There’s something to be said about the relativist agenda.

 I believe that the truth is not subjective. Beliefs are subjective. Not the truth. Things are one way and not another.

 ”Outside our heads there is freestanding reality. Only madmen and a scattering of constructivist philosophers doubt its existence.” - Edward O. Wilson

 When people say that science is just another model of the world, they’re wrong. Science isn’t just another model; it’s a model specifically designed to change in order to accommodate new facts, to be as accurate as possible.

 The religious have faith.

• “I don’t know how Jonah stayed alive in the belly of a fish, but I know that he did.”
• No, motherfucker, that’s not how this works. If something logically seems completely impossible, it could very well be completely impossible. Your suspicions were correct.

 How much of a stretch is it to consider that maybe some guy didn’t really get swallowed by a fish and get regurgitated onto land after three days? And that maybe this is just a folk story from 2800 years ago? Don’t you think maybe someone is pulling your leg? It’s not only okay to have these suspicions, it’s great. Because if you don’t, you are completely fucking retarded.

 Perhaps a little unrelated, I want to address a quote of a Baptist pastor I heard yesterday:

 ”Either we’re divine creations of God, or we’re just random particles with no meaning, we’re just animals that evolved and we can do whatever we want, because there are no consequences whatsoever. I could take a pistol and blow out Bro. Billy’s brains right now.”

• Well, first of all, don’t go throwing around the word ‘random’. I hate that. The laws of physics are not random, they are laws. Also, evolution is not a random process; on the fucking contrary, evolution is an algorithmic process. Natural selection is the very explanation of how life on Earth could reach it’s current point in a non-random way. It’s survival of the fittest, not Russian Roulette.
• Second, are you gonna tell me we’re not animals? And are you gonna tell me that we’re not made of particles? You’re gonna need some powerful evidence to disprove these fundamental aspects of biology and chemistry.
•  Third, about the “no consequences” thing. Yeah, there are no consequences after we die. There are plenty of consequences during life. We have to live together. I’ve got no desire or reason for killing anyone. More importantly, there are a TON of reasons not to kill someone. For instance, I’m kind of a good person. If the only reason you’re not about to blow Bro. Billy’s brains out is because you’re scared you’ll burn in Hell for it, then YOU ARE A BAD PERSON.
•  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the shock of the implications does not mean that the evidence isn’t still there.