Author Archives: Jacob Fortin

Trading hatred for love

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Homophobic crime is on the rise in England, and as you might have already guessed, the culprits are hiding behind a veil of religion to justify their bigotry.

The backlash is due to the growing recognition of gay rights, both to marry and adopt, and this has prompted groups motivated by improvable dogma to retaliate. One unidentified group is putting up stickers that say “gay free zone” along with a quote from the Koran.

In response to this, gay rights activists have gone on a campaign of “defacing” the stickers with the word “love” in an effort to combat this vile hatred.

Actor Wendy Richardson explained the rationale behind the group’s response.

“Rather than get angry with the people who did it, we decided to counter it with some love. We’re a cross section of people, of all races and sexualities – gay, straight and bisexual – saying it’s just not appropriate.

“But we thought – you know what? We’re not going to hate you back. It sounds a bit wet, but takes a lot of courage.”

It’s nicer than the tactic I would have employed, but then again I’m a crusty bastard with little tolerance for stupidity and blind bigotry. Good for them for taking the high road!

The New Tithe

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I can’t imagine a bigger waste of money than giving it to churches. Seriously. It would actually be more productive if you threw it away in the garbage, since at least in this instance some poor homeless guy might actually find some of it.

The image we have in our head of where the money goes (like homeless shelters, adoption agencies, etc) doesn’t match the reality. Even if it did, do you honestly want a bunch of nonsense mixed in with such essential services? I sure don’t.

Legislation considering ending protection for faith-based healing

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Oregon has finally started coming to its senses, and all it took was a bunch of kids dying of highly preventable deaths. The State is introducing a bill that would end religious immunity for parents who rely solely on “faith” to heal their children.

I’ve written about the “Followers of Christ” on many occasions; it’s a church that so far has an appalling death toll, all from illnesses that were extremely treatable. The parents, who had previously been able to get off scot-free or with an extremely light sentence, would no longer be able to hide behind their stupid dogma to defend their parental failure.

Legislators and prosecutors hope the threat of long prison sentences will cause church members to reconsider their tradition of rejecting medical treatment in favor of faith healing.

“This will level the playing field so all parents will be operating under the same rules,” said Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote. “It’s going to make it easier to hold parents accountable who don’t protect their children.”

What I like about this proposed bill is it finally recognizes the lives of children supersede improvable and dangerous dogma. Now, if we could only make people realize religion is itself a form of child abuse, we’d be halfway there.

Ted Olson schools Chris Wallace

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It doesn’t get simpler than that, does it folks? Gay marriage isn’t about creating new laws; it’s about upholding the Constitution, and granting the same rights to every citizen in the Republic. Christian Evangelicals and Catholics like to dance around the fact this segment of society is still second class citizens. They try to play on our prejudices, but this tactic will ultimately fail, and splinter their own churches. If there’s an issue that can destroy the power of these churches, it’s definitely gay rights.

South Dakota wants to make killing abortions doctors legal

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I wish this was satire, or some kind of sick joke, but unfortunately, a bill under consideration in South Dakota is changing the definition of justifiable homicide to include:

Homicide is justifiable if committed by any person while resisting any attempt to murder such person, or to harm the unborn child of such person in a manner and to a degree likely to result in the death of the unborn child…

That’s right, people. This law would be the equivalent of painting a target sign on every abortion provider in the state.

The law is complete garbage; no state can make it a crime to perform a Constitutionally lawful act, but you can bet the pro-lifers (the irony of that name will never cease to astound me) will see this as justification if they decide to start taking the law into their own hands. All they need to do now is get the law passed, and leave a few guns hanging around some of their crazier members, and presto: no more abortions!

It’s already hard enough to get an abortion there. Not only does the doctor have to offer a sonogram, he also has to read out a script meant to discourage her from going through with it.

“The abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.” Until recently, doctors also had to tell a woman seeking an abortion that she had “an existing relationship with that unborn human being” that was protected under the Constitution and state law and that abortion poses a “known medical risk” and “increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide.” In August 2009, a US District Court Judge threw out those portions of the script, finding them “untruthful and misleading.” The state has appealed the decision.

I guess making it seem legal to kill the doctors is the next logical step, right?

Christians want the right to discriminate against gays

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You hear it over and over again: Christians are complaining as gays gain rights (the same rights as everyone else, in fact), they begin to lose theirs. More particularly, their “right” to openly discriminate is being challenged, and as people get sacked or lose career opportunities because of their bigotry, they’re crying foul.

Recently, a Christian doctor, Hans-Christian Raabe, who had been foolishly appointed to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in the UK, was sacked after it was discovered he had co-authored a bigoted study linking gays with pedophilia:

He co-authored a study called “Gay Marriage And Homosexuality: Some Medical Comments in February 2005.” The article said that, while the majority of homosexuals are not engaged in pedophilia, there is a disproportionately greater number of homosexuals among pedophiles.

“My appointment has merely been revoked as a result of my views on matters completely unrelated to drug policy,” Raabe complained in comments published the same day by the Daily Mail newspaper.

It turns out his appointment had already drawn a great deal of criticism (stemming from his “abstinence” stand on all drugs), and when the board found out he had co-authored the study, several members threatened to quit if he wasn’t removed.

His fellow co-religionists are crying foul, saying this is discrimination and the board is anti-Christian. So far, they seem unable to grasp the concept that bigotry is not something society is feeling altogether tolerant about. Had Raabe written a study linking lower IQ with race or gender, he would have been a pariah just the same.

No society can be tolerant of all views and ideas. It’s impossible. You cannot hope to have a free society and allow the systematic discrimination of a group based on their sexual orientation, color, or gender. The perception of Christians that their right to “practice their religion” is being infringed upon is a shield to mask their refusal to accept that homosexuality is not a choice, and certainly not a sin.

Society is taking a stand for the equal treatment of all individuals, and the xenophobic practices and beliefs of many religions will be marginalized as a result. It’s no great loss.

Winnipeg Muslims unhappy with music and co-ed education

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Canadians are a bunch of sobbing vaginas (I say this being an actual citizen of the country). We’re always paranoid of acting in an abusive or forceful manner that we allow all kinds of ridiculous shit to happen on our watch.

The most recent example involves a dozen Muslim families living in Winnipeg that have complained the music and co-ed physical education programs are un-Islamic. Rather than tell them to fuck off and crawl out of the 8th century culturally, school officials are bending over backwards to accommodate these ridiculous demands.

Is there anyone with a brain and some balls willing to tell these families what we’re all thinking?

Mahfooz Kanwar, a member of the Muslim Canadian Congress, says he has some better ideas.

“I’d tell them, this is Canada, and in Canada, we teach music and physical education in our schools. If you don’t like it, leave. If you want to live under sharia law, go back to the hellhole country you came from or go to another hellhole country that lives under sharia law,” said Kanwar, who is a professor emeritus of sociology at Mount Royal University in Calgary.

Kanwar has some interesting things to say about the failure of multiculturalism, and I have to agree here. All it’s done is ghettoize immigrants and made it impossible for many of them to assimilate to the values and traditions of Western countries. We tend to forget all the positive advancement we’ve made in civil liberties and assume (incorrectly) cultures are equally tolerant and equally just. It just isn’t so, and we need to stop fucking pretending it is.

If those Muslim families in Winnipeg don’t want their kids to benefit from our educational system, then they should take a trip back to their theocratic hellholes.

Carl Sagan vs creationists

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Oh Carl, why did a random mutation in your cells have to lead to your ultimate and early demise? We could certainly use you now to debate the same pathetic arguments that creationists were, and still are using. Where are all the transitional fossils? Where the fuck is the proof of your non-theory?

Happy Lupercalia

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I hope you have your goatskins ready for the festival of health and fertility, everyone! It’s time to honor Lupa, the she-wolf who suckled Remus and Romulus (no, not the Star Trek planets) when they were abandoned orphans. To properly celebrate, be sure to have 2 dogs and a goat ready to be slaughtered with a knife, and when someone wipes the blade still fresh with their blood on your forehead, remember that you’re expected to laugh and smile. I don’t want to see any frowns, people!

Of course if that’s a bit too morbid for you, you can always celebrate the Christian holiday that was meant to replace it: St. Valentine’s Day, named after several saints who were martyred. Of course, rather than celebrate the execution of deluded idiots, you can instead cater to the gods of the greeting card industry and succumb to the societal pressure of doing something romantic with your girlfriend. If it makes you feel any less bitter, you never really had a choice anyway, man.

For the rest of you single guys and girls, I suggest you forget about this yearly reminder of your romantic inadequacy and instead focus on finding some dogs to ritualistically slaughter…

Catholics Come Home

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Catholics have taken a page from Evangelical Christians and are actively trying to recruit people back to the faith. After the shellacking they’ve received amidst all the sex scandals, they’re looking for a little PR work, and they’ve found it in “Catholics Come Home“.

The site promises to convert you to, or back to Catholicism by answering a few pathetic questions, and glossing over any fact that looks to be embarrassing. It tries to present the faith as though for the past 2000 years it’s been a model organization. There doesn’t seem to be any information on Inquisitions, Crusades, or the persecution of Jews. Guess they forgot about those historical “oopsies”

Some of their quotes are hilariously out of touch:

the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “There are not even 100 people in this country who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they think the Catholic Church to be.”

I’m pretty fucking sure the Church’s history of protecting child rapists from prosecution has probably made more than 100 people hate the Catholic Church, man. Of course, Sheen died in 1979, just about the time that some of his coworkers were busy in Boston fondling kids left and right. Hear no evil, see no evil, right?

Also, if you’re unsure whether or not your own faith will continue to vilify homosexuality, rest assured Catholicism promises to never stop their campaign of false information and bigotry:

From our web site you will learn about homosexuality and chastity. By developing an interior life of chastity, which is the universal call to all Christians, one can move beyond the confines of the homosexual identity to a more complete one in Christ…

In other words, if you’re gay, you too can be accepted into the Catholic Church if you forever deny your sexual being and love Jesus instead. Sure, he might not cuddle you at night, and he certainly won’t tickle your balls, but you can rest easy knowing your invisible friend has made it impossible for you to live a fulfilled and full life. Hurray!

Evangelicals trying to influence Canadian politicians

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If you think America has a monopoly on crazy religious fundies attempting to undermine the secular values of their governments, I’ve got some sad news for you: these nutjobs are also trying to influence Canadian politicians (the site is in French, just so you know).

Because they are well funded and well connected, these purveyors of nonsense find themselves with access to the highest levels of power in the government. Their mandate – to stifle abortion and stem cell research, among many other goals- would have disastrous consequences for the country.

I’m sure some of you think I’m overly rhetorical when I say how harmful, dangerous and subversive these people are, but it’s not an exaggeration to say their goal is to fundamentally change the governments they aim to influence. If we let them have their way, you can say goodbye to gay marriage, euthanasia laws, abortion, stem cell research, and the suppression of other religious minorities. Let these fuckers in, and they’ll totally take over the place.

Aussie atheist kids forced to take scripture class

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I remember when I was a kid, I went to the only English elementary school in my hometown. Because of some stupid laws forcing most children to attend French school in my province, the only way to avoid this was by attending a Catholic school. Try as they might, they utterly failed to instill anything other than complete disdain for religion. Their pathetic religion failed to impress me even as a child, but that doesn’t mean I was a happy camper having this garbage shoved down my throat.

In a sense I’m happy that things worked out the way they did. As religious as the school was, it was pretty mild compared to the way some curricula are devised. Take South Coast, Australia. It seems atheist children are being forced to attend scripture class, even though their non-Christian religious counterparts are exempt from this torture.

One parent told the ABC her daughter came home distressed after being told God is going to burn the world, while another parent says her child walked out of class when the religious instructor claimed he could ‘cure’ homosexuals.

Man, I’m proud of that little guy that walked out of the class. There’s a fucking brave kid! It takes balls to stand up to people; most folks would have sit there quietly raging. Hearing that story at least makes me hopeful in the future, the next generation won’t stand for the kind of bigotry that’s still so prevalent today.

Religion continues to fight progress in France

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If you thought a country like France was free from the influence of religion on their science programs, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. The government was planning on easing restriction on embryonic cell research, but the Catholic Church lobbied hard to prevent this, and it appears they’ve had some success.

“The Catholics have succeeded in imposing their view on embryos and seem to be succeeding in their attack on this method,” François Olivennes, a leading fertility expert, told Europe 1 radio. “We already have a very retrograde law compared to those in Spain, Britain, Belgium, Netherlands and all of Scandinavia. Nothing is advancing.”

This can of worms was opened after scientists produced a number of stem cells for a child suffering from a rare blood disorder. And because the Catholic Church opposes abortion due to some confused interpretation of their mythology book, they feel compelled to arrest the development of life saving technology.

If they were still in control, do you have any doubt medical science would essentially grind to a halt? I think this nonsense is a wakeup call for Western countries. Our religious institutions are effectively preventing a vital branch of science from progressing simply because of their idiotic dogmas. In their deluded minds they think they are saving “babies” from annihilation, but in reality they only further our misery in their tireless efforts to save a few blastulas.