Thought Sparkk

I'm really struggling to understand the mindset of "COVID-19 isn't really that bad.  Other pandemics were way worse."  And quite frankly, I'm more than a little fed up with the "What's the big deal" attitude entirely. First and foremost, just because something else is worse, doesn't mean something else isn't also bad.  Just because I didn't die in an accident, doesn't mean that breaking 12 bones in my body and being comatose "isn't really that bad".  Was Spanish Influenza worse?  Statistically, yes.  Does that mean anything else with a lower death toll is "nothing to worry about"?  No. Second, utilizing the narrative that the mortality rate of this virus is so low and simply stating the percentage chance of death, is irresponsible.  Sure, while you are technically correct, the math bears out how much of a colossal asshole you are for clinging to that.  Let's just look at basic figures.  4.4 million diagnose...

...and it was about that time in my life where I finally understood.  It finally clicked and all made sense.  You see, people don't actually talk to each other in order to exchange ideas and try to understand one another.  They don't take what you say and mull it over, weigh it, measure it, and see if it is true or not.  They don't answer your questions, they skirt them.  They don't look inward and self-examine.  They do not ever expect to change their mind based on a conversation with you.  Instead, while you are speaking they simple tune you out and begin formulating what they can say to not look foolish.  Doesn't matter what it is.  Doesn't matter if it contradicts what they just said.  Doesn't matter if it holds true to the core of what they believe.  They just want to yell at you for awhile because they disagree with you.  They will not answer any questions that you ask honestly, because that could possibly lead to them lo...

If you want a fun little activity during the day, try this.  Scan your social media accounts for the posts about religion that talk about god's love and glory and abundance and how he blesses us all and such.  Find them and simply ask yourself...would this person have the guts to go to Africa where children die by the thousands each year and say this sort of drivel to the people living there in those conditions? Example: "The first act in this positive turnaround is to affirm God as the Great Restorer, who continually brings good out of personal chaos, growth out of pain, and hope out of loss." Are you going to tell a family who is starving and dying of diarrhea due to unclean drinking water to not worry?  Good will come out of this personal chaos!  Hope comes out of loss when your 4th child dies from parasites.  Growth will come out of the AIDS epidemic ravaging your country. Or is it more accurate that these concepts only apply in the western world wher...

I dislike the notion of a "no matter what" friend.  I'm not a fan of the notion of "nothing you do will make me leave".  While I understand that we need to help those around us and we need to encourage them and support them and be there for them, there should absolutely be a point where you walk away.  Nothing saying that you can't reconnect later, but someone who knows that no matter how terrible they are to those around them that they will never leave, it gives no incentive to be a decent human being.  They know that they can say the most horrific things to those that love them and they'll still be there.  I posit that realizing that there are ways that you can't treat people, things you can't do, things you can't say, without losing those people in your life gives them a boundary point.  It makes them assess how they treat their friends and family.  And just like a toddler who is throwing a fit, if you eventually realize that bad behavior ...

Atheism is repeatedly assailed as being the driver of many of the atrocities of the 20th century as I'm sure you've heard a million times when names like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao are uttered in a religious debate.  While these are often touted as being the inevitable result of removing religion from society, it is very easy to spot that even if these regimes outwardly claimed no religious affiliation, they were by no means secular in their nature.  Many of these regimes had close ties to the Vatican, while others were based on blood worship, Nordic myth, and varied forms of mysticism, and others simply forego any established religions and appoint the head of the movement as a god incarnate.  These ideas are not the result of secular values, nor do they hold to any meaning of an atheistic society, nor does it lead to any meaningful conversation about those values. Usually after pointing these things out you can then find a bridge in the conversation in order to d...

I rediscovered a blurb that I had written back in 2014 as I was searching my computer today, and it seemed to resonate well with some of my thoughts recently.  The original piece was written in response to the Christopher Hitchens vs Al Sharpton debate from years before.  A question was asked by an audience member which implied that Christianity's "offer" of salvation vs torture was an optional thing.  Hitchens gave a great reply which resonated with me at the time, and after re-reading it today, that seems to still ring true.  So I wanted to share that in this medium as well.  Below is the response of Christopher Hitchens, followed by a few paragraphs of my own response to the question and his response. Hitchens' Response: "You're in the right church but the wrong pew. I mean, yes, of course I've emancipated myself from all that nonsense and I wish you would do too. I'm saying what is the belief, and when you say it's voluntary, it's up t...