Author Archives: Jacob Fortin

Rape victim dies after public flogging

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Imagine you’re a 14 year old girl and you get raped by your much older cousin. Now imagine that you’re living in a country ruled by Sharia Law. While in the secular world you have the chance of some justice (like the incarceration of the felon), if you happen to live in a country where the religion of Islam is supreme, the best you can hope for is to survive the 100 lashes you would receive for the crime of adultery.

Unfortunately for Hena Begum of Bangladesh, who was handed out the punishment by the town’s ruling Muslim council. she was only able to endure 80 before collapsing and dying in the hospital due to her severe injuries. Justice is served, everyone!

To add insult to injury, he father had to pay a fine of $700. Luckily, Bangladesh’s authorities are getting involved, since Sharia Law is illegal. It’s too little too late in a country where the local mullahs rule in an unofficial capacity.

Congratulations, Islam, on succeeding brilliantly in demonstrating just how barbaric, backwards, and unjust your religion is. Why not celebrate by infibulating a young woman entering puberty for the sake of posterity?

More Vintage Carl Sagan

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Carl Sagan and what appears to be a pirate/astronomer discuss the search for extra-terrestrial life, and why the advances of science obliterates belief.

“It used to be possible to believe in a personal, benevolent, powerful all-knowing god…but now there are very few people who believe that”. Man, I wish that was true, Carl. I think at that time he may have been a little isolated from what life is like for people who don’t spend their time studying the Universe. It’s always easy to be ignorant.

Mormon Elder claims Freedom of Religion in jeopardy

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There are two things that will never change in this world: 1) people will always have reasons to hate others, and 2) religions will always provide a way to make this exceedingly easy.

Take the Mormon Church for example: they’ve been diligently working to ensure that gays and lesbians aren’t allowed to marry out of the ridiculous notion that doing so “violates” the sanctity of marriage. Because of a few passages in the Bible (next to the ones that condone slavery and selling your daughter for money), Mormons have fought tooth and nail to deny the rights of their fellow human beings.

And because they are convinced of the superiority of their ideas, they now feel as though their OWN rights are being violated when society tells them politely to go fuck themselves. They recognize the way the tide is shifting, and it’s not something that’s a pleasant prospect. Tolerance, it seems, is not that Christian a virtue.

One of their elders recently said that as gays get the rights they deserve, the Church’s religious freedoms are being threatened:

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, one of 12 leaders, known as apostles, who help govern the Mormon Church, delivered his message Friday in a speech at Chapman University in Orange: The 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion is under siege, he said, threatened by a growing secularization of society and constrained by the inroads made by a vigorous gay rights movement.

“For some time,” he said, “we have been experiencing laws and official actions that impinge on religious freedom.”

Oaks, a former law professor and Utah Supreme Court justice, has been making speeches along these lines for more than 25 years, and says the climate has been getting worse for religious rights. “It was apparent 25 years ago, and it is undeniable today,” he said.

It’s funny he didn’t say 35 years ago, when the Mormon church didn’t allow black men to be ordained into the priesthood (and they weren’t allowed to be included in their “celestial marriages” either). You might recall that their racism was a direct result of their own religious conviction. Sound familiar?

Hey, it would be fucking effortless for Mormons to abandon their own bigotry and get with the program. In 1978, elders said they had received a “revelation” decreeing that African Americans were suddenly granted the same rights as everyone else in their church; this after strong public pressure to change their policies. It’s easy to change your stupid dogma when you’re just making shit up, isn’t it?

Dawkins doesn’t mince words

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I love the last sentence when he says of Kurt Wise (a young-earth creationist with a PHD in geology):

“You cannot argue with a mind like that. A mind like that, it seems to me, is a disgrace to the human species”.

Snap!

Another idiot claims atheism is a religion

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Religious people are hilarious. How many times have we been accused of being “just another religion”? I imagine just stating this baseless canard must be a way for them to feel comforted by the idea that atheists base their beliefs on the same dogmatic mechanism they use. Unfortunately for them, it’s ludicrously easy to demonstrate just how wrong this idea is.

I fell upon an article this morning claiming that atheism is a religion (it wakes you up better than coffee). I thought it might be fun to pick apart these 8 pathetic arguments one by one, for your reading pleasure. I also suggest reading the comments, as I’m not the only one who’s done this.

1. They have their own worldview. Materialism (the view that the material world is all there is) is the lens through which atheists view the world. Far from being the open-minded, follow-the-evidence-wherever thinkers they claim to be, they interpret all data ONLY within the very narrow worldview of materialism. They are like a guy wearing dark sunglasses who chides all others for thinking the sun is out.

2. They have their own orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is a set of beliefs acceptable to a faith community. Just as there are orthodox Christian beliefs, there is an atheist orthodoxy as well. In brief, it is that EVERYTHING can be explained as the product of unintentional, undirected, purposeless evolution. No truth claim is acceptable if it cannot be subjected to scientific scrutiny.

3. They have their own brand of apostasy. Apostasy is to abandon one’s former religious faith. Antony Flew was for many years one of the world’s most prominent atheists. And then he did the unthinkable: he changed his mind. You can imagine the response of the “open-minded, tolerant” New Atheist movement. Flew was vilified. Richard Dawkins accused Flew of “tergiversation.” It’s a fancy word for apostasy. By their own admission, then, Flew abandoned their “faith.”

4. They have their own prophets: Nietzsche, Russell, Feuerbach, Lenin, Marx.

5. They have their own messiah: He is, of course, Charles Darwin. Darwin – in their view – drove the definitive stake through the heart of theism by providing a comprehensive explanation of life that never needs God as a cause or explanation. Daniel Dennett has even written a book seeking to define religious faith itself as merely an evolutionary development.

6. They have their own preachers and evangelists. And boy, are they “evangelistic.” Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens (Speaking of which, our prayers goes out to Christopher Hitchens in hopes of a speedy recovery for his cancer, we need more time with him Lord) are NOT out to ask that atheism be given respect.

7. They are seeking converts. They are preaching a “gospel” calling for the end of theism.

8. They have faith. That’s right, faith. They would have you believe the opposite. Their writings ridicule faith, condemn faith. Harris’s book is called The End of Faith. But theirs is a faith-based enterprise. The existence of God cannot be proven or disproven. To deny it takes faith. Evolution has no explanation for why our universe is orderly, predictable, measurable. In fact (atheistic) evolutionary theory has no rational explanation for why there is such a thing as rational explanation. There is no accounting for the things they hope you won’t ask: Why do we have self-awareness? What makes us conscious? From what source is there a universal sense of right and wrong? They just take such unexplained things by … faith

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1. So a world-view constitute a religion now? Religious people “postulate” a world that exists beyond what we can measure. They have the gall to call this imaginary world “supernatural” (as in “above nature). We simply chose to reject a notion that offers nothing in the way of proof. Materialism is simply postulating that everything in the Universe is the result of material interactions. So far, it’s the only explanation that holds any water.

2. If something needs to be subjected to scientific scrutiny, then it’s not orthodoxy. That word is defined as “of, pertaining to, or conforming to the approved form of any doctrine, philosophy, ideology, etc.” By its very definition, Orthodoxy is not open to debate or refinement. All beliefs must conform to previously held dogma. This is the very opposite of the way science work.

3. We’ll admit to being surprised if someone goes from atheism to theist, but that’s mostly because of how utterly rare it is. There’s certainly no punishment for it, and the only thing you lose is respect from fellow intellectuals. Where are the Inquisition and death threats you get from religions?

4. Nietzsche wasn’t an atheist (at least not a self professed one), and if you think Bertrand Russell is a prophet, then I think you’re profoundly confused as to what the word actually means. Prophets conjure messages they claim come from a supernatural entity. Philosophers attempt to use epistemology (the theory of how we know things) when formulating theories. Prophets just make shit up.

5. Charles Darwin, the anointed one who died for your sins, people! No doubt we can agree that evolution destroyed the religious argument for design, but that hardly makes Darwin messianic. The idea of evolution wasn’t new by the time Darwin postulated his theory of descent with modification, and isn’t even a hard one to grasp (if your mind isn’t polluted by religious dogma). We may respect him, but we certainly don’t revere him, or consider him our “Lord”.

6 +7. By this guy’s definition, someone trying to spread the word about vaccines and their benefits is “evangelizing”. We don’t use threats of hellfire, damnation, promise of eternal bliss for conversion, or any other tactic that religions use to try and “convert” people. We simply use reasoned arguments and logic to destroy superstitious notions about the world. What people do with that information is up to them.

8. If it required faith to believe in evolution, then it wouldn’t be science. Science is based on testable hypotheses. If you doubt the validity of the idea, you’re free to research it for yourself. Faith is not about questioning anything; it’s the persistent belief in a dogma DESPITE evidence to the contrary. That’s why whenever you have a conversation with a theist, they’ll fall back on this word as though it means something. “You can’t question my faith”. If an evolutionary biologist ever said that concerning a particular pet theory about some evolutionary process, he’d be laughed at.

While it’s true that we have only conjecture about consciousness and the evolution of morality (though still strongly supported by evolutionary mechanisms), this does not mean that religious ideas are therefor correct. They offer nothing in the way of verifiability, and are therefore invalid. The only recourse for believers is to disregard any competing idea in favor of a rigid persistence to maintain their belief structure. We call this process “faith”

Stephen Fry is awesome

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I want to someday be invited to his show. It looks like a smashingly good time, doesn’t it?

Confessions made easy!

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Too busy to head on over to your Church to confess your “sins”? Don’t worry; the Catholic Church has endorsed a new app that allows you to do it right from your iPhone with Confession: A Roman Catholic App. We live in an interesting time, people.

For those of you worried your disgusting or totally inappropriate behavior might be casually read by a family member or friend, it’s password protected:

Designed to be used in the confessional, this app is the perfect aid for every penitent. With a personalized examination of conscience for each user, password protected profiles, and a step-by-step guide to the sacrament, this app invites Catholics to prayerfully prepare for and participate in the Rite of Penance. Individuals who have been away from the sacrament for some time will find Confession: A Roman Catholic App to be a useful and inviting tool.

Amazing. You can choose from over 7 different acts of contrition, and add sins not already listed (for those of you that have done some really fucked up shit).

I feel like a fool for not getting on this App bandwagon sooner. If you can charge 2 bucks a pop to make people dance around like monkeys for their perceived sin, surely I can make one that’s equally stupid and make a fortune, right?

Aid monies used to pay for Pope’s UK visit

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If you’re unaware of this, I apologize in advance for increasing the amount of catecholamines (that’s a chemical neurotransmitter secreted by your amygdala) circulating in your brain.

Remember a few months back, when the Pope decided to come to Britain and the tap was picked up by taxpayers? Well, it turns out a big chunk of the costs actually came from the Department for International Development (about 2 million pounds of it to be exact). That’s the same department responsible for using funds to help developing countries financially.

If you’re wondering how they can justify taking money away from the poor to subsidize one of the wealthiest organization in the world, you forget government officials are masters of bullshit:

DFID said it was one of a number of government departments that part – funded the Pope’s visit.

“Our contribution recognized the Catholic Church’s role as a major provider of health and education services in developing countries. This money does not constitute official development assistance and is therefore additional to the Coalition Government’s historic commitment to meet the 0.7 per cent UN aid target from 2013.”

The committee also warned that the higher priority being given in aid spending to war zones and other fragile states would make it harder to be sure taxpayers’ cash was being well spent.

Oh, I see. Because aid monies are occasionally embezzled by corrupt governments, it’s really no big deal, right? You might as well give it to a guy who literally eats on gold plates and has precious jewels woven into his clothing. Sounds totally reasonable to me!

The total cost of the Pope’s visit ended up costing you over £10 million, and in a time when the UK is considering cutting vital education services in order to make up for shortfalls in the budget. The public should be outraged over this complete waste of everyone’s money. Next time the Pope wants to take a trip somewhere, I think it’s just wiser to deny him entry unless he wants to pay for his own fucking vacation. Is that really too much to ask?

The Tutor

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Ok, so the animation is a little crude, but the girl who plays the tutor is smoking hot, no? That alone is worth the price of admission. Word of advice, if the creators of the video happen to fall on this site for some weird reason: lose the beard. He wasted precious screen time with his face while we could have benefited more from supreme hotness.

Ted Haggard says he’d be bisexual if he was 21

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Oh Ted, when will you stop living an atrocious lie. The former pastor, disgraced after he was caught doing meth with a gay prostitute (who made a killing selling a book about the affair), now claims he’s really just bisexual in an interview with GQ magazine. Although he might be telling the truth, I find it far more likely poor Ted is busy trying to reconcile his latent homosexuality with the fact he’s married, has children, and devoted his entire life to a book that condemns his sexual orientation.

He also claimed the Bible says homosexuality “is not God’s best plan for people”. That’s just a more diplomatic way of again making gays and lesbians feel as though their sexual orientation is a choice rather than something they are born with.

I’ve got a piece of advice for you Ted, but you’re not going to like it. Abandon your shitty religion. You’ll feel a hell of a lot better once you stop trying to reconcile your beliefs with your need to masturbate other men for pleasure. You’ll stop torturing yourself for being born with a craving for muscle instead of fatty mammary glands. Don’t forget Teddy, the same book that says homosexuality is a sin also says you should stone people who work on Sunday and kids who talk back. Is that really the best guide for modern living?

Texas atheists want to Tax Churches to save schools

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Texas is in trouble. They are having a budget crisis, and like every other moronic state in the union, they’re mulling over reducing teacher salaries and generally decreasing the quality of their education. I liken it to a sinking ship throwing their precious cargo overboard rather than actually plugging the hole. They seem to have no concept of what actually stimulating an economy is all about, but luckily a group of atheist picketers have the right idea. They’re asking the state to grow some balls and tax the over 190 megachurches in the state:

“If just the 1% most profitable megachurches and televangelists in Texas paid just 1% of the amount of tax they’d have to pay if they were taxed like the for-profits they are, we could not only avoid laying off teachers and closing schools, we could hire more teachers, and build more schools,” he says. “We don’t expect this wild idea to fly anytime soon. It’s not a new idea, but it needs to be stated again and again. Religion earns it.”

It would be awesome if churches would finally start contributing to society rather than bamboozling its citizens. Imagine the delicious irony of these institutions actually promoting education rather than stifling it (not sure if it actually qualifies as irony, but just go with it).

This being Texas, it has about as much chance of success as Sus domestica spontaneously achieving lift…

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, So Terrible it’s Awesome

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Talking bowl of cherries, vampires that seem unaffected by daylight, and some of the worse kung-fu choreography since American Ninja 3 makes this a must see movies, people (is it my imagination, or is Optimus Prime doing the voice-over for AN3?).

This is Painful

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PZ Myers and JT Eberhard confront a few Ray Comfort supporters with predictable results. Despite how hard this is to watch (you’ll feel like screaming at the screen, no doubt), it’s still good practice to see just how hard these people struggle to maintain their pathetic talking points.

Religion is for the simple

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There’s an article that appeared in the Guardian today entitled “Christianity: a faith for the simple“, and while I agree with the premise of the article, I feel as though the author got everything precisely wrong on the subject.

There was a recent study done in the US polling the religiosity of the country’s scientists, which I’m unhappy to report is higher than in most other countries. Of course, the relative numbers are still well below the religiosity of your average citizens, it hasn’t stopped some from claiming the argument our most brilliant minds are prone to non-belief is now dead in the water. Rather than recognize society plays a huge role in just how religious an individual is, there are those who want to believe there is no correlation between education and atheism, even when there clearly is.

My problem with the article is the author seems to think while scientists are unquestionably brilliant people, it means very little when it comes time to make some conclusions about the “God question”:

Our conviction that scientists, elite or otherwise, are somehow better qualified to discern the nature of reality is dubious. Elite scientists undoubtedly know vastly more about their subject than other people. But to imagine that makes them somehow better qualified to adjudicate on big-picture questions is like saying because I know my home town like the back of my hand, I am well-equipped to lecture on European geography

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Yeah, kind of a failed analogy there. Scientists are experts in their fields, which just happen to tap into the very nature of our Universe. A biologist who understands evolution would definitely have a better idea than a layman as to the possibility of there being a God. Recall until we actually bothered to uncover the truth about the natural world, its wonders were often used as evidence for a supreme being. That’s still the case with people who aren’t “elite”.

It was thus a fundamental tenet of Christianity that not only was the gospel for all, no matter how they were disenfranchised, but that it had a particular simplicity to it.

I think the author of this article has forgotten that for the longest time, the Gospels were hidden from public view (many men had died trying to translate it into a language of “the people”), and only the educated elite (priest class) were considered intelligent enough to read it. It might be due to the fact the Gospels often contradict one another (like Jesus’ genealogy), offer different accounts of certain events (like when Jesus was born), and often omit parts altogether. So arguing dumb people get the Bible because it’s simple is both untrue and certainly not an explanation as to why Christians tend to be stupider on average.

Odd as it may be to admit, there is some reason within the Christian tradition to think that Christian believers should, on average, be less intelligent, or at least less well-educated, than their opponents. Before atheists get too exited by this, it isn’t an admission that Christians are naturally stupid, though no doubt some will choose to read it that way.

Rather it is the recognition that there is a long-standing theme within Christian thought that sees the Christian message as having a particular appeal to the underclass, not only those socially and politically alienated, but also those the intellectually and educationally excluded.

That’s a nice way of saying if you’re uneducated, poor and have few prospects for the future, you’re more likely to believe in fairy-tales. This point, I’ll concede. When life sucks, you are going to cling to religion. I think we can all agree on this point. But this is precisely WHY religious belief is so deceptive and wrong: it prays on the weak, feeding them lies and falsehoods. The fact you are more susceptible to religion when you lack education demonstrates just how gullible one needs to be to believe in nonsense.

Education is corrosive to religion for 2 main reasons: 1) as you study world history and other cultures, you realize your own very localized religion makes the exact same claim as all others with an equally pathetic grasp on reality, and 2) primitive myths about the origins of our Universe, world and species have little resemblance to the truth. Intellectual integrity is antithetical to religion, pure and simple. This is why ignorance is so vital to belief.

Protect us from Cyclones, Christians!

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There’s a storm-a-brewin’ in Australia, and a controversial church group called “Catch the Fire Ministries“. Their leader, a nutjob by the name of Daniel Nalliah, is crazy enough the Family First Party asked him to step down as a candidate after he published brochures that said God would destroy “Satan’s Strongholds”, which included mosques and Buddhist temples.

Nalliah’s big problem right now is the Prime Minister of the country is an atheist, and this, according to him, is putting the country in grave danger:

Dr Nalliah, a former Family First candidate who was asked to leave the party for his controversial views, has already blamed the Queensland floods on Kevin Rudd speaking out against Israel.

He also blamed the Victorian bushfires on that state’s liberalization of abortion laws.

“How many more disasters will it take before our nation, starting from the Prime Minister, would fall on our knees and ask for God’s protection and turn back to Him?”

Yes, believers are never struck with natural disasters. Even if they are, it’s totally the fault of sodomites and people with different political opinions.

You know, there’s a part of me that envies their crazy delusion. As far as they are concerned, the real cause of human misery isn’t due to the fact  we’re on a cooling ball of rock with a moving crust and a complex atmosphere, it’s because you touch yourself, or some other such nonsense. They truly believe if everyone just capitulated to their arbitrary rules, a male god would reward them with eternal protection. Cuz you know, that worked so well for the Jews, right?

(Update: The site is no longer active)