Frequently Asked Questions.

What is the nature of the universe?

Everything that exists consists in a pattern of value. Everything that exists can be understood as being on one or more of four qualitatively different levels of existence: physical, biological, social, and intellectual.

There is dynamic activity in the universe rather than there being absolute stillness. Static patterns provide a foundation for all of the dynamic activity in the universe. Through the playing off of static patterns and dynamic action there is evolution.

Evolution takes place, not only on the biological level as is popularly understood, but on all four levels of existence.

What's with the index cards?

If you have seen me on campus, you probably have noticed that I carry around a lot of index cards. I don't use 8.5x11 paper unless I absolutely have to. I use index cards for almost all of my day to day information. At home I have over 16,000 at last estimate. Periodically I go through a recent stack of "unassimilated" cards, and put them into categories. You can get a sense of what I'm doing by reading "Lila" by Robert Pirsig. In it the author describes a similar system.

This church thing is a joke right?

Absolutely not.

When I make a claim that appeals to aesthetics, morality, love, emotion and any other values which may derive from unique human mystical experiences, I really am the only legitimate authority. It would disrespect my own humanity to turn any such authority over to any other being, much less a nonrational being.

In the case of questions on which no answer can ever be known, I am responsible for the answer I operate on in my life.

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?

Abolutely not. Jesus Christ was an apocolypicist. Apocolypticism is the belief that the world will come to an end in one's own lifetime. The world did not come to an end, as believed, so the apostles shifted the focus of their organization. How could "the son of god" be so wrong?

If you are against organized religion, then why did you form the Church of Greg Bard?

This is the avenue that the law has provided to exercise the freedom necessary to accomodating spiritual beliefs. It is my belief that spiritual values are unique to the individual human. So therefore six billion religions of one member each is the only moral religion. I would advise anyone participating in an organized religion to believe whatever you want, but DON'T GIVE THEM ANY MONEY.

So what's it like to get shot?

I was shot in the back of my shoulder by a 12 gauge sawed-off shotgun from about 6 to ten feet away. Fortunately, the gun was loaded with birdshot, which resulted in a much lower amount of damage than you might expect. From the moment of getting shot all the way through the recovery, I can't say that I felt any very acute pain. For the most part it was a severe discomfort. At the moment it happened, I was thinking similarly to a person who has had a plate of food spilled on them. (i.e. this was going to be a cleanup issue for the next half hour...a big inconvenience, etc.)

Why genealogy?

I am very much into record keeping, and archiving, in general. However, I have been interested in the subject since my youth. I was amazed to see the volume of information about it on the internet.

Are all those genealogical records accurate?

No. Historical records are only as reliable as the source. I have tried to include the source for everything, but not every fact reported has a source listed. In those cases I have presented my best judgement on what the facts are based on the evidence. In the case of the French Canadian, and Italian records there is a very good level of credibility. In the case of the royal bloodlines, there is a much reduced level of credibilty because of the political ramifications of the data. In the case of the mythological and biblical, there is very little credibility at all. However, my lineage to Charlemagne is supported by documentation at every generation.

What is your philosophy?

Some of the isms to which I subscribe are nontheism, nonconsequentialism, humanism, anti-fascism, coherentism, democratic-socialism, populism, and civil-libertarianism