That we were the only planet. Well then we discovered the other planets in our solar system. So, we thought surely we are the only solar system and have the only sun. Nope, we discovered there are millions of solar systems in our own galaxy with billions of stars. Then we believed that surely we are the only galaxy...wrong again there are billions of galaxies in our observable universe. Well, surely we are the only universe. Why? Why should we believe that nature creates anything in ones? The Cosmos has proven to us that the evidence vehemently points to the contrary. Our universe may be just one droplet of water in an ocean of universes.

(Below is a conversation between Joe Rogan and Neil Degrasse Tyson about the multiverse)

Now, think about that for one second. There could be billions of universes with billions of galaxies and trillions of planets of their own. How could we possibly say that we know for sure what happens after we die. How could we be so arrogant while also being so naive at the same time? This is one of the biggest mysteries in our existence.

To answer the question as to why we exist. I, nor anyone else knows. You, I and everyone else are merely a product of reproduction. I look at it like this. I am very thankful that I was one of the lucky ones that got to exist. How many eggs and seeds never became a living organism? How lucky are we that we get to be those very select few? Then you wonder why? Why me? Why was I chosen? You weren't, you were not "chosen" by anyone but rather the natural process of reproduction. Religion again will tell you that you were chosen. That you are special and important to some deity. Why would a deity allow you to be born into a home that is somehow capable enough that you survive to adulthood yet 15-20 percent of all pregnancies are miscarried in the U.S. alone. Is that the deity just playing tricks on us? Is he/she evil? Or are the miscarriages merely a sad product of reproduction? The answer is yes they are. Statistically speaking for every eight fetuses that make it to term there are two that do not. This is a tragic reality of nature. We should feel lucky that by the tiniest stroke of luck we are the ones that made it.

Reproduction is hard wired into our brains. The very survival of any species is predicated on its ability to survive. That is how evolution works. Survive long enough to pass your genes along. I wouldn't say that we are merely torturing ourselves by reproducing knowing that all we will do is die. There is no need to focus solely on death when the one life we get is so worth living. To answer the question of why we bond, this is another hard wired instinct that our ancestors needed to survive. We had to live in groups to survive. Just like our ape cousins live in large groups we do as well. These are leftover instincts that we no longer necessarily need to survive but we still do it subconsciously. We all have friends and family that we keep close. No one likes to be alone. This isn't by accident, we had to have this feeling or there is a huge possibility we would not be here today.

Being worried about there being nothing is a reasonable feeling. I often hate knowing that I won't be here in 200 years when major technological advances are made and amazing discoveries happen. This is a scary, saddening thought. But then I remember again that I am here now. I was one of the few. Ask yourself this, do you remember what it was like before you were born? That is the same thing that happens after you die. We should make the best of the life we were lucky enough to have and not worry about getting another one. I often think about the vastness of the universe. Sometimes my primate brain simply cannot wrap itself around it. Its so huge!! There is so much out there, waiting to be discovered, waiting to be known! We have a way to be immortal. Do something that transcends the limits of our mortality. Authors, scientists, discoverers, inventors, people that made a difference in one way or another. We still speak of Shakespeare, Newton, Galileo, Einstein, Tesla, Hitchens, Darwin, Epicurus, Alexander the Great, and many others. We must live on through our kids. Be something special to them at the very least. In closing I will leave you with a short excerpt from a speech given by Sam Harris. Please watch it, it is strikingly beautiful to listen to. I wish you all the best and remember life is what we make of it. You are living your own movie. Do you want your life to be a straight to DVD or a huge blockbuster? The choice is yours...choose wisely.

Misconceptions about evolution

Hello everybody. Figured I needed to write a new blog because I see misconceptions about evolution on a daily basis. Sometimes it's due to a lack of understanding about it, religious indoctrination teaching people that it didn't happen or plain willful ignorance which drives me absolutely crazy. Anyone that would rather be willfully stupid is beyond me. Let us start with the most common misconception.




1."If we evolved from monkeys why are there still monkeys?"

This is probably the most commonly spoken misconception about human evolution. We did not evolve from monkeys. We share a common ancestor with them.This means that at some point in the distant past we split off and went our separate ways. Let's take a look below.

This is a chart showing when we split from our great ape cousins. As you can see we shared a common ancestor not evolved from each other. They are our cousins not our ancestors.

Our family tree is very vast, whether you follow that line for Geckos, Giraffes, Parrots or Dolphins. If you go back far enough you will find common ancestors for every living thing on this planet that has ever existed. 

The second one is merely a basic lack of understanding.

2. "Evolution is just a theory"

Yes, at face value evolution by natural selection is classified as a theory. The issue with this statement is not knowing what a theory really is. A theory is a well substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation. As a result, and inherent in its nature, a theory can be modified, tweaked, or even discarded when new evidence or results come along. In the case of the theory of evolution by natural selection, all of the evidence collected and tested over the past 150 years have supported its validity. 

There are no beliefs in science, no presuppositions or wishful thinking. Merely data. Empirical data gathered through numerous experiments and observations. There are a few other theories that I bet you have no issues with. Such as the theory of gravity, plate tectonics, germ, general relativity and special relativity. All are just theories but I hear no one saying earthquakes do not happen and that if they jumped off a building they would go up!

3. The eye is too complex to have evolved

People usually quote Darwin here when he said that the evolution of the eye seems "absurd in the highest degree". However, Darwin follows that statement with a three and a half page proposal of intermediate stages through which eyes might have evolved via gradual steps. Below is the list of steps the eye evolved through.

• photosensitive cell
  
• aggregates of pigment cells without a nerve
• an optic nerve surrounded by pigment cells and covered by translucent skin
• pigment cells forming a small depression
• pigment cells forming a deeper depression
• the skin over the depression taking a lens shape
• muscles allowing the lens to adjust

All of these steps are known to be viable because they exist in animals living today. The increments between these steps are slight and may be broken down into even smaller increments. Natural selection should, under many circumstances, favor the increments. Since eyes do not fossilize well, we do not know that the development of the eye followed exactly that path, but we certainly cannot claim that no path exists. Therefore we can see how the eye became complex.

4. The second law of thermodynamics says that everything tends toward disorder, making evolutionary development impossible

The second law of thermodynamics doesn't state that at all. It says that heat will not spontaneously flow from a colder body to a warmer one or that total entropy (a measure of useful energy) in a closed system will not decrease. This does not prevent increasing order because the earth is not a closed system; sunlight (with low entropy) shines on it and heat (with higher entropy) radiates off. This flow of energy, and the change in entropy that accompanies it, can and will power local decreases in entropy on earth. Entropy is not the same as disorder. Sometimes the two correspond, but sometimes order increases as entropy increases. Entropy can even be used to produce order, such as in the sorting of molecules by size. Even in a closed system, pockets of lower entropy can form if they are offset by increased entropy elsewhere in the system. In short, order from disorder happens on earth all the time. 

The only processes necessary for evolution to occur are reproduction, heritable variation, and selection. All of these are seen to happen all the time, so, obviously, no physical laws are preventing them. In fact, connections between evolution and entropy have been studied in depth, and never to the detriment of evolution.

Several scientists have proposed that evolution and the origin of life is driven by entropy. Some see the information content of organisms subject to diversification according to the second law. So organisms diversify to fill empty niches much as a gas expands to fill an empty container. Others propose that highly ordered complex systems emerge and evolve to dissipate energy (and increase overall entropy) more efficiently.

5. "There should be millions of transitional fossils"

You have to understand a few things about fossilization. Fossilization is not a very common event. It requires numerous factors in order to happen. First it requires conditions that preserve the fossil before it can be scavenged  or decays. These conditions only happen in a few habitats, such as river deltas, tar pits and peat bogs. Anything that has died outside these areas rarely fossilize. Many animals do not preserve well. Evolution of new species is fairly quick in geology terms so transitions will be uncommon. 

Other processes destroy fossils like erosion destroy millions of years of the geological record. Heat and pressure destroy fossils when they are buried deep underground. Even as rare as fossils are to find them is even more rare for the most part we find fossils when erosion exposes them or a job site digs one up. My paleontologist buddy Trevor Valle knows that all too well. There are also shortages in the people that dig for fossils. It can take up to a decade of work on one site! Also, only Europe and North America have been vastly searched for fossils thanks to the lack of paleontologists and political reasons. There are however plenty of transitional fossils that we have found. Such as Tiktaalik, Ichthyostega, Darwinopterus, Archaeopteryx, Dimetrodon, and then to our own evolution we have found Apidium, Aegyptopithecus, Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, and Homo Rhodesiensis. The fossil record clearly shows evolution by natural selection.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask and I will gladly answer them! I hope you enjoy the read and learn a little more to help you understand your actual origins in this life.

"Homosexuality in nature."

This blog isn't about a question someone asked me but rather a question millions of people ask everyday. "Why does someone have the right to tell me who I wanna spend the rest of my life with" When it comes to homosexuality in nature we see it everywhere. We have discovered that over 85% of the animal kingdom display homosexual tendencies. By the law of averages if you go to a dog park every eighth dog has homosexual tendencies. Should we put those dogs down? Or tell them they must be alone forever? They are not allowed to experience the love and nuture that comes from companionship and family? There are animals that form life long relationships with same sex partners. Not just homo sapiens. These are some examples of homosexuality in nature besides humans. Please don't just skip this part I really want you to learn this when some Christian nut tries to tell you it's a choice and not natural.

Black Swans- An estimated one-quarter of all black swans pairings are of homosexual males. They steal nests, or form temporary threesomes with females to obtain eggs, driving away the female after she lays the eggs. More of their cygnets survive to adulthood than those of different-sex pairs, possibly due to their superior ability to defend large portions of land. The same reasoning has been applied to male flamingo pairs raising chicks.

Gulls- Studies have shown that 10 to 15 percent of female western gulls in some populations in the wild exhibit homosexual behavior.

Mallard Ducks- Mallards form male-female pairs only until the female lays eggs, at which time the male leaves the female. Mallards have rates of male-male sexual activity that are unusually high for birds, in some cases, as high as 19% of all pairs in a population.

Penguins- Penguins have been observed to engage in homosexual behaviour since at least as early as 1911. Zoos in America, Japan and Germany have also documented homosexual male penguin couples. The couples have been shown to build nests together and use a stone as a substitute for an egg. Researchers at Rikkyo University in Tokyo found 20 homosexual pairs at 16 major aquariums and zoos in Japan.

Dolphins- Dolphins of several species engage in homosexual acts, though it is best studied in the bottlenose dolphins. Sexual encounters between females take the shape of "beak-genital propulsion", where one female inserts her beak in the genital opening of the other while swimming gently forward. Between males, homosexual behaviour includes rubbing of genitals against each other, which sometimes leads to the males swimming belly to belly, inserting the penis in the others genital slit and sometimes anus. Janet Mann, Georgetown University professor of biology and psychology, argues that the strong personal behavior among male dolphin calves is about bond formation and benefits the species in an evolutionary context. She cites studies showing that these dolphins later in life as adults are in a sense bisexual, and the male bonds forged earlier in life work together for protection as well as locating females to reproduce with. Confrontations between flocks of bottlenose dolphins and the related species Atlantic spotted dolphin will sometimes lead to cross-species homosexual behaviour between the males rather than combat. The Amazon river dolphin or boto has been reported to form up in bands of 3–5 individuals enjoying group sex. The groups usually comprise young males and sometimes one or two females. Sex is often performed in non-reproductive ways, using snout, flippers and genital rubbing, without regard to gender.In captivity, they have been observed to sometimes perform homosexual and heterosexual penetration of the blowhole, a hole homologous with the nostril of other mammals, making this the only known example of nasal sex in the animal kingdom. The males will sometimes also perform sex with males from the tucuxi species, a type of small porpoise.

Bison-Courtship, mounting, and full anal penetration between bulls has been noted to occur among American bison. The Mandan nation Okipa festival concludes with a ceremonial enactment of this behavior, to "ensure the return of the buffalo in the coming season. Also, mounting of one female by another (known as "bulling") is extremely common among cattle. The behaviour is hormone driven and synchronizes with the emergence of estrus (heat), particularly in the presence of a bull.

Bonobos-Bonobos which have a matriarchal society, unusual among apes, are a fully bisexual species—both males and females engage in heterosexual and homosexual behavior, being noted for female-female homosexuality in particular. Roughly 60% of all bonobo sexual activity occurs between two or more females. While the homosexual bonding system in bonobos represents the highest frequency of homosexuality known in any species, homosexuality has been reported for all great apes (a group which includes humans), as well as a number of other primate species. We are related to Bonobos and Chimpanzees the most sharing over 98.5% percent of our DNA with them. Dutch primatologist Frans de Waal on observing and filming bonobos noted that there were two reasons to believe sexual activity is the bonobo's answer to avoiding conflict. Anything that arouses the interest of more than one bonobo at a time, not just food, tends to result in sexual contact. If two bonobos approach a cardboard box thrown into their enclosure, they will briefly mount each other before playing with the box. Such situations lead to squabbles in most other species. But bonobos are quite tolerant, perhaps because they use sex to divert attention and to defuse tension. Bonobo sex often occurs in aggressive contexts totally unrelated to food. A jealous male might chase another away from a female, after which the two males reunite and engage in scrotal rubbing. Or after a female hits a juvenile, the latter's mother may lunge at the aggressor, an action that is immediately followed by genital rubbing between the two adults.

Japanese macaque-also known as the "snow monkey", same-sex relations are frequent, though rates vary between troops. Females will form "consortships" characterized by affectionate social and sexual activities. In some troops up to one quarter of the females form such bonds, which vary in duration from a few days to a few weeks. Often, strong and lasting friendships result from such pairings. Males also have same-sex relations, typically with multiple partners of the same age. Affectionate and playful activities are associated with such relations.

Lions-Both male and female lions have been seen to interact homosexually. Male lions pair-bond for a number of days and initiate homosexual activity with affectionate nuzzling and caressing, leading to mounting and thrusting. About 8% of mountings have been observed to occur with other males. Pairings between females are held to be fairly common in captivity but have not been observed in the wild.

Hyenas-The family structure of the spotted hyena is matriarchal, and dominance relationships with strong sexual elements are routinely observed between related females. Due largely to the female spotted hyena's unique urogenital system, which looks more like a penis rather than a vagina, early naturalists thought hyenas were hermaphroditic males who commonly practiced homosexuality. Early writings such as Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Physiologus suggested that the hyena continually changed its sex and nature from male to female and back again. In Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria noted that the hyena (along with the hare) was "quite obsessed with sexual intercourse." Many Europeans associated the hyena with sexual deformity, prostitution, deviant sexual behavior, and even witchcraft. The reality behind the confusing reports is the sexually aggressive behavior between the females, including mounting between females. Research has shown that "in contrast to most other female mammals, female Crocuta are male-like in appearance, larger than males, and substantially more aggressive,"and they have "been masculinized without being defeminized.” Study of this unique genitalia and aggressive behavior in the female hyena has led to the understanding that more aggressive females are better able to compete for resources, including food and mating partners. Research has shown that "elevated levels of testosterone in utero" contribute to extra aggressiveness; both males and females mount members of both the same and opposite sex, who in turn are possibly acting more submissive because of lower levels of testosterone in utero.

Sheeps and Rams- Sheeps and Rams have attracted much attention due to the fact that some rams seem to have an exclusive homosexual orientation. An October 2003 study by Dr. Charles E. Roselli et al. (Oregon Health and Science University) states that homosexuality in male sheep (found in 8% of rams) is associated with a region in the rams' brains which the authors call the "ovine Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus" (oSDN) which is half the size of the corresponding region in heterosexual male sheep. Scientists found that, "The oSDN in rams that preferred females was significantly larger and contained more neurons than in male-oriented rams and ewes. In addition, the oSDN of the female-oriented rams expressed higher levels of aromatase, a substance that converts testosterone to estradiol, a form of estrogen which is believed to facilitate typical male sexual behaviors. Aromatase expression was no different between male-oriented rams and ewes."
"The dense cluster of neurons that comprise the oSDN express cytochrome P450 aromatase. Aromatase mRNA levels in the oSDN were significantly greater in female-oriented rams than in ewes, whereas male-oriented rams exhibited intermediate levels of expression." These results suggest that "...naturally occurring variations in sexual partner preferences may be related to differences in brain anatomy and its capacity for estrogen synthesis."As noted before, given the potential unagressiveness of the male population in question, the differing aromatase levels may also have been evidence of aggression levels, not sexuality. It should also be noted that the results of this study have not been confirmed by other studies. The Merck Manual of Veterinary Medicine appears to consider homosexuality among sheep as a routine occurrence and an issue to be dealt with as a problem of animal husbandry.

Giraffes-Male giraffes have been observed to engage in remarkably high frequencies of homosexual behavior. After aggressive "necking", it is common for two male giraffes to caress and court each other, leading up to mounting and climax. Such interactions between males have been found to be more frequent than heterosexual coupling. In one study, up to 94% of observed mounting incidents took place between two males. The proportion of same sex activities varied between 30 and 75%, and at any given time one in twenty males were engaged in non-combative necking behavior with another male. Only 1% of same-sex mounting incidents occurred between females.

Elephants- African and Asian elephant  males will engage in same-sex bonding and mounting. Such encounters are often associated with affectionate interactions, such as kissing, trunk intertwining, and placing trunks in each other's mouths. Male elephants, who often live apart from the general herd, often form "companionships", consisting of an older individual and one or sometimes two younger males with sexual behavior being an important part of the social dynamic. Unlike heterosexual relations, which are always of a fleeting nature, the relationships between males may last for years. The encounters are analogous to heterosexual bouts, one male often extending his trunk along the other's back and pushing forward with his tusks to signify his intention to mount. Same-sex relations are common and frequent in both sexes, with Asiatic elephants in captivity devoting roughly 45% of sexual encounters to same-sex activity.

Whiptail lizards- Whiptail Lizard females have the ability to reproduce through parthenogenesis and as such males are rare and sexual breeding non-standard. Females engage in sexual behavior to stimulate ovulation, with their behavior following their hormonal cycles; during low levels of estrogen, these (female) lizards engage in "masculine" sexual roles. Those animals with currently high estrogen levels assume "feminine" sexual roles. Lizards that perform the courtship ritual have greater fertility than those kept in isolation due to an increase in hormones triggered by the sexual behaviors. So, even though asexual whiptail lizards populations lack males, sexual stimuli still increase reproductive success. From an evolutionary standpoint, these females are passing their full genetic code to all of their offspring (rather than the 50% of genes that would be passed in sexual reproduction). Certain species of gecko also reproduce by parthenogenesis.

Insects and Arachnids- There is evidence of homosexual behavior in at least 110 species of insects and arachnids. Homosexual behavior in insects has been a matter of significant debate among scientists. Though various theories have been proposed, the leading explanation for why males, in some species up to 85%, engage in homosexuality is simply a case of mistaken identity. The cost of missing an opportunity to copulate with a female is greater than the risk of engaging in sexual activity with an insect or spider of the same sex.

This is an amazing amount of evidence that shows the naturalness of homosexuality in nature. Humans are no different. We are apes, whether you wanna agree or not in inconsequential. Facts are facts and they couldn't care less for your beliefs or presuppositions. We are a part of nature period. We may be the most intelligent species on this small rock we call a planet but that doesn't mean we aren't part of the animal kingdom.

When religious people want to assert that homosexuality is immoral and unnatural they are not only being a bigot but are vastly uneducated on the subject. Christians (yes I know all religions are against homosexuality but Christianity is what I deal with daily) try and state their bible as their reasons for believing that homosexuality is wrong and they shouldn't be allowed to get married. This uneducated issue rears it's ignorant head again here. Less that 20% of Christians have read their bibles, and 15% of those are preachers or some form of indoctrination instructors.

So, on average only 10% of Christians have actually read the book they profess to be so sacred and true. They want to say people cannot get married because the bible says so in Leviticus 20:13-"If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

Also in Leviticus 18:22-"Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable."

They want to use these as justification in their bigotry. They use these as the reason they don't think homosexuals should be married. It's pure hypocrisy and Ill show you why. They never want to follow their book like it says they should but rather how they want to. They cherry pick that book to fit their own mental deficiencies and bigoted feelings. If you want to protest gay marriage why not protest Joe's Crab Shack or Red Lobster? Why not boycott and have marches against Smokey Bones and Texas roadhouse for their pork BBQ?

It says so right there in Leviticus 11:2-20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Say to the Israelites: "Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat. You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them.

The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales.

But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you."

Leviticus 11:44-45 puts a stamp on any questions in case you were skeptical "I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy." Clearly you shouldn't eat these animals. So, why do you not only eat them but promote others to? You're willfully going against the words of your psychopathic leader. Want some others?

Leviticus 19:27 "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." So, by that one you need to boycott Great Clips and other hair salons.

Leviticus 19:35-36 "Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt." How many Christian women have ever lied about their weight? And even if you seen or heard someone lying about their height or weight if you do not report them your disobeying your lord.

Leviticus 5:1 "If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible."

Leviticus 19:28 "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord." How many Christians have tattoos? Hell, how many have RELIGIOUS tattoos??? How hypocritical is that?!?!

Leviticus 19:19 "Keep my decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material." Any Christians have gardens? Are your seeds completely separate or do you have tomatoes next to cucumbers? Do you always make sure you wear one type of clothing? Are your shoes 100% cotton? If not you're just as guilty as a homosexual.

Leviticus 10:6 "Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become unkempt and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the Israelites, may mourn for those the Lord has destroyed by fire." Ok, didn't 19:27 forbid haircuts but this one says you should? The bible has thousands and yes I mean thousands of contradictions but that's a topic for another blog. Do any of your clothes have a tear? Have you worn them? If so...Heretic!!

Leviticus 25:23 "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers." Ever sold your land? A home? If so, get ready for Hell!

Leviticus 19:32 "Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord." Do you stand up every single time an elderly person comes near you? If not, you better be buried in flip flops and thongs because it's gonna be hot where you're headed.

Leviticus 19:23 "When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden.For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten." Did you ask Kroger how old the tree that bore the apples was? If not and it was less that four years old you're doomed.

Leviticus 21 17-23 "Whosoever … hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookback, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken … He shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries." So, you believe that your god makes every person on Earth, you mean to tell me not only does he create people with disabilities and disfigurements but then punishes them for eternity after death? What kind of sick monster do you worship!?

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die." Have your kids ever spoken back or gotten an attitude with you? Did you take them to the edge of town and allow them to be killed by elders? You're an abomination to your lord if not.

Leviticus 15: 19-20 "When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean." Did your husband or children or anyone sit on your couch while you're on your period? If so, you're a hypocrite.

Just one more part, this one isn't laws but more of one of the most immoral parts of this barbaric, idiotic book. Slavery. The bible condones SLAVERY. Christians in this country used these very verses to justify the enslavement of Africans. How anyone can say this book is the best guideline on how to live your lives is preposterous and should be locked in a psychiatric ward for mental help.

Leviticus 25:44-46 "You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way."

Ephesians 6:5 "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ."

Leviticus 19:20 "If a man sleeps with a female slave who is promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment.Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed."

Please read those a few times. Find the moral right in that. Please tell me how a Christian should have any right whatsoever to tell anyone how to live their lives? Everytime they have been able to people have been absolutely fucking miserable.

The only and I mean only way to live your life is how you fucking want to. As long as you are not hurting, oppressing, or damaging anyone else's lives in any way, no one should be able to get in the way of your happiness. If you truly care for your fellow humans, get out of their way. Promote equality for everyone. Guess what when people are truly happy in their lives others around them are happier even if it's ever so slightly. If your beliefs are not based in reality you have no business making laws that are governed and enforced in reality.

Religion is the most poisonous idea that humans have ever come up with. It does nothing but divide households, communities, friends, towns, states, and countries. It teaches kids to hate others simply because they are different. It teaches kids to be ignorant to the facts about the real world and the way it works.

Yes I said it teaches kids to be ignorant, I didn't mention adults because I am sorry if you're a grown adult and still think people can walk on water, raise from the dead, snakes and donkeys can talk, the earth is six to ten thousand years old, two of every species of animal fit on one boat that a six hundred year old man built, all humans descended from two white people in a garden, that people can march in a desert for forty years and no one dies or questions the guy to where the fuck he is going, or last but not least homosexuals shouldn't be able to have the freedom to love and live as you do then you're not ignorant you're willfully stupid. You're an utter moron.

The worst part is you're proud to be considered stupid. You're proud to say you believe magic is real. Hopefully the United States Supreme Court makes it unconstitutional to prevent homosexuals from being able to get married and show why secular morality will always trump the religious right. Thanks for reading! Please feel free to share with everyone. Help me get this out there to others.