VacuumFlux Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I was at the library and picked up Death from the Skies by Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer. It's a book I've been meaning to read eventually, and there were multiple copies just sitting on the shelf. It's about the ways astronomical events could kill us, how they'd kill us, and how likely they are to happen. The author has a decent sense of humor about the whole thing. The mistake I made was bringing the book into shared family space to read. This means my mom noticed it. I gave her the very brief description of it, and she says "is that by fire?" What she means is how, in Revelation, god destroys the earth with fire (since after the flood he promised not to drown everyone again). She then goes on about the other nonsense in Revelation and tries to figure out which of them could line up with a giant meteor strike. Sigh. Once that fundy shit gets into my head, it's hard to shake it back out even when I yell at my own thoughts to shut up. So instead of sitting down to a relaxing evening with a fun book, I found myself desperately trying to rationalize what I was reading with events in the bible that I don't believe ever happened. I was raised YEC. So it talks about the dinosaurs dying off from a meteor strike that lands in water by Mexico, vaporizes a lot of it, and sets the earth on fire. Fire, got that? Fire, burning, ash. We know this from digging in the ground and finding a layer of crispy fried soot that separate dino-filled layers from dino-not-so-filled layers. Big explosions and fire. And what do I find myself thinking? "Oh, there was a tsunami too, maybe that's what caused The Flood." I don't believe in the flood, not the worldwide flood of the bible. But everything I read, a stupid voice in the back of my head tries desperately to shove it into YEC chronology. Even though I don't believe in that any more. And now it's getting late and I'm too frustrated and wired to sleep. I don't need more stress right now. I should have read the book in my room, hidden it. Or taken a safer book into shared space to read and kept that book for later. Or I should be strong enough to not let the crazy into my head. But I'm not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Margee Posted June 23, 2011 Moderator Share Posted June 23, 2011 I don't need more stress right now. I should have read the book in my room, hidden it. Or taken a safer book into shared space to read and kept that book for later. Or I should be strong enough to not let the crazy into my head. But I'm not. you don't always have to be strong Vacuum flux - that's what you got us for!!! Hope you had a real good nights rest. That always helps me. Get up, go get your book and run to the most secret place you can find in your town, grab a nice hot coffee and start your day over my friend! You got a good head on your shoulders - I read all your posts........your gonna be just fine.................. P.s. I always wondered why the Red Sea hasn't 'parted' lately. No news casts about it at all??......... oh yeah........ that stuff only happened in the bible.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jds22 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Phil Plait is awesome. I love his books and interviews. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend the podcast Skeptics Guide to the Universe. They have Phil on quite often as a guest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowJacket Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 it's not all a bad thing to line up his theories w/ YEC myths. Just remember to also compare to stories from Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, the Superman Movies, Twilight Zone, and the Terminator films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingLife Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Hi VF Based on all the end of daze movies and shows, it all seems to play out in the USA. Just move to SA, low woo factor and the weather is great. j/k It really amazes me that the same shit storm is predicted all over the world and you know, if there is a meteorite that takes out civilization, tough shit. Just tell your mom that jesus lost his surfboard and there will be no rapture of the saints aka cloud surfing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VacuumFlux Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 you don't always have to be strong Vacuum flux - that's what you got us for!!! Hope you had a real good nights rest. That always helps me. Get up, go get your book and run to the most secret place you can find in your town, grab a nice hot coffee and start your day over my friend! Thanks! Sometimes I forget that although it's good to take care of yourself and not be a leech, it's ok and normal to have off days. And it's pretty silly to feel a need to always be strong enough to give and never take, when that very attitude implies that I'm ok with there being people needy enough to need given to. I slept in and was in a rush to get to work, but I did take the book with me to read while waiting for the bus. Phil Plait is awesome. I love his books and interviews. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend the podcast Skeptics Guide to the Universe. They have Phil on quite often as a guest. I subscribe to his blog's RSS feed, but haven't listened to the podcasts. I'll have to look into that. it's not all a bad thing to line up his theories w/ YEC myths. Just remember to also compare to stories from Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, the Superman Movies, Twilight Zone, and the Terminator films. Hah, that probably would help. Take the insanity up to a level that's just hilarious, instead of trying to fight something that won't go away. And I did read the Silmarilion a few years ago; didn't the sun and the moon come from trees or something? Now I'm trying to picture a tree having a solar flare. Or does that mean a CME (coronal mass ejection, when the sun spit particles at us) is the equivalent of a squirrel getting in the magic tree and throwing nuts at people? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowJacket Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Hi VF Based on all the end of daze movies and shows, it all seems to play out in the USA. Just move to SA, low woo factor and the weather is great. j/k there are some epic battles on Planet Krypton. We don't get ALL the fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyx Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 If you liked that book, try Exit Mundi. It's one of my favourite websites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScifiChick Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Ah... the memories. Many years ago, I used to frequent a site called Bad Astronomy. I had only been an ex-Christian for about two years at that point, and I was still learning to think critically. I initially went there because some loon was predicting that when Galileo hit Jupiter, it would ignite the atmosphere and give our solar system a twin star. It seemed off, but because I didn't know how to think through things yet, I did research. It led me to Bad Astronomy. And once there, I found other topics of interest - primarily, debunking bad science. Periodically, we would get fundies there and I had a high old time picking apart their nonsense. We actually had flat earthers, people who don't believe in the moon landing, etc show up at that site. It was very good practice. It also resulted in my meeting my husband. He loved the way I debunked things, loved the way my mind work, and essentially decided I was the one for him before ever laying eyes on me. So, in a way, Phil Plait is responsible for me becoming a happy, healthy person. In other words, these little things that seem meaningless sometimes make all the difference in the world, and though you felt a bit weak last night, reading the type of material that you chose will ultimately lead to your being stronger. The cool thing about critical thinking is that it doesn't require you to believe a party line. It merely requires that you use logic to see if something has merit. I also met another really wonderful man there. He sent me a book on critical thinking and was really relentless with me when I would try to talk about how some of the Babble wasn't bad. He has since passed away, but yeah - science forums are a fantastic way to hone your ability to think and to hone your arguments for why you don't believe in silly things like YEC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjj Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 maybe you should read some fun fiction. I'm a great fan of Tom Sharpe who has written some of the funniest books I have ever read. He was a journalist who lived in South Africa during the apartheid era and wrote a couple of SA based books 'Indecent Exposure' and 'Riotous Behaviour' My favorite books of his are Wilt and Blott on the Landscape. They are just brilliant. I'm absolutely certain they would meet with Christian disapproval Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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