Taliban Bans All Images of Living Things

Posted on by

If there’s one thing that religious fundies love to do, it’s to ban things. Books, music, and television shows, you name it, they’ll forbid it. The most egregious of religious nutjobs come to you courtesy of Afghanistan, where the Taliban is busy making everyone’s life miserable. When they aren’t busy banning music, dancing, and anything that’s fun, it’s now on to the really important stuff: banning images of living things.

It’s all in the name, folks. “Tal-i-BAN” Banning things is in their DNA so bad, they just had to put it at the end of their names! In all seriousness, all of this would be hilariously stupid if it wasn’t so tragic.

Afghanistan’s Taliban morality ministry pledged on Monday to implement a law banning news media from publishing images of all living things, with journalists told the rule will be gradually enforced.

Now, you might be wondering how journalists would be able to report the news. Luckily, the Taliban has them covered:

They advised visual journalists to take photos from further away and film fewer events “to get in the habit”, a journalist who did not want to give his name for fear of reprisal told AFP.

You see? They just need to get in the habit of filming, and by extension reporting, fewer and fewer things, until all news is basically a feed from the local mosque. If there had ever been a more miserable and loveless government, I would love to hear it. This is medieval level of ignorance, and as is typical, this stupidity is brought to you by religion: Yes religion: still making the world a worst place since time immemorial.

The Faithful Who Stayed Behind In Florida

Posted on by

The dangers of climate change are real. Those who deny it typically do so because the inevitable conclusion, that we are responsible for our own fates, interferes with their unfounded conviction that a big man in the sky decides everything for them. There has always been a deep religious current in the anti-climate change movement. They believe their god loves them, and would never allow any harm to befall them for using something so convenient at petroleum.

Hurricane Milton, which has reached a category of hurricane reserved only for the apocalyptic variety, is on it’s way to Florida, and the government has asked everyone in the danger zones to evacuate. Most have complied. Those that haven’t have some spectacularly stupid reasons for doing so:

Sherry Hall and her family decided to stay in their house several blocks from the ocean, despite many of their neighbors leaving amid warnings of a storm surge up to 15ft…”I’m not saying that I’m not worried. I’m not worried about me or my husband, but when you have children you worry about them,” she said. “As far as life-threatening and all that, we have good faith in the Lord, and we hope and pray for everyone, not just us. Items can be replaced but life isn’t about things, it’s about people and keeping people safe.”

That’s some serious cognitive dissonance right there. This moronic woman thinks that life is precious, and needs safe-keeping, and yet she still chooses to put her kids in danger. They have an almost zero chance of survival, and there are plenty more tragedies like Sherry all around the coast. Florida, after all, is heavily religious, and that has all the hallmarks of a disaster in the making.

My prediction is that there will be many dead, and that the religious right will lay the blame on any progressive institution they can, while talking of the other side of their mouths how there is too much government interference into their lives. When your solution to all of life’s problems is “The Bible”, it’s pretty easy to be critical of everything else, isn’t it?

Drug-Fueled Night lead to death, arrest of Priest

Posted on by

It’s become a bit of a trope these days: a gay priest being caught in the act of coitus, and the ensuing scandal. What makes the case of 60 year old Father Bernard unique is that his 69 year old partner, identified as Andrew Wagstaff, died during their little tryst, and police are now investigating.

The two were in Belgium in anticipation of Pope Francis paying a visit. Apparently, this is their version of Woodstock, and so for good measure, the two took a bunch of pills, and shagged like bunnies:

The two men had used ecstasy and poppers while having sex together, police said, leading Wagstaff to feel unwell during the early morning hours of Friday, September 27. His sexual partner, identified in the media as Father Bernard, called the police after Wagstaff fell unconscious and couldn’t be resuscitated.

Now his church doesn’t know what to do with him, and the police are investigating to make sure there were no signs of foul play. Honestly, Bernard should just consider a different line of work. When you enjoy designer drugs and gay sex, the clergy is not a place for you. You’re better off being a bouncer at a gay bar by the sounds of things. Sure, the man is 60, but it’s never to late to change!

 

Church Sues State For Right to Discriminate

Posted on by

The great state of Maryland is being sued by the 7th Day Adventist church because it’s highest court ruled that religious organizations could no longer hire and fire people based on their religious beliefs.

Previously, they had enjoyed the ability to dictate the conditions of employment, which included not allowing for any religious or sexual preferences outside of their narrow confines. It also meant they could fire anyone they deemed to be immoral, or living in a way they disapprove of. That’s no longer the case.

In an opinion published in August 2023, the state’s high court narrowed a previous exemption allowing religious organizations to discriminate based on religion in employment. A majority of the Maryland Supreme Court justices found religious organizations could consider religion only when hiring employees who “directly further the core mission” of the group.

That’s the key concept here. The Church wants everyone they employ to be on board with their religious views, but realistically, the state of Maryland decided that if it wasn’t related to positions in the church that are of fundamental importance to their religion, a janitor, or landscaper doesn’t exactly fit the description of “core mission”. That means that if they discover that a bricklayer working on their property is gay, they can’t fire him anymore. It must be terrifying to them.

Since the plaintiffs don’t have much of a case, they’ve decided that the ability to discriminate against people who do not believe in the same things you do is a violation of the right to free speech and religious association:

“Application of (Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act) to Plaintiffs’ hiring practices would result in excessive government entanglement with the Church’s internal religious decision-making and would violate the First Amendment,” lawyers for the church wrote.

I guess they forgot that this was still about the right to hire and fire people. I also don’t recall the threat being posed here, unless they belief that a plurality of belief, which is what is the essence of the First Amendment, is a threat to their own. That would seem to imply that they consider these rights only to apply to themselves.

It’s hardly surprising that a church would consider itself above the laws that govern others. Unfortunately for them, this baseless lawsuit doesn’t have a chance in hell to going anywhere, since the Supreme Court ruling was pretty clear about how it defined the rights of churches to still practice there disgraceful practices so long as it was in pursuit of their “core mission”. Knowing how religions operate, I’m sure they will stretch that definition so thin as to be functionally useless.

Indian Government Opposes Criminalizing Marital Rape

Posted on by

What do you get when you mix religion and politics? Only the hellish nightmare that is theocracy, a toxic mixture of the worst aspects of both. In India, this has resulted in the government fighting countless petitions to criminalize the practice of women being forcibly raped during marriage. They consider punishing these rapists to be “excessively harsh“.

A number of petitions have been filed in recent years calling for striking down Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which has been in existence since 1860. The law mentions several “exemptions” – or situations in which sex is not rape – and one of them is “by a man with his own wife” if she is not a minor… But the Indian government, religious groups and men’s rights activists have opposed any plans to amend the law saying consent for sex is “implied” in marriage and that a wife cannot retract it later.

You hear that ladies? You signed a contract, which means you have to put out whenever your partner wants it. Wow, isn’t love grand?

In all seriousness, it’s appalling that in this day and age, women in a democracy are still being assaulted, and the legal system they live under does not give one iota of a crap for them. It’s terrifying. It’s also a reminder that there are still groups of people out there who want to continue to normalize inhumane activities, all in the name of some deity they worship. It’s disgusting, and depressing. Who needs a drink?

The Trump Bible Grift

Posted on by

I am, like many of you, sick and tired of Donald Trump. American politics is so ubiquitous that while I live in a different country, I am nevertheless constantly being bombarded with news of this awful man, and his pathetic grifts. It’s quite frankly exhausting.

The latest grift comes from Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters. You may recall that he’s the moron who is forcing schools to teach the Bible, and now we have a very clear idea as of why: in their bid for publishers for the order of 55k of these Bible, only one so far meets the narrow criteria: The Trump Bible.

“The [request for proposals] on its face seems fair, but with additional scrutiny, we can see there are very few Bibles on the market that would meet these criteria, and all of them have been endorsed by former president Donald Trump,” said Colleen McCarty, executive director of the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.

The thing is, Bible are typically very cheap. That’s not the case with the Trump Bible. Rather than cost roughly 3 bucks per bible, these sorry excuses for books retail for more than 60$ each. So, rather than spend 200k on this extremely illegal action, they would instead require the state to give Trump 3 million for his crappy bible with sticky pages and a weird smell. It’s typical that the orange clown can’t actually produce anything of quality, and that these types of grifts are the only way he’s ever made money.

America is quickly becoming a theocratic nightmare, despite the fact that fewer and fewer people go to church. It’s only a matter of time before their government becomes another branch of the church, and then, people won’t have the choice not to go.

Saudi Arabia Sentences Woman to 10 Years for Social Media Post

Posted on by

I know that some of you may sometimes feel uncomfortable when I say that Islam has a profound fear of women. Perhaps it’s because you buy into the idea that criticizing the religion is perhaps racist. This is because of all the psyops that has been carried out on you with the word “Islamophobia”. It’s defined as an irrational fear of Islam, but I am here to tell you that the fear of this religion is no irrational. It is logical. You need only trust your senses, and undoubtedly come to the same conclusion.

If you need more proof, look no further than Saudi Arabia, where the religion reigns supreme. The women who live there are getting a little tired of being second class citizens, and a few of them have taken to social media to argue for their rights. This has been deemed unacceptable, and one young woman, by the name of Manahel al-Otaibi, who was particularly active on social media, was arrested and has a secret trial that sentenced her to 10 years for “terrorist offenses”. Recently, she was attacked in jail by another inmate:

This week, Manahel told her family she had been stabbed in the face with a sharp pen by an unknown assailant and required stitches. Her family said they had tried to report the attack to the Saudi government’s Human Rights Commission, but were ignored. Along with her sisters, Maryam and Fawzia, Manahel had been targeted with a campaign of arrests, threats and intimidation after posting messages about female empowerment.

This is what the face of bravery looks like. A woman standing up to an entire society that wants to impose its values upon her. Now her life is in constant danger is a system that is designed to oppress women, and make them no different from chattel slaves. This is to be expected in any country where the world’s most hateful and violent religion is allowed to reign supreme.

So, remind me again: what part of Islam is it irrational to be afraid of?

New Zealand and UK Hace More Atheists than Believers

Posted on by

We are living in exciting times. For the first time in their history, both New Zealand and the United Kingdom are now boasting a majority of non believers in their nations. This is a big deal.

Dr Lee said: “The UK is entering its first atheist age. Whilst atheism has been prominent in our culture for some time, be it through Karl Marx, George Eliot, or Ricky Gervais, it is only now that atheists have begun to outnumber theists for the first time in our history.”

It signals the growing trend in democratic countries of the fading power of religion. The fact that atheists still have a negative perception is baffling to me, given the fact that we now are beginning to outnumber religious folks. There’s going to need to be a major shift in this kind of attitude. In order for that to happen, we’ll have to stop being the most complacent group in history.

The bad news is also that religious organizations still hold a disproportionate amount of power, despite being outnumbered. They have had a long time to imbed themselves into the political life of nations, and untangling this mess is going to take work, especially when they are rich, influential, and still control a large segment of the population.

Never forget that it is when an animal is cornered that it becomes desperate, and dangerous. They can smell the writing on the wall, and they are not going to go down without a fight, I promise you.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 361

After a long Summer break, TGA is back, baby! This episode, we have more drama coming out of America, the tragic death of a young woman in a forced marriage, and Iran trying to legalize child brides! It’s an episode you won’t want to miss.

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 361
Loading
/

Majority of White Evangelicals Support Political Violence

Posted on by

If you have failed to take Evangelicals seriously, then you have made a deadly mistake, my friend. They may paint themselves as the bastion of morality, but in truth they are mindless thugs who place power above all else. It’s why when the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Institute conducted a recent study on Christian Nationalism, they found that the majority of Evangelicals either endorsed, or were sympathetic towards political violence.

It also is the typical rigmarole that you’re seen in the past: they believe that America is in danger of losing it’s identity if they aren’t in charge. They are essentially the American Taliban, and while their numbers may be dwindling, their power base has been gaining strength. That’s because an unholy alliance of Christians are forming. While it’s true that evangelicals had high levels of support for political violence, they weren’t the only ones. Other Protestants and Catholics had high levels of sympathy, though admittedly very few staunchly opposed.

The study goes into quite a bit of depth about the differences between the general public and white evangelicals. What is striking to me is that there is definitely a correlation with violence and Christian Nationalists:

Only 2% of Americans say they have pushed, grabbed, or shoved someone because of a disagreement in the past few years and say it was the right decision, while 5% did this but say it was the wrong decision. Three-quarters of Americans (75%) said they would never do this. Similarly, only 2% say they have hit, kicked, bit, or slapped someone and it was the right decision, and 3% did this but say it was the wrong decision. Eight in ten Americans (80%) say they would never do this. Christian nationalism adherents are nearly twice as likely as rejecters to say they have pushed, grabbed, or shoved someone (9% vs. 5%) or to say they have hit, kicked, bit, or slapped someone (9% vs. 4%) to resolve a disagreement.

That means you almost are twice as likely to be assaulted by a Christian Nationalist that the average American. It should tell you all you need to know about believers: they are thugs hiding behind the veneer of religious piety to exercise their control over others. It’s not enough for them to try and live the life they claim is dictated by God; they need to force the rest of us to do it too. As far as I’m concerned, it just proves what I’ve been saying all along: that these people are the most dangerous group in America today. They are the next generation of fascist, ready to impose their world view onto others, and fearful of the increasing plurality of belief in the world.

With the US election coming up, it’s hard to imagine that an election loss by Donald Trump would spell more violence and chaos in the country. Do you expect people like J.D. Vance or Trump to be the voice of reason in these moments, or will they foment their base in their quest for power?

Taliban Denies Human Rights Abuses

Posted on by

No one ever wants to look like the bad guy. In Afghanistan, the Taliban rules, which means that women and young girls are living in a distopian hell, where they can’t even leave their house without a male family member having to escort them.

The Taliban’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said human rights were protected in Afghanistan and that nobody faces discrimination.

“Unfortunately, an attempt is being made to spread propaganda against Afghanistan through the mouths of several fugitive (Afghan) women and misrepresent the situation,” he said on social media platform X.

“It is absurd to accuse the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan of violating human rights and gender discrimination,” he added.

Yeah, it’s totally ridiculous! Sure, women are being stoned to death for adultery, but that’s in the Koran, so obviously it’s not abuse!

What I find interesting is the endless hypocrisy of religion. The Taliban loves to use the language of peace in their official responses to the media, but we know that behind closed doors, what they have to say is very different. Their contempt for women and girls has been on full display for a thousand years. We need not distrust our own instincts simply because their response to “are you abusing women?” amounts to: not according to this book written countless ages ago.

Bangladeshi Mob Attacks Man Over Blasphemy

Posted on by

A mob in the city of Khulna in Bangladesh has attacked and possibly killed a young man over accusations that he “insulted the prophet”. The details are scant, but what we do know is that the man, previously reported as being 15, was barely alive when the army finally stepped in to break up the crowd, which had begun beating him severely.

Originally, he was declared as dead, but this was only done in order to disperse the blood thirsty crowd. They then took to announcing the “good news” on the loudspeakers of a nearby mosques, triumphantly celebrating his supposed demise.

So, the youth is alive. Surely it’s over, right?

The statement issued by ISPR states that after Utsab Mandal is released from hospital, he will be handed over to law enforcement agencies as he is booked in a blasphemy case. Referring to the attempt to lynch him by an Islamist mob, the statement said that the Bangladesh army is always committed to preventing extrajudicial killings and upholding the rule of law.

Of course! They are excellent defenders of their broken and disgusting laws. The only exception is whenever a mob just wants to let loose and have a little bit of medieval fun. They call it “hurting religious sentiments”. Is that not all you need to know about just how pathetic Islam is, when it needs to put to death anyone who dares to say something they don’t like? When will the world be rid of such evil?

Trump’s New Christian Task Force Plans

Posted on by

The big orange turd is at it again. In an effort to further appeal to a base that has already made up its mind about him, Donald Trump has come out and said that if he is re-elected, he will create a “Christian Task Force” whose goal will be to tackle “anti-Christian bias”.

“[W]hen we win, I will stop the weaponization of our government against Christians,” Trump said during the call, per recordings posted to social media by the watchdog account PatriotTakes. “I’ll protect Christians in our schools, our government, our military, and our public square. And we’ll bring our country back together as one nation under God.”

You might recall that TGA reported on the fact that since 2008, the IRS has taken zero action against churches that break their rules concerning political activity in churches. What Trump really means by “weaponization” is akin to the fact that some organizations are not allowed to openly discriminate against minority groups they do not like. That would change with this little task force.

It reminds me of the morality police in Iran. This group stalks the streets, looking for any women not wearing a head scarf, ready to  beat her mercilessly for not following their religious edicts. Basically, these immature and dangerous morons think that not being able to run the country without opposition is being a “second class citizen”

…the Left’s war on Christianity. […] Christians will be reduced to second-class citizens, and that’s what they want.”

Let’s keep it real for a sec. These groups are the same people trying to force the Bible in schools, banning books they don’t like, and trying to force women who have dangerous pregnancies to carry them to term, no matter the personal risk. Do you know what “leftists” want? To be left alone from this creepy blood cult that wants to control every aspect of people’s lives.

Brain Damage Linked to Fundamentalism

Posted on by

We’ve suspected this for a long time. The so called “Jerusalem syndrome” is a commonly known condition, where people with mental illness often believe that they are gods. The name comes from the fact that many of these people show up in the “holy land” ready to lead mankind into whatever crazy future they have in mind. They are quickly rounded up and placed in mental institutions.

It’s not just mental illness that can lead a person to religiosity. It can actually be the result of trauma to the brain. Specifically, a few sections that have notable influence on behavior. A new study has found a link that can predict the kind of fundamentalist you are:

Lesions associated with greater fundamentalism were connected to a specific brain network with nodes in the right orbitofrontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and inferior parietal lobe…Lesions associated with confabulation and criminal behavior showed a similar connectivity pattern as lesions associated with greater fundamentalism. ..[L]esions associated with poststroke pain showed a similar connectivity pattern as lesions associated with lower fundamentalism.

Of course, there’s a dose of criminality mixed in as well. It doesn’t surprise me. Many of these people will happily murder anyone they dislike, sell drugs to funnel money to their organizations, and even kidnap people from other religious minorities to forcibly marry them. All of this is villainy of the highest order, but because it’s hiding under the cloak of religion, they can justify all of the evil thoughts they have in their head with the will of some higher power. It’s nothing more than the unleashed ego of maniacs, with brains that have stopped functioning properly.

It confirms many of the observations people have made about the sudden change in a person’s behavior. Just a few weeks ago I wrote about a redditor whose wife had a sudden a dramatic change in religiosity, much to his chagrined. A commenter remarked that it could be the result of an infection, which can have similar properties to brain legions.

IT all spells a pretty dark future for mankind. So long as working brain fail, and religious trash litters our culture, it doesn’t look like we’ll ever really lose the fundamentalist streak in us. Are we cursed to be messed up forever, or can we catch the signs of this type of behavior and nip it in the butt before it’s too late? So long as religious institutions exist with their unlimited funds and obedient slaves, I put my money on never.

Pakistani Woman Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy

Posted on by

A mother of four is facing a death sentence, after a judge in Pakistan convicted her of the ridiculous “crime” of blasphemy. The incident occurred after she was allegedly sharing content on WhatsApp that small minded and dangerous weirdos considered blasphemous, and this alone was enough to convict her of the harshest punishment a human can receive: a sentence of death.

TGA has previously reported of another incident in which a man was killed by a mob for similar reasons. It seems the country is on a roll, and has no plans on stopping anytime soon:

Nearly 3,000 persons have been accused of blasphemy in Pakistan since 1987, according to the Center for Social Justice (CSJ). The actual scale of abuse of these laws may be three to four times higher, it noted in a report.

It stated that hundreds of accused were incarcerated last year in Pakistan, with 552 detained in prisons in Punjab Province alone. At least 350 persons remained behind bars as of June, according to the report, adding that 103 new persons had been accused of blasphemy this year between January and June.

The news source that published this, a christian rag called Morning Star News, makes it seems as though this problem is uniquely Christian. However, it must be noted that blasphemy accusations also occur among believers, as it is a convenient way to eliminate a rival or a hated neighbor. One needs only agitate the mob, and the rest is easy.

I find it disgusting that we are still killing each other for offending people’s imaginary friend. It is as though we’ve handed a gun to a child, and told him that he can shoot anyone that refuses to play his games. Then, to compound the irony, we are told by these same people that the world would descend into chaos if not for their sinister machinations. Utterly ridiculous.