A general overview of "zerotheism" (as taught to kids), which, like the switch from polytheism to monotheism, occurring some 2,000-years ago, shows the switch from monotheism to belief in fermions, bosons, zero gods, and waves and tides (or rhythm and rhyme), i.e. Adams creed. |
“A zerotheist, aka a “smart atheist”, is someone (e.g. Paul Dirac, 1945) who believes (a) that zero gods exist, (b) that universe is comprised of fermions (matter) and bosons (forces), interacting, and (c) there is a rhyme and reason to why people dance (something Dirac couldn't understand); which can be compared to a polytheist (e.g. Hindus or ancient Egyptians), who believe that multiple gods exist, or monotheist (e.g. Christians or Muslims), who believe that one god exists.”
“The poets, through the conjunction of fire and moisture, are indicating that the vis, ‘force’, which they have is that of Venus [Aphrodite]. Those born of vis have what is called vita, ‘life’, and that is what is meant by Lucilius (c.120BC) when he says: ‘life is force you see: to do everything force doth compel us’.”(add discussion)— Marcus Varro (c.50BC), On the Latin Language
Right: still from TED-Ed 3:45 kid’s video (Ѻ), by Kareem Jarrah (2015), on “What Triggers a Chemical Reaction?” |
“Crebillon … treats the passions like playing cards, that one can shuffle, play, reshuffle, and play again, without their changing at all. There is no trace of the delicate, chemical affinity, through which they attract and repel each other, reunite, neutralize [each other], separate again and recover.”— Johann Goethe (1799), “Letter to Friedrich Schiller”, Oct 23
“I would gladly die [lay down my life] for two brothers or eight cousins.”— John Haldane (c.1952), recalled by Maynard Smith
“If it all happens naturalistically? What’s the need for god? Can’t I set my own rules? Who owns me? I own myself!”— Jeffrey Dahmer (c.1993), variant of atheism belief he tried (see: killing spree paradox); as told to his father (Ѻ)
“Religion: your reason is now mature enough [age 17] to examine this object. In examining this subject, divest yourself of all bias, in favor of novelty and singularity of opinion, shake off all fears and servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched: fix reason in her seat firmly; question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there is one, he must approve more of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded faith. Read the Bible as you would Tacitus or Livy. Those facts in the Bible which contradict the laws of nature must be examined with care.”— Thomas Jefferson (1787), “Letter to [nephew] Peter Carr” [7]
The parents of American president Barack Obama were both atheists; his mother, Ann Dunham, was a women’s rights focused atheist; Barack Obama, Sr., his father, was an admitted atheist while a graduate student at Harvard; a school, which in 2014 had a student body comprised of 38 percent self-identifying atheist/agnostic (Ѻ); which can be compared to 2012 US public polls which showing 6 percent of the of the population identifying as atheist/agnostic. (Ѻ) |
“My father was almost entirely absent from my childhood, having been divorced from my mother when I was 2 years old; in any event, although my father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met my mother [1960] he was a confirmed atheist, thinking religion to be so much superstition.”— Barack Obama (2006), “My Spiritual Journey” (Ѻ), Time, Oct 16
“Given the increasing diversity of America's population, the dangers of sectarianism have never been greater. Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers [atheists]. Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.”— Barack Obama (2006), “Faith and Politics” speech, Jun 28
“The polling data [showing that 38 percent of Harvard student body is atheist/agnostic] is consistent with a huge trend that has swept the nation and that is not going to change any time soon: this is what the future looks like. America is going to become much, much less religious. And that will be a great thing for religious and nonreligious people alike, provided we can encourage and nurture the many positive qualities these nonreligious young people are, in my experience, likely to demonstrate: thoughtfulness, critical reasoning, compassion for the less fortunate; acceptance of all people and welcoming diversity; comfort with ambiguity; comfort with diverse sexual identities; creativity; humor and wit; passion to improve the world and make a difference.”— Greg Epstein (2014), Harvard’s humanist chaplain; response to query (Ѻ) by Hemant Mehta on what the polling numbers meant to him, May 29
Left: a 2008 clip of Richard Dawkins, from his Channel-4 documentary "The Genius of Darwin", part one "God Strikes Back" →(Ѻ) [watch: 0-5:05], interviewing (2:20-3:50) four London high school biology teachers about why they don’t address the religious conflict when they teach evolution. Right: a 2008 clip of Neil Shubin on the Colbert Report being queried about how humans can come from fish →(Ѻ) [watch: 0-4:35]. |
“I teach evolution not as a unit, but by introducing the concept here and there throughout the year. I put out my little bits and pieces wherever I can. While some students have college educated parents, other students come from families that may not accept the idea, and that holds me back.”— Ron Bier (2005), “Interview on teaching evolution at Oberlin High School, Ohio”
“I worry that high school biology teachers are tiptoeing too respectfully around traditional beliefs.”— Richard Dawkins (2008), Park High School teacher interview
“We can’t get into the business of knocking down kid’s religions and the religions of families.”— Chris Scott (2008), head of science at Park High School queried by Dawkins about why the conflict isn't addressed
“American science teachers, fearing religious backlash, have become timid about teaching evolution theory to their students.”— Lauri Lebo (2008), The Devil in Dover
“Because we teach science, and I would not feel comfortable talking about anything but science.”— Rachel Hughes (2008), Park High School biology teacher interviewed by Dawkins about why the conflict isn't addressed
Left: (2014). “Atheist Kids: Camp Quest Niagara Falls, Ontario” →(Ѻ) [watch: 0-1:56; 1:20-1:56 (morality without god)], Atheism-is-Unstoppable, Oct 5. Right: (2010). “Swedish Kids on God” (Ѻ) (Compare: Swedes on god (2009)), WimSweden, Feb 9. |
“Without god in your life and such, how do you develop your morality, how you see the world, what is that based on?”— Interviewer (c.2008), query →(Ѻ)|1:20) to kids at 1996-launched (Ѻ) Camp Quest
An 11-year-old Yemen girl Nada Alahdal (2013) explains →(Ѻ)[watch:0-2:28], why she ran away from her mother, and why children are “jumping” into the sea (suicide) rather than be “forced” into arranged marriages by their parents; an example of an “unnatural” reaction (exergonic). |
The story of 3-day death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (i.e. Passion of Christ), via the “operation” of two Maries (Mary and Mary Magdalene), i.e. two "stars of the sea" [Maris = sea], who sat “over” the sepulcher (Matthew 27:61), a metaphorical rewrite for "resurrection sex" (three-some), and third angel who “sat upon” the stone rolled away from the tomb (Matthew 28:2), after which Jesus is “risen” from the dead (Matthew 28:6-7), is but a monotheistic rewrite of the crucifixion, mummification, and two Mary-powered celestial sex resurrection of Osiris from three days of death (i.e. Passion of Osiris); itself based on the then-believed life/death solar cycle and the re-birth of the sun from the dead, after 3-days of “perceptual” standstill (death), i.e. solstice, from Latin sol (sun) + sister (stand still), occurring on Dec 22-24. |
“At Girl Scouts, during a sleep-over, I asked how can someone come back from the dead? [didn’t make sense].”— Cassi (ages 7-8)
“Jesus’ resurrection: how can someone come back to life after being dead for 3-days?”— Brian (age 10), didn’t make sense; illogic of made him an atheist by teens
(add discussion)
The gist nutshell of where the “virgin birth” story came from, namely: the early Christian redactors re-cast the work-in-progress Is-Ra-El-ites rewrite of the Heliopolis Ennead, wherein the spouse god (Osiris), parent gods (Geb and Nut), grandparent gods (Shu and Tefnut) and great grandparent supreme god (Ra-Atum) of the goddess Isis (Stella Maris) became syncretized (god grouped) into a “Holy Spirit”, which impregnated a person named Mary giving birth to the deemed "son of god" named Jesus (in place of the original man-god Horus son of Osiris). |
See main: Virgin birthThe following Jul 2015 polls of adults who recall being told or taught standard aspects of religious doctrine, stories, or explanation, etc., that as a child DIDN'T make sense to them, to which they questioned openly or at least in their mind, in respect to the "virgin birth" parable:
“And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”— Thomas Jefferson (1823), “Letter to John Adams”, Apr 11 (Ѻ)
Technically, i.e. in reality, a child can only be conceived via a human chemical reaction, which is a double displacement reaction, wherein two different germ cells G1 (sperm) and G2 (egg) must bond, as shown below (modern view):
“Some people draw unwarranted conclusions from the fact that I never say more about the blessed Virgin Mary that is involved in asserting the ‘virgin birth’ of Christ. But surely the reason for doing so would be obvious? To say more would take me at once into highly controversial regions. And there is no controversy between Christians which needs to be so delicately touched as this.”— C.S. Lewis (1952), “Preface” to Mere Christianity, based on three 1942-44 wartime radio talks
“That the Virgin Mary was a virgin [didn’t make sense].”— Aaron (2015), age: 9-10, Jul 27
“How can a “virgin” Mary give birth?”— Anthony (2015), 3rd grade, Jul 27
“I began to reject all religion as nonsense at age 5; specifically the virgin birth as nonsense at age 13.”— Bill (2015), Jul 31
The origin of the opening paragraph of Genesis, namely: a monotheistic truncated re-script of the combined Hermopolitian and Theban versions of the Ra-theology (Heliopolis creation myth), intermixed with Aten's fingers (shown); see: religio-mythology transcription and syncretism). |
“How did god create the world so fast (six-days)?”— Caleb (age 6), query to Sarah after reading a Children’s Bible
“The [creation in] seven days thing [didn’t make sense].”— Sidney (age 10)
“My father said that if you do bad things, e.g. drink, you’re not going to go to heaven; but then he would always come home drunk; after which I didn’t believe.”— Armando (age 9)
“They told me not to punch some kid because god would take care of it [didn’t make sense/I didn’t believe].”— Victor (age 11-12)
“That someday Jesus was going to come down and separate the good from the bad [didn’t make sense].”— Fernando (age 11)
“Why did god give us free will? Why not just make us all good in the first place? My dad was a super Bible-pusher and a complete assh*le; so the two didn’t make sense?”— Aaron (youth)
Bottom (left): actor Kirk Cameron explaining “How God Made Life?” (Ѻ), dumb-version: →(Ѻ)[watch:0-1:16] by breathing spirit into dirt, form the 2013 film Unstoppable (see: Clay creation myth). |
“Some of the Genesis stuff, e.g. creation of the world, Adam and Eve, etc.”— Tommy (age 10 / grade 5)
“How Adam and Eve could create black people [didn’t make sense]. You’ve got this white girl and this white guy, and then this black baby? (age 7) Dinosaurs; where life came from (after learning science).”— Sabrina (age 7-12)
“Eating the wafer and turning into the body of Christ—transubstantiation; they tried to explain it to me, but I was like: ‘what do you mean that I’m eating him?’”— Martina (age 6-7)
“Why do we have to keep praying / asking for forgiveness? [didn’t make sense] For example, the prayer: forgive me heavenly father … (forgive me for what?); per logic that Jesus died for our sins, etc.”— Thor (age 7)
“How Jesus went for 40 days without food or water [made no sense].”— Tim L. (grade school)
“Didn’t believe in anything for a while, because I was told that Jesus projects us, that he died for us; yet I kept watching all my family members getting sick?”— Sarah M (age 9)
(add)
“The Bible says that the earth is 10,000 years old or something; but there’s dinosaurs millions of years old [didn’t make sense]?”— Isho (age 6-7)
“Moses and the burning bush; David and Goliath [didn’t make sense].”— Samkele (age 9 / grade 3)
“They told me don’t eat things that fall on the floor because the ‘devil already licked it’; whereas they could have just said that it was dirty.”— Jesus (age 7-8)
“God will forgive you for your sins; unless you are gay. I have a gay aunt. Didn’t make sense?”— Amanda (age 12)
“That there was a God and Holy Spirit [confusing]; like believing in something not human or there?”— Tanya (age 14-15)
“Why can’t we eat pork?” Everyone else does? Why do we have to keep the Sabbath [Not work Fri sundown to Sat sundown]; when other types of ‘work’, e.g. lighting a candle or driving a car, are ok?”— Trevor (youth)
“The karma/sin thing didn’t make sense, e.g. even if you’re a good person, but you leave your phone on a park bench, someone will still steal it. People would say: ‘don’t’ worry, karma will get them! No it won’t, karma won’t make up for stupidity.’”— Ramsin (ages 10-11)
A circa 2014 Photoshop image (Ѻ) by Richard Davis conceptualizing the "model" he once held in his mind as a youth, because as a boy people told him that heaven, where the angles lived, was above the clouds; and that when people died they would go to this place to spend eternity living on the clouds. |
“When I was a little boy people told me that angels live in heaven and heaven was above the clouds. So at this young impressionable age I believed that when people died they spent their eternal lives on the clouds.”— Richard Davis (c.2014), person who made adjacent Photoshop image (Ѻ) to illustrate his view
“So what do you think happens when you die?”— Aaron (2015), query to Libb Thims in discussion about reservations about bring his son to the zerotheism for kids class, Aug 2
“The [photoshop] adjacent image—by Richard Davis—brings to mind the absurdity of looking out the window, as a youth, during my first plane trip, when the plane first crossed over into the clouds, and peering out the window to see if there were ‘dead’ people walking around, per the logic that someone had told me that when you die you go to heaven, which is in the clouds.”— Libb Thims (2015), mental documentation note for kids lecture, on memory of circa age 8-13-ish look out the window during first flight through clouds, 6:33AM CST Aug 3
Left: a K-Tor Pocket Socket Hand Crank Generator, which can be used, via cranking the handle (doing “work”) to “power” a light (Ѻ|1:52) or iPhone (Ѻ|2:17); which is the same “power” (NOT higher power) governing human affairs, according to one nature philosophy; which is the same power that governs love the chemical reaction (a view held by 66 percent of people; according to 2005 polls). Right: a 2010 student feedback letter (Ѻ) to Libb Thims’ 2010 UIC lecture on teaching introductory human thermodynamics to bioengineering students. |
“You can teach kids science and you can teach kids to have faith in a higher power (and you can believe in both) ... but to each is own! What we shouldn't be doing is putting down each other's beliefs because that simply just discourages children. It is important to teach them to have beliefs whether it is in science or god or simply to believe in themselves.”— Latrea (2015), response to advert promo for "Zerotheism for Kids" lecture, Jul 30
“The teachings in the Bible can be intimidating as so many questions arise and not enough answers. But to teach and instill atheism into a 6-year-old is ultimately stripping them of any type of beliefs whatsoever, in my opinion. You can challenge religious and biblical concepts, but what about spirituality? The idea that there is a higher power and focus ones energy and beliefs on that? The children are being stripped of that idea and taught to believe science wins?”— Lana (2015), response to advert promo for "Zerotheism for Kids" lecture, Jul 30
“What you're doing to those children is child abuse and brain washing in my view. You could invert that argument and point it at myself, but I don't hold classes for children telling them to knock down silly ideas of false claims.”— Tim (2015), response to advert promo for "Zerotheism for Kids" lecture, Jul 29
“In July 1968, Life magazine published a shocking cover (Ѻ) showing a pair of starving children in Biafra. Jobs took it to Sunday school and confronted the [Lutheran] church’s pastor: ‘If I raise my finger, will god know which one I’m going to raise even before I do it?” The pastor answered, ‘Yes, god knows everything!” Jobs then pulled out the Life cover and asked, “Well, does god know about this and what’s going to happen to those children?” The pastor responded “Steve, I know you don’t understand, but yes, god knows about that.” Jobs announced that he didn’t want to have anything to do with worshiping such a god, and he never went back to church.”— Walter Isaacson (2011), Steve Jobs; on his age 13 (Ѻ) religion fallout
The set up for the electromagnetic force vs gravitational force demonstration, i.e. Lenz’s law, first deduced in 1833 by Heinrich Lenz, for the kids, to explain the difference between a rock and a human and "right" vs "wrong" via electromagnetic force reasoning. |
“Are humans fermions or bosons?”— Ed Stephan (1977), speculative discussions with physicist Louis Barrett
“All entities, whether fermions or humans, need some mediating agency to interconnect them into systems. This indispensable interrelating and interacting role is ultimately played by different field particles named bosons. Unlike fermions, which are characterized by a significant mass and charge, bosons do not take partake of these to attributes. Rather, they only have spins and provide connections as they are exchanged among fermions.”— Paris Arnopoulos (2005), Sociophysics
“If you vest your meaning in imaginary things, your meaning will always be imaginary. If you vest your meaning in real things, your meaning will always be closer to reality.”— Libb Thims (2015), mental note, arisen at gym; circa 2:30PM CST Jul 24