Author Archives: Jacob Fortin

Tragic proof prayer is useless

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For those of you deluded enough to think religion is the greatest thing in the world, and faith, prayer and well wishing has any real effect on the natural world, allow me to point you in the direction of science. If you’re sick, you need science. If you’re hurt, injured, or have an infection, you need science. Hell, if you want something as simple as clean drinking water and the ability to have it on tap, you need science!

Most of us don’t even think about the number of times our lives have been saved by advances in scientific understanding. Most of it is invisible and automatic; from inoculations to ward off deadly diseases (smallpox and polio, anyone?), to antibiotics to help get rid of otherwise deadly infections; the fact that life expectancy has jumped from 40 to 75 is entirely because of the steady march forward of the most powerful and progressive contribution to our understanding of the natural world: science.

Still, plenty of morons aren’t convinced it does anything. These people actively choose to reject it, fearful of its powerful influence on society. They prefer the comfort and certainty of religion, even though they enjoy the benefits of a greater quality and longevity of life due to it. Here is yet another tragic example of parental ignorance based entirely on religious belief. Brent and Raylene Worthington believe in ‘Christian Science’, a fancy way of saying they reject modern science in favor of prayer. When their 18 month old baby contracted pneumonia and had an infection in her blood, they chose not to call a doctor and instead try to use their religion to cure her. For months while she was horribly ill they refused to seek medical help, and predictably, little Ava didn’t make it. Of course, they did have the intelligence to immediately call a lawyer after her death, so we’ll presume although they are ignorant of the power of science, they certainly are aware of the power of the law.

Now this tragedy wasn’t a quick death. The details are pretty gruesome, including the fact that a lump had started growing on her neck for months, and probably impaired her breathing. Both parents insist they were raising their children according to their Christian beliefs, and we are supposed to be sympathetic that they don’t believe in medical treatment, enough to acquit them of child neglect and manslaughter, presumably.

Saving little Ava would have been as simple as draining the cyst and giving her a few doses of antibiotics to cure her blood infection. Instead, we have a dead little girl and her two idiot parents to punish. Their inaction led directly to her death, and the treatments available that could have saved her life would have taken less than an hour to complete. That, my friends, is the power of science. While they prayed for months with no effect, a simple visit to the doctor’s would have saved her life.

What a fucking waste.

There’s a sucker baptized every minute!

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You know what I like about the guys who wrote the Left Behind series? They aren’t afraid to admit they fucking love making money. These guys have made millions from their terrible books and movies (starring none other than everyone’s favorite ‘ex-atheist’, Kirk Cameron), selling to the easiest demographic in the world: gullible evangelical Christians.

They’ve already released 16 books, with no real plan of stopping the flow of moneys and book signing/selling tours that follow. There’s no real information out there about just how rich Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins have become since putting pen to paper, but I don’t doubt it’s very substantial.

They have also made a video game, which they released in 2006. It didn’t do so well, but that hasn’t detracted them. They are now creating an affiliate network to get churches to sell an average of 50 games a year. They are courting some 3000 churches, so if they sell the game for even 30 bucks a pop, that would net them a cool 4.5 million dollars in revenue a year. Who wants to play a game your pastor forced down your throat? Beats me. I doubt anyone even cares whether it gets played or not. The key here is the continuation of the money train that is the Left Behind Series.

I find it interesting that the self proclaimed experts on Rapture bother to accumulate wealth, since the End Days, according to these deluded fools, is coming any day now. I seem to recall their own beloved man-God, Jesus, saying it was harder for a rich man to enter heaven than to fit a camel through the eye of a needle. It’s probably the part of church they always skipped. Besides, they’ve learned the most important lesson of all from being lifelong Christians: there’s a sucker baptized every minute!

Medical Miracle? She was on Chemo!

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o, this women is on chemotherapy and has surgery to remove her tumors. They luckily didn’t return, and she is cured. While her doctors were busy using science to save her life, she’s given a disgusting old finger bone of some obscure dead priest by friend, and suddenly, we’re supposed to forget the fact she was being treated for cancer and believe a divine miracle saved her. So while the real story is we have another brilliant victory for science, these morons focus on her creepy necklace. Surely her survival must be the work of God! After all, he wouldn’t want this obviously brilliant woman to join him in his magical Funland just yet.

Great job Fox News in proving once again you have no journalistic credibility whatsoever.

How to deal with racists

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I love intelligence in all its forms. Here we have ill Doctrine, a hip-hop video blog that I must honestly say is a huge dose of fresh air in an otherwise suffocating sea of ignorance (maybe it’s the stories I read, but you can sometimes go a little nuts out there on the web). I may not be a hard core  fan of this genre of music, but I do enjoy his opinions. His Bill O’Reily rap is also something to behold.

Militant atheist

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As someone who often is called a ‘militant’ or ‘fundamentalist’ atheist, I find this video to be very succinct and pretty accurate overall. Let’s hope this guy keeps making more of them.

Pale Blue Dot

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We need a new Carl Sagan.

Pope not welcome in Ireland

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I never thought I’d see the day where the Pope isn’t welcome in Ireland. But hey, a 2,900 page report detailing the sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children by the Catholic Church is enough to make even the strongest believer feel overwhelmed. A new survey reports that until the current Pope does more to compensate the victims, the majority of Ireland doesn’t want him visiting.

I got news for you: even if the Pope does apologize, it doesn’t change the fact that Benedict XVI, prior to holding the position of Pope, was the main guy in charge of investigating child abuses in the clergy, and his report suggested the Church keep quiet about it. In all likelihood, he would have probably heard about what was going on in Ireland, but did nothing to stop the abuses there and elsewhere.

It’s an encouraging sign religious belief isn’t what it used to be in Ireland. Perhaps in a couple more decades, it’ll be as secular as the rest of Europe. We can only hope…

I Got Mail

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I received this letter from a fan of the show, and I thought I might post it up. If you haven’t listened to Episode 53 of the podcast, please do so before reading (if you’ve never listened before, you should know it’s actually the crown jewel of the site).

Hey Jake and Ryan,

I am writing you this email to give you a personal perspective of one of the topics you discussed in episode 53 about mental illness. A short description of my self: I am a 24 year old male atheist, and I happen to live in Denmark which is luckily one of the most secular country’s in the world(43% are atheists and at least 80% are agnostic according to this site) but I find my self in a difficult situation. A long time friend of mine has a mental illness. He is diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia. But medication usually keeps it at bay and he is actually a pretty cool guy, but on top of the schizophrenic part, he has a rare physical disease that has scarred his body which has caused him to have serious issues with dating, sex and girls and stuff like that which is pretty understandable considering those medical issues. The problem is that during the last 6-7 months or so, he has become extremely religious (he decided to become a Catholic) and he practically cut all ties to me and our common friends because he is constantly offended by our “immoral actions”, like talking about sex, having science magazines in the house…You get the picture…..

The friendship ended permanently last week when a group of 5-6 friends sat and enjoyed the sunshine one afternoon. We were both present. We talked about all things of topics like friends usually do and i can’t remember what the topic was but I mention something in passing about evolution and my friend started getting upset and saying that Darwin’s theory didn’t make sense, and saying creationist bullshit like “Where is the half human-half ape then” which just proves that they don’t study anything but the bible….Which they actually don’t study that close anyway. At some point the discussion he claimed that I couldn’t understand because I was never touched by the holy spirit and it kinda slipped my lips that such a feeling was make belief and he of course stormed out and we haven’t seen him sense.

But the really worrying part about all this religion bullshit is that he has stopped taking his medicine, and has declared himself to be healthy and that religion cured him.

This leaves me with a mix of emotions ranging from sadness because of the loss of a friend, anger towards his church for encouraging him even though its very obvious that he is deeply unstable and at times psychotic, and lastly a fear of what he might do.

I’m not writing you guys in hope of a solution because there is not much to be done, but simply to tell you about how religion combined with mental illness made me lose a dear friend.

It’s a painful reminder that religion can often mask mental illness. These poor deluded people actually think their respective religions can cure them of their mental disorder, and because the subject of religion is often too tabboo to talk about, many people aren’t given the treatment they need.

Attending church just got a little more dangerous

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I visit the US fairly regularly, but there are definitely places where I wouldn’t dare go. It’s not that I’m afraid of Americans; I’m just afraid of some of your scary habits. Take, for instance, this church in Louisville, where congregants bring their guns to celebrate the fact these devices can be used to kill people. It’s not a place a liberal pinko atheist like me should visit. Here are some choice quotes from the service:

This country was started by people gathering together in churches and complaining about taxation and about their current government, King George III, taking armaments that they had.

But for a deep-seated belief in God and firearms, this country would not be here today

I don’t suspect anyone living in the deep south will stop loving guns, and as far as I’m concerned, you can do whatever you want in your own home (including accidentally shooting your own family members if you like). It’s when people bring them out in public places that I get nervous. We don’t live in a society that requires pistols to ‘defend ourselves’. The truth is the high homicide rate in the US (latest estimates put that number at 13,000 a year, 88% of which are by firearms) could probably be reduced if everyone didn’t go for their gun at the first sign of trouble. In other countries, we try talking first.

If you really love guns, you should go check out Russia. There, almost every farmer has an AK-47, but they actually need theirs. That’s because some places are so remote and corrupt that you have to police yourself. It’s a miserable place, made all the more miserable by the huge proliferation of small arms.

I actually don’t want to see guns banned. In Canada, our gun registry is a billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. It forced already legal gun owners to register, and has done nothing to reduce firearm deaths (criminals don’t need to register theirs). I do get nervous, however, when people start actively merging guns and religious services. No, it’s not a good idea, and there are enough wackos out there who think God ‘invented’ guns in order for them to shoot anyone they don’t like.

Pray for me, Doc!

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I received a few emails this morning asking me to discuss this BBCNews article. Some doctors in Britain are worried spiritual issues aren’t being addressed, and care is suffering as a result. They are demanding that staff be given the right to talk about religion, as well as allow them to offer prayers to patients.

The problem here is there is always a fine line between talking about religion, and proselytizing it to people. Sure, many of these patients may actually like being offered to be prayed for (especially as the aging population find themselves increasingly in their care), but it’s impossible to distinguish between individuals who want it, and those who feel obligated for fear their care could be affected if they refuse. Besides, all of the best studies on prayer suggests patients who are told they are being prayed for have more complications than those who aren’t prayed for. Presumably it’s because they might construe prayer as an indication their conditions are more serious and life threatening (prayer is often the last tactic of the desperate).

The NHS already pays for chaplains to be on call (in fact, the cost of these preachers could hire an additional 1,300 nurses in the country), so the spiritual needs of patients can be met if they so desire. The real issue here is these people hate the fact they cannot talk about religion at all at their workplace. One nurse complained the staff would not allow her to wear her cross, but this was because of health reasons. There’s a very profound reason why we secularize public services; bringing religion into the mix causes conflict, and there is no room for ideologues in hospitals. Their priority is to heal the sick, not pray for them.

The real concern of patients is getting better; not being proselytized to. Sure, there are those who undoubtedly would find such a thing comforting, but you’ll usually find family members and friends can more easily provide spiritual guidance and needs better than a stranger can.

Just don’t pray in my hospital and I won’t try to teach medical science in your churches. That’s fair, isn’t it?

It’s hard to be a bigot these days!

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It must be a tough time for homophobes. It’s become dangerously unpopular to hold ‘controversial’ views on homosexuality these days. The aging baby boomers must be absolutely terrified we’ve all gone insane or something by allowing equal rights to gays and lesbians. Why in their day, you kept those people quiet, afraid, and repressed! If one of your family members was gay, you would keep that shit a secret. If you didn’t know how, well, you could always go learn a thing or two about keeping things suppressed from the Catholic Church.

Fast forward to today’s modern and tolerant society where it’s getting hard for homophobes to get by. Just imagine this British councilor’s surprise when he was suspended from his job for a year after saying that

…homosexuality is a demon which can be driven out. [It’s] a notorious disability and that…modern culture is [trying] to defend these people from any form of discrimination. Hurray for diversity

Pritchard must have lost his fucking mind. He did start crying and quoting the Bible, so presumably he’s not a happy camper about the state of affairs in today’s modern society. In fact, he’s not the only one flipping out about all these new found rights gays seem to be gaining. Even Ireland (where the Catholic church still has the power to suppress information that would identify child molesters in their own organization) has recently granted legal rights to same sex couples this Friday. To make matters worse for bigots, the new Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, is a secularist who is going to amend ‘hate speech’ laws in Britain to include sexual orientation, as well as evict all the Bishops from the House of Lords.

The ones really losing their minds here are conservative Christians around the world. It’s becoming increasingly hard for them to actively discriminate against gays. The UK government has already said adoption agencies are not allowed to deny homosexuals the right to adopt, and as a result, a number of Roman Catholic adoption agencies have severed their ties with the Church. And now they are further marginalizing religion’s role in government. It’s getting to be almost impossible to gay-bash these days!

This whole affair just goes to show how slow and painful change is when you allow religion to be heavily involved in society. Whether it’s a new development in science that they want to suppress or destroy (stem cells, anyone?), or a minority who wants to be treated the same as everyone else, religion is always there to actively discourage progress and change. Are we done with these clowns yet?

Jordanian poet goes to jail for blasphemy

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If you live in a country without bullshit blasphemy laws, consider yourself fortunate. Islam Samhan, a 27 year old Jordanian, is facing up to a year in jail and a 10,000 Jordanian Dinar (14,000 US dollar) fine for his poetry book. The government claims he was blasphemous, but Islam contends the real reason he is being prosecuted is because of his unkind words about Arab rulers. Clearly, these guys don’t see a difference between speaking against God, and speaking against them.

These are what blasphemy laws are intended to do: silence dissenters who disagree with the established social order. Since these governments are essentially theocracies, any political action becomes a threat to the church, and can therefore be punished by blasphemy laws. It transforms what are otherwise political prisoners into religious heretics, effectively silencing dissent, and making their pious population revile these individuals. It’s why we have to fight these and other similar laws (remember the anti-blasphemy laws proposed by some of the countries in the UN?). We cannot allow free speech to be destroyed by these small minded idiots!

Phil Kidd is a “gentleman”

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Have you ever awakened in a cold sweat, terrified a woman’s business suit was the tool of Satan, and society would invariably fall into chaos if we didn’t put our women in line? If you have, then you needn’t worry; you aren’t the only sexist in the world. In fact, you’re part of a special club of ‘gentleman’ that includes this man, Dr. Phil Kidd. He’s an evangelical minister with a prescription for salvation who’s had enough of rebellious women and the pussy whipped men who let them have opinions about things. Can you imagine that?

The entire rant needs to be read, but for you people in a hurry, here is the real juicy stuff from his brilliantly titled article: Hey Lady, Shut Up:

The Bible says everything that has breath has a right to praise the Lord. But there are some times when the Scripture commands women to shut up!

What a sad day, seeing women open the bible and expound the scriptures. Eve, in the Garden of Eden, in a perfect surrounding could not even quote on [sic] verse correct. I sure would not trust a woman to expound truth in this sin cursed mess we live in.

It makes me sick to watch a woman stand on a platform and lead a choir with men in it, or even worse to see a woman lead the whole congregation!

I know what you’re wondering ladies, but I’m sorry to report this stud is married! It seems like the good ones are always taken, am I right? Well, don’t worry about all this relationship trouble you might be having. Phil has some great advice to give you:

So, you good-for-nothing, hen-pecked men that have been laughing your way through this article, you need to get off your lazy back-side and do something for God. Your wife runs the home because you are too sorry to run it yourself Lady, when your sorry husband dies, please marry a man next time.

It’s pretty incredible these sexist dinosaurs are still around, and doubly surprising they are bold enough to quote scripture asking women to shut their big fat mouths. You know, ever since we started giving equal rights to women, something wonderful happened; we stopped being so fucking violent. A peaceful society necessitates women become a fully integrated part of society, enjoying the same rights and privileges men do, and properly expressing their political will. Societies which are exclusively run by men have the worst records in terms of human rights abuses, are usually far more violent, and less stable. Let’s face it guys, if we don’t have women around to talk some sense into us, we go a little crazy. It’s probably the testosterone.

Still, you always have some extreme conservative asshole who can’t stop yelling at us to ‘keep our women in line’, as though somehow their behavior is my responsibility. It isn’t, and I don’t want my mother or my two sisters to live in a world where they are only half citizens who have to be kept ignorant, uneducated, and sequestered. I personally pity any woman directly or indirectly associated with him. If I was a woman in his surroundings, I seriously would have kicked him in the balls for writing that post.

On a different note, have you ever noticed how often women get away with that shit? I bet they plan that stuff ahead of time. Maybe that’s why they always seem to wear pointy shoes around me. I should probably be more careful with what I say…