I thought about posting a nice jolly sunflower or some lively kids playing in Ethiopia, but then I remembered it’s Halloween and I thought this rather gruesome image might be most appropriate.

My parents and I had just got back from a whale watch in the Gulf of Maine a couple of weeks back, and as our boat pulled into Rye Harbor a few people started pointing towards the dock. It was the shark, which was hanging from a crane by its tail, that was drawing their attention.

Washington monthly has an interesting article using data from the Pew Global Attitudes Project, showing an inverse correlation between the wealth of nations and the religiosity of their peoples.

Here’s the graph:

As with so many other things the US is an outlier (and Kuwait is also curiously anomalous) but the trend is clear.

It’s a curious thing — Maslow’s hierarchy of needs posits that self-actualization is something that can most easily be pursued once our basic needs for food, shelter, security, etc are already taken care of. History also suggests this to be be case. For example it was only when ancient Greece had developed an urban culture in which relatively rich landowners had time to reflect (in their urban mansions) that Western philosophy began to emerge. And at roughly the same time in India an agricultural revolution following the introduction of iron tools (more forestry cleared for fields, more efficient plowing) allowed that a large population of mendicant religious wanderers could be supported (the Buddha being amongst them). Without surplus wealth to support the Buddha and his monks his teachings would have been lost (assuming that he’d even tried pursuing a spiritual life — he might have been too busy trying to earn a living).

But maybe this survey just highlights the difference between religion and spirituality, with poverty leading to the embrace of more conformist doctrines that both give hope (the carrot, the opiate of the people) and keep a potentially troublesome population in cowed fear (the stick, hell as a punishment for disobedience), while in a more wealth culture people are free to pursue a more genuinely spiritual path that involves self-examination and a critique of social norms.

On the other hand perhaps wealth is a distraction from religion and spirituality — I’ve met very few wealthy Buddhists. Although perhaps it’s not so much wealth that does this but the pursuit of wealth. Perhaps the pursuit of wealth becomes a quasi-religion in its own right and takes away or suppresses more genuinely religious needs.

Perhaps we need just enough wealth so that we’re free enough from anxiety to think about what constitutes a meaningful life, but not so much obsession with wealth that we become unreflective. Perhaps that’s what the idea of voluntary simplicity hinges on — finding that appropriate balance of material comfort and existential discomfort.

The tragic deaths of Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin in the Apollo 11 disaster in 1969, when they became stranded on the moon, still bring a lump to my throat — even though it never happened. Wikipedia has a copy of the speech that Richard Nixon was to read just in case…

The speech was composed by Nixon speechwriting and (later) NYT columnist William Safire. Beautiful words. It’s funny — one faulty valve or loose wire and these would be words we’d all know.

IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER:

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.

The Red Sox are in the World Series and thrashing the Rockies. Does it get better than that? Yup. Tomorrow I’ll be heading to Salem, New Hampshire to visit the Apple store there. The big occasion is the launch of Leopard, the latest version of OS X. I’m hoping to pick up a free t-shirt, of course, but I’m also very excited to see (and get my hands on) Leopard.

The two things I’m most looking forward to are browsing files in cover-flow (the jukebox-like visual representation of files that you get in iTunes) and Time Machine, Apple’s new backup software that allows you (cue Twilight Zone music) to travel back to visit earlier incarnations of your computer files. The visuals I’ve seen online have been just stunning, and anything that will encourage me to make regular backups is a Very Good Thing.

I’ve also been enjoying my iPod Touch, which is an iPhone without, you know, all that phone stuff. I’d considered getting an iPhone (subtitle: I’d lusted after one) before they were launched back in the summer, but came to the conclusion that because I use the phone so rarely I couldn’t justify the cost of the AT&T monthly plan (I typically spend $60 a year on my pay-as-you go T-Mobile phone). So I reluctantly decided to wait for however long it would take for Apple to bring out a iPhone-like iPod. Luckily it wasn’t much of a wait.

I love the Touch! It has the drawback, compared to the LifeDrive that I sold when I got the new iPod, that I can’t add calendar appointments, although I believe that’ll be coming. It also has the drawback that there’s no Notes feature, and I used to carry around a lot of information — from recipes to famous quotations — in the form of short memos to myself. Again, I think it’s inevitable that that feature will be added. It’s also a bit short on space, especially since I bottled out and got the 8GB version. I really wish I’d splashed out the extra $100 and got the 16GB one. When you include video you really eat up the bytes fast, and I’ve had to be selective about what music to copy over so that I can make room for episodes I’d downloaded from iTunes.

But here’s what I love about it. It looks gorgeous. It’s unbelievably thin. The multitouch interface, which allows you to expand or contract a photo by spreading or pinching two fingers, is a joy to use. The screen is sharp and I can view video in full screen (I could watch video on my LifeDrive but it was always a tiny picture). I love the coverflow for viewing albums. The graphics are rich and lustrous, glossy and sleek. Browsing the web is practical since you can zoom in and out of webpages using multitouch, or simply zoom a column to the screen width by double-tapping it.

All in all it’s esthetically delightful and will be the perfect PDA once Apple uncripple it.

So the iPod Touch, the Sox looking set to clinch the World Series, and the prospect of coming home tomorrow night with Leopard on a CD — it’s a good week.

I found this unattributed piece on bw.org, who had taken it from a BBS (where there was also no attribution). Enjoy!

1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.
7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

I’ve had my parents visiting for three weeks and because I was chauffeuring them around I didn’t have much time for blogging. But they left on Friday and I’m back!

This picture doesn’t need much introduction. It was a little out of focus when I took it so I used Picassa to sharpen the edges and I also bumped up the saturation for effect.

As usual, if you want to see a bigger version, click on the pic.

Kudos to various Diggers for unearthing the following gem from objectiveministries.org which encourages kids to shop suspected atheists to the ecclesiastical authorities. Apparently atheists are horned figures (remind you of any fallen angels you know?) who are miserable and who hate children, and who should be shunned.

What should you do if you find an Atheist?

Atheists such as crotchety old Mr. Gruff think they’ve got it all figured out…

…but then why are they always so sad?

If you find an Atheist in your neighborhood,
TELL A PARENT OR PASTOR RIGHT AWAY!

You may be moved to try and witness to
these poor lost souls yourself, however
AVOID TALKING TO THEM!

Atheists are often very grumpy and bitter and will lash out at children or they may even try to trick you into neglecting God’s Word.

Very advanced witnessing techniques are needed for these grouches. Let the adults handle them.

You can also read about how kangaroos lived in the Middle East in historic times! I’m learning so much! This site makes children so smart!

I’m hoping they come up with a Buddhist cartoon figure to go with “Habu” the Hindu elephant.