John Maynard Keynes (5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946)
British Economist, overturned ideas of neoclassical economics
When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?
Quote: John Maynard Keynes
Reply
Category Archives: Writing
Aphorism: On Religious Criminalization, Part Deux
By Madison S. Hughes (08.30.2011)
On 08.29.2011 I posted I posted a YouTube video on my blog titled, “Janet Porter Prays for Control of Government,” below which I penned the caption, “WOW! How disturbing is this? Religion should be criminalized before we find ourselves back in the Dark Ages.” As one may imagine, some found my caption as disturbing as the video itself. What follows is my response to a comment left by a fellow blogger. “dannyraysongs”responded to my comment as follows:
“I have to say that I’m also very disturbed by your comment Madison. It’s seems apparent here on your blog that you desire to get your message out. Are you really that naive to think that Christians, Jews and/or Muslims don’t desire to have more of their fellow believers in government positions? It seems quite apparent (or at least inferred) in your blog that you would like less devout believers (or atheists) in positions of government. Should we now police what people pray? Who would qualify to be hired as a Prayer Police Officer? I really do appreciate your talent as a writer, but I’m one of those right-wing Christians you obviously feel are so dangerous and deserving of criminal charges.”
I responded as follows:
Aphorism: On Religious Criminalization
By Madison S. Hughes (08.29.2011)
On 08.29.2011 I posted I posted a YouTube video on my blog titled, “Janet Porter Prays for Control of Government,” below which I penned the caption, “WOW! How disturbing is this? Religion should be criminalized before we find ourselves back in the Dark Ages.” As one may imagine, some found my caption as disturbing as the video itself. What follows is my response to a comment left by a fellow blogger. “jodaph970”responded to my comment as follows:
“Sure, it’s disturbing, but I also find your comment (“Religion should be criminalized before we find ourselves back in the Dark Ages.”) to be just as disturbing. Embracing a tyrannical dictation of what others should and shouldn’t do is the very antithesis of America.”
I responded as follows:
Quote: Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov, Ph.D. (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992)
Russian-born American Author and Biochemist, Humorist, Atheist
I don’t believe in an afterlife, so I don’t have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.
Quote: Will and Ariel Durant
Will Durant (November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) Writer, Historian, and Philosopher
Ariel Durant (10 May 1898 — 25 October 1981) Co-Author
Husband and wife co-authors of the eleven volume work, The Story of Civilization
All autobiography, of course, is vanity.
Quote: Sam Harris
Sam Harris, Ph.D. (born 1967)
Neuroscientist, Author, and Outspoken Atheist
. . . truth has nothing, in principle, to do with consensus: one person can be right, and everyone else can be wrong. Consensus is a guide to discovering what is going on in the world, but that is all that it is. Its presence or absence in no way constrains what may or may not be true.
Quote: Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970)
Nobel Prize in Literature, British Philosopher, Logician, Mathematician,
Historian, Social Critic, Anti-War Activist, and Anti-Imperialist
None of the higher mental processes are required for conservatism. The advocate of change, on the contrary, must have a certain degree of imagination in order to be able to conceive of anything different from what exists . . . Both intelligence and sympathy, therefore, tend to be less repressed by an education hostile to the status quo than by one which is friendly to it . . . Orthodoxy is the grave of intelligence, no matter what orthodoxy it may be. And in this respect the orthodoxy of the radical is no better than that of the reactionary.
Aphorism: On Oppression
By Madison S. Hughes (05.14.2011)
The oppressed have a long memory, and rarely forget; conversely, the oppressor seems historically amnesic of its oppressive past.
Quote: Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882)
American Essayist, Lecturer, and Poet, who led the
Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century
What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.
Quote: Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman, born Araminta Ross (c. March 1822 – March 10, 1913)
African-American Abolitionist, Humanitarian, and Union Spy during the American Civil War
I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other. I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.
Always Question Authority 