When is the next bus coming?: Looking to reality to tell us about reality

It's been a long time. Indeed, recent circumstances have made it difficult for me to keep up blogging with the regularity I would like. I have to apologise to those who have over the years looked forward to reading my blogposts. I appreciate and will always be grateful for your support and I will be looking to make up for my inactivity over recent months in the weeks to come.

I am happy to report that since my last post at the end of March, I have successfully defended my doctoral thesis looking at the development of renewable energy in the Caribbean. That brought to an end the piece of work that I have dedicated myself to over the last five years and it was certainly exciting as well as a great relief to complete that journey.

At the same time I have had to go through a significant life challenge. One that I hope to write about someday, but that someday is not today.

A break from blogging has not in any way meant that I have had a break from thinking. I have kept up my activism through the weekly ' Freethinking Island' podcast where I continue to be inspired by the great guests that we have had coming through. I was part of a demonstration in support of the atheist Bangladeshi bloggers here in Calgary and I have taken part in a Pathway River Cleanup with fellow atheists that produced a very unlikely reunion with Shanon. When I last saw her four years ago she was a fundamentalist Christian that would not even walk to the other side of the room unless Jesus told her.  I once played music with her every week in a church group as we led worship. Since that time, unknown to each other we both took our separate journeys away from faith.  Now we are both playing on the side of the atheists and are quite sure we have finally chosen the correct team.

Yes, there was much to think about in the last few months, but it is a challenge when you've been away from writing a bit and need to just pick that one idea to blog about to get you back into the groove. I was thinking about all of this today while waiting for a bus in the rain. On days like today in Calgary, any wait for public transportation seems like an eternity and while it's not as bad as being in -30 in January, it's still definitely in the uncomfortable category.

Fortunately in today's world, at least in Canada, you don't have to be left guessing about bus arrivals too much as there is a 'Teleride' phone number you can call that gives you a relatively accurate idea of how long you have to wait.  Well, this morning as I took up my phone to call the automated number, I saw the trademark white with red and blue stripes of Calgary Transit in the distance and I knew my bus was on its way. Once I spotted it, I hung up the phone and put it safely in my pocket. No need for any info now, the bus was here. All I needed was to wait for it to stop and get on.

What happened this morning was nothing unusual. I have experienced this many times. You go to make the call and then you don't need to because you have your answer right there in front of you. Seems quite straightforward, but I realized today that for many in faith, looking for answers is far from being as simple as that.

For them, direct observation of the thing they are trying to find out about is not where they go to first to find out about that thing. No, their trust is more in the thing that talks about reality than reality itself. It sounds crazy, but that is exactly how it is with fundamentalist Christians. In their worldview the bible is more real than even the reality of which it is purported to speak to. When you give the thing that maps to reality greater credence than reality, you end up with absurdity. Imagine if I took a leaf out of the fundamentalists' book when I was at the bus-stop today.

I could easily reason that 'Teleride' was the true source of knowledge  for all bus behaviour. Honestly, it is generally accurate and if you put your trust in what it says, you will get where you want to on time at least 80% of the time. I can vouch for this from personal experience and others I am sure can testify. So at least in terms of ability to 'prophesy' arrivals of buses, 'Teleride' has a track record. The book that the fundamentalists carry around has pointed to an 'arrival' for centuries now but neither the 'holy train' nor the luxury coach on the highway to heaven has made a stop to pick up all the eager passengers. So, from my perspective, having faith in my 'Teleride' is at least just as rational as putting faith in their bible.

So today if I was in fundamentalist mode, I should have continued to listen to the machine and get the info on the arrival times even though the bus was right in front of my nose. I should have understood that the position of the bus depended solely on where 'Teleride' said it was and it could only arrive when 'Teleride' said it would arrive. So if the automated voice said ' #72 will arrive in five minutes' I would be forced to wave on the driver of the apparent # 72. I would have to call the bus 'apparent' because it just could not be real. It would have to be a fake, the driver the equivalent of a false prophet, sent to lure unsuspecting passengers on board, taking them on a road trip to hell. I should have stood waving my cellphone wildly, scaring all the passengers climbing on board, by explaining that only 'Teleride' could answer that question that all users of public transportation since the beginning of time have wanted to know. "When is the next bus coming?"

The Prophecy of 'Teleride' revealed 

If you think that trying to rationalise away the bus that doesn't conform to the 'Teleride' prophecy is ridiculous, think again. The 'fake bus' theory is not without precedence in history. One driver told me about an incident one night when an angry passenger actually drove off one of the buses when the driver had got off momentarily. It is not uncommon here in the city for drivers to leave buses idling as they slip out for a quick smoke, toilet break or coffee when they are a couple minutes ahead of schedule. Apparently on one occasion a passenger just drove off the vehicle and it took them a couple of hours to track down this 'rogue' bus. So it can happen and has happened. Why could it not be that this morning's bus was one of those? False buses, false drivers, false passengers, I am sure I could dig up or fabricate some 'Calgary Transit' pamphlets that could be interpreted in a way that speaks to their existence. I could scoff at the public for being so gullible to believe that every bus driver sincerely has a desire to lead them to the correct destination.

I can hear atheists laughing even as I am writing this, in considering life in a world where the gospel according to 'Teleride' held sway. At the same time, I can imagine my religious friends shaking their heads vigorously.  They would  admonish me for using a poor analogy, for making the same mistakes all atheists make, by thinking that Christians just rely on the bible. They will no doubt tell me that their belief is based on direct experience too. Direct experience with Jesus, who they have a personal relationship with. They will let me know that they are as sure of their Jesus as I was of the existence of the #72 this morning.

But there is one big problem with a claim like this. Many people that have been hanging around their bus- stop for years have never seen this driver nor his bus. Some report seeing a bus, but it is entirely different. Maybe driven by Mohammad, Shiva or Abraham. I have even heard of a young driver called Joseph who has a sleek vehicle with gold plated license plates. I would have to question Christians as to why only people with a particular cultural and religion conditioning see the 'Jesus bus' and want to get on.

One thing about the 'Calgary Transit' buses is that they are accessible to everyone. It doesn't matter the culture, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation or  level of ability or disability. Everyone can get on, but moreover everyone acknowledges when buses arrive at the bus stop. Sometimes people rush on, other times people enter circumspectly, waiting for the driver confirmation. Some get on and then get off smartly when they realise the bus is not the one they want and some just wave the bus away entirely. Everyone acknowledges or reacts to the bus in some way or the other. So even as there is no doubt about the existence of the buses, there is passenger free will as commuters can hop on and off the buses as they see fit or 'motion' them to go on if they are not interested.

Infallible until it fails

It's hilarious to think of how much religionists skew the nature of reality right before their eyes by trying to make it fit with a book that they consider to be an infallible guide. I personally have never understood this concept of infallibility. To me there are two categories of things. Those which have failed in the past and those that haven't been seen to fail as yet. To make the leap from something you have not seen fail yet to assume that it would never fail is mind boggling. But that is what happens in the mind of the fundamentalist.

' He never fail me yet, He never fail me yet, my Jesus never fail me yet!'

This is a favourite chorus in the Caribbean. Presumably that line is evidence that Jesus will never fail them in the future either. Well, my heart has never failed me yet, but does that justify me believing that it will never give out? A thing only needs to fail once and that is when infallibility becomes null and void.

So, no matter how accurate your book has been in the past, if it doesn't conform to the reality it purports to describe you have to go with what reality says and conclude that the book was wrong this time. Any authority can be wrong once. If you catch a bus every morning for ten years and it s never late, you can rely on it. But if one morning the bus doesn't show up you can't argue that it 'has to be there' because it has never been late before. If the bus is not there, it's not there. Doesn't matter what has happened before in history, what the statistics suggest or what is prescribed in a schedule. Reality is still reality and if you have the direct evidence available that's what should always win out.

I had the pleasure of chatting with world renowned physicist Lawrence Krauss last year when he came to Calgary and one thing he said is that if you want to find out what the universe is like you go out there and look at it. A simple message but one so often overlooked. No amount of philosophical musings and 'what ifs' can substitute for going out and making a direct measurement.

When creationists go out of their way to make the universe 6,000 years old to fit with their book rather than the 14 billion that we have been able to accurately measure through various scientific methods, they are doing just like the person who pretends that buses in Calgary are only able to behave in accordance with the word of 'Teleride.' They are like the person who maintains that only 'Teleride' can answer the ultimate question. 'When is the next bus coming?'

Creationists are like  conspiracy theorists that say that all the buses, drivers, passengers and even the bus stops are fake. A God who provides that much fake evidence would be a prankster not worthy of following, far less worshipping. That God would be as silly as a public transit company that put 'dummy' buses on the road just to fool passengers.

When is the next blog coming?

Well, I suppose the only remaining question for readers today for me is, ' When is the next blog coming?'

I won't do like the divine writer in the sky and just say I write in mysterious ways and bloggers' 'time' is different from readers' 'time'. I'll try to return to some kind of earrhly schedule. Those of you that take buses regularly know that sometimes when you have a long wait for a bus, two come in close succession. I am trusting that what is true for the bus will turn out to be true for this blog as well.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed the return ride today! 

God is so much like the Chinook

We've had a rough time in terms of weather conditions here in Calgary in the last few weeks. Many days have been like the one in the picture on the right. I took this photo at a nearby bus station, an evening when I could barely feel the camera in my hands. That day was bitterly cold. One of those days where no amount of protective clothing seems to be enough. For my Caribbean friends, YES, that is a MINUS sign in front of that number 22. In recent days it has been the continuous snowfall that has created the challenge to pedestrians and drivers alike.

Some may be surprised to learn that, in between it all there have been moments of warmer weather that feel more like spring or early fall. The reason for these radical change in temperature? It's the Chinook winds. These winds that come into this area from the west are formed as cool air rises over the Rocky Mountains. When they descend on our side they become warmer, creating dramatic temperature increases during the course of a day. This can sometimes melt as much as one foot of snow in just a few hours.

Apart from the warming the Chinook brings there is also a spectacular visual effect in the sky known as the "Chinook Arch." The clouds form an arc with the pale blue sky underneath and a hint of yellow sunlight refracting from the edges. I know many atheists will cringe to hear this, but when I walked outside my house in the depth of winter and experienced the full effect of a Chinook for the first time it was almost a spiritual experience.The view was something like the photo below.






We human beings have something of a fetish over arcs. Perhaps it's the upbringing so many of us have had in Christianity. Arches, arcs and arks are so popular in the bible. Whether its the one that carried two of every animal or the one that was being carried when it slipped and caused a rather unfortunate death. Then there is the rainbow that everyone loves, the promise of God. In contemporary times rainbows continue to fascinate us. Who can forget that viral youtube video from last year where a guy almost had an orgasm when he saw " a double rainbow all the way round." But that day of the Chinook, when I looked up in the sky it was church that came into my mind. I remembered a visit I made to St.Paul's Cathedral in London where the arches are such a beautiful part of the architecture. It was then I started to realise that when it comes to churches and the Chinooks there are so many similarities.

Perhaps the reason I was so excited to experience the Chinook was that I had heard so much about it from the time I landed here. "Don't worry about the cold winters." people would tell me.
"We have this thing called the Chinook that will come and warm you when you least expect it." In Calgary everybody talks about the Chinook, it is an integral part of the culture. There is even a popular mall here carrying the name. In spite of all the talk, during the first year I was here we had no Chinooks and I started to wonder if the whole thing was just a myth, a figment of the Calgarian imagination. Alas, in my second winter the promised salvation came. It came in all its glory right after the depth of a - 35 day. I felt like screaming out to the heavens,
"Praise the Lord!" It wouldn't have taken much more for me to fall on my knees in "Road to Damascus" style and pay the Chinook homage.

Later that year I returned to Barbados and told my friends there of my experiences in Canada. Naturally, I told them about the Chinook. I told them that the winters were cold but this Chinook was a life saver and there were few things in life I had experienced that were more amazing. My friends were intrigued. " Tell us more about this Chinook!" they implored. I gladly went on. "Well it's like this, it's the middle of winter, it's -30 and then magically this wind blows in and we get up to ten degrees Celsius in about half an hour!"

I waited for my friends' response. An exclamation of "Wow!" or " Fantastic" or "That's incredible!" Shockingly, there was nothing. I just got blank faces staring back at me. It's like they were still waiting for me to deliver the punchline. Then suddenly someone burst out laughing " Ten degrees, you think ten degrees is warm? HAHA!" So I continued, "Well there are times when it can even get up to 20 degrees Celsius in the middle of January." Surely that would now impress them. But no, even more laughter ensued. "Oooh, 20 degrees that's so so hot." one of them said sarcastically. I felt a bit embarrassed and slightly upset. How dare they make fun of my experience. They had no right to mock me. If only they went to Calgary with me then they would understand.

I thought for a few minutes and then I started to laugh at myself. Of course the Chinook would be unimpressive to a West Indian. Hey, 24 degrees Celsius counts as a cold day down in the islands. A few years ago I would probably have been the one leading the mockery. It is exactly the same thing when a christian tries to convert a lifelong atheist. When he tells the atheist he should become christian and go to church to experience the love of Christ he is like the new Canadian telling someone from the Caribbean they should go and live in Calgary to experience the salvation of the Chinook.

The Christian just like the new Canadian does not realise that the emigration has changed his reference point. He forgets that when he entered the church his self esteem was reduced to a depth just as low as the temperatures in an Alberta winter. He is taught that he is nothing, worthless, not deserving of anything the world has to offer, he is a hopeless sinner, a wretch in need of saving. As painful as this new reality in Christianity seems at first, the new convert is taught that all is not lost. If he holds on in faith and waits on Jesus Christ, deliverance will come. Then one day with the help of friends and family that great awakening arrives. He feels his confidence rising and a thrill that comes with the recognition that "Yes, I am something after all!" Something, only because of the love, mercy and power of Jesus. With that thrilling moment of faith there is a feeling of empowerment that drives evangelism, because the new Christian can stand up and proclaim, " I have had a personal experience of the saving power of my Lord Jesus Christ."

That's the thing about it. Humans are very emotionally responsive to sudden upward movements. It is the change in state, the "delta T" rather than the absolute value "T" that really matters.We feel great when we think we have a last minute escape from a disaster even if we end up worse off than where we started. It is why God is praised for saving one foot of a surviving passenger in a car accident when the life of the driver has been lost. It is also why we thank God when we were told we were going to be fired but the next day the boss has a change of heart and let's up keep or job with half the pay.

I have to accept that no matter how many pictures I send with Calgarians dancing in shorts during a Chinook; how many testimonies I have from those visiting Calgary from Edmonton or Siberia, my Caribbean friends are not going to be convinced to come here to experience this phenomenon. Ten degrees is still ten degrees no matter how you try to spin it. Caribbean people are not close minded or dogmatic for saying "no thanks" and remaining firmly at home. If there is no point in going to live in cold Calgary just to feel the Chinook, there is no point subjecting yourself to the cross just to get a crown less valuable than the hat you wear now. Neither the experience of Calvary nor Calgary is required to lead a fulfilling life.

So, the obvious next question is," Why have I left my Caribbean paradise to subject myself to this bitterly cold land?" That my friends is truly a mystery, one every bit as unsolvable as those that God throws out at us everyday.