October 2012
1 post
10 tags
A guest blogger wrote of Religious Freedom Day in yesterday’s Washington Post. I’ve taken the liberty of rewriting the opening paragraph to reflect reality.
The original:
Across the globe, religion and belief continue to matter deeply in the lives of people and their cultures. From worship to prayer, births to funerals, weddings to holy days, almsgiving to thanksgiving, religion is...
September 2012
1 post
Anonymous asked: who writes
August 2012
4 posts
7 tags
I recently ran across a horrible indoctrinational operation targeting children at a local county fair. I had seen their booth over the last few years and just laughed at the mime skits they were using to talk about the accept-Jesus-or-burn-in-hell threat implicit in Christian teaching.
But I always figured it was a local church just a little more whack than the normal evangelical efforts of your...
The bumper sticker “I don’t believe the liberal media” is, in reality, a giant flashing billboard shouting “I am the ‘sucker born every minute’ you hear so much about.” You have to give credit to the Murdoch’s and Koch’s of the world for herding these helpless folk into a steerable glob of brainless protoplasm.
4 tags
TSA accused of racial profiling. So?
http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?pageType=general&catid=57491583&feed_id=999&videofeed=999
As Sam Harris has argued it’s a waste of time to target the general population rather than those whose race and religion (Arabic and Islamic) are most correlated with violence. Our homeland security policies are another example of cultural relativism gone bad.
Putin, in reference to Pussy Riot, speaks truth about Islam saying if they had performed in a mosque there would have been not even enough time to make an arrest.
The obvious implication that Muslims take their game of invisible hater so seriously they think they can kill anyone who breaks their train of delusional thought. Islam-Join or Die™
...
July 2012
2 posts
Carl Sagan - Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term.
One of the criteria for national leadership should therefore be a talent for understanding, encouraging, and making constructive use of vigorous criticism.
6 tags
Washington Post Refers to Sex with a 12 year-old...
In an article posted on July 9th, the Post discusses on the front page the phenomenon of the marriage of underage girls in Niger but never refers to the act as child rape. The article refers only obliquely to Islamic traditions as the source of the crazy notions at the base of this problem, but there it is for any willing to read and understand.
I frequently take note of the Post’s use of...
June 2012
4 posts
10 tags
The war of words is lost again, this time the Catholics winning. In an @AP news item the opening sentence reads:
“Sharpening an election-year confrontation over religious freedom and government health insurance rules…”
When the AP refers to the “other side’s” position in exactly the way they want it framed, even though it is patently wrong, it demonstrates...
Response to my question to Billy Graham Crusades
Dear Evan,
Thank you for visiting PeaceWithGod.net, and for your interest in knowing more about Jesus and his love for you. We want you to know that we have received your message and will reply to it as soon as possible.
We also have materials available online, through the links noted below, and I encourage you to visit them as well.
May God bless you!
Yours in the love of Christ,
...
4 tags
Growing up in the home of fundamentalist Christians left many painful marks on my psyche, but the fabric of religion wasn’t without its funny patches. On Sunday mornings, while we were all getting into our Sunday best, me putting Greasy Kid Stuff in my hair to create the perfect wave in my hair to match Dad’s, the radio was always tuned to a gospel program on a local AM radio station.
...
Pribble Takes on de Botton's Latest Book →
May 2012
6 posts
7 tags
Contemporaneous Accounts of Jesus?
I’ve been challenged on my assertion that there are no contemporaneous accounts of Jesus’ existence. The proof offered was Cornelius Tacitus and Josephus. I’m not a history expert, but here’s what I find:
Cornelius lived from 56 C.E. to 117 C.E., instantly disqualifying him from this challenge, but I’ll give a quick summary of what I see.
Here is the...
10 tags
330 schoolgirls & teachers poisoned in 1 month in Afghanistan. #Islam keeps giving & giving. Or is that taking & taking lives & liberties from women. As described in Jonathan Turley’s article, Islamic men work to close schools that dare teach girls and women and, failing that, work to disfigure or kill them.
Interesting then, the comparison with the US religious right and...
10 tags
I’m having trouble with this article in Religious Dispatches, by Austin Dacey, representative to the United Nations for the International Humanist and Ethical Union and author of “The Future of Blasphemy: Speaking of the Sacred in an Age of Human Rights.”
In it he uses the plight of one Alexander Aan, imprisoned in Indonesia for the crime of “inciting hatred or enmity of a...
10 tags
I’m having trouble with this article in Religious Dispatches, by Austin Dacey, representative to the United Nations for the International Humanist and Ethical Union and author of “The Future of Blasphemy: Speaking of the Sacred in an Age of Human Rights.”
In it he uses the plight of one Alexander Aan, imprisoned in Indonesia for the crime of “inciting hatred or enmity of a...
8 tags
I’m first on the wagon to keep #sharia from being used here in the US and everywhere. But it seems to me to be a tricky strategy to go exclusively after sharia. When I think of sharia I think of it in terms of not just the worst options like beheadings, stonings, honor killings and loss of limb but the more insidious things like all the subjection of women to second class status. But what...
8 tags
“The essence of science is that it is always willing to abandon a given idea, however fundamental it may seem to be, for a better one; the essence of theology is that it holds its truths to be eternal and immutable.” H.L. Mencken
April 2012
3 posts
9 tags
Today’s WashPost A1 headline is “The Two Faces of Freedom.” It’s about the state of Islam since Arab Spring and like the cultural relativist rag that it is, it buries the lede. The very last sentences of the article quote one of the persons interviewed for the article:
“Every Muslim will reach our phase and be like us,” he says. “Our duty is to convert...
8 tags
Beautiful Hitch Quote
“In order to be a Christian you have to believe that, for 98,000 years our species suffered and died. Most of our children died in childbirth. Most people having a life expectancy of about 25…Famine, war, struggle…suffering, misery. All of that for 98,000 years and heaven watches it with complete indifference. And then, 2,000 years ago, thinks, “that’s enough of that” it’s time to...
4 tags
http://www.france24.com/en/20120414-zahra-lari-ice-... →
Isn’t this a charming story of a muslim ice skater? Is it fair to call children who are raised religious and still practice it as blinded by Stockholm Syndrome? “We are in a cult that insists you not go out with your head uncovered and really, your father thinks you’re a whore going out there and showing off in front of all those men.”
Religion is anti-humanist and...
March 2012
5 posts
Atheists are often charged with blasphemy, but it is a crime they cannot commit…When the Atheist examines, denounces, or satirizes the gods, he is not dealing with persons but ideas. He is incapable of insulting god, for he does not admit the existence of any such being. #ReasonRally
Men have had the vanity to pretend that the whole creation was made for them, whilst in reality the whole creation doesn’t suspect their existence - Camille Flammarion #ReasonRally
Catholicism dropping in developed world, increasing in developing & third world. See the correlation? AP News As the world becomes more educated and sees humanism as the best path forward we abandon religion. Meanwhile, religion, being the business that they really are, work to expand into new markets, where the consumers are not aware that they are being presented with a faulty product.
I watched the movie “The Third Jihad” and the recent follow-up “Anatomy of a Smear” and don’t find any problems with it. It frankly shows what extremist Islamists are about. Keep in mind that whenever we refer to a religious person as an “extremist” we are sadly referring to those that most closely follow their holy book.
Watch the movie and see what you...
8 tags
Atheists have something in common with the extreme right wing, though we come at it from diametrically opposed starting points. Today we are presented with the curious case of Pam Geller, who came out in support of Rush Limbaugh in his battle to survive the fallout from his attacks on Sandra Fluke. Geller’s no friend of liberalism or much of a humanist and she’d surely fight back if...
February 2012
5 posts
Richard Cohen is Correct, Saudi Arabia Should Be...
It should be atheistic. Norway stands as one of the least religious countries and, unsurprisingly, as one of the most peaceful, socially harmonious.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/hamza-kashgari-is-a-test-for-saudi-arabia/2012/02/20/gIQAuNL8PR_story.html
There’s a lesson here for anyone who participates in a religion, which, to varying degrees, is the root of so many...
9 tags
What has SCOTUS previously decided that may inform...
In a post from today, lawyer Jonathan Turley discusses past cases that shed light on how the court may view a case brought by religious folk saying that they cannot be forced to accommodate use of contraceptives.
In discussing Employment Division v. Smith (1990) Scalia, writing for the 6-3 majority says “the incidental effect of a generally applicable and otherwise valid provision, the...
Philip Larkin - "Church Going" →
Hitchens references this poem as one that captures his sentiments regarding churches.
11 tags
@Douthoughts Ross, you think that just because someone holds an opinion, they have a right that it be enforced?
You quote a poll saying that a combined 58% of Americans are of the opinion that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances or in only a few circumstances.
Combined with another stat you quote, 329,445 annual abortions, you are suggesting that 58% of the people want to jump into...
12 tags
@State_We_re_In Yes, oppression does stem from Islam, as it does from all the Abrahamic faiths. You are making a common error in assessment in which you conclude that those who don’t practice the complete set of instructions in any given “holy” book are somehow a great example of how a religion can be expressed. This error is seen in assessing the practice of Islam, Christianity...
January 2012
20 posts
tumblrbot asked: WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?
11 tags
Hellish Dreams of Hell
I just bought, and cannot wait to have delivered, a book titled “Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment”, by Janet Heimlich. I expect to see a fair amount of my background in this book, having been raised by fundamentalist, evangelical parents.
Ms. Preach and I were talking last night about my involvement in the freethought, atheistic and humanistic causes. She was...
7 tags
When Did The Wall Go Up?
I flew in to Southern California before Winter Solstice/Christmas to see my Dad, who this week had a heart valve repair. The operation is one of the first of its kind here, using a robotic machine that avoids the invasive sawing of the sternum, instead going in under his left arm somehow or another. I guess I’ll get the full story when I see him for the first time Sunday morning. The good news is...
6 tags
Hitchens' Prescient Quote of Primo Levi
In the introduction to The Portable Atheist Hitch has two quotes from Primo Levi. This one, so relevant to Hitchens’ death, is from The Drowned and the Saved:
“I too entered the Lager as a nonbeliever, and as a nonbeliever I was liberated and have lived to this day. Actually, the experience of the Lager with its frightful iniquity confirmed me in my nonbelief. It has prevented me, and still...
9 tags
Belief Tragically Facilitates a Suicide
A story in today’s New York Times (Dec. 10, 2011) describes the sad choice of a promising young man to end his own life. The story has become a sensation in the debate over the Dream Act, but everyone seems to be ignoring an underlying condition that distorted the reality of his options.
Joaquin Luna Jr.’s death at the age of 18 came after dressing up in a maroon shirt and tie and laying next to...
8 tags
For Angelique
Angelique,
Atheists are some of the most loving, humanistic folk on the face of the planet. Many of us, including me, came from religious backgrounds.
We share a common skepticism about religious claims. We simply don’t see the proof of god. There just isn’t any.
From there we see the tremendous damage done to humanity in the name of religion. This can be attributed to almost every religion, be it...
11 tags
Catholics are dicks about wrapped up dicks
The Catholic church unsurprisingly continues to fight proposed rules by Health and Human Services to make free contraceptive services available to all persons as part of their insurance plans.
It’s not enough for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (but too much for humanistic persons) that only churches would enjoy an exemption. Other organizations such as hospitals, schools and clinics would...
11 tags
An Open Letter to Billboard Co That Denyed Atheist...
Ms. Siegenthaler,
Please reconsider the decison of Lind to not post the billboards for the Mid-Ohio Atheists. I’m not sure what you think an atheist is, but I’ll tell you anyway; It’s merely someone who does not see the evidence for a supernatural being. Perhaps you’d like to post some bible verses instead? How about these:
Deuteronomy 17:12 - The man who shows contempt for the judge or...
9 tags
Religion in my kid's school
Well, it is a religion-intensive season, but I am still put out by what the kid brought home from school today. It has put my brain into a fit of cognitive dissonance. There was a Thanksgiving program which incorporated two religious songs.
The first was The Prayer, by Carol Bayer Sager and David Foster and the second was Shalom Chaverim. Neither is over the top with Jesus or hell or any of the...
9 tags
Variable Views on Religious Strictures Do Not...
One of the themes of atheistic thought is that among the signs that god is a construct of man, one of the strongest is that there is such an incredible variability between, not just different religions, but within each religion, as to what god demands of man.
A casual reading of the day’s news points out examples of the varying views. Look at Sunni vs Shiite and Judaism vs Palestinian views for...
6 tags
Conscience? Catholics?
Belmont Abbey College says their free speech rights are being trampled by HHS rules that contraceptive care must be provided under proposed new rules. They complain “the legislation does not treat religious groups neutrally and ‘runs roughshod’ over the college’s beliefs, forcing it to either violate them or pay significant penalties.”
Actually, it does treat them neutrally - they have to follow...
9 tags
Breaking Children's Spirits in God's Name
Why on earth someone would need to treat a child like this is beyond me. I was raised by a fundamentalist father who used a folded leather belt across my ass until I was in my teens. Needless to say I was deep into my 20s before I could show him any real respect. I needed a lot of distance.
9 tags
A priest's view of Penn State
Original Post Date 11/16/2011
This priest has a pretty clear-eyed view of the comparison between church and Penn State.
9 tags
Catholics & Republicans Livid over HHS Decision to...
Original Post Date 11/16/2011
The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded contracts for providing assistance to victims of human trafficking to three new groups, leaving the previous vendor, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, behind. Now, after complaints by the church and the USCCB more than 30 Republican lawmakers have charged that the HHS decision was religion-based...
5 tags
Sh*t My Fundie Dad Say
Original Post Date11/16/2011
My fundie Dad, who I love ever so much in spite of all the usual painful inflictions of God’s will upon my psyche and body, sent an email with this to me a couple days ago: WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN WHEN WE PRAY? This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen and is so true: I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side...
8 tags
The Milquetoast Response
Note: Moved from a different blog site. Original Post Date 10/29/2010
A very good friend is in town for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. She works for an organization dedicated to the decriminalization of marijuana.
In the course of our conversation about Prop 19 and other efforts around the country to bring sanity to how we treat users of weed I got onto the subject of the religious...
10 tags
Obama’s Speech at Indonesian Mosque
Note: Moved from a different blog site. Original Post Date 11/09/2010
Today’s Washington Post has a story about members of ADAMS (All Dulles Area Muslim Society) waiting to hear what President Obama will say in a scheduled speech at Indonesia’s largest mosque.
The ADAMS group, according to WaPo, is one of the largest mosques in the U.S., with more than 5,000 families worshiping in a 25,000...
8 tags
Hand Touch Freaks Out Indonesian Information...
Note: Moved from a different blog site. Original Post Date 11/09/2010
According to a report in the AP, Indonesian Minister of Information Tifatul Sembiring is crying ‘she forced me to do it’ in response to a video showing him shaking hands with First Lady Michelle Obama.
The problem for him is that he touts his conservative Muslim values, which prevent him from casual touching of females not...
6 tags
How the left stole christmas? Whaaa?
Note: Moved from a different blog site - Original Post Date 12/15/2010
Lincoln Institute for Public Opinion Research chairman and CEO Lowman S. Henry was a guest columnist in the Pottstown Mercury on Monday. He took the opportunity to complain (whine, really) that nobody is treating Xians nicely in this season, which they own. Unsurprisingly, the Lincoln Institute is interested in only one...
