Category Archives: 中文

Music Inspired by Richard Dawkins

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

Richard Dawkins is a great man. From the first book of his I picked up, River Out of Eden, to the last one I read, The Greatest Shown on Earth, I’ve never ceased to be amazed by how his passion of biology and his talent at articulating the grandeur of nature ooze out of every single page.

Dawkins is the person who helped me find my atheistic voices in the vocabulary of evolutionary biology. And for that I’ve dedicated many work of art to the great man. For instance, The Lost Cause was wholly inspired by the dozen of books on evolution penned by the man that I’ve read. Similarly, I have written Wikipedia articles on some of his books, such as River Out of Eden and The Ancestor’s Tale, to help guide those who are still searching for their voices.

Here, however, I collect music I have written that are inspired by Dawkins’ work.
Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Being a Wikipedian, Composition, 無神論, Evolution, 進化論, Free Sheet Music, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Human Evolution by Germline Engineering is a Result of Natural Selection on Memes

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

(2015-10-13) I wrote this essay in 2014 as part of the Coursera course on “Human Evolution: Past and Future” by Professor John Hawks. Presumably a number of essays would be selected and published in a book. But that final selection … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, 進化論, 論文, Science | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Review of 50 Voices of Disbelief – Why We Are Atheists

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

50 Voices of Disbelief – Why We Are Atheists
Edited by Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk
Book Review by Fred Hsu

Sometimes mistakes have a way of helping me expand my perspective.

A long time ago, I listened to a short essay by a presumably great magician on NPR’s “This I Believe” program. Unlike other essays read on this program, this one was a belief on the non-existence of something. It was titled “This I believe: I believe there is no God.” The essay brought me to tears, as it beautifully expressed my beliefs in exactly the way I could not.

A month ago I ran across a delightful blog entry titled “Imagine No Religion.” I said to myself, “what a well-written little essay for a blog!” It nicely captured essential arguments against organized religions. Then it stripped away from religious leaders their self-bestowed authority to prescribe moral truths.

No sooner had I looked at the footer of this page than I discovered that it was one of 50 essays from the book “50 Voices of Disbelief,” reposted with permission from the author of the essay, Edgar Dahl, and the publishers. I followed the link on the page to Amazon. Normally I would have stopped there, thinking that I could always get this book later when I had free time. But I spotted the name James (The Amazing) Randi on the list of essayists. I put two and two together, and bought this book, for surely it included Randi’s great essay I’d heard on NPR.
Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, 無神論, 論文, Science | Leave a comment

Pastor Billy Graham’s Nightmare

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

(Translated by stillwaters in 2006 from 葛理翰牧師的夢魘)

Billy Graham is a retired pastor. He served God all his life and is considered amongst the most faithful of God’s servants. There are even people who say he is the most successful preacher in American history, and that when he dies and goes to heaven, he will surely share a table with Martin Luther of the Reformation, partaking in the glory of God and His son Jesus. But all this to a Parkinson’s patient who is in his last days seems to bear no more importance now. Billy nowadays often sits in a rocking chair in his backyard, idly staring at the withering lilies. He only wants to live a few more months, to enjoy the glory of Cuban cigars some more.

This day, Billy is sitting as usual and finds himself zoning out. But then the thunder roars, and he sees the skies open, and there is the spirit of God, descending like a dove, but after but an instant, it spirals down as an eagle. No, more like a giant ball, falling from the sky. At the same time, Billy hears a voice from the sky, saying, “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased…” And another cloud appears before him, sweeping him into the giant ball. Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Science, Short Stories, 以科學方法讀新約 | Leave a comment

Introduction to Evolution

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

March 2009 Movies as the Only Source of Education for the Public: 1.      In Ninja Turtles, four turtles and a rat were exposed to liquid mutagen, turning them human size with ability to speak. Impossible. 2.      Hulk: physicist was exposed … Continue reading →

Posted in 無神論, Evolution, 進化論, 論文 | Leave a comment

The Lost Cause

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

The Lost Cause A Parable of the Stuff of Life During the minute it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive; others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear; others are being slowly … Continue reading →

Posted in 無神論, 短篇小說, Evolution, 進化論, Science, Short Stories | Leave a comment

The Blessed One

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

The Blessed One June 11, 2007 Messengers of the Blessed One rarely make appearances in the heaven these days. Elders in my clan like to speak of the time when His messengers roamed the heaven and the glory of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 無神論, 短篇小說, Short Stories | Leave a comment

劇

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

劇
〈一九九二年七月十七日登於世界日報〉

夕陽以17.3度斜射於病人的床前，窗外楓樹在被單上勾畫出一片陰影，溫柔地撫過老人乾扁充滿皺紋的雙手。

「唉，公元2073年的夕陽和1955年的沒有什麼兩樣嘛。」

老人安穩的仰臥在床上，雙眼直鄧著天花板，像是要洞察房外的世界，那搖遠而不可及的宇宙。

時間到了，人人必經的最後一段路終於在面前攤開來，老人回想這一生中的經歷，大部分像在履行誓約似地扮演了另一個人的腳色，自己活了多久也不知該如何計算。 Continue reading →

Posted in 短篇小說, 中文 | 1 Comment

葛理翰牧師的夢魘

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

葛理翰牧師的夢魘 作者: 許瑞源 2003 Translated by stillwaters in 2006 to English as Pastor Billy Graham’s Nightmare. 比利‧葛理翰是位退休的牧師，他一生事奉上帝，被認為是上帝最忠實的僕人。更有人說他是美國歷史上最有成就的傳道人，將來死了上天堂，必定要與宗教改革家馬丁路德同桌，分享上帝及上帝兒子耶穌的榮耀。然而這些對一個末期巴金森患者來說，似乎已經一點都不重要了。現在的比利經常坐在後院裡的搖椅上，呆望著對面幾枝凋謝中的百合花。他只想多活幾個月，多享受一點古巴雪茄的榮耀。 這天比利坐著坐著似乎就出神了，傾時雷聲大作，他看見天開了，有上帝的靈，彷彿鴿子一般降下。但只一霎時就像老鷹一般地盤旋直下。不，更像一顆巨大的圓球，由天邊一下子飄落下來。比利同時聽見天上有聲音說，「這是我的愛僕，我所喜悅的…」又有一朵彩雲出現在他面前，接他進入巨球之中。 比利回首往院子看了最後一眼，卻發現自己的身體還坐在搖椅上。他記得聖經中被接上天的先知，包括摩西及以利亞，都是肉身升天的，而自己這樣子看來好像只是靈魂出竅，是以前所不曾聽說過的。不過想到聖靈要如何作工應是人所不能參透的，比利就釋然了，終身養成的習慣讓他知道應如何完全接受神的旨意。

Posted in 無神論, 短篇小說, 論文, 中文 | Tagged , | 2 Comments

以科學方法讀新約馬太

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

筆者人生前十八年可說是在教會裡長大，一大本聖經卻也沒怎麼認真地去研讀。有天拿起來仔細研究，卻發現從前在教會團契裡所謂的「查經」，原來只是大家圍個圓圈，胡天墜地亂扯一番，如此而已，從此成為無神論人。但要再過了十年，遍讀生物學裡的進化論書籍後，才能講明白為何「神」是個多餘的概念。2003年在翻了翻新約，有感而發，寫了篇「葛理翰牧師的夢魘」來表達個人對新約的認知。 子曰：「四十而不惑」。以下筆者嘗試用科學方法再一次閱讀新約聖經，將每一本書、每一章、每一節都記錄下來，當成可引證用的證據，主要在探討耶穌三年的傳教生涯中，到底是說了些什麼道理。再將這些零碎的資料整合，嘗試找出所謂基督教的「基要真理」。每一個基要真理都要站立在穩固的證據上，從注釋裡都能回朔至原始資料。 讀四福音書時，當記得除了馬可福音可能在西元70年前寫成，其他三本書都是在羅馬人撲滅66AD發起的猶太革命後寫的。當時耶路撒冷的聖殿被毀滅，猶太人被屠殺，存活下來的被強迫四散世界各地，耶穌門徒所在的耶路撒冷教會也被消滅了。福音書裡講到耶穌在30AD預言聖殿被外邦人毀滅、信徒受逼迫、末日將有征戰等，讀時應該回想作者身處的時代大背景，更要注意收讀書信的各信徒團體在教義認知上之不同。 新約聖經的寫作過程中，由各作者收編口傳歷史，再加進當地當時的基督教義，不免會有所矛盾之處。以下第一個表格呈現整合過的各基要真理，每個基要真理是個別的單體，與其他基要真理可能相補相容，也可能有所衝突。內容有關、要理相容的編列入共同的條目。而各條目依可能互相矛盾的大主題分類。第二個表格按章照節，列出基本資料，以茲查詢。

Posted in 無神論, 中文, 以科學方法讀新約 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment