Photos and stories from Lebanon

A friend of mine, a 19-year old man named Johnny Simon, recently returned from a month-long trip to visit his extended family in northern Lebanon. He gave me permission to publish the following photos, all of them taken along the Qadisha Valley. 48-qadisha-valleyBased on Johnny's stories and photos, this area is a magic and peaceful place populated by a highly religous group of people. As I viewed his entire slide show, I couldn't help but notice the lack of commercialization. Johnny described how many of the people obtain significant amounts of their daily food by going out and picking the fruit fresh from trees. 111-mighty-cedars [The five photos included in this post were taken by Johnny, and he has provided the brief comments for each photo] Top, Inset: A view of Bsharre, birthplace of Khalil Gibran. [top right: The Qadisha Valley, or valley of the saints, served as refuge for Lebanese Christians for hundreds of years. Even today, one cannot look upon the valley and still not be in awe. Here it is seen from a surrounding village. ] Johnny indicated that there are approximately 30,000 churches along the Qadisha Valley, many of them small and carved into the cliffs. Above: The mighty cedars of lebanon have stood for thousands of years. This cedar rests in the forest of God near the Qadisha valley. A bit of background: After a long period of peace, Lebanon suffered a terrible civil war from 1975-1990. My friend is a Maronite Catholic--40% of the country is Christian, while 60% is Muslim. Many of the Christians left Lebanon as a result. Then, after another long period of relative peace, Lebanon was the site of the one month long 2006 Lebanon War between the Israeli military and Hezbollah. Johnny was told by his relatives that during this attack, the Israelis intentionally destroyed large sections of the cedar forests, knowing that the cedar tree is a national symbol of Lebanon.

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Proposed Amendment

I've been mulling an idea for an amendment to the U.S. constitution that probably won't have as much a chance as the failed Equal Rights Amendment, in which persons of the female persuasion would have been defined explicitly as full fledged people with the same rights as the white male landholders for which the constitution was originally penned. How's this?

"Government shall pass no law abridging the right of any person to decide whether an organism living within his or her own body is a harmful parasite or a welcome guest, and to respond accordingly."

A lawyer could probably tighten up the wording, but I think the gist is there. This amendment might save oodles of money on government health care in ways such as:
  • It would limit the ways in which lawyers determine what medical procedures are prohibited or required, and the associated overhead in managing those decisions.
  • It would remove the bureaucracy necessary to separate funding for procedures that everyone accepts under government insurance from those protested by a vocal minority.
Discussion?

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Brownshirt guards prevent free-wheeling discussion at the Creation Museum

It's almost unbelievable. I suppose that too many thinking people were wandering in and criticizing the faux-science exhibits at the "evolution science" museum in Kentucky. Apparently, Ken Ham and his Creation Museum team simply can't stand it when people talk real science in their "museum." They'll shut you up and kick you out. PZ Myers gives a detailed description of his visit, and it's well worth reading the entire thing. It's pretty amazing that a "museum" would so unabashedly attempt to stifle all thinking. Myers almost can't believe his own eyes and ears. Stifling thinking? But that's how it is in most fundamentalist churches too. Fall in line or else. Pretend you know things you don't really know. Pretend that you don't know things that you do know. This is the foundation for an incredibly screwed up community, and the fundamentalists want to export it to the public schools too.

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3D video of what you are seeing when you point the Hubble telescope at nothing

Check out this mind blowing 3D simulation of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image. The context is all-important. The image was of a patch of empty sky as small as a grain of sand at arm's length. Also, this fantastic image was gathered in 1993, before the most recent upgrades to Hubble. This image is a big reason why I would be tempted to check the box for "spiritual but not religious." Here's a bit of history of the deep field images.

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“What if Your Child Becomes Religious?”

Dale McGowan of the Meming of Life and other literary outlets has a new video out. In his latest, he questions the title question in detail before addressing the answer. Mainly he takes on "become" and "religious", before addressing "What if". Very reasonable and persuasive. I met the man earlier this year, and identify with his position on dealing with an over-religious culture from an a-religious world view.

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