“Everyone always associates the kids’ TV channel Nickelodeon with slime, but do you know how the association began? In fact, slime was a trademark of their first big hit show, You Can’t Do That On Television, a low-budget Canadian sketch TV comedy that can for over a decade (1979-1990). One of the most irreverent kids shows ever made, this Canadian show recruited real kids to host and star in a sketch show that was like Saturday Night Live for the after-school set. Early stars included Alanis Morrisette, while the only adults on the show were ace sketch performers Les Lye and Abby Hagyard.
Ironically, the show was much more popular in the U.S than it ever was in Canada, with it only really gaining a cult following North of the border when their own version of Nickelodeon, YTV, started playing re-reruns in the late eighties/early nineties. Join us as we look back at this cult hit show, which remains a rarity to this day (although selected episodes are available on Paramount +).”
“Hey friends! About a month ago I was tuned into Godless Engineer’s channel and listened to a live chat between him and a Christian pastor named Joe Ensley. I ended up dropping a super chat with a simple question for Joe, which he immediately set to not answering. What came next was… amazing, and I just had to do a breakdown of what was said.”
Is it possible to be an atheist and still believe gods exist?…
…If you believe that gods are a product of theology, then no…Because atheism is a rejection of theology [or theism].
There are absolutely atheists who find belief in gods to be ludicrous.
…If you want to split hairs, however…If there existed a race so technologically advanced that they could time/galaxy travel, and they could appear anywhere, before any people…Could those types of being be looked upon as “gods”? Would their technology, advanced far beyond other beings of that time and place, be seen as miracles or magic?
Some atheists might agree…that the interpretation could be that these are what “gods” actually are…beings that are vastly advanced in their technology.
If we could be plucked out of our own place, and set in another world with primitive cultures…yet, our technological gadgets still worked…would we be seen as some type of “gods”?
As an atheist…I would concede that “whether gods are a real thing”, hinges on how we define “gods”…That doesn’t mean I find the previously described scenario adequate, on a personal level…I don’t believe technology makes you a god…But I understand how some people can arrive at that conclusion, relative to their own existing level of knowledge.
At any rate…it is dehumanizing and arrogant for anyone to dictate to you, “what you believe”…or “what you don’t believe”.
That act centers around stealing from you, your own voice and individual humanity…It completely dismisses your personal cognition and agency.
That is the fundamental reason why people get irritated and angry, when others employ it against them…It’s dishonest, manipulative and displays absolute contempt.
“In Australia, 60 Minutes was one of the first to expose the church’s conspiracy of silence in the case of convicted paedophile Father Gerald Ridsdale. In 2002, Richard Carleton confronted then Archbishop George Pell with distressing evidence of Ridsdale’s abuse. What followed: the accusation that Dr George Pell attempted to bribe a distressed young man, who’d been sexually assaulted by a priest – and that Pell did this to cover up a potential scandal and to protect his church. It’s hard to imagine a graver charge. It was against one of the most powerful men in Australia, the then Catholic Archbishop of Sydney. And, as you’ll see, there’s more. Money offered to silence the family of two young girls, more tragic victims of a predator in the Catholic Church.”
Should I repeat my base position here?…
I agree with people who say things like…we are often born into circumstances that are at odds with our own nature, and people generally do the best they can do in their situation…
…I agree, for example, when people say that homosexuals are born into the “whatever” church, there are heavy pressures pushing them in certain directions…they are manipulated and psychologically controlled…perhaps they are not strong enough to throw off the chains…and they live a life pleasing the church, while denying themselves…until one day, they can no longer resist their own nature.
I agree…it is not inherently wrong…that two homosexuals secretly find themselves together as a couple, while living a life deeply involved with the church…
…I do make a huge distinction, however…where a homosexual dedicates his life to the church, attains some position of authority as a representative of that church…and then proceeds to force sexual acts onto other people, including youth and children, within and under the realm of that churches power.
I’d say the same about heterosexuals who do likewise…I’m not trying to pick on homosexuals…It’s just an example that poignantly lends itself to this discussion, given most churches hostility towards sexuality, and especially homosexuality.
On the one hand…the church, a perceived authority in the lives of those raised in it, condemns all who engage in homosexual activity…
…On the other hand…a leader in this same church is forcing people, who may not even be homosexual themselves, to engage in homosexual activity…
…This massively fucks with peoples heads…The psychological damage may be the worst element, out of all of it.
…Can a “pedophile priest” find a naturally homosexual boy, and have a sexual relationship in secret with that boy which turns out wonderful?…
…Of course…given the positive alignment of various variables, it has the potential to turn into the best thing that ever happened to either of them…potentially even life saving…
…I don’t disagree, that even under the harshest and most insane settings, these types of relationships can thrive and succeed…
What I would say, however…is that it takes certain types of people, to thrive and succeed under those types of circumstance…They have to both really want it…deciding to protect and defend it…We’re talking about people who have already psychologically removed themselves, from under the churches authority…people who have come to the conclusion, that the churches position on homosexuality is a load of bunk.
Many people…especially those raised in the church from birth…do not develop a broader knowledge base and understanding of the world, until later in life…when they finally have control over their own life, and can actually get out from underneath the thumb of the church.
Small, young children and teens in the church, typically will not be so sophisticated and advanced, because they have been raised to be submissive to the church…and they have been personally stunted, by this imposed domination of the church.
It is the setting, and all that it imposes, most especially on children and youth, which makes things toxic and heinous.
…I don’t float a lot of grace and forgiveness, to adults who dedicate their entire lives and careers to institutions like that…to ultimately turn around and aggressively force hostage and dominated “followers” to engage in acts, which deeply violate the tenants of that institution.
Those sorts of people are making children and youth [and other adults] believe in this “one path to where they want to end up”…just to turn around and display that they are denying them that “path”…They’re building an entire psychological world view in the heads of these people, and then subsequently destroying it…making them live as though they are damaged, and perpetually in peril of “the afterlife”…no longer able to attain “where they want to end up”.
If that does not cause psychological trauma…then nothing does.
This is one reason I consider things like the “pedophile priests” issue, to be so serious and despicable, even in cases where individuals came out of it okay…
…You don’t get to fuck with peoples heads like that, and walk away thinking you did no wrong.
George Pell was a tool of the organized religion machine…And from how it looks, he was part of the problem.
Honestly…I think organized religions should mind their own business, and stay out of peoples personal sex lives all together.
Aside from respecting the boundaries of your companion…organized religion should have nothing further to say, about anybodies sexual kinks and practices.
The report from the non-profit, which takes no position on capital punishment, said executions were visibly problematic because of incompetence, failures to follow protocol or defects in the protocols themselves.”
“Mysticist Andrew Jasko joins Seth Andrews for a candid, good-faith discussion about consciousness, spirituality, psychedelics, and interestingly, their shared values as harsh critics of dogmatic religions.
Religion can seriously mess you up, and scar you for life…
Some people ask…How could you ever believe that?…or, Why did it take you so long to see through it all?…
…They fail to realize, that not everybody has the same access to outside information and resources…Many religious people forbid this to their own children.
This is a good episode…
Like Andrew, I have also had experiences I could not explain, all throughout my life…Every here and there, anyway.
It makes it hard to dismiss, that something beyond the mere physical and rational is happening.
Our Love Frontier 