I just ran across this site, The Thinking Atheist, and I have to admit I’m loving their videos so far. Well produced, funny, and relevant. I’m looking forward to seeing more from these guys!
Author Archives: Jacob Fortin
Pope wasting his time visiting Czech Republic
Pope Benedict XVI is on a mission; he’s decided to tour Europe to fight what he’s dubbed “atheist ideology” and “hedonistic consumerism” (this from the same man who quite literally eats off gold plate in a gigantic palace). His first stop is the European capital of unbelief: the Czech Republic. According to the latest polls, only about 19% of the population claims to believe in God, and those figures keep dropping every year. You’d figure the least religious place in Europe would be a stupid first place to visit, and you’d be right; Benny’s own advisors are telling him this is a stupid move, but hey, what’s the fun in having Papal Infallibility if you can’t do whatever the hell you want?
There’s no fanfare for his scheduled arrival, and most Czechs are more concerned with the mundane to really give a shit about the pontiff’s visit. Besides, he’s there to warn everyone of the “dangers” of secularism. Yeah, the world is such a messed up place in countries where religion and politics AREN’T intertwined, right? Oh wait, it’s completely the opposite. Silly me.
If the Pope really wants to do good, he should head over to Nigeria and try to put a stop to all the terrible shit that’s going on there in the name of Christianity. Hell, he could sanction the use of condoms and save millions of lives that way. What do you say Benny, ready to stop wasting your time and do some real good with your life? I didn’t think so.
Carl Sagan Remix!
Here’s a really awesome tribute to Carl Sagan. Who knew he was so techno?
Catholic Church sued for vilifying woman seeking abortion
Who’s that guy who said “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”? Was it Jerry Garcia or something? Oh no wait, I remember now; it was Jesus. Personally I find the guy’s morality to be somewhat limited (in the Bible he comes off as a big time racist), but this particular moral lesson is something the Catholic Church has never really fully understood. They don’t mind crucifying individuals they perceive as evil, even when it’s just a woman trying to get an abortion to save her own eyesight.
A Polish court has awarded $11,000 (7,400 euros) in damages to a woman likened to a child killer by a Catholic magazine for wanting an abortion. The article also compared abortion to the experiments of Nazi war criminals at Auschwitz.
It’s apparently incredibly difficult to get an abortion in Poland, and the reason Alicja Tysiac needed the procedure was because her vision was deteriorating as a result of her pregnancy. The doctors still refused to give her one, and now the woman is practically blind. The Church did everything in their power to paint her as a monster, and now they have to pay damages.
Just another example of the lengths these guys will go to prevent women from getting abortions. Well, I guess you can’t molest a kid if he’s never born, right?
Preachers continue to pray for Obama’s death
I find it strange that Christians believe their religion gives them moral superiority over others. In their deluded minds, they believe the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ are the foundations of our modern (ethical) society. Never mind the fact the same book was used to justify all kinds of atrocities, from genocides to slavery; that was ages ago! Those people weren’t real Christians, and there’s no way anyone reading the Bible could possibly get it wrong, right?
Here’s an interesting article from a person of faith deriding the slew of preachers who have prayed publicly for the death of President Obama. The author believes these acts of barbarism set a dangerous and deadly precedent, and their religion is vulnerable to manipulation of the few relative extremists who use their pulpit to promote their bigotry and racism.
I agree that these kinds of preachers need to be stopped, but her solution to this problem, prayer, is quite literally the most useless thing anyone can do. I understand her frustration. It’s quite impossible for Christians to properly put their extremist factions in their place; after all, fundamentalists rely on a literal approach to reading the Bible. Theological arguments can’t be settled because they aren’t based on anything real or objective. While it’s nice to know there are plenty of Christians who find this kind of hate speech aberrant, we seriously need them to do more than just pray. You people are aware that it doesn’t do shit, right?
Mr. Deity vs Mr. Skeptic
Alright, I’m not exactly the biggest “Mr. Deity” fan (I find the videos entirely too long, and the whole shtick gets old pretty damn fast), but this latest one with Michael Shermer is actually pretty good. It might also have something to do with the fact I loved his books, and Skeptic Magazine is a quality publication I highly recommend. Still, what is up with his voice? Did he swallow Kermit the frog or something?
Pakistan is still messed up
I got some good news and some bad news. I’ll give you the good news first; according to the latest Pew Poll, Pakistani support of the Taliban and al Qaeda has been declining over the past few years, and more and more people are concerned over extremism in the country. They also are beginning to see that educating women is important. All of this sounds pretty encouraging, right?
Ok, now that we’ve covered the good stuff, it’s time for the bad news. It seems that Pakistanis are increasingly supporting severe laws; roughly 83% of the population supports stoning adulterers, while 78% of them want the death penalty to be applied to apostates. An overwhelming majority also support giving judicial power to religious judges, which is essentially the same thing as handing over the keys to your house to a raving fucking lunatic.
The majority of Pakistanis also believe India is a major threat to their security, mainly due to the fucking depressing quagmire that is Kashmir. Considering both of these countries are nuclear powers, the threat of armed conflict should scare the living shit out of everyone. Pakistan is a damn mess, and I have great fears the situation there is not improving. What’s the solution? I’m not sure, but I can tell you one thing; if anyone has any doubts religion isn’t the main source of these problems, kindly jump off a bridge please.
Teen rejects HPV vaccine on moral grounds
If you want to be a citizen of the US, you have to get vaccinated for a variety of diseases. It makes sense, but something as simple as a shot never seems to go very smoothly in that country. Take the example of Simone, a young woman from the UK trying to get an American citizenship. The government wants her to be vaccinated for HPV, but she has refused saying as a devout Christian, she will not be having sex, and therefore doesn’t need the vaccine. She’s essentially refused to take it purely on moral grounds.
I’m not even going to use the argument that good christian girls are actually more likely to engage in risky sexual activity; for all I know, maybe she is serious about this (and she might also be a minger; I don’t know). That’s not the damn point. The point is statistically she has a very good chance of contracting it (roughly 80% of women risk contracting it by the time they turn 50), and cervical cancer is no fucking joke, and yet her backwards religious belief is making her take a stance against protecting her own health.
The grandmother and teen make it sound as though getting a vaccination is equivalent to being waterboarded; it’s well within the right of the US government to want prospective citizens to take the necessary precautions to ensure their good health, and the health of others. Worldwide, cervical cancer still kills nearly half a million people a year. Does that seem like a small number to you?
This same kind of protest is happening all the time with this vaccine, which is not only annoying but also discouraging. How many women will die or lose the ability to have children all because of their stupid conviction that the vaccine somehow “encourages” promiscuity. No offense people, but one hardly needs an excuse to want to fuck all the time. We’re kind of engineered that way.
Proud Atheist gets a death threat
When you blog about atheism, the occasional death threat or hateful message is inevitable. I’ve been fortunate enough to have avoided such unpleasantries, though I credit my low profile more than anything overly friendly about me. New to the list of victims is Mark from Proud Atheist. He put up a post a few days ago celebrating his 1st year anniversary (my how time flies, no?), and this was one of the comments he received:
Yes, happy first and LAST anniversary.
Your sins are too mighty to repent for, our Father will send you all to hell when you die! I will hack into this website and destroy it; and find your personal information too, so I can blow up your house—but your destiny is so fucked up that I don’t know why I would bother! I may, however, hunt down your friends and family and slaughter them—that would cause you great pain, would it not? I have gotten signs from God that approve of doing this to all fucking atheists! Someday you may find a gun at your head, or cyanide in your drink, or a grenade in your home—but I will kill you, make no mistake! The sooner you go to your eternal punishment, the better!
This guy is an obvious lunatic, and here’s hoping Gabriel Tanejo is just another hateful coward.
(Note: The site no longer exists)
New Archbishop of Nigeria causes controversy
There’s always an uneasy truce in Africa when it comes to religion. The combination of desperation and ignorance is attractive to mainstream religions, who send missionaries and monies to convert Africans to their side. In doing so, they have begun to carve apart communities. Take Nigeria as a good example; the Archbishop recently accused Muslims of “mass-producing” children in an attempt to take over communities by sheer numbers. He claims money from the Arab world is being funneled down and used to build hospitals and schools that encourage people to convert.
“They come to Africans and say, ‘Christianity is asking you to marry only one wife. We will give you four!’ ” Archbishop Okoh described this as “evangelism by mass-production”.
He’s not saying this because he believes these tactics are wrong. How could he? The Catholic Church has employed the same M.O. for quite some time now. If anything, it sounds to me like he’s jealous rather than angry. Still, the effect of such a statement cannot be underestimated, especially in a country where religious tensions are on the rise.
This is why religion poisons everything; with the election of this obviously antagonistic Archbishop, the uneasy peace building process that has been going on between Muslims and Christians may well evaporate, and we can all imagine what that would be like. This is the same country where they torture and kill children who are suspected of being witches. Do I really need to spell out what will happen here if this kind of shit keeps happening?
Carrie Prejean “highlights”
Trust me when I say there isn’t much to highlight when it comes to bigots. If you still don’t think she is one, just try to imagine her as old, overweight and fat. Then you’d probably want to crucify her, but because she’s so goddamn beautiful, the hateful shit that comes out of her mouth doesn’t have the same impact.
She’s speaking here at a conservative “Value Voters” submit, which is everything you might expect it to be. In this speech, she prides herself on holding a bigoted view of homosexuals and the right for people to marry whomever the fuck they want. Yes Carrie, feel proud that you try and deny people the same basic rights you enjoy. Hurry, go make the world safe again for rich white people!
She also believes few people are as courageous and brave as herself. You’ve been through so much, maybe someone should give you a medal or something!
David Mitchell on terrible religious shows
Excellent video on “putting faith in its place”
His arguments are irrefutable, his narration is spot on, and his little animations are helpful and clear. Could you ask more of an educational video? Don’t you just love the fact that people do these kinds of videos for no other reason than to encourage others to think?
Tony Blair wants religion to save the world
If you’re not British, you might not really care what Tony Blair is up to. After all, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, we regard the man as nothing more than a puppet of the Bush administration (Nelson Mandela famously described him as “the US foreign minister“). Most Brits tend to believe that his actions and policies granted more police powers and eroded their civil liberties. Everyone I’ve ever talked to unanimously agreed that he’s a giant dick.
Like most retired politicians, he’s in legacy mode, and wants people to remember him as more than just Dubya’s puppet. He’s started an organization called “The Tony Blair Faith Foundation”, whose mandate is to:
…promote respect and understanding about the world’s major religions and show how faith is a powerful force for good in the modern world.
Even if Tony has good intentions with this foundation, he’s completely out of his depth here. All he can do is attract religious institutions that are already interested in peaceful dialog, and nothing more. Blair’s history in the Middle East is a liability more than it’s an asset. How are Muslims in Bagdad supposed to react to Blair’s words of peace when they have tasted so much of his sword?
In any case, if they truly want peace they will have to do more than appeal to people’s “faith”. Not every religion takes a kind attitude of tolerance towards other teachings. Most religions tend to have bloody conflicts over even the most minute doctrinal differences.
The National Secular Society seems to agree with me, and stated Blair is “profoundly wrong” in imagining religion is a peacemaking tool. If it was, we’d have a very different type of world right now. If we want human beings to see one another in the same way, we need to discourage people from believing in things without evidence. We live in a world with so many interesting and fascinating answers, and yet there are still people who kill one another over their genocidal mythologies.
Tony, the best thing you can do for world peace is to find a place to lay low for the next 30-40 years. Is there any nice way to tell this douche to get the fuck out of our faces?
Suck it, God!
Genesis Chapter 3, verse 14
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this [tricked Eve into eating the apple] thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;upon thy belly shalt thoug go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
Crawl on their bellies forever, huh? Evolution might have something to say about that. Doesn’t it kind of look like this snake is giving us all “the finger” in this picture? Also, how often has anyone commented on the fact the Bible hilariously thinks that snakes eat dirt? Perhaps the snake got a raw deal, and it was really the earthworm that told Eve to eat the apple. After all, I’m pretty sure they eat that shit too…