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CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE TOP 1000! I suppose some of these could be offensive to the deeply religious. Please do not read if that is you.

You might think from reading some of this that I'm hateful of religion. Actually, I'm not: I really believe that for most people, and for society as a whole, religious belief is probably a good thing. I don't think it's a necessary element of a stable society, but I do believe that it is generally beneficial. On the other hand, there are some dark sides to it, and there is a large amount of the utterly ridiculous, and it is those aspects that I poke at herein.

If the religious could just always keep in mind that, no matter how certain they are of their beliefs, those beliefs are not fact, and should never be the basis for any decision that affects other people, then we'd get along just fine. Is that too much to ask?

I hate getting into this stuff because people start thinking that their beliefs are being disrespected. In a way, that's true: while I absolutely defend the right for people to have religious beliefs, I can't respect the actual belief. Kind of like their stupid "hate the sin, love the sinner", I respect the right to HAVE religious belief, but still think you have to be a moron to swallow it. That doesn't mean you are a total fool: you could be brilliant in every other ability, but if you have thought about religion and still think it is true, you are hopelessly stupid at least in that one area.

Religion can be horrible - the Middle East is a great example.. But we have some pretty bad stuff here in the Christian religion too: people every bit as crazed who may not be decapitating hostages but who would like to take over the U.S.A. and turn it into a religious state. On the other hand, we have Christians, Moslems, Jews etc. who do wonderful and selfless acts that really benefit all of us. I hope that these things at least balance out.

The problem I have with religion is that it is a dead end: once you say "god did it" there's no point in asking any more questions: choose your prophet and do what they say the god wants. Science, though it can be hindered by people who cling too long to what they want to be true, at least has questioning at its base: there are no absolute truths, and any theory is subject to re-examination as we go forward.


[Evil Atheist Conspiracy]

Comments

Some of my favorite books

Religion related:
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The Fantome Scientists
    The Fantome Scientists, The Shiny Ones, Solving Tomorrow's Problems with Yesterday's Religious Thought, Someday. Fantome not only died for your sins, but she gave up her place in Heaven for you (or somebody). Gawd loves the faithful, but He loves the faithless more, for the faithless require no Heavenly Real Estate.
The Trinity Explained
    Gawd is Omni-everything and Very Shiny. Gawd is the Creator, He who gave life to us all. Gawd is vengeful, petty, jealous, ignorant, vain, nasty, cruel and hateful. However, He is so full of boundless Love and Forgiveness that none of that matters as long as you spend your entire life worshipping Him.
The IPU Lives!
    May the Invisible Pink Unicorn defecate upon your shoes, for it is written that only then may you enter the Kingdom of Heaven and ride the Holy Camel Beasts throughout all eternity.
Instruction Page
    Not intended for use on advanced, civilized populations. This material is specifically designed for back-water, primitive cultures who exhibit dangerous agressive tendencies or general sub-standard intelligence.
Squatting for Jeezus
    Anyway, a while back we all discovered our shared belief in Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, so we started doing these little half hour prayer sessions after our workout. You know, Jesus is the buffest dude of all, and any time is a good time for prayer, and we all just thought it was a Cool Thing to do.
The Great Trolls
    I do observe many of the ancient rituals. When crossing a bridge on foot, I do pinch my nose shut, cup my groin, and close my eyes. I do this more out of respect for our shared beliefs than from any fear that I will offend a Troll sleeping below...
The Warden Part 1
    It was a warm August afternoon in Usenet Forest. The Electronic Sun tickled the virtual leaves of the virtual trees, a virtual breeze whispered happy electronic thoughts, and the Warden and the Weasel were lolling about in a clearing, happily engaged in a game of checkers...
The Warden Part 2
    "I seek Tony, not you" intoned Warden, quite pompously. "However, I have some Words to spare for you as well". And with that he reached into his pouch and withdrew a half dozen finely polished Morons and strew them at Bill's feet...
The Ten Commandments
    The Man's hands were shaking and his tongue could not work. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. Finally, eyes winced against the inexorable results, he spoke: "We are to have no other gods before Him." He closed his eyes and waited for the Fiery Breath to consume him...
The Spam Project
    Universal Truths do not come among us often, and almost never combined with the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a PROVEN multi-level marketing plan that is 100% legal in many of the countries this post will reach.
The Book of Spam
    In the beginning, there was Spam. No Light, no Dark, only Pinkness and Spam...
The Book of Spam II
    Then Mo-hab was very old, and his staff would not rise and his seed would not flow and he was weary. Beth-she-dah came to him and made to lay with him, but he would not. And Beth-she-dah came again to lay with him, but he would not. Each night for forty nights, and each morning for forty mornings, Beth-she-dah came to lay with Mo-hab but his staff would not rise.
The Book of Spam III
    And Paul warned them of the locusts and the floods, and other dire consequences, but the Balthazites said to Paul that they had survived locusts, and had survived floods, and did not need an Invisible Pal.
The Book of Spam IV
    And Eleanor told them that she was not a virgin, and had lied to Paul. And the people made to stone her, but Paul bade them stop, and said that Invisible Pal was speaking unto him even now, and Paul closed his eyes so that he could hear Invisible Pal the better.
The Battle of Usenet Forest
    And from the North was approaching the most awful sight to behold: a fully equipped Pascal's Wager, spewing Death and Destruction from above upon the hapless atheists in its path...
Adam
    Anyway, Adam now was congratulating himself on all the splendid political moves he had made, killing that one, and making friends with the other one, and setting these two on each other's throats, and he was telling God all about it...
Reply to Clarence
    So here's what you do, Clarence. First, there will be some who will hear your message. Gather those close to you, and seek others. You'll need a place to bring everyone together in God's Love; fortunately real estate prices are pretty depressed right now (God puts opportunity in your path, Clarence, it's up to you to see it!) so you should be able to purchase good amounts of space for cheap money...
Spaghetti on the Plate
    In the Beginning, there was the Void. Inexplicably enough, there was also God. How this came to be is best left for another time, when you are in a mental state more conducive to the imparting of such information...
Pascal's Wager Revisited
    Anyhow, straight off I asked him if he was saved. I figured I knew the answer already, and sure enough, the geek is an atheist. I almost puked...
The Deal
    "So I have to die for their sins?", he asked for what must have been the fiftieth time. God was still patient, though. "Yes, that's the plan. Again, you don't have to do this. There are other plans, other methods, but..".
The God Soaker
    Historically, Holy water has been difficult and expensive to obtain. The light sprinkling attained in the average church visit is hardly sufficient to obtain real health benefits. Unfortunately, to guarantee a reasonable supply, one would have to study for years and actually become a priest...
Catch 22
    In the Gentlemen's Agreement, Gawd stipulated that he had in fact deliberately set up what is now called a Catch-22. By designing us to be highly sexual, and yet at the same time treating matters of sexuality as sin, the Product (that's how the GA refers to us) finds itself between a rock and a Hard Place...
The Nit
    A new creature has recently appeared in Usenet Forest. It's scientific name is believed to be Clueless Twit Huffmanus, but commonly it as known as the Nit...
Wise Alex
    Imagine Alex (not Wise Alex yet, but close, oh so close) amusing himself with the ancient question "Is There God?". As an ordinary person, not blessed with the holy fire, he probably said "I don't know"...
Nudist related:
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The Awning
    I have a fatalistic attitude toward trailer awnings. I have seen too many distorted frames, too many ripped and tattered remnants flapping in the breeze to believe that the gods are in favor of the deployment of these sun screening devices...
Moving a Deck
    There was a minor obstacle: a 30 foot Holiday Rambler that, although its owners had moved on, still sat rather solidly in the site of Rob and June's Ideal Spot...
Men at Work
    Whenever there is something to be built, men strap on tool belts and demonstrate their innate engineering ability. Power tools are brought out for admiration by other men, tape measures are bandied about, and sometimes there is even spitting...
Bill's Diary
    Did I say nice??? Boy, did I have the wool pulled over my eyes! After taking a few pictures (in which I was just *incredibly* cute), these s.o.b's stuffed me back in my travel bag UPSIDE DOWN with my poor nose jammed into my journal...
No Sex at the Beach
    Our bedroom is not large, but there is ample room for three adults to stand at the foot of our bed. We have tentatively set the price for this position at $28.00 per adult...
Who's a Pedo?
    This is a fun game for three or more players. The rules are simple: using snippets of conversation, guilt by association, misdirection, or even out right lies, each player attempts to prove that another player is a Pedophile!..
Whipped Cream
    We immediately ran to the club management and brought them forthwith to the scene of the incident. Well, it did no good whatsoever. The children were completely clean, there was no whipped cream in site, and the garden hose was innocently coiled as though it had never been used for anything but its legal purpose...
Girl With A Shovel
    Their daughter was busily engaged in digging a trench that had started at her mother's head, came around Dad, and was now proceeding down in front of him...
The Bull
    The restrooms are now in sight, a few dozen steps away. Coming out from the shelter of the cabins into the more open space I must pass, I suddenly find myself face to face with another living creature who has also risen early: the bull from the neighboring farm...
Playalinda Poster Boy
    Linda was dubious. I really think that she likes to scrub, that there is a personal satisfaction she obtains from directly attacking the offensive dirt and mildew.
Misc.
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Trouble with Modems
    The bane of my life is RS-232 communication. This one area has caused more wringing of hands and tearing of hair than anything else...
A Day in the Office
    "Hi there, Tony, this is Bruce Wondersell from Big Sell Distributors. I understand you are pretty active in the Unix market."..
Congratulations
    I meant confirmation. Or maybe it was concordance. Catastrophe? No, that couldn't be it. Ooh, ooh, I know! She's finally going to be coordinated! You must be so happy! ..


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