Happy Thanksgiving from Freethunk

This makes a good point

Musn't give them time to think!

Keeping the flock herded together is what it’s all about in fundamentalist religions, because exposure to anything different, or anything that allows or even encourages time to clear the mind (meditation and relaxation) threatens the weak beliefs they have been taught to maintain. It’s interesting that the most “devout” are the most fearful of losing their beliefs at the influence of others. And so what does that say about their god/gods?

Malaysia Muslim council under fire for banning yoga

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – One of Malaysia’s highest Islamic bodies was under fire Sunday after its chairman said yoga was forbidden for Muslims because the practice would weaken religious faith.

Devotees of yoga and moderate Muslim groups criticised the ruling by Abdul Shukor Husin, chairman of the government-backed National Fatwa Council. Yoga is hugely popular in mostly-Muslim Malaysia.

“I don’t think it had caused any Muslim to convert to Hinduism, neither has it weakened their faith,” said Norhayati Kaprawi, an official with Sisters of Islam, a private group which champions the rights of Muslim women.

“It is just an exercise like tai chi, which has its roots in Buddism,” she told the Sunday Star newspaper. She said her group’s staff had been holding yoga classes for the past year and that they would continue.

Rulings by the Fatwa Council are not legally binding on the country’s Muslims, and there are no laws to punish those who ignore Council decisions — but it is an enormously influential body.

Abdul Shukor decreed that yoga was forbidden because it involves the recitation of mantras and that it encourages a union with God that is considered blasphemy in Islam.

“The practice will erode their faith in the religion,” he said on Saturday. “It does not conform with Islam.”

With religion, there can be no peace

Pope: Dialogue among religions should be pursued

VATICAN CITY – Jewish and Muslim leaders on Monday cautiously praised recent remarks by Pope Benedict XVI, who said that dialogue among faiths should be pursued even though it is impossible on strictly religious issues. [my emphasis of Pope's very own words]

*snip*

The pontiff has often discussed the theme of dialogue among religions and has worked for the improvement of interfaith relations.

But this improvement they talk of only goes so far as saying “howdy” and maybe being polite with each other. It’s all nice for them to talk about “interfaith dialogue” but they admit right up front that their dialogue can only go so far. While they all worship the same imaginary friend, the God of Abraham, their own firm beliefs about this god will keep them divided forever.

“Faiths cannot hold dialogue beyond a certain point because there are insurmountable limits,” Di Segni told The Associated Press on Monday. “This is a limit to all religious dialogue: It’s not like a political negotiation where I give you this and that and we make peace. It’s not like we give up dogmas.”

And there you have it. They come right out and admit it. And as long as they cling to their dogmas, there can never be peace as long as religion exists because each group believes they are the true chosen ones of the gods they imagine to be their very own.

Missionary "sees the light" in Amazon jungle

This is an uplifting story I found in the Chicago SunTimes online edition. It should happen more often.

Missionary went to change tribe, but they changed him
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter aherrmann@suntimes.com

The mission assigned to Daniel Everett after he graduated from Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute was to change the lives of members of a tiny tribe in the Amazonian rain forest.

It was, however, Everett who was changed.

Everett, along with his wife and three children, were met in the rain forest by the Piraha people of central Brazil — a primitive culture which has no words for numbers or colors and no concept of war or personal property. They live in the present.

For a missionary like Everett, then 26, that last part proved a stumbling block as he tried to find the language to talk about Jesus and an afterlife to people who never talk about the past nor the future.

In the end, Everett, now a linguistics professor at Illinois State University, abandoned his own religious faith, a tale he tells in his new book, Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes (Pantheon, $26.95).

“I had preached the evidence of Christianity could be seen in the lives of the believers,” Everett said Tuesday. “Then I realized, these people, were, if anything, more secure, happier.”

Oh, if only more self-righteous, intrusive god botherers would “see the light” and leave the innocent alone.

“The Piraha don’t feel poor — they feel satisfied and that’s the basis of their happiness,” said Everett. “If they start to feel a lack in their own culture, a need for western goods, that will be a very destructive force in their lives.”

Religious Right Power in Washington Greatly Diminished?

Americans United for Separation of Church and State says it is. However, liberals are going to need to pay more attention to politics at the state and local levels where the Religious Right may still hold much influence:
Watchdog Group’s Election Analysis Suggests Religious Right May Target State And Local Government For Next Advances

The Religious Right’s access to power in Washington, D.C., has been seriously diminished, but its divisive influence at the state and local level remains deeply problematic, according to an election analysis by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“Religious Right forces did everything in their power to demonize Barack Obama and maintain their influence in the White House,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “but it didn’t work. The majority of white evangelicals voted predictably Republican, but most other Americans ignored the Religious Right’s shrill and partisan message.”

*snip*

Lynn, however, said he deplores the Religious Right’s continuing baleful influence at the state and local level. The movement engineered anti-gay measures and restrictions on reproductive rights onto many state ballots.

*snip*

Lynn said the Religious Right is likely to increase its activity at the state and local level, now that advances in Washington will be harder to obtain.

“The Religious Right is not dead,” concluded Lynn, “but I’m happy that most Americans seem very wary of the movement’s reckless merger of religion and politics. Those of us who value church-state separation must remain on the alert to counter the Religious Right’s next gambit.”

I am guilty of not paying as much attention as I should to politics at our local and state levels. Most of the time the flyers and things we get hanging on the door knob or in the mail don’t even say what party the candidate is affiliated with. I think it’s important that we pay as much attention to the local level candidates beliefs and where they stand on issues as we do for the presidential candidates, maybe even moreso.

Boy whose relgious parents battled hospital dies

This is such a sad story of a 12-year-old boy who lost his battle with brain cancer. When I read the headline above I figured it was another crazy Christian family withholding medical treatments from their child while just relying on their faith, and “God’s will”. But this story is totally opposite and involves an Orthodox Jewish family. The parents had been fighting to keep their son alive via a ventilator despite him being declared brain dead and that his bodily functions had ceased. The only thing a ventilator was doing was keeping his lungs working, but the parents demanded that the machine not be turned off.

NEW YORK – A 12-year-old New York boy with brain cancer has died after his family battled a hospital to keep him on a ventilator.

The lawyer for the Orthodox Jewish family says Motl Brody’s bodily functions ceased Saturday. A machine had continued to work his lungs after he was pronounced dead Nov. 4 at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The boy had already been declared brain dead, but some adherents of Jewish religious law say death occurs only when the heart and lungs stop functioning.

The family had asked a judge to prevent further tests for brain activity. The hospital argued that its “scarce resources” were being used “for the preservation of a deceased body.”

This is an odd twist, in their extreme heartbreak, of treating a machine of medical science as some sort of god. Because no god comes to comfort. No god comes to save the children. No gods come.

UN is discussing a global ban on blasphemy?

Here is something Geoff of Stupid Git Says So brought to our attention This is appalling the way the Saudis are ever so sly in how they are wording their UN proposal to criminalize blasphemy against religion (making it sound as if they want respect for other religions they will not even allow to exist in their own nation), and I can see where this is going to go if they get their way.

(Geoff, I hope you won’t mind if I copy and paste parts of your blog post here?)

Is God a Pussy? By Stupid Git

[SG]Apparently the creator of all has a fragile ego and his followers are out to protect their delicate deity:

“Saudi King Abdullah is quietly enlisting the [UN] leaders’ support for a global law to punish blasphemy - a campaign championed by the 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference that puts the rights of religions ahead of individual liberties. If the campaign succeeds, states that presume to speak in the name of religion will be able to crush religious freedom not only in their own country, but abroad.”

Discussions touched upon a number of hot issues including … Prophet Muhammad lampooning cartoons …

More:

[SG]Lest we blame this all on the barbarian mindset of Theocratic Islam, we in the “enlightened” West should look in the mirror. A few highlights:

• Offensive Jesus remark cut from Emmy show
• Danish paper rejected Jesus cartoons
• Everyone’s favorite - the supposed War on Christmas! To that I say, “Merry Horusmas!”

I can see where this is all going, and the Christian fundies will all say it’s meant to be, (the coming of the End of Times). If global blasphemy laws are initiated at the UN, then what next? It won’t end there because Islam and Christianity each believe that the other is wrong, and must be defeated for the glory of their imaginary friends. How sad that the end of civilization may eventually be brought on my silly ancient superstition and ignorance and the desire to dominate.

There is no evidence for this "other world" people. There is no evidence of this glorious afterlife with golden mansions and riches and all bowing to the feet of their god 24/7 if you are a Christian, or making it with 72 virgins in some afterlife porno fantasy if you are fundie Muslim.

It's mind boggling with all the scientific discoveries and advances that have been made to make our lives easier that so many people still cling to superstitious fantasy, even it if involves blowing up the entire planet.

(Thanks Geoff!)

God needs your money

During the past couple of months, I have written a few posts on bigot, Pastor Mondo Gonzales, whose rants against gays and atheists are allowed to be featured in the Pastor’s Corner of our local community newspaper. Along with Mondo, other church leaders take their turns and most are benign “Gob is with you” sort of fluffy messages for the general public to read. But the fundamentalists never fail to provide material for a post.

This time I focus on Pastor Jeff Robinson of the Lincolnway Christian Church just up the road from me. The title of his Pastor’s Corner message is Being ‘Unshakable’ in shaky economic times

God never intended us to build our lives on money. Money is to be managed wisely. But, money makes a lousy foundation on which to build one’s life. Even if you manage your money wisely, economic forces outside your control can shake you to the bone. A major sickness or injury, a job loss, or uncertain financial times can financially devastate all but the very wealthy. Building your life on a financial foundation is unwise.

You are leaving out a very important point, Pastor Jeff . . . People cannot pay doctor bills after a major sickness without money. People cannot rebuild after a natural disaster without money. Physically, people cannot be “saved” without help from other humans. People’s property cannot be replaced without insurance policies paid for with money. People cannot buy a home unless they save their money for it or establish a mortgage loan. People cannot replace their property, or recover from illnesses or injury without other people and charity and financial institutions because no god comes.

Lincolway Christian Church was once located on a busy corner of our town, where two big streets intersect, and also where developers are paying big bucks for residents and existing small businesses and churches to move elsewhere so they can build their strip malls and banks, etc. In the past, Lincolnway Christian Church always boasted about how God blessed them to be on such a busy corner where many people would notice them and come in to “fellowship” with them. As businesses built up around them, and the persistent offers of cash for their land, the big final money offer must have been just too tempting to turn away from. They called it “God’s will” that they sold their church for a huge sum, and they used all that money to build a large modern facility for all of their country club church activities. The new church sits on a large plot of land of many acres, away from heavy traffic and surrounded by farmland and ranches. In our area, it had to cost them a fortune for that plot (of which they pay no taxes and the rest of us watch our mortgage payments rise as taxes go up and up). The money they spent on a fancy meeting place, which stands empty much of the time, could have been used to help all those people they are praying for week after week to no avail. Money can help where prayer and their god cannot. Money could definitely help those in need in the Will County region and beyond.

In his article, Pastor Jeff writes,

“Jesus tells through a story that there is only one sure foundation. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash,”

To build a house on rock or sand costs money. If one has a lot of money, they can well afford to build their house of stone on a foundation of rock. But there are those in the world who have less money and can only afford to build their modest home on a lesser foundation.

One question I would love to ask these pastors when they preach about money from the pulpits of quite comfortable and even elaborate temples is “Why does Jesus need your money?”

Why the need to beg for money, often using guilt as a tool to swindle as much as they can from the pockets of hard-working people? Why do they need money from an all-powerful creator who they say provides everything?

Every church tells it’s members every Sunday morning when they pass the plate that Jesus is the all-powerful creator of the universe and everything in it, he will answer all of your prayers, but he has no money. Many people I know often complain about that. That the church passes the collection plate at every gathering, begging people for their offerings, saying how Jesus needs their money to help others, and no one ever speaks up about it. They receive their pledge sheets in the mail on a regular basis and feel compelled to budget part of their income and pledge that amount to a God who is supposed to be the creator and provider of everything.

Here’s a little message I found at Why Won’t God Heal Amputees that should be sent to every church pastor or those who find themselves in a church for whatever reason to stick in the offering plate instead of money:

“Hello. My name is Jesus, and I am God. I am the all-powerful creator of the universe. I created everything that you see before you — the galaxies and stars in the heavens; the oceans, the mountains and the plains of earth; the sun and the moon and the skies; along with every living thing on the planet. I created you personally, and I gave you your unique soul. I created everything!

Everything of value on earth I created. I buried thousands of tons of gold in mines around the planet. I placed billions of gallons of oil under the sands in the Middle East. I created the millions of carets of diamonds being mined in South Africa.

And I will answer your prayers. Pray to me for anything and I will hear and answer your prayers. I say it in dozens of places in the Bible, but I like the way I say it in Mark 11:24 the best: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Anything you need — money, love, happiness, you name it — I am here to provide it for you.

Now, there is just one thing I need in return. I need your money. I need lots of your money. The Bible specifies that you send me ten percent of your gross income, but think of that as a starting point. Feel free to give more! When they pass the offering plate at church, be sure to give generously!

Because even though I created the universe and everything in it, and even though I will give you everything you ask for in prayer, I can’t give a cent to any church, ever.

So, please give generously at your place of worship today! I thank you for your support!”

Two Black Holes Dancing in 3C 75

click on image to enlargeNASA / CXC / D.Hudson, T.Reiprich et al. (AIfA); NRAO / VLA/ NRL

Explanation: What's happening at the center of active galaxy 3C 75? The two bright sources at the center of this composite x-ray (blue)/ radio (pink) image are co-orbiting supermassive black holes powering the giant radio source 3C 75. Surrounded by multimillion degree x-ray emitting gas, and blasting out jets of relativistic particles the supermassive black holes are separated by 25,000 light-years. At the cores of two merging galaxies in the Abell 400 galaxy cluster they are some 300 million light-years away. Astronomers conclude that these two supermassive black holes are bound together by gravity in a binary system in part because the jets' consistent swept back appearance is most likely due to their common motion as they speed through the hot cluster gas at 1200 kilometers per second. Such spectacular cosmic mergers are thought to be common in crowded galaxy cluster environments in the distant universe. In their final stages the mergers are expected to be intense sources of gravitational waves.

The Cosmic Web of the Tarantula Nebula

click on image to enlargeCredit & Copyright: Joseph Brimacombe

Explanation: First cataloged as a star, 30 Doradus is actually an immense star forming region in nearby galaxy The Large Magellanic Cloud. The region's spidery appearance is responsible for its popular name, the Tarantula nebula, except that this tarantula is about 1,000 light-years across, and 180,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado. If the Tarantula nebula were at the distance of the Orion Nebula (1,500 light-years), the nearest stellar nursery to Earth, it would appear to cover about 30 degrees (60 full moons) on the sky. The spindly arms of the Tarantula nebula surround NGC 2070, a star cluster that contains some of the brightest, most massive stars known. Intriguing details of the nebula are visible in this scientifically-colored image. The cosmic Tarantula also lies near the site of the closest recent supernova.

Recuperating without Jeezus...

Most of you probably wonder if I am still around, so am making a little post to say that I have had surgery in September to repair a torn ankle tendon, and then while struggling to get around in a walking boot I blew out what was left of my L5 disc and also L4 in my spine so had to have spinal fusion for L5-S1 and L4-L5 on November 3rd. I will spare you the in-between stuff because every day it was the same pain, pain meds and ER visits. After a week spent in the hospital after the operation, I am now home waddling around with my old lady walker and working on recovering more as time goes by. It's difficult to sit here for too long so will try to find some short pieces to post for awhile until I feel more up to sitting here longer than five minutes. I hope to be posting something soon! Hang in there! Don't leave me!

When the going gets tough . . .

. . . people start beckoning to their imaginary friends in all cultures.

Hundreds in India pray for global economic recovery

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) – Hundreds of people gathered for a Hindu religious rite in a town in eastern India on Friday, seeking divine intervention into the global economic crisis as stocks plummeted worldwide, organisers said.

The rite was performed on the same day as the Indian rupee hit a record low of 50.15 per dollar, and the Indian share market dropped 11 percent to three-year lows.

More than three hundred people watched the rite being performed by 131 priests in a temple in the beach city of Puri in Orissa state.

The priests poured water into pots from a nearby pond and carried them out in a procession to the temple, shouting praises of Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth.

The priests burnt sandalwood and clarified butter, and offered flowers to the goddess while chanting hymns.

“The entire world is witnessing a financial crisis and Goddess Laxmi can only help us in this crucial situation,” Kumuda Ranjan Samantray, one of the organisers told Reuters.

The financial crisis was set off by a U.S. housing market collapse nearly 15 months ago.

Only fools believe . . .

. . . in zombie Jesus.

Mondo Gonzales is at it again, this time focusing on another group of people with his intolerant bigotry — atheists.

“Atheism is a faith”, says Mondo, which we know is totally false. He might be able to understand correctly what atheism is if he could step outside of his fundie bubble for five minutes and take the time to truly educate himself about atheism instead of simply inventing a meaning for himself from his own imagination.

Mondo, atheism = WITHOUT GOD. No god beliefs. And if you want to make the claim that there is a god, then it is you who must show us the proof of the existence of your god, without using your mythology book. Where is your verifiable evidence? I can say there is a pink unicorn buried in my back yard based on a storybook which was written about the pink unicorn, and you will tell me I am full of it. Millions of people believe in the various Hindu gods. You cannot prove that the Hindu gods do not exist, you cannot prove that Odin doesn’t exist, you cannot prove that Isis doesn’t exist, you cannot prove that Ra doesn’t exist. And all of these mythologies that were once religions have texts. Human beings have invented so many gods throughout the ages. So Mondo, based on your reasoning, all of these other gods and goddesses that people believe in must exist simply because no one can prove that they do not exist?

With his published ignorance, Pastor Mondo is showing just how little he understands science and theology. My neighbors and I just shake our heads after reading his little essays. (And shows us the lack of quality of this newspaper that prints such drivel.) It’s disturbing to see grown people in the year 2008 who are so incredibly ignorant in the field of science and with such a lacking of knowledge in the field of evolution. Fundamentalism such as Mondo’s is one of the bigger reasons why our country is so far behind the rest of the Western world in the fields of science and mathematics. Mondo, here is a site for you to read through concerning evolution.

Mondo’s latest tirade is simply is an attempt to justify his own worldview. Mondo’s worldview shows lack of tolerance of those who are different. I think we atheists are getting under Mondo’s skin by knowing that we just simply exist. And it is bothering the god believers immensely that there are more of us than they had realized and we are no longer staying silent in the shadows. But I think that it is a good thing that Mondo is bringing attention to the subject of atheism and drawing us into discourse and hopefully he is also bringing it up in his church sermons. There are many atheists in church pews who are encouraged to hear that so many others think as they do and may realize the fear tactics being used to control them.

Is Atheism a religion of faith?

The typical atheist “believes” somehow life evolved from non-living things (rocks, primordial soup, etc.). Yet let it be screamed from the rooftops, not a single scientist has ever produced life from non-life empirically or in any other way. The laws of science and probability all speak against this even being a possibility, most specifically for those who believe it happened randomly, with no intelligent input. Yet this is exactly what evolutionists want us to “believe” happened.

*snip*

The chemical steps that led to life on Earth remain a matter of intense speculation.” What’s the point? They have no proof, but instead will dismiss evidence a Creator is the only logical conclusion while staying committed to their “intense speculation.” That is why God calls them fools (Rom 1:22).

How many times do we have to tell these fools that atheism simply means lack of belief in the existence of any god, gods,goddesses. Period. We are not the delusional who believe that a 2,000 year old mythology book is real. Atheism is saying gods do not exist and requires no faith in anything. But it sure takes a whole lot of faith to believe that a god always existed, and took interest in a speck of a planet in the vastness of the universe, made his own little pets on this little speck of a planet for the sole egotistical purpose of worshiping him forever, and then plays games with these little pets if he doesn’t like how they use the “free will” so creates a son for himself to torture and kill in a most horrific way, only come back to life and float up into heaven. This Christian mythology is just as bizarre as any of the myths invented by humans to try to explain things they do not understand, or things they have no control over.

Mondo…science is based on a hypothesis, verifiable evidence and facts. Religion is based on faith and falls in the category of delusion theology. Mondo, you have zero evidence for the existence of your god, you have zero evidence that your god made a son for himself and turned him into a zombie and floated him up into some other dimension. Christianity is MYTHOLOGY. A mythology as bizarre as humans have ever invented. Jesus and God are figments of human imagination just as all the gods of other cultures around the world throughout time.

French president Sarkozy fights back against voodoo doll

If I were superstitious, I would swear that someone has a voodoo doll of me!

The president of France seems to be at least a wee bit superstitious since he is all in a tizzy threatening the publishing firm to pull the product from shelves or be subject to a lawsuit.

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to sue a publishing company unless it withdraws a Sarkozy doll that comes with a "voodoo manual" instructing readers to plant pins in it, his lawyer said Tuesday.

The doll is emblazoned with some of Sarkozy's most famous quotes such as "Get lost you pathetic arsehole" -- his words to a bystander who refused to shake his hand at a farm show last year. Readers are encouraged to plant pins in the quotes.

"Nicolas Sarkozy has instructed me to remind you that, whatever his status and fame, he has exclusive and absolute rights over his own image," lawyer Thierry Herzog wrote to publishers K&B in a letter published by newspaper Le Monde.

Confirming details to Reuters, Herzog said Sarkozy would sue the publishing firm if it didn't respond and pull the product. K&B has issued 20,000 copies of the manual and doll.

The company has also issued a Segolene Royal doll representing Sarkozy's rival in last year's presidential election. Her lawyer said she was also considering legal action.

Voodoo is a religion rooted in West Africa that is practiced in parts of the Caribbean, especially Haiti, and parts of the southern United States.

According to a widespread belief, voodoo worshipers can plant pins in dolls representing their enemies to curse them from afar. However, voodoo experts say the practice has been widely misunderstood and misrepresented by outsiders

'No God' slogans on city buses in London

Think we would succeed with this endeavor in Chicago, New York or any other big city in the USA?

Bendy-buses with the slogan “There’s probably no God” could soon be running on the streets of London.

The atheist posters are the idea of the British Humanist Association (BHA) and have been supported by prominent atheist Professor Richard Dawkins.

The BHA planned only to raise £5,500, which was to be matched by Professor Dawkins, but it has now raised more than £36,000 of its own accord.

It aims to have two sets of 30 buses carrying the signs for four weeks.

The complete slogan reads: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

Richard Dawkins states:

This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think - and thinking is anathema to religion

We have been seeing stories in the news here and there about the atheist billboards popping up around the country, thanks to groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation, but we need to do more to let other atheists know that they are not alone and to let them know and especially let the believers know that there are more of us non-believers than they realize.

More boo-hooing

In June 2007, Sony was forced to apologize when Anglicans boo-hooed about the video game “Resistance: Fall of Man” which featured a violent shootout inside a building that resembled an Anglican cathedral in Manchester, northern England. Anglican leaders demanded that the game be removed from store shelves, and Sony refused.

While we continue to hear stories from whiny religious folks about their delusions being offended, one of the latest complaints from some Muslim groups is that they find the background music in the eagerly anticipated “LittleBigPlanet” to be “offensive”. LittleBigPlanet was to be released yesterday but has been delayed as the game’s developer caved to the protests of the Muslim groups.

Videogame delayed over possible offense to Muslims

. . .” its release date has been put back after one of its background music tracks, a song by Mali-born artist Toumani Diabate, was found to have included expressions from the Koran, which could be interpreted as an offence to Muslims.”

Shit, the entire text of the Koran and Bible is offensive to many of us! The Koran and the Bible contain some of the most offensive literature ever published. Why aren’t we all out there protesting and demanding apologies and removal of these questionable texts from store shelves? Well, that answer is easy . . . the majority of we Americans believe in the freedom of speech and expression.

Religious folks complain about certain games, movies, and other forms of entertainment being offensive to them and instead of just not buying the product or choosing not to see a film they find objectionable, they want to censor these things for everyone. I find many films, games, magazines, etc to be offensive and I simply do not purchase those things or attend those films. It would be crazy for me to go around demanding that just because something offends me that it must be removed or changed to accommodate my sensitivities. But when the religious folks go around demanding things be removed or banned to accommodate their beliefs, god botherers are taken seriously, as the developers of LittleBigPlanet are taking their demands seriously.

According to a separate statement on the website of Media Molecule, the British-based developers of LittleBigPlanet, they were “shell-shocked and gutted” by the delay to the game’s release.

“We learnt… that there is a lyric in one of the licensed tracks which some people may find offensive, and which slipped through the usual screening processes,” the statement read.

“Obviously MM and Sony together took this very seriously. LBP should be enjoyable by all.”.

Now, how many “true believers” are going to be enjoying this game anyway, with or without the “offensive” background music? Why can’t these folks go find some hungry people to feed, some poverty to fight against, some wars to solve, some abused children to care for, etc?

As one commenter at GamesRadar said sarcastically, “what brave new world we live in.”

I'm here

Hello everyone!

I just want to let you know I am still here. I've been through some medical "challenges" in recent weeks with my ankle surgery, then before I was even out of the boot cast got TWO herniated discs and found out my lower spine is degenerating. Then night before last I got a gout attack in my left big toe. So, have a lame left foot, and my right foot is still need of therapy after surgery. I walk like CP3O!

I had an epidural steroid injection into my spine yesterday and all those magical prayers people were saying for me didn't work (we all know why now, don't we?) The procedure I had failed to alleviate my severe back and leg pain yet, and am still hoping it will kick in soon. I am so weary of having to rely on others to do things for me. My hubby has been great through all of this illness crap, but he can't keep missing work to drive me to the doctors and hospital...and doing all the errands and shopping. He is getting pretty tired out from it all.

I can't sit at my computer for more than a couple minutes at a time because of that. I have TWO herniated discs in my back and degeneration in the low spine. I am trying to figure out a way to blog that won't aggravate my symptoms. Laptop in bed didn't work. I will think of something . Can any of you who has back trouble give me some ideas as to how I can comfortably blog?

I hope to get something together to post real soon!

Magical forwards

have been struggling with more medical problems lately, hence the lack of written posts. Now that I have been having another bout of frustrating medical problems, the magical emails and messages have started to come and so I must do a little venting here.

Now that I have been having another bout of frustrating medical problems, the magical emails have started to come from a couple of my "devout believer" friends and family members. Apparently this god can do nothing without magical emails and special magical messages for everyone to be "touched" by this god, and in turn I am supposed to forward the magical email tIo others like some sort of Chinese telephone magical god game. This god never speaks for himself. And no one can explain how this god who never speaks for himself speaks individually to people. One on one. God talk always relies on other humans to "pass the word". God is inside human imagination, whatever the person imagines this god to be. Just like any other sort of fiction.

I wanted to badly to write back: “These touchy-feely emails are invented BY HUMANS, and passed around BY HUMANS, with a HUMAN MESSAGE. No one would even know about your religion if HUMANS didn’t go around talking about it -- all religions are alike in this way. Nothing happens without human intervention!” But I controlled myself like I always do because I do love and care about this person.

Now, back to sending religious fundie emails to sick people. . . What’s wrong with just sending a HUMAN message of concern? Why do people have to use a time people are sick to zero in to push their own version of this god crap? That is very disrespectful when the ones sending it know the beliefs of the person who they are sending it too, and doubly inconsiderate to send it at a time when we need HUMAN support and help, not some magical wishes about a magical being who I can never even believe in (and when those forwards raise blood pressure– not because of the message itself since we think it’s a bunch of hooey, but the idea of knowing why they are sending it…to try to get you while you are not feeling good. It’s very inconsiderate to take advantage of sick and injured people for one’s own selfish purposes of pushing their own personal beliefs.

I could send out atheist forwards to these people, but do not because I can let most of this crap slide. For one, I recognize that it is their right to believe however they want. But if I did send out emails telling them they need to get rid of the delusional beliefs, they would get all shitty about it and never speak to me again for dissing their delusion. Even when we try to tell them even nicely to keep their religion to themselves, it causes some of them to have an emotional meltdown, they cry, accuse me of hurting them for rejecting their silly god beliefs -- some even went so far as to shut me out of their lives. I don’t reject them, but I do reject the crap they are trying to sell me. There are millions of things to talk about, and I don't find a problem talking with most people about all kinds of things. But for the fundies, it always goes back to their own version of god beliefs. They cannot see that their beliefs are interfering with real living and relationships with others.

It’s all so unnecessary, this endless god peddling that drives a wedge between friends and family members. Most of my friends and family members believe in some version of god and yet only a few who find themselves to be more “holy” than anyone else and have “true beliefs” have the problem with respecting the beliefs or non-beliefs of others. It’s so very sad that religion also makes people change. While those people who have become more and more “devout” may say I have changed, it is not me. I have never believed in god or the Jesus zombie story unquestioningly even as a Christian. I did the church thing as a tradition when the kids were growing up, because it’s how I grew up in a country that is predominantly Christian. I now reject it, but I am still the same person that I have always been. I do not go around preaching atheism to family membes and friends. While I support atheist organizations and movements within the internet realm, and I have a blog, I rarely talk about my non-belief even when people make comments about their magical friend.

The ones who HAVE changed cannot see it. They cannot see how pious and self-righteous they appear to others. They cannot see that their religion is no different now than before. Lack of god belief isn’t causing the economic crisis, lack of god belief doesn’t cause medical problems, lack of god belief doesn’t cause misfortunes to happen. Non-believers bounce back from problems just like believers, because of human actions. Things usually get better in time if PEOPLE work to correct the problems. But if people don’t do somthing, no god comes. If people don’t go to have surgery, therapy, take medicine…no god comes. If people don’t work to pay their bills and manage their money intelligently, no god comes. If people build their house in low-lying flood areas, no god comes to stop the floodwaters when we get a freak rain. I wish the people who push their religion on others would actually stop and consider who is really in charge in their lives. THEY are.

Candidates as trains

Thanks to Andrea for this one!

Sarah Palin is Your Old Testament

Click on cartoon to enlarge





















Thanks to BigFatWhale.com

Presidential Debate Obama vs McCain piano DUEL

Take a little break from the serious crap for a little fun:

Palin debate flow chart

click on image to enlarge

Religious whackadoos in a panic

Looks like all the religious whackadoos are beefing up their scare tactics…the economic crisis is because we are turning away from god beliefs. Why would supposedly educated people resort to saying that all of our economic woes are because people aren't holy enough? It's because they know that religion has been very effective at controlling the masses, and now that more and more people are getting away from god beliefs and superstition, the ones in charge risk losing their power. So...resort to fear tactics. The things that Ahmadinejad has said about a global government led by Iran are disturbing and why nukes must be kept out of the hands of this maniac.

LINK: Ahmadinejad blames lack of piety for credit crunch

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday blamed a lack of attention to religion and God for the crisis in global financial markets.

“Their economy is collapsing… the reason for their defeat is that they have abandoned faith in God and piety,” Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in the northeastern city of Bojnurd.

The financial crisis is a sign that the domination of “international thieves” is over, he said, in comments following the same theme as a speech on Monday by Pope Benedict XVI.

The repercussions of the credit crunch are “evidence that God’s promise is being delivered, that tyrants and corrupt (people) should go and be replaced by the pious and believers,” he said.

“God willing, a global government of justice will be set up with the resistance of Iranian people as the flag-bearers (of the movement) led by Imam Mahdi.”

The president is a devotee of the Mahdi, the 12th imam of Shiite Islam, who Shiites believe disappeared more than 1,000 years ago and who will return one day to usher in a new era of peace and harmony.

Pope Benedict said the financial crisis sweeping the world proves the futility of craving success and money and urged instead that people base their lives on the word of God.

Those who seek “success, career or money are building (their lives) on sand,” Benedict told a synod of bishops at the Vatican.

NozzleRage: Attack of the Pump

"Getting hosed at the gas pump. Hilarious clip by the fabulous Zucker brothers."

Religious beliefs and OCD

Before I get started, Just want to make it clear that I am in no way dissing people who suffer with OCD. It can be devastating for those afflicted with it, but when studying both religion and OCD side-by-side, could it be that there is a connection somehow? Is religion a mental illness?

I was reading about OCD the other day and how so many of the symptoms are similar to religious beliefs and rituals. While the person knows what they are doing is illogical, they can't help themselves and keep doing it anyway, unable to stop because they must.

Comparisons between OCD and Religion

* Obsessions. These are unwanted thoughts, ideas, and impulses that you have again and again. They won't go away.

Like the church teaches that humans cannot stop "sinning" even in one's own thoughts?

They get in the way of your normal thoughts and cause anxiety or fear.

Must keep believing or something bad will happen, God will send punishment even if you aren't really doing anything or thinking anything bad.

o A fear of harm to yourself or a loved one.
o A driving need to do things perfectly or correctly.
o A fear of getting dirty or infected.

The fear that you must believe so that you won't harm yourself or others, desire for perfection that we can never obtain, but religion teaches that their magical sacrifice and resurrection of a zombie can bring that perfection, wash away the "dirt and infection". Week after week, day after day, hour after hour they keep trying to get "clean" but cannot. The rituals must be repeated because there is just no end to the "dirt".

* Compulsions. These are behaviors that you repeat to try to control the obsessions. Some people have behaviors that are rigid and structured, while others have very complex behaviors that change.

Just like religions and their rituals that are used to try to attain some special favors from supernatural beings in order to feel like something, someone is in control of things.

o Washing or checking that something has been done.
o Counting, often while doing another compulsive action, such as hand-washing.
o Repeating things or always moving items to keep them in perfect order.
o Hoarding.
o Praying.

We hear in churches about the "washing away of sins" and how Jesus can wash all our troubles and cares away...along with our evil sins.

I am not certain about how exactly the rosary works, but I know there is a repetition of numbers involved and counting...saying a number of "hail Mary's" after confession of doing something bad. Hoarding...not sure if I can think of one that fits this one, except hoarding people, getting more and more people for Jeeebus and God.

Praying...I don't need to go into detail about praying and the wishful thinking. This is listed as an OCD symptom though, and this must then pertain to all of these fools who flock to mass, church services, revivals, or whatever to pray their hearts out for some kind of control in their lives.

Religion should have a place in the DSM-IV

Master of the non-answer proves herself

H/T to vjack of Atheist Revolution for this find:

Nuclear, not nucular

One of my biggest pet peeves is to hear supposedly intelligent and educated people mispronounce simple words. After 8 years of listening to Dubya continually mispronounce this simple word, Palin's mispronunciation of "nuclear" is neither "cute" or "folksy". It shows a lack of knowledge of simple phonics. When in doubt, just sound it out. It's nu·cle·ar

\ˈnü-klē-ər, ˈnyü-, ÷-kyə-lər\

Another annoying mispronunciation is that of the name of the Iranian leader -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. McCain screwed it up by adding a k sound in the beginning and a few extra syllables that weren't supposed to be there (Achmadinejadadadad), then Palin screwed it up again last night the same way withe the k sound at the beginning. Then instead of pronouncing it properly, what does Biden do? He follows suit of the same mispronunciation as Palin. Doesn't anyone do their homework anymore? Is just skating by how we all function now?

Based on the advice of the BBC Persian Monitoring team,

mah-MOOD ah-mad-in-uh-ZHAAD

(-h is pronounced in 'Mahmoud' and in 'Ahmadinejad') ."

There is no "K" or "CH" sound in Ahmadinejad. (Edit: there is a very, very soft k sound in native speakers, but not the hard German "ACH" sound like Palin, McCain and Biden were using. I had never heard anyone say it like that before. )

It really isn't that hard to pronounce once you learn it. There are helpful dictionaries and other resources all over the internet. LINK There is no excuse, especially for highly elected officials to lack proper pronunciation of even the most complex words. They are either very lazy, or they are trying to sound stupid to the voters, which is insulting to the average educated person.

"A woman can run the White House, just not her own house."

Even though I grew up as a Lutheran, I spent a couple of my teenage years at a Southern Baptist church and heard the sermons about a woman should not rule over a man, women should be taking care of the home and family, leaving the larger issues to the men, and all that medieval baloney. And I heard this stuff recently when “evil liberal” Hillary was campaigning from female Southern Baptists I know that women should absolutely not be in positions of power. But now that a “god-fearing” religious Republican woman has come to be the nominee for VP of the U.S. they change their minds. All they know is that Palin loves Jeeezus. She talks the pretty talk they are used to hearing from their pulpits and that’s all they care about. They don’t care if she can or cannot protect them from terrorists. They do not care if she is inexperienced in national and international affairs. They do care only that she loves Jesus, is pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay and a hockey-mom with a great personality.

It’s all well and good that they finally approve of a woman to lead the nation and have power over male citizens, but too bad their beliefs are contradictory since Baptists believe women still must be subservient to their husbands. Palin’s religion, while allowing a woman to preach in the church and be pastors, they also believe like the Baptists that according to I Timothy 2:12 “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.”(NIV) and Eph. 5:23-32 “A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.” How do they reconcile these things when it comes to women being in powerful positions and their literal Biblical beliefs? How much influence do the husbands of these fundamentalist women have who reach high elected positions within our government?

From AP:

RALEIGH, N.C. - Within the nation's largest Protestant denomination, a woman may not lead a church or a home. But prominent Southern Baptists see nothing wrong with Sarah Palin serving as vice president — or perhaps even commander-in-chief someday.

In other words: A woman can run the White House, just not her own house.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain's selection of the Alaska governor as his running mate — the first female on the party's ticket in history — has thrilled conservative Christians. It also has led Southern Baptist congregations and seminary students to confront their beliefs about the role of women in leadership.

Interpreted from Scripture, the teachings on women are held close in thousands of Southern Baptist Convention churches where millions worship. Among them: "The office of pastor is limited to men," and a wife should "submit herself graciously" to her husband. Earlier this month, more than 100 Lifeway Christian Bookstores — a retail chain affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention — pulled from the shelves a magazine featuring five female pastors on the cover.

But when their wants and desires change, they change their interpretation, as usual.

Yet many in the denomination say the nation's second-highest leadership post is an apple to the pulpit's orange. Palin's potential work in a McCain administration — or even as president in the event of McCain's death — would be separate from her family life with her husband, Todd, and their children.

But there is no separating them since her husband and children are citizens of this country and Palin will be working for all Americans, male, female, young and old, and even her family members. She indeed has power over even her own husband. There is no way of separating that oath of office. One cannot say I am second commander-in-chief, or Commander-in-Chief over everyone but my husband. It doesn't work that way.

"There's no disconnect or inconsistency whatsoever," said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. "We don't go beyond where the New Testament goes. Public office is neither a church nor a marriage."

How convenient. That's not what they say when Hillary Clinton was running. When Hillary was running in the primaries and doing well, Baptists in my own family have said that they don't think a woman should be running for office. And now they condone it because the woman running happens to be a conservative fundamentalist Republican Christian? That is so typically hypocritical and inconsistent of them. There is indeed "disconnect and inconsistency" when you take an ancient mythology book and bend and shape it, change it's meaning to however you want like Christians of all denominations do all the time.

It's good to see more and more denominations re-interpreting their religious text and ending discrimination and oppression of women, but in this case I suspect it is merely a matter of changing those interpretations and rules to suit themselves in the political arena to get a conservative god believer in a position of power. And this goes to prove once again that god believers make up their "God's plan" according to their own agendas. They want it both ways, to control a woman in her home and church, but say it's okay for her to be in positions of great power over all men nationwide. Doesn't make sense.

It will be greater progress if they go even further and admit that their entire religious text is outdated and incompatible in these modern times, AND admit that a woman is in charge of her home, her family and is on equal status as her husband.