Should There be a Hippocratic Oath for Scientists?

I am in favor of the idea of having an Ethical Code of Practice for scientists, similar to the Hippocratic Oath used in the medical profession.

No one can make anyone be an ‘ethical’ person, however having an oath brings the topic up and forces scientists to think it through, it also shows that ethics are worthy enough in the eyes of the scientific community to be considered and respected via an oath.

The idea was first suggested by Sir Joseph Rotblat, a nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, during his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

Following that, in 2001, in the scientific journal The Biochemical Journal, Nobel laureate Sir John Sulston proposed an oath so that scientists could declare their intention “to cause no harm and to be wholly truthful in their public pronouncements, and also to protect them from discrimination by employers who might prefer them to be economical with the truth.”

Many disagree and believe that oaths do not promote advancement.

Existing Oaths:

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Christmas Is A Lie! Find Out What The Real Christmas Is

Disclaimer

If you want to know the truth keep reading, if you rather live in ignorant bliss please don’t read this article, I do not want to insult or upset you, by reading this you may not enjoy Christmas any more, or you may see it in a different light and perhaps enjoy it more than you ever did before - for the remainder of your life.

Shopathon

I am proposing renaming Christmas and calling it Shopathon because that is all what people do in preparation for xmas, they shop. Everybody agrees that Christmas has been highly commercialized in the U.S. Many say that it has lost its true meaning of celebrating Jesus’ birthday.

In fact, Christmas in the US and most the western Christian tradition does not fall on the correct date of Jesus’ birthday, so what are WE celebrating? Are we celebrating a lie?

The fact is, no one knows for sure when Jesus was born, it is likely though that the real Christmas was in the spring, not winter.

Winter Celebrations

Why then does Christmas fall on Dec 25? Well, when Christianity spread in lands that practiced paganism, naturally pagan practices and traditions were not appreciated by christian leaders. Winter celebrations were major traditions that pagans would not abandon. They had to be re-named and adopted by the, then new religion, Christianity.

Winter Solstice falls on Dec 25th and was one major pagan holiday celebration.

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means “the birthday of the unconquered Sun.” The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian; and Mithras, a soldiers’ god of Persian origin. Emperor Elagabalus introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday. This day had held no significance in the Roman festive calendar until it was introduced in the third century.

The festival was placed on the date of the solstice because this was on this day that the Sun reversed its southward retreat and proved itself to be “unconquered.” Several early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus. “O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born

From Wikipedia

You are probably seeing where this is going now. Rather than abolish these traditions they were allowed to remain only after re-purposing and re-branding them into a Christian tradition.

Winter festivals were common in ancient times due to less agricultural work, expectations of better weather in the summer and the celebration of the rebirth of the sun as the sun lasted longer in the sky (a countdown to summer).

The Roman Pagans

Roman pagans celebrated the holiday of Saturnalia. This was a week-long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the week-long celebration. This holiday featured some ‘bad’ behavior to say the least like drinking to get drunk, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (later morphing into the modern caroling).

In what seems to be even more horrible, each Roman community selected a victim. This person was forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. On December 25th (the festival’s last day), this person was brutally murdered. Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by doing so.

Saturnalia festival was a major festival that pagans would not abandon. In order to convert pagans to Christianity it was decided to adopt the Sturnalia festival. As a result a large numbers of pagans became Christian after being promised to be allowed to continue celebrating the Saturnalia festival.

Since there was no significance to that date of the year, Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday replacing the original festival’s concluding day

The Scandinavian Pagans

Pagan Scandinavians celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas.

You see? We are not celebrating the real Christmas (Jesus’ b’day) on Dec 25.

Winter Festivals were very common! Here are but a few examples:

Brazilians

Brazilian archeologists have found an assembly of 127 granite blocks arranged equidistant from each other. They apparently form an ancient astronomical observatory. One of the stones marked the position of the sun at the time of the winter solstice and were probably used in religious rituals.

Egyptians

The god-man/savior Osiris died and was entombed on DEC-21. “At midnight, the priests emerged from an inner shrine crying ‘The Virgin has brought forth! The light is waxing” and showing the image of a baby to the worshipers.”

Greek

The winter solstice ritual was called Lenaea, the Festival of the Wild Women. In very ancient times, a man representing the harvest god Dionysos was torn to pieces and eaten by a gang of women on this day. Later in the ritual, Dionysos would be reborn as a baby. By classical times, the human sacrifice had been replaced by the killing of a goat. The women’s role had changed to that of funeral mourners and observers of the birth.

Inca’s

The ancient Incas celebrated a festival if Inti Raymi at the time of the Winter Solstice. It celebrates “the Festival of the Sun where the god of the Sun, Wiracocha, is honored.” 16 Ceremonies were banned by the Roman Catholic conquistadores in the 16th century as part of their forced conversions of the Inca people to Christianity. A local group of Quecia Indians in Cusco, Peru revived the festival about 1950. It is now a major festival which begins in Cusco and proceeds to an ancient amphitheater a few miles away.

Native American

The Hopi tribe “is dedicated to giving aid and direction to the sun which is ready to ‘return’ and give strength to budding life.” Their ceremony is called “Soyal.” It lasts for 20 days and includes “prayerstick making, purification, rituals and a concluding rabbit hunt, feast and blessing…”

Find more ancient and pagan winter celebrations that fell on winter solstice (i.e. Dec the 25th): http://www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice.htm

You see, the real Christmas (Jesus’ b’day) is NOT on Dec 25. The winter celebration is simply a winter celebration that has been observed by cultures for ions and called so many names.

A Lie

The commonly celebrated Christmas is a lie. There is no Christian church with a tradition that Jesus was really born on December 25th.

In fact, many of the most popular Christmas customs – including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents, merrymaking, and Santa Claus – are modern incarnations of pagan rituals.

It is a known fact that as religions rise and spread in the lands they adopt mythology, stories and traditions of the lands thus changing the core of such religions. This is another topic that we shall leave for a different time.

On to Our Modern Day (Main Stream) Christmas

Similarly to Scandinavians and Romans, in our modern day, Christmas has also been adopted and altered, this time it was adopted by Capitalism. Now it is a Holiday for all, as long as you can BUY STUFF you deserve to celebrate Christmas. In other words, You the consumer will buy from retailers on Christmas. It is a consumer holiday, the holiday of the mighty dollar.

Losing the Reason for the Season

Many Christians complain that the real meaning of Christmas has been forgotten and they urge people to remember the ‘Reason for the Season’. The irony here is that, the reason for the season is NOT.

Jesus’ birth was Not in winter it was in the spring.

Thus, the real season is the Spring and the real reason was to spread Christianity by adopting and re-forming pagan traditions.

If anything, Christmas in its most original and basic form was (and thus is) a pagan holiday.

More Lies & Hypocrisy

Santa clause is one lie that we all try and convince our kids to believe. I still do not understand one’s motivation for making such a lie. perhaps because I never beleived these lies even as a kid?

I did not care much for Santa clause or gifts when I was 7 years old; I still don’t. It sickens me how Christmas is commercialized, not because it dilutes the real reason for the season, but because it is wasteful and in so many ways more pagan than anything Christian or remotely spiritual, responsible or enlightened.

Main stream Christmas is 100% material and 0% Spiritual. It stands against everything Jesus taught.

Buy Buy Buy

Buying ‘crap’ [made in China] is yet another cultural norm that is widely accepted by people without much thought and then forced on the rest of us who feel no desire to celebrate by buying.

Any enlightened being will see this. I am not trying to dampen your joy or mess up your tradition.

Family Event

In fact, Christmas is a welcomed family event, especially that it falls in the winter when most of us are not so thrilled about the weather. Christmas as I see it is a time to be with loved ones, to reflect on the past, to anticipate the summer, to appreciate what you have, and to celebrate winter solstice.

One should not blindly follow mainstream x-mas traditions and you should remain aware of the real x-mas by knowing the history behind our modern day Christmas. One should do all one can to not get suckered into the buying frenzy. If you have to  buy gifts look for local, American made, and less pulluting gift options.

Claim It

Claim Christmas and take it back, customize it to align with your own beliefs. Finally, speak out, seeing a lie but remaining silent makes you an accomplice in that lie.

Traditions can be good, they can be better if they are informed and ethically responsible.

The Real Reason for the Season

Make it a Spiritual One

Now that you know the truth behind Christmas, feel free to celebrate it, just remember the real history, and make Christmas special to YOU. Do not follow the crowds blindly. Celebrate the holidays, celebrate winter solstice, and celebrate in a spiritual and meaningful way that is unique, special, personal and non shopaholic.

Gifts Are Bad

My last comment here is about Gifts. Gifts are a luxury that people, like you, take for granted. I urge you to please take a minute and meditate on gifts.

Why do you buy them? What do you gain? What does the person receiving the gift gain? Finally, what is the collateral damage of every person buying and giving gifts?

If you want to show love to someone, spending time together in nature, next to a fire place, or even taking a simple walk can be more precious than any gift money can buy. Writing a letter from the heart means much more than a gift. There are so many things you could do without buying a gift that will be more environmentally, socially and spiritually responsible.

Gifts Are Forgotten

Look back 10 years / look back to your childhood, do you remember your gifts? Who gave them to you? I know I don’t.

What is it that you remember the most? Is it the people? the event? the gathering? the fun? the location? You remember all of these but NOT the gift.

I am not anti capitalism. I am against soulless, brainless consumerism.

Capitalizing

People will capitalize on every special occasion, from weddings, birthdays, valentines day, graduation, to funerals. In other words, if you can spend money there will be someone out there who will make sure to convince you that you MUST spend money. You must spend to be loved. While the real truth is that we seek real love, real love is manifested in companionship and time spent together NOT in money and material gifts.

This is my humble opinion, you may disagree, but then I think that one day when you reach certain levels of awareness my words will ring true in your ears.

BE FREE

This article is here to help you be free from the mind control and lies that so many want you to live. Be free to be the individual that you are, make up intelligent decisions and live life fully in a spiritual and REAL way, un-apologetically. Do not be a mindless shopper just shopping when asked to and when others demand that you do.

Don’t Agree With Me

That’s fine, just think about this last aspect of Christmas and tell me how you could disagree

Christmas Is Harmful To Nature

Boxes, gift wrapping, gas for shipping gifts from china to the US, from the US to the mall, from them mall to your house, or USPS. Wasted energy, pollution and trash that can ALL be avoided. Driven by the desire to make money people will package things, ship them, waste and waste ans waste. When our goal is to sell products we tend to neglect the environmental impact that we set off.

The sad part is that all of this is not necessary, your rights or obligations to buy gifts and celebrate events are a luxury; they are neither rights not obligations.

If you have kids, don’t indoctrinate them into cultural norms. Don’t teach them their right to own everything they want because that IS not a right, it is only reckless, mindless, selfish and uninformed behavior that will ultimately harm your kids. Teach them their rights to live free and their responsibility to be informed.

Shopathon is a much more appropriate name for our modern day Winter Solstice or Christmas

Your comments are most welcome.

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You Are Annoying, Yes You Are!

Have you ever realized that every person is annoying to someone? You may have many people that love the dirt that you walk on and hold you in high regard, but it also follows that there are people out there that find you annoying, and thus dislike you.

To all of you who loose sleep over being popular or being liked by others, I say Quit It!  Just be who you are because there is no point in trying to be liked by everyone, it is simply impossible.

Rather than living your life trying to be liked by others how about stopping for a sec to ask yourself if YOU like yourself? Are you annoyed by who you are, who you’ve become, who others want you to be?

Yes you are annoying to others, and there is nothing you can do to change that. As long as you are not annoying to people that you deeply care for / live with you and as long as you are not harming others, you should be just fine

Ultimately, as long as you are happy with who you are, that is all that matters. You get closer to being whole when you are well and when you are aware of and understand who you are. With this awareness you also see how seeking others’ approval and admiration is absolutely a waste of energy and time and is not the way to live your life.

It’s The Journey, Not The Destination That Matters

I was listening to an interview with Eckhard Tolle a few days ago. He mentioned something very simple that, while I knew, I did not practice. He talked about living in the moment, appreciating the present and recognizing that when we seek goals we may be missing on the more satisfying journeys.

Many of us, including myself, are goal oriented individuals. We hop from goal to another and operate our daily lives driven by goals or destinations. When you are like me, it is not unusual to never appreciate where you’ve been or enjoy what you’ve done. When you reach your goal you feel satisfaction and pride, but this doesn’t last long because all you want now is to move on to the next goal.

Seeking goals may get you far in life, but at the same time you risk not being aware of the majority of your life since most of youe life is actually comprised of journeys that you decided to take. Eckhard’s view is that the journey is important, perhaps more important than the destination. My personal view is that both are important, because the journey is part of the quest, part of the destination; they are the “one experience”.

Your life is full of journeys, and destinations. There are some destinations one may never reach, take ‘wholeness’ for example, optimum intelligence, perfection, or even enlightenment. This does not mean that we cannot pursue these goals and partake these journeys; in reality we do seek these unattainable goals. Even if all your goals in life are achievable, most of your life will be journeying. Thus we should use our journeys to enrich and add value to our lives.

I leave you with this question to ponder: Is life all about the journeys, not the goals?

Enlightened Vs. Indoctrinated Humans

Think about this:

“Enlightened humans will recognize the truth when it is presented to them, fully indoctrinated humans will first deny, then look for reasons to doubt.”

Something I read somewhere on March 2008.

I add: “Humans seeking enlightenment seek the truth with an open mind.”

It is worth it being OPEN MINDED !

Intelligent Life Exists

Something I wrote back in 2007:

Intelligent life exists in the universe, as well on Earth; sometimes I’m not so sure about the latter.