Author Archives: Jacob Fortin

The Earth is 6000 years old, older than any environmental law!

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I think the greatest tragedy in the US is how ignorant people are of science. Here, this Arizona State senator wants uranium to be mined and thus exploited for the purpose of generating power. Nuclear power plants are incredibly sophisticated, and while I agree nuclear energy is one of the ways to help humans lower their dependence on oil and other natural gases for fuel, it certainly isn’t a permanent solution (by the best estimates I’ve heard, with the current supply of uranium, there is enough to last some 150 years).

How can a person hold the view the earth was created by God 6000 years ago while simultaneously encouraging the use of an element with a half life of roughly 4.4 billion years? Simple: just ignore the science and leave that to ‘professionals’ while you go around telling everyone they are going to hell for not believing as you do! Here’s an idea for you, senator: if you want people to support initiatives promoting new technology to solve the problems of tomorrow, learn a little bit more about how it works, moron.

Irish Catholics defecting online

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With Ireland still reeling over the Ryan report, many Catholics are simply tired of the lies, the abuse, and the hypocrisy of the church. For those ready to leave the fold, countmeout.ie offers a way for people to officially leave the Church.

Their mission statement is clear: they want to send a loud message to both the Catholic Church and the government that religion has no place in government. According to the site, most primary schools and hospitals are being run by the Church, despite being state-funded. In light of the fact this organization can’t seem to stop molesting young boys, I wouldn’t even let them run a hot dog stand.

So far about 551 people have defected, although I’m sure the number will increase in a few weeks when another abuse report (this time on the Archdioceses) comes out. If any of you know people who are teetering on the edge, maybe this is the push they need to send a clear message to this corrupt and vile institution.

Gay couple handcuffed by Mormons for “inappropriate behavior”

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The universe is a wondrous place, filled with gigantic exploding supernovas, galaxies that collide into other galaxies, and immense black holes even light cannot escape from. And yet, in this amazing place buzzing with activity, we are supposed to believe an all powerful being is interested in what holes are being used for sexual intercourse.

I’ve always felt that religion’s paltry and pathetic answers to the questions of the universe failed to meet anything resembling a reasonable and satisfying explanation to why the cosmos is the way it is. I understand, however, that for some the comfort of believing a benevolent caretaker is behind the wheel brings a certain peace of mind in an otherwise random existence. What annoys me is when they feel it’s their responsibility to tell everyone else how to live, and in particular, how to have sex.

Two gay men were arrested and humiliated yesterday for kissing and hugging one another on a plaza owned by the Mormon Church. The couple was handcuffed and charged with a misdemeanor for failing to obey the commands of the security guards who asked them to behave ‘appropriately’ (in other words, ‘not gay’).

I’m anxious for the day when human beings will stop being so obsessed about what private parts go in what holes. It seems so pathetically petty to be so caught up in what is essentially humans showing affection and sexual interest for one another. Personally, I think we should all be fucking more, not less. If a supposedly omni-benevolent deity can’t deal with the fact some human beings prefer the company of the same sex, is that really a God anyone should be interested in worshiping?

Steroids and Jesus: a match made in heaven

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I had never heard of John Jacobs and the Power Team until now. In case you were like me, this evangelical tour uses feats of strength to convert people to Jesus. These kinds of quasi-religious sideshows are nothing new; Shaolin monks have perfected this shtick for hundreds of years. The only difference is they weren’t ‘beefed up’ by the power of the Lord!

I guess breaking off handcuffs is supposed to be a metaphor for life. If that’s true, I’m not sure what ripping a phone book in half symbolizes. Maybe you don’t like calling people, perhaps? If you’re wondering what Jacobs is up to, he declared bankruptcy in 2003, and after allegedly physically assaulting one of his ‘troops’, he went out and started another organization called ‘John Jacobs and the Next Generation Power Force‘. Kinda sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon to me…

Muslim extremist jailed for arson

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You might remember a few months ago, I wrote a story about the book, The Jewel of Medina, and the subsequent firebombing of her publisher’s home by Muslim extremists. It seems now the case has gone to trial, with Ali Beheshti  and his two accomplices sentenced to four and a half years behind bars. The judge issued this statement, which I strongly agree with:

“If you choose to live in this country, you live by its rules. There is no such thing as ‘a la carte citizenship’ and, in your case, there is no such thing as ‘a la carte obedience’ to the law”

The book that caused the conflict in the first place is a historical fiction novel centered on Muhammad’s child bride, Aisha. It’s a part of his history many Muslims like to whitewash; they don’t like the idea that their prophet was involved sexually with such a young child, and any reference to Aisha is usually met with swift violence.

For future reference, when you commit a violent crime, it’s usually a good idea not to have a bunch of pictures of you holding a gun. That tends to send a pretty clear message that you aren’t right in the head. Just saying…

Pedophile priest blames Holy Spirit for abuse

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You know what’s sad? I’m not shocked or surprised by terrible stories of priests molesting children. It’s so rampant there are weeks when I simply refuse to post these depressing stories simply because there isn’t much left to say about it. It’s a profession that seems to invite pedophiles, not only because of the unprecedented access to children, but also because of the ability to ‘spiritually’ bully them into silence. It’s a tactic that’s employed so often, I think it’s about time we stop giving these kinds of powers to anyone at all.

Our latest piece of shit pervert is Benito Catello, who ran a ‘church’ from his home, and catered almost exclusively to minors. Although the guy was in a wheelchair and had an oxygen tank, he was still able to coerce and force kids to have sex with him, threatening them with eternal hell fire if they talked. He’s being charged with 27 counts of sexual assault, and he’s already confessed the allegations are true. He claims the Holy Spirit made him sexually abuse those kids. I guess in his deluded mind, that’s how he justified it.

I’m not about to suggest every single priest out there is a child molester, but does it have to be so many of them? In the US alone, roughly 4% of Catholic priests have been suspected at some time of being pedophiles . That’s 4,392 men who were accused of sexual abuse. Of those, only 6% were ever convicted. Considering how difficult it is to get victims to come forward to report abuse, those are not encouraging numbers.

The Catholic Church has attempted to prevent such high rates of abuse by educating children to watch out for signs of pedophilia (like avoiding being alone with priests), but all this does is put the responsibility on children, and not on the institution. Hey parents, if you really want to protect your kids, try avoiding church altogether. That’s the simpler way to prevent abuse.

Harry Potter is an atheist

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Hard core Christians hate Harry Potter. They detest any form of witchcraft, which they consider to be the tool of the devil. Evangelicals are not only forbidden from seeing the movies; they usually actively campaign against them, discouraging other more moderate Christians from going. I can only imagine their reaction now that Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) has come out as an atheist.

Radcliffe describes himself as a big fan of Professor Richard Dawkins, so the kid is alright in my book. I hate to admit it, but I’m also a fan of the movies (although I don’t read much fiction, so the books aren’t really of any interest to me), and I’m looking forward to watching the latest one. I think it’ll be even more fun now that I know Daniel doesn’t believe in God.

(props Atheist Revolution for the find)

Oldest Bible now on display

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What happens when you take a bunch of scattered pages of a 1600 year old Bible written in Greek, scan it and put it on the Internet? You get this, the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest surviving Bible on the planet. It’s now available for you to scrutinize, analyze, and generally geek out if you’re into this sort of thing.

The most fascinating thing about this particular Bible is it allows us to trace the changes and evolution that have occurred since the early days of Christianity. This version apparently doesn’t even mention the resurrection of Jesus, so you can bet once this becomes a little more mainstream, there will be a bunch of Christian apologetics who show up to save their faith.

Is it any surprise the King James Version of the Bible everyone likes so much would be radically different from early texts? I suppose when you are naïve enough to think the KJV is the word of God, then yeah, this older book would probably be pretty shocking, especially when you realize religious traditions are no better than ‘Chinese Whispers‘ at keeping the integrity and accuracy of a message.

I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction of hard line Christians, and seeing how they explain these huge inconsistencies away. Things are about to get a little more interesting for us atheists…

Irish citizens want to be more secular

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Things are not looking good for Catholicism in Ireland. The Ryan report is a gigantic bleeding wound that shows no signs of healing, and it seems to have seriously shifted the public’s opinion about religion’s place in society.

A poll conducted by Newstalk, an Irish radio station, found 70% of respondents wanted primary schools to be run by the state, and more than half felt religion had no business in schools. Here’s what some people were saying:

“It’s about time that Ireland became a secular state. Theocracy has had its day here”

“The Church can run schools if they want, but they should receive zero funding from the State.”

If things look bad for the Church, they are about to get worse, as another report detailing the handling of sex-abuse allegations against priests in Dublin is about to be released. Considering the history of abuse scandals in Ireland, I’m sure the over 1,000 pages will strike another deadly blow to the already battered institution.

The only thing remaining is the priests and nuns involved in the abuse scandal be put in jail. What we need now is justice, not just secularism. The government needs to act, and I’m hopeful this new report will finally help families that were victims of abuse find some degree of closure.

Now she’s pissed

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Sometimes when you’re in this ‘atheist game’, you get a little frustrated and annoyed when religious people make absurd claims like ‘God cured me of cancer’ when they are at a hospital.

Church of England split is inevitable

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The issue of homosexuality is the biggest threat to the stability of the Church of England, with many groups within the church actively campaigning against ‘active’ gays (I assume by active they mean having gay sex) in the community according to this BBCNews article.

Over the years, the Church of England has become increasingly liberal, and their view on homosexuality has softened quite a bit. Obviously, not everyone is too happy about that, like Dr. Nazir-Ali, who wants the traditional teachings of the Bible to be upheld.

People who depart from this don’t share the same faith. They are acting in a way that is not normative according to what God has revealed in the Bible.

The Bible’s teaching shows that marriage is between a man and a woman. That is the way to express our sexual nature.

We welcome homosexuals, we don’t want to exclude people, but we want them to repent and be changed.

I hate when these assholes pretend they are welcoming and inviting, when in reality they are close minded and bigoted. As far as they are concerned, every gay man and woman should be fighting their sexual desires, regardless of the psychological damage that does.

A split looks like it’s inevitable, anyways. I doubt the liberal attitudes of the Church of England will stop. The UK is a very progressive country, and the Church has tried valiantly to keep up with the times. That a few old school preachers and parishioners despise this should surprise no one. The nature of religion is divisive, and I’m positive we’ll soon see to what degree very soon.