Author Archives: Jacob Fortin

Ghana Makes More Restrictive Laws Against LGBT Groups

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Religions long march towards repression continues, this time in the African country of Ghana. When an LGBT group tried to open up a center in their capital city of Accra, religious leaders, working in tandem with politicians, sprung into action. While it is already illegal to have same sex sexual relationships, it seems as though even this restrictive and inhumane law was not enough: now they want to jail anyone who dares to help these kinds of groups in any way.

This gay panic is brought to you by Christianity, which seems to believe that the worst thing on earth isn’t the sexual rape and torture of children, but consenting adults having intimate relations they don’t approve of. Forget about the near constant abuse of underage girls and boys, that’s something the public has no interest in uncovering, despite the fact that it’s a serious problem. How bad is it? Here’s a sample of the kind of incidents that happen with disturbing frequency:

Assistant Commissioner of Police, [name anonymised] … made it known to the press [at name of place anonymised] that… Pastor [name anonymised] admitted having sexual intercourse with the girl without her consent, during police interrogations. […] The victim, a member of the church, who was sick went to the pastor (in his house) for healing prayers. In the course of the prayers the pastor touched the mouth of the girl and all of a sudden, she fell floppy […] The victim woke up after about 15 minutes and saw that her pant was loose, and her private parts soaked with semen, an indication that the pastor had had sexual intercourse with her.

Keep in mind that the study that is being quoted could only rely on reported incidents from newspapers. There’s really no telling just how prominent these kinds of crimes are occurring, but if I know my religious organizations (which I certainly do), then I know that abuse is the norm in and Christian church. In order to get people to either ignore or forget about their perpetual and baffling abuse of their own congregants, religious leaders will often chose a scapegoat to rally their victims towards a common cause. The LGBT community is easy pickings, and so long as their population despises them, they have something that will forever distract their flock from ever uncovering the fact that their sheppards are wolves in disguise.

Alabama Supreme Court is now the American Taliban

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If you haven’t heard of the name Tom Parker, odds are you soon will. The Chief Justice is making news after declaring that embryos are children, in a landmark case that is bound to send shockwaves through the state, if not the country.

It all began with a lawsuit. A couple that was using Invitro fertilization wanted to sue the clinic in Alabama for accidentally destroying a few of their frozen embryos. The Center for Reproductive Medicine, located in Mobile, Alabama, had an accident during the transfer of the embryos, and they were lost as a result. The couple, rather than move on with their lives, decided that they wanted to sue them for wrongful death. The case went all the way to the state Supreme Court, which ruled an overwhelming majority of 8-1 that these embryos were indeed children. The court, which sounds more like a branch of the Vatican, quoted the Bible multiple times, and the name “God” is invoked over a dozen times.

“Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God,” he wrote in a concurring opinion that invoked the Book of Genesis and the prophet Jeremiah and quoted at length from the writings of 16th- and 17th-century theologians.

“Even before birth,” he added, “all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”

Parker further claims that all governments are created by God, this despite the fact that the Constitution he swore to uphold makes it abundantly clear that government is to stay out of the business of mandating religion. He doesn’t see it this way. He’s part of a clandestine Christian movement called “The Seven Mountains”, which aims to inject their religious tyranny in all aspects of government. This plan has been in motion for decades, and because everyone around them was asleep at the wheel, they’ve effectively turned the state into their version of a theocracy, complete with religiously mandated laws.

As a consequence of this decision, fertility clinics across the state have suspended all services. This means that couples wishing to have assistance in having children are incapable of doing so until this insane mess is sorted. Considering how stacked with Christian nationalists the courts are, it’s doubtful that this will be repealed. Even Republican lawmakers seem confused about the decision. They claim to be “pro families”, but had no idea that declaring a frozen clump of cells a “human child” would have terrifying consequences for IFV clinics. Since the Supreme Court decision was literally made to allow a couple to sue over a few of their embryos being destroyed, this means that it’s doubtful that any medical organization would even dare operate in a state where they are always one mistake away from financial oblivion. This has spelled disaster for thousands of Alabamans struggling with fertility.

Again and again voters were sold a pack of lies, courtesy of religiously minded politicians that place their faith above their duty to their fellow countrymen. Many of them entered politics not with a desire to help, but with the ambition of turning their country into an unrecognizable religiously repressive place, where freedom is a thing of the past, and subjugation to their imaginary friends and his conflicting rulebook. It is time to weed out these religion elements and expose them for what they are: the American Taliban.

Threesome Obsessed Priest Protected by Vatican

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Those Christians sure do love their trinity. Because they believe that their deity exists in three parts, this often means that anything that comes in threes is often considered to be divine, regardless of what it is. For example, when Father Marko Rupnik was trying to satisfy his sexual urges, he pressured his female colleagues into having a threesome with him, because it would bring him closer to the trinity. If he wasn’t a creep who abused of his power, you’d almost have to admire the set of brass balls to pretend there was anything sacred to his nasty little habit.

“He said that I would not grow spiritually if I did not meet his sexual needs. We had another nun have sex with us because he said it was like the Trinity,” said Ms Branciani, referring to the Holy Trinity, a central tenet of Christianity.

This isn’t his first rodeo either. Rupnik started his “spiritual growth” sessions back in the early nineties. Over 20 former nuns have come forwards with claims of abuse, all of which would have surfaced sooner were it not for the fact that the Vatican was quick to cover things up. When he had used up all the victims in his native Slovenia, he was whisked away to Rome where he continued unabated for another 30 years. It helped that Rupnik is a talented artist, which is a rare commodity for a community that is rapidly shrinking.

Why was this guy even a priest? With his bohemian tastes, he should have been making wacky art in a hippie commune somewhere near San Francisco, not the stuffy halls of St. Peter’s Basilica. If you’re into threesomes, there are plenty of places for you to go, but none of them have a big ugly cross in the front.

Just remember kids: if you’re sexual preferences are a little outside the norm, just find like minded people instead of illegally coercing them just to get your rocks off. Why does everything sexual always get all twisted and fucked up when religion is involved?

 

The Good Atheist Returns

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Before I tell you about the beginning of a new era, I’d like to tell you about the end of one. The year was 2017. After spending a few years working my way out of the financial oblivion I had accidentally created for myself, I began to experiment with a comeback. I felt my “break” from podcasting was over, and I wanted to embark on a new journey. I sent out a number of emails to my most loyal listeners, saying that I was bringing the show back. Reactions were mixed. Many of their criticisms spoke of my inconsistency, and in my past failed promises of going back to podcasting. I appreciated their honesty, but it was somewhat of a deflating experience to say the least.

Alas, this was the least of my problems. Unbeknownst to me, the credit card that I had used to renew my domain had expired, and as a result, so had my ownership of the domain thegoodatheist.net. A web company had purchased it from under me (no doubt paying a pretty penny for it), and had created a fake version of my site. They had stolen my intellectual property, and were pretending to be me, albeit with a strange religious twist. Their slogan was “leave God alone”, which made absolutely no sense. I suspected them to be a religious group, but I had no proof of it. When I contacted them, they demanded an exorbitant amount of money to regain control. I told them to fuck off, and if they kept on mimicking my site, I would sue them. They agreed to take this mutated version of my site down, but kept the domain name. We were at a stalemate.

There were two options: a) either I would have to pay money to what I considered a group of scumbags, or b) I would have to create a brand new site, and start over from scratch. I chose option c): I gave up.

As time went on, I also became very disillusioned with the internet, and podcasting in general. The medium had never been more popular, but this popularity had created a massive glut. Everyone and their dog (sometimes literally) had a show, and as YouTube grew in popularity, so too did the variety of content. A whole new generation of voices were being heard, and honestly, what they had to say annoyed me more than inspired me.

In the mid to late 2000’s, it was practically impossible to make a living podcasting. Back when I first started, competition was thin. It took a certain level of expertise to set up, such as knowing how to create RSS feeds and manage websites; things that were generally out of the realm of the average person. Today, it’s as basic as turning on your phone and just flapping your gums, and people make millions doing it. You would think that this would inspire me to suddenly want to get back into it. It did exactly the opposite.

At first, I wasn’t sure why. I just felt a general sense of disdain for most content on the web. Hell, I even hated the word “content”. It’s only recently that I came to realize that what I despised about the state of modern podcasting is the carelessness of those involved. There is such a pressure to produce that people are often speaking on matters that they have very little understanding in. It’s similar what happened to news when it became a 24 hour broadcast. Rather than have proper journalists take the time to understand a story they report on, shows are nothing more than talking heads speculating and gossiping about events as they happen.

My view began to change, however. About a little over a year ago, a coworker had searched me on the internet, and found an old podcast I had put up on YouTube that spoke talked about child witchcraft accusations in his native Nigeria. At work, he said he has listen to the whole episode, and was surprised that he had never known about these types of tragedies happening in his own country. This made me see that there was more to my show than I had first realized.

Choosing option “B” was not simple. I had no official database backup of the site, which meant that I would have to manually re-create the whole thing, one article, and one podcast at a time. With over 340 shows and 1,300 articles, this was no easy task. In fact, it took a year just to get everything done. A big part of the reason was because over 60% of all my links and other references were dead. This forced me to find either new sources, or search the internet wayback machine to find them. If you know anything about me, you know how much importance I put on being able to cite my sources. There were quite a few articles I had to unpublish specifically because all sources had disappeared, and I could not in good conscience post anything that I couldn’t back up. Information loss is real, and it should terrify people.

The whole process made me see the fragility of information. We think that the internet is forever; it is anything but. Over half of all atheist blogs that I regularly linked to are gone, either due to lack of maintenance or for perhaps similar reasons to my own. It was a reminder that one must always fight entropy, and that in this world, if you aren’t growing, you’re dying.

And so it was time to start over. But where to begin? When I first started my podcasting journey, I was a 26 year old man, with lofty ambitions and close friends equally hungry for success. Atheism was on the rise, and it felt fresh to speak out on this issue. Times have changed. I’m in my 40’s now, and my friends have their own lives. Some are even reluctant to speak out against religion, as the Internet has a way of interfering with a person’s living. I know first hand that employers are not very understanding when it comes to speaking out.

I began by registering a new domain, thenewgoodatheist.com. I built a new website, and slowly, article by article, I reposted them all, making sure that the dates, topics, and categories were all done in such a way to make it easy to find. I sent out a few messages to those that had never given up hope in me. It was a small group. Over the span of over a year, I testing out a variety of different formats. I dabbled with trying to find a new cohost, and while the shows were fine, I realized that if I was to start the project anew, I needed to simplify how I produced them, lest I be stuck in a similar situation down the road. I also didn’t want the show to be an imitation of itself. It takes a long time to develop the kind of chemistry I had with friends I knew all my life.

I used to categorize the podcast as a comedy. This was done out of pragmatism, since there is no category for atheism. To classify the show as “religion and spirituality” also felt wrong. I’ve now placed it under the category of “News”, as it reflects the new direction the podcast is aiming for. It’s also done in a way that closely resembles an audiobook. Since I can’t really make you laugh in the same way, I’d like instead to focus on making enjoyable, easy to listen to shows that keep you informed on the important events happening around the world. The shows will also contain all the writings and links in the meta, meaning that you’ll be able to read all the same source material I quote. It was a feature I often did in the past, and I’m sticking with it.

Now comes my PBS style pitch. You might be familiar with this drill. Heck, TGA practically invented the idea of patronage. In the early days online payments, we sometimes used to have people mail in checks to pay for their membership. It was a chaotic mess back in those days. It seems while I was away, the rest of the world caught up to these ideas, and made it easy.

If you’re reading this rather than listening to it, it means that you were sent a Newsletter from the old contacts I had when my old website still worked. To you, this will be the first and only forced message you receive. You’ll need to confirm to subscribe, so that I won’t be constantly bombarding you if you have no interest, or if you’ve lost faith in me. Those of you that decide to stay, I’d like for you all to consider becoming a patron, starting at a buck a month. If I reach my goal patron goals, then the show will become weekly, with more to come. The specifics are on the Patreon page. For more information, simply search for “The Good Atheist” on the site.

At the time of releasing this, 3 months worth of shows will also be instantly available. I felt it was necessary to have this many months of consistent, daily production before I could even justify asking for your hard earned money to support this endeavor. Plus, with today’s streaming services, it’s become expected to have a good amount of content to bite into in order to have a proper taste of a show before committing financially.

Lastly, I’d like for you to consider the following: The Good Atheist, both the website and the podcast, represents an important catalog of religious wrongdoing. It’s a resource for myself and others to fight back against the stupid notion that religion does no harm. If you agree with me that it’s important to support these kinds of resources, then I would be honored if you were to join me on this quest.

Religious Nationalists are Annoying

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If you thought only America was having problems with religious nutbags making normal life unpleasant, than you can take some comfort that you’re not the only one suffering. In India, Hindu Nationalists are becoming emboldened, and like their Christian counterparts, they are always clutching their pearls at anything that offends them, which is just about everything.

In West Bengal, a local zoo is being harassed for daring to give one of their tigers a name that Hindu extremists do not like. Worse still, the zookeepers had the temerity to put this beast in an enclave with another tiger with the name of a 16th century Muslim ruler named Akbar. There you have it: religious people are dangerous babies who want the whole world to bow down to their little temper tantrums.

If that wasn’t ridiculous enough, Akbar had been renamed after their original had been criticized by other Hindu extremists. And now, to avoid harassment, the two tigers are being kept in separate enclaves.

When is the world going to stop kowtowing to these idiots? I can’t imagine anything more stupid than protesting the names of these majestic animals. I mean what’s next? Are the Zoroastrians going to demand that the car company Mazda to abandon their brand?

Christian Nationalist Think-Tank Ready to Pounce

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If you’re an American, hopefully you’ve come to the realization that your country is in serious trouble. The rise of Christian Nationalism went from a growing concern to an outright menace to free society.

If you think I’m being hyperbolic, than it means you haven’t read this: the manifesto for The Center for Renewing America, a think-tank (I use the word loosely here) lead by a man named Russell Vought. Vought had previously worked as Trump’s director of Office of Management and Budget when he was president, and he’s preparing himself and others for the return of the big orange turd by crafting a document outlining all the messed up crap he wants to implement on Trumps first day in office.

Vought sees his and his organization’s mission as “renew[ing] a consensus of America as a nation under God,” per a statement on CRA’s website, and reshaping the government’s contract with the governed. Freedom of religion would remain a protected right, but Vought and his ideological brethren would not shy from using their administration positions to promote Christian doctrine and imbue public policy with it, according to both people familiar with the matter, granted anonymity to avoid retaliation. He makes clear reference to human rights being defined by God, not man.

First, I highly doubt that freedom of religion would remain a protected right. Currently, there are Christian lawmakers that have been trying to get Satanism removed from the list of recognized religions, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. These psychos will do just about anything to make sure their religion is top dog, and it wouldn’t surprise me if other faiths were soon on the chopping block.

Second, what I find terrifying is the renewed confidence of these assholes in thinking that the rest of us will just sit back and let this happen. They live in such a bubble that they think the majority of Americans feel the way they do. It simply isn’t the case. Most Christians are not dominionists, and considering how many different denominations there are, to treat them as a one large group has never really worked. Although we may not like it, atheists have to ally themselves with those faith groups that are strongly opposed to this kind of sectarian agenda.

Lastly, atheists have to get off their asses and start making moves themselves. Christians have been infiltrating governments for decades, and this strategy is starting to bare fruit. If we sit back and let other people get involved, than we shouldn’t be surprised if we end up with targets on our backs. The stakes are high, and we can no longer bury our heads in the sand hoping that people will drop religion like a bad habit.

Minnesota Youth Pastor Arrested for Multiple Assaults

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You have to marvel at Christian hypocrisy. This is a faith that pertains to have “family values”, and yet every day, one of their leaders gets arrested on sexual abuse scandal. TGA’s been seriously considering making a Bingo style game to keep track of it all, since simply writing about it seems to be redundant at this point.

In Minnesota, a former youth pastor named Luverne Zacharias was arrested when it came to light that he had molested a number of students at a Christian High school in the mid 2000’s.

According to the criminal complaint obtained by the outlet, the alleged abuse took place between 2006 and 2009, when the victim was a student at El Shaddai Christian School in Owatonna. It was affiliated with and overseen by Christian Family Church, where Zacharias served as a youth pastor.

The woman told police that Zacharias would meet her in the basement of the school when she was sent to get milk for her classmates at lunchtime and during breaks. He allegedly touched her breasts and genitals over her clothing at first, doing it at least once every day, the woman said.

So this guy had a daily thirst for this kind of behavior. To call him an abuser would be an understatement. The guy was a straight up predator. Imagine the terror and humiliation visited upon them on a daily basis. Who knows if they will ever be able to enjoy intimacy with their partner thanks to this man’s traumatic behavior.

What do “family values” mean to Christians anyways? I keep waiting to see what the hell they are talking about whenever one claims this vaunted virtue. Does it mean disowning your child because they have a sexual preference you dislike? Does it mean beating, or abandoning your kids for questioning the teachings of a Bronze Age book? The lack of empathy and love displayed by the faithful can often be quite disturbing. Their claim to be the example to follow when it comes to family cohesion is a joke with no punchline.

I have personally witnessed a religious family being torn apart because of a disagreement about their own internal doctrines. If you’re looking for something to ensure family cohesion, Christianity certainly isn’t something an objective person would prescribe.

LifeWise Academy Needs to be Stopped

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It has to be strange to be the bad guy, and not know it. When you hold onto a belief that claims that you are righteous, there’s no limit to the depraved and corrupt things you’ll do to makes sure everyone around you thinks the same way.

Some of you may remember that we covered this creepy organization in the past. Lifewise academy is a Christian Nationalist organization that seeks to indoctrinate kids into their club. In states like Ohio, Arkansas and Georgia, these busy bees have been able to operate with impunity, as US courts are increasingly becoming friendly to the notion of letting religious organizations proselytize during school hours.

The way these guys get around the obvious issue with teaching religion in schools is that they will “bus” kids out somewhere else, and teach them off campus. This is a loophole that is increasingly being exploited.

Now, some groups have pushed back .For instance, Satanist groups are now also doing the same, partly to offer an alternative to Lifewise, but also to outrage parents with the notion that they might be getting brainwashed (Satanists groups don’t engage in any religious teachings. Rather, they usually just offer extra curricular activities).

In response, lawmakers are trying to ban Satanism, and get it’s tax exempt status revoked. Typical strategy by Christians who don’t think the rules apply to them. If you want to support their effort, I encourage you to make a donation.

The part that really gets to me are the bogus claims that these extra curricular religious programs somehow help the students do better in schools. There are no studies to back this up, not that I expect religious zealots to know how to conduct such a study. These guys have never heard of sourcing anything, so if you were hoping for proof, that’s one word religious people have never fully comprehended anyways.

Arizona Senator Comes to Defense of Satanism

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Here’s something I never thought I would say: A US senator has come to the defense of Satanists, mainly due to the fact that Christian Nationalists have decided that this “parody” religion is their new bugbear. Democratic Senator Juan Mendez addressed the fact that their colleagues are trying to “ban” the religion, and this has outraged overly sensitive Christians who still think the organization is evil.

“They are here today to confront the arbitrary, tyrannical authority of religious persecution that’s scheduled for government committee later on today,” he continued. “We are graced with the presence of ministers and members of the Satanic Temple of “The mission of the satanic temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people,” he added. “They embrace practical common sense and justice. They are guided by their conscience to undertake noble pursuits that fulfill their religious values… I welcome them to the floor today.”

Mendez is referring to the recent attempt by Republican lawmakers to try and outlaw Satanism, which has been taking up the fight for separation of church and state. He’s keenly aware of just how much these groups are enraging Republican lawmaker. It’s awesome to watch.

What’s hilarious is that the article I have linked to states that “The Democrat senator was slammed on social media after welcoming the devil worshippers to the capitol with open arms.” If you actually bother to read the comment section of the Republican Twitter account, you might see a few religious dummies attacking Mendez, however the vast majority of the replies point out that religious toleration means you have to accept faiths that you don’t like. Atheists are used to this, but for Christians, anything less than a complete domination of the religious sphere is unacceptable.

It’s nice to know that not ever government official is a religious nutbag. Gives you a little hope for the future.

 

David Koechner calls Catholicism a Cult

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The actor who played Champ in Anchorman opens up to comedian Neal Brennan about his experiences growing up in a strict Catholic family. Having had 2 uncles and aunts that joined as nuns and priests, he was in a household that lived by the Churches doctrine. In this part of the interview, he talks about how his family’s poverty was one of the main reasons for them joining up.

It’s crazy how many people out there have been abused and victimized by the Catholic Church. We tend to forget that about 40 to 50 years ago, the Church had way more power than it does today. It’s also sad to consider how many lives were ruined simply because of the desire to learn. It’s a reminder of how lucky we are today to have access to so much information and knowledge. While it’s definitely a blow against the Church in a variety of ways, it doesn’t mean they haven’t found new ways to try and entrap people to their vile blood cult.

“He Gets Us” SuperBowl Ad is Dumb

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Seems even a lot of Christians aren’t actually that enthusiastic about the “He Gets Us” religious ads that played during the Superbowl. A few of them hate it so much, they think it’s actually “demonic”.

Part of the reason has to do with White Evangelicals deciding that their main guy is a bit of a pussy. They like a God of revenge, or smiting and casting people into the fiery pits of hell. This foot washing hippie isn’t at all like the guy they picture in their minds.

Political Huckster Matt Walsh also didn’t approve of this ad. He claimed it did more “harm than Good” because it didn’t have the “correct” messaging that he would have liked. No mention of submission, of telling people they are going to hell, or attacking whatever minority they currently dislike. No, these commercials were just a bunch of AI images of people getting their feet washed to the sound of INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” (which is an odd bit of messaging for a religion that places faith over family). At the end, the ad declares that “Jesus didn’t preach hate” (even though he most certainly did, especially to people who rejected his teaching). You want some examples? No problem.

Matthew 10:34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Luke 12:51
Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth?
No, I have come to divide people against each other!

I bet guys like Walsh would have preferred these quotes from the Bible than the patronizing tone of the commercial. Evangelicals especially seem to need a far more “muscular” Christianity, since Jesus’ messaging isn’t really resonating with today’s modern believer. Many consider him a “liberal” for some of his sermons such as “turn the other cheek”. This religious group prefers the “eye for an eye” stuff in the old testament, not this pussy love they neighbor shit.

“The ‘He Gets Us’ commercial might seem harmless to some, but it’s obviously part of a psyop to trick Christians into thinking Jesus is fine with sin & apostasy. It’s the opposite of what our world needs right now,” pastor Ryan Visconti wrote.

I think the lesson to be learned here is that there is no form of Christianity that has universal appeal. It’s why there are so many denominations. Do you hate gays? We’ve got a church for you. Love gays, he, there’s a church for that as well! Consistency? What the fuck is that?

By the Way, did anyone give a crap about the Scientology ad that also played? How an organization with fewer than 30,000 members can still be trying to recruit is just sad, isn’t it?

 

Yemeni Houthis to Stone 9 Gay Men in Public

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If you haven’t been following international news lately (and who could blame you), you might have missed out on the Houthis rebellion in Yemen, and the horrible consequences of having Muslim fundamentalists running around unchecked in your country. The Houthis rebels are funded by Iran, who uses these proxy fighters to cause chaos, and so far, their plan is working like a charm.

The religious group claims to care about the human rights issue in Palestine, but like most fundamentalist organizations, they simply use the chaos and sympathy as a recruitment tactic, and nothing more. As they gain more and more territory, they have begun to issue religious rulings to anyone they deem an enemy of Islam. This, unfortunately, includes people who have same sex attractions. They’ve been busy sentencing anyone they suspect of homosexuality to prison, with some “offenders” being sentenced to death by stoning. So far, over a dozen men have been condemned to die via the barbaric practice of stoning.

If you think that none of this effects you, consider that their constant attacks on US ships is moving us ever closer to a conflict that could engulf the whole world. Add to that the fact that the Houthis are threatening to destroy critical internet infrastructure, and there could be some pretty serious consequences as a result.

Just a nice daily reminder of just how much religion ruins everything. You’re welcome.

Shootout at the Olsteen Corral

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If you’re familiar with Prosperity Gospel, then you know who Joel Olsteen is. With a net worth of over 50 million, Olsteen has used religion like a piggy bank, enriching himself by promising that large donations to his church, or seeding as they like to call it, would financially bless those stupid enough to give him money.

Now, instead of being just a con artist, Olsteen has joined the ranks of churches that have experienced serious gun violence during their services. The details are still a little fuzzy, but we do know that at around 1:50pm, a middle aged woman with a 5 year old child began opening fire in the church just as the Spanish translation of their sales pitch was about to begin:

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Estimated to be between 30 and 35 years old, she was not immediately identified by authorities. Finner said that the woman had threatened she also “had a bomb,” but authorities searching her backpack and vehicle had been unable to locate any explosives.

The child was also hit with gunfire, though it’s not clear if it was the result of the shootout with police. He’s still in critical condition. Thankfully, there were only a few injured people. Had the woman showed up a little earlier, when there was a full house of over 45k worshippers, things could have been a lot worse.

All we can do at this point is speculate about what happened. Considering the predatory nature of the church, I’m willing to bet that perhaps this woman’s had a financial bone to pick with Olsteen and his church. We’ll need for the investigation to be completed. With the woman now dead, it may forever be a mystery.

Aspiring Priest Caught with Disturbing Child Porn

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When atheists say that the Catholic Church attracts pedophiles, we aren’t just making a crass joke. The way the Church has shielded it’s members from prosecution, the effort its put into lobbying governments to lower the statues of limitation on sexual crime, and the amount of money they have given away to keep mouths shut sends a clear message that if you are attracted to innocent children, you should join their ranks.

It seems as though Broderick Witt got the message. He was studying to become a priest, until he was eventually arrested after the police were tipped off that he possessed a bunch of really disturbing child pornography, including images with victims as young as 6 years old.

The Archdioses of Cincinnati released this rather amusing statement:

“The seminary and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati have strict policies against, and take significant precautions to prevent, anyone from possessing or accessing material of this type, regardless of whether they are a student, faculty, or staff. Discovery of such material will result in immediate termination or dismissal and notification of law enforcement,” Rev. Anthony R. Brausch, Rector said in a letter to the seminary community.

They’re finally notifying law enforcement now? That’s a pretty big departure from their regular mode of operation. You may recall that former Pope Benedict XVI had issued a memo during his tenure as the head of the Inquisition (renamed “Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith” as it seems the centuries of bloodshed had somewhat tainted the name). It specified that Church leaders were to keep any information of abuse secret, and authorities were not to be contacted without approval from the higher ups (which they never would). I guess when you haven’t yet joined the club, they take a bit of a different approach to dealing with child predators. That means we just have to catch them before they can benefit from the protection of a trillion dollar organization. Good to know.

Kenyan Pastor Pleads Not Guilty for Death of 400 People

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Africa has become the wild west of religion. Every other day, there’s a tragedy happening on the Continent, all because of a toxic mixture of traditional beliefs and Abrahamic faiths.

When Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 29 of his other accomplices were arrested in connection with the death of over 400 of his followers, 191 of them being children, they seemed unusually calm and cool, all things considered. His ministry, Good News International, had told their followers that the End Times were just around the corner, and that only through starvation could they meet the bearded hippie. When these followers inevitably died from a lack of food, they were buried in mass graves and simply forgotten about.

Mackenzie was a taxi driver before becoming a preacher. He quickly gained a following with his fiery sermons, and with his uncanny ability to predict events before they would happen (no doubt a result of simply reading the newspaper). His brainwashed followers were so convinced that he had special powers that when he told them to stop eating, they refused to do so even when they were dying at the hospital:

Several emaciated children escaped from the forest and locals alerted the authorities. Police found many followers close to death and took those still alive to nearby hospitals, where medical staff tried to feed the group. Many refused food, however, and as the situation grew more dire, the director of public prosecutions charged almost 65 people with attempted suicide for refusing to eat.

That’s the level of control that someone can have over others, thanks to the submissive nature of believers. Now the survivors of this cult have the difficult task of being deprogrammed. There’s bound to be more tragedy before this thing is all over.