Atheist Physics Teacher

Genesis 15

Abram complains to God that he doesn’t have any children, but God reassures him that Abram’s descendents will be “as numerous as the stars.” (Genesis 15:5, NRSV) Abram makes the required sacrifice, and falls into a deep sleep, in which God tells him, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred year; but I will being judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” (15:13-15, NRSV)

Obviously this is a foreshadowing, a pretty blatant one, of the Jew’s time in Egypt. Reading this passage raises many questions in my mind about this god. Is he just foretelling the future like a psychic, or will he be the cause of the oppression? If the former, couldn’t he do anything to prevent centuries of oppression of his chosen people? If God can bring judgment on “the nation that they serve” couldn’t he just prevent the whole ordeal? If the latter, why? To prove the Jews are worth being the chosen people?

Genesis 16

Sarai tells Abram that since she could not bear him a child, he should take her handmaiden Hagar as a wife. The son Hagar bears for him would, apparently, be considered the child of Sarai and Abram. Abram agrees to this, either in spite of what God had just told him or because he felt this would fulfill God’s promise. Hagar conceives a child and proceeds to “look with contempt on her mistress.” (Genesis 16:4, NRSV)

I can understand the response, I guess, since I have known some bitchy people. Hagar accomplishes something Sarai could not and looks down on her because of this (even though Sarai is wicked old and her lady parts don’t really work anymore).

Sarai doesn’t take this attitude too kindly. “May the wrong done to me be on you!” she yells at Abram. What the fuck!?!? How is Hagar’s attitude his fault? Women…psh. Abram, the ever patient husband tells her that since Hagar is her slave-girl, Sarai should “do with her as you please.” (16:6, NRSV) Sarai gives her what-for and she runs off.

Hagar is out in the wilderness and an angel appears and tells her to go back to Sarai and to submit to her. The angel tells Hagar that he will greatly multiply her offspring, and that she should name her son Ishmael, who will be “a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him.” (16:12, NRSV) What is that all about? This is the Ishmael, mind you, that is considered the ancestor of the Arab people and a prophet of Islam. I don’t get it.

I recently entered the Reddit WritersGroup Prompt Contest IV. The prompt:

Write a story about a character witnessing some sudden, catastrophic event. It could be a bombing, an auto accident, a random murder, a very public breakup, or something less lame. The event should be sudden and out-of-flow with the character's life, and you should depict an aftermath.

I focused on the "something less lame" part, and I went with the other extreme, the most awesome event - the big bang. I figured I'd try to write something from the perspective of the universe itself, and it ended up being a poem.

Please leave criticism if you like!


"The Universe"

An explosion of
immense proportions.
I am energized. Unlimited
potential. The searing heat fires
my soul. The blinding light stimulates
my mind. The force swells within me. The
force is me. Many forces, but one only. There
is a soup – a boiling, bubbling, delicious soup. I drink
it in. It fills me up, but my capacity is unlimited. I
am growing, growing, growing, More quickly
than you can comprehend. I am Behemoth,
Ziz, Leviathan. Cooling off now, things
start to make sense. Colder still,
and I can see everything.
Can this last forever?
Can I last forever?
I am alone.

Don't Pray On Me
Bad Religion
Recipe for Hate

A grizzly scene on my electron beam
Told a story about human rights
So all of king's horses and all of king's men
Had a riot for two days and nights
Well, the city exploded but the gates wouldn't open
So the company asked him to quit
Now everybody's equal
Just don't measure it

Well, Hanson did it to Hester
And Mark David did it to John
And maybe Jack did it to Marilyn
But he did it to South Vietnam
For beauty and glory
For money, love, and country
Now everybody's doing it
Don't do that to me

A bitter debate and a feminine fate
Lie in tandem like two precious babes
While the former gets warmer, it's the latter that matters
Except on the nation's airwaves
And custodians of public opinion state facts
After vainly discussing her rights
Lay hands off her body
It's not your fucking life

Now I don't know what stopped Jesus Christ
From turning every hungry stone into bread
And I don't remember hearing how Moses reacted
When the innocent first born sons lay dead
Well, I guess God was a lot more demonstrative
Back when he flamboyantly parted the sea
Now everybody's praying
Don't pray on me

Yeah, I know, I haven't been posting lately. I apologize. Bri and I went away for a long weekend, and since we've be back I have been working on getting ready for the new school year.

Until then, expect that there won't be too many posts. Once the school year starts, I will set aside some time a few days a week to keep posting.


Stay tuned for more Bad Religion Songs of the Week, Bible for Atheist chapters, and more. For now, keep yourself entertained by this webpage: Can Atheists Be Ethical. Also browse the rest of the site if you have the time and the inclination.

I'll comment on that page later. First I want to hear (read?) your opinions.

In Chapter 13 Abram and Sarai and Lot leave Egypt, and Abram realizes that the flocks of Lot and himself are too large to be grazing on the same lands, so Abram tells Lot that they should separate. Abram gives Lot the choice of where he will live, and Abram takes up some other land. When Abram gets there God tells Abram “all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.” (Genesis 13:15-16, NRSV)

In Chapter 14 there is a big battle between a lot of the kings in the region that Abram and Lot are living. Lot ends up being captured and Abram takes his men (318 of them) to retrieve Lot.

When Abram returns he is met by King Melchizedek and Abram gives him one tenth of everything he had plundered. The King tells him to give him the persons, but to keep the goods for himself. Abram replies, “I have sworn to the Lord, God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me.”

This is a good lesson for anybody, religious or not. Abram knows that the King might later ask favors of him in return for his generosity. Abram takes nothing that is not due to him, and will therefore be left alone in the future.

Skyscraper
Bad Religion
Recipe for Hate

Come let us make bricks and burn them hard,
We'll build a city with a tower for the world
And climb so we can reach anything we may propose,
Anything at all

Build me up, tear me down
Like a skyscraper
Build me up, then tear down
These joining walls
So they can't climb at all

I know why you tore it down that day
You thought, that if you got caught we'd all go away,
Like a spoiled little baby who can't come out to play,
You had your revenge

Build me up, tear me down
Like a skyscraper
Build me up, then tear down
These joining walls
So they can't climb at all

Well madness reigned and paradise drowned
When Babel's walls came crashing down
Now the echoes roar for a story writ
That was hardly understood
And never any good

Build me up, tear me down
Like a skyscraper
Build me up, then tear down
These joining walls
So they can't climb at all

If I was forced to make a list of hobbies, interests, or activities I would have to include going to concerts. I am sure there are people that go to more than I do, but come on, concerts are expensive.

I have been meaning to make a list, for myself, of all the concerts I've attended, so that I don't forget them. I figure this would be a good forum to share my favorite concerts. Right now I'm planning on recounting my 5 favorites (in reverse chronological order), and maybe more when I'm done.

While I certainly enjoy the music of all the bands I've seen, my Top 5 concerts are not of my Top 5 bands. The criteria for best concerts have a more to do with circumstances and environment than the music alone.

The most recent concert I've been to that I include in my Top 5 is the Good Rats reunion show at B.B. King's Blues Club in NYC. I was chilling at my computer around 10am one Saturday, and my dad came downstairs.

"What are you doing today," he asked.
"Nothing," I replied.
"Want to go to a concert?"
"Yes! What concert?"

As long as the price is reasonable, I will go to basically any concert that someone I know is going to. That's how I discovered Guster sophomore year.

My dad told me it was The Good Rats, who I had heard of, and that the ticket was free. He even offered to pay for my food and drinks as long as I paid for the train. I'm in!

My dad's friend Jeff picked us up and we shared a few beers and some stories from back in their day on the way into the city. B.B. King's Blues Club is a pretty cool place. It's not a theater, but it's not a club either. I've been calling it a supper club, like where Ricky played on I Love Lucy. It basically looked like a restaurant with a stage, and our table was right up front.

No opening band to put up with, I love it. During the show waiters come around to replenish beers, so you only have to get up to pee. The show was great. I didn't really know any Good Rats music, but I ended up buying a couple CDs because they are so good.

This one makes my Top 5 list for the following reasons: no opening band, uniqueness of the venue, quality/quantity of food & drink, discovery of a new favorite band.