Why are we such meany pants?

Once in a while some confused religious person will venture on the site and express their dismay at the “hate” and intolerance on display. One such visitor felt that the real problem in the world is that folks just don’t do enough to try and respect one another:

a lot of hateful comments from the atheist camp here, why cant people just tolerate each other why are people always finding reasons to hate each other. I know atheists consider themselves better and more intelligent human beings than religious ones, well then if your so much better then why cant you be the ones to lead by example and show some respect and tolerance to others?

I don’t even know what the fuck he’s talking about this “atheists think they are better” nonsense. We just don’t cling to Bronze Age myths and pretend that the “revealed” words of lunatics is anything more than sheer fantasy. In a perfect world where superstitious bullshit didn’t cause wars, genocide, broken families, discourage the use of condoms to fight AIDS or undermine science education, maybe we would be more tolerant. But that’s not the world we live in, and while it’s easy to pretend that you want everyone to get along, it’s only because you haven’t considered the consequences your own beliefs have on society. What we think about the nature of reality has a direct influence in the real world, and until you stop poisoning our minds with complete garbage, we’ll continue to mock your sincerely held beliefs and not apologize for it.

I love Jesus because my school is unconstitutional

There are lots of schools in the US that seemed to have missed the memo that any public educational institution is a secular institution, and any form of religious proselytizing is strictly forbidden. An employee in North Carolina recently discovered that her elementary school has decided that a Christmas gift basket is the perfect opportunity to try and indoctrinate kids. While packing boxes for needy families in other countries, the school has asked the kids to sign a form that asks them:

My Name is ______
I Live in _______
I love Jesus because ________”

It’s more of that annoying “charity at a price” we’ve come to expect from Christians. Their first job is always to try and spread their worthless gospel, and helping others is seen as a secondary goal. These people are too ignorant to realize that not everyone wants to hear crazy religious bullshit, especially if the only way to accept their charity is by listening to their pointless proselytizing. How about you just do nice things because people need help? Why do you need to bring your imaginary friend into everything?

Judge finds Catholic Church can be held responsible for abuse

You’re probably familiar with the Vatican claim that they are not to be blamed for abusive priests that sexually assaulted any children (which allows them to claim zero responsibility for the things people do while in their employ). What you may not be aware of, however, in that in July of this year, they attempted to use this defense legally, and it seems to have backfired. When the Church attempted to use this “We didn’t do nothing” defense in court against a woman who had been abused by Father Wilfred Baldwin in the 1970′s, the judge would have none of it.

The judge said although there had been no formal contract between the church and the priest, the late Father Baldwin, there were “crucial features” that should be recognized.

It is the first time a court has ruled that the relationship between a Catholic priest and his bishop is akin to an employment relationship. It sets a precedent for similar cases, by providing further guidance for such trials in the future, while also putting the church in uncharted territory

The landmark case has just rejected this argument, paving the way for other victims of abuse to start holding the Holy See responsible for their complicity in the abuse. In other words, it means that the rich coffers of the Vatican are up for grabs for their many victims who cannot seek any other form of justice (Father Baldwin had been dead for many years by the time the trial happened). The war isn’t over yet, folks, since they can appeal the decision. Still, I feel as though we’ve won this battle.

Guy gets excommunicated, “handed over” to Satan

Christian Nightmares – an awesome site I recommend you subscribe to – got ahold of an excommunication letter sent to what seems like a former believer. I thought I’d share the highlights with you, as it provides an interesting perspective as to the frame of mind of true believers.

It is my sad duty to inform you that you will be excommunicated from the fellowship…of Cornerstone Reformed Church this coming Sunday.

We have repeatedly attempted to call you back to fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, both personally and by letter. You have not responded to any of these appeals, but have steadfastly refused to listen to us and worship on a regular basis with us. As a result…the Session…is striking your name from rolls of this church.

Jesus himself tells the church to discipline those who refuse to repent of their sins and listen to him through the church [I’m guessing this is the important part here]…In obedience of his command, we are handing you over to Satan and his kingdom of darkness in hopes that you will come to your senses, repent, and then return.

In Christ’s name,
Pastor Shade [what is he, a super-villain?]

The gist here is that this guy (or girl) had disobeyed their instructions, refused to show up to their events, and as a result was “handed over” to Satan. Is he some kind of cosmic babysitter or something? I’m not surprised by your attempts to ensnare people back to your church with the threat of eternal torture, but it all seems a bit harsh for the crime of not showing up to your events and responding to a few letters, doesn’t it?

I love how it’s supposedly not Pastor Shade’s decision at all. “Jesus told me that you sucked and needed to burn in hell forever. I’m doing you a favor by telling you all of this, which is why I’m a better person than you”. This is the insanity we have to deal with on a constant basis, people: self righteous assholes who think they’re all doing us a favor by taking our money and telling us what to do. Fun times.

Honor Killing was totally justified says shitty father

Every so often, I hear someone claim that honor killings have nothing to do with Islam. While it’s true that the practice is actually older than the religion (it is, after all, the “new kid on the block” compared to the other two Abrahamic Religions), it seems as though this barbaric ritual has found fertile ground in this religion. While the practice has its roots in much older Arab patriarchal societies that tried desperately to control women’s reproductive rights, it’s now become a kind of punishment for any perceived infraction of their twisted morality.

Take the story of 17 year old Rand Abdel-Qader as an example: this young women had the misfortune of falling in love with a British soldier stationed in Basra, and when the family found out about the infatuation (the innocence of which cannot be overstated), they teamed up to strangle her to death and left her body in an unmarked shallow grave. Her father’s only regret now is that he did not murder his daughter while she was still an innocent child:

‘Death was the least she deserved,’ said Abdel-Qader. ‘I don’t regret it. I had the support of all my friends who are fathers, like me, and know what she did was unacceptable to any Muslim that honours his religion,’ he said.
‘I have only two boys from now on. That girl was a mistake in my life. I know God is blessing me for what I did,’ he said, his voice swelling with pride. ‘My sons are by my side, and they were men enough to help me finish the life of someone who just brought shame to ours.’

If you’re hoping for some kind of happy ending to this story (like this shitty father being incarcerated for murder), then I’m sorry to inform you that the cops were congratulating him for having the balls to kill his own child. The worst they’ve done is fire him from his job, although the local government official did give him money to lay low in Jordan for a while. Isn’t it nice to know you have the support of your community when you’re an infanticidal, religious douche bag?

Canadian Imam learns important lesson about Muslim “Brotherhood”

If you’re planning to take a pilgrimage to Medina, you might want to make sure that you’re practicing “Islam” the way the locals want you to. That’s a lesson a Canadian Imam by the name of Usama Al-Atar learned rather painfully, as he was singled out from a prayer group, strangled, beaten, and then taken to jail.

According to CTV, he’s been released, but details are extremely sketchy. The police claim that he assaulted someone, but according to witnesses, the religious police found his praying to be “inappropriate” and quickly mobilized to silence him.

Let’s remember that Saudi Arabia is still the only country on earth where women aren’t allowed to drive or vote (although this is supposedly changing in 2015). Typically, this isn’t a very positive sign. Are we really that surprised that they would also mistreat foreign visitors, accuse them of crimes they didn’t commit, then lay bogus charges on them? What the fuck did this guy expect when entering one of the most religiously conservative countries in the world?

I hope this serves as a lesson for any other Muslim thinking of travelling to the country for a pilgrimage: in their eyes, you’re probably worshiping wrong, and they’re going to do something about it.

Reno atheists get the job done

Fan of the show William is beaming with pride, and with good reason: he’s a member of the Reno Coalition of Reason, and they’re celebrating the erection of this billboard, asking: “are you good without God? Millions are!”. It’s great to see how effective atheists have gotten at organizing and spreading the word that non-believers aren’t a fringe group. We’re much larger than anyone imagines, and we’re getting pretty sick and tired of religious people shoving their religion (among other things) down our throats.

Congratulations on getting the job done, boys and girls!

Shirley Phelps drops by TGA to say “you’ll burn in Hell, Nate”

About a year ago, Carisa recorded Nate Phelps’ presentation “On the Grayness of Life“, in which he recounts his life as a member of America’s most notorious family, the Phelps. Truth be told, I kind of forgot about the whole thing (since blog turnover on content is so quick), but it seems as though the matriarch of the family, Shirley Phelps-Roeper, actually bothered to visit the site and ensure that Nate knows exactly what will happen to him for escaping his father’s abuse:

Nate should be grateful that my father never did what it says in Leviticus 20:9 – “Any person who curses his father or mother shall therefore be put to death. Since he has cursed his father or mother, he shall be stoned to death.”

He’s still going to burn in Hell for all eternity, so the Lord will have his revenge against his decadent, rebellious ways.

Thanks for dropping by Shirley. We’ll be sure to let Nate know that your diseased mind is fantasizing about him burning in Hell for all eternity.

Cindy Jacobs is batshit crazy

If you’re unfamiliar with the insanity of Cindy Jacobs, I have the misfortune of introducing you to a special kind of crazy bitch. Imagine if Marcia Gay Harden’s character in the movie “The Mist” had somehow found a way to traverse the fantasy barrier and crossed over into the real world (yes, I know it’s a terrible movie plot, but someone should have said that to Arnold Schwarzenegger) In January of 2011, she claimed that the mysterious death of thousands of migratory birds was the result of God punishing the world (through animal proxy, of course) for gays being allowed to serve in the military. Here she’s opposing the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters, claiming that all of this is really the work of the devil, who intends to try and take rich people’s money away.

It’s ironic that she talks about class warfare when her own organization’s aims sound very much like that of a paramilitary group, or the kind of mission statement you’d expect from a super-villain group:

Generals International is an international movement that thrives to reform the nations of the world. We are achieving societal transformation through intercession and the prophetic. Together, the staff works to expand the Kingdom of God by bearing the vision of Generals International to reform the nations of the world through the ministry of the prophetic.

The irony in all of this is that Jacobs and her ilk are attempting something similar with their 40 days 40 nights campaign (let’s call it “Occupy Washington”) in order to transform it into the “District of Christ“. It’s ok though: they’re doing it for the Lord;  not a bunch of lazy bums that blame all of their problems on rich people (well, the ones that stole their pensions, anyways).  When you’re working for the Lord, you’ve got an important job to do:

While many want to wear the label of intercessor, few are willing to pay the price to hear the still small voice of God. The intercessor petitions the throne of God with the desires of God for His people. It is not about asking God for selfish desires that can be used on our own lust, it is about discerning the will of God and then giving Him agreement and petitioning Him to implement His will on earth. A true intercessor prays God’s Word back to Him. Since God seeks voluntary lovers, we have the opportunity to cooperate with Him to implement His will on Earth. “Your will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven” is not an empty platitude; it is the vision statement for God’s original intent for mankind.

What bugs me about these kinds of power hungry madmen (or madwomen) is this idea they have that their crazy ambitions are a kind of desirable piety. It’s all for someone else in their eyes, you see. So every dollar they embezzle in their little “world reformation” plan is regarded, unquestioningly, as the will of Jesus (who is going to eventually show up any moment and claim the place, but they’ll gladly take the keys in the meantime).  And lo it’s a miracle! Their savior believes in precisely the same things they do. Hallelujah!

School demolishes chapel, replaces it with science classrooms

Finally, some good news coming out of the UK. It seems a public school founded 500 years ago by the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral has decided to demolish its chapel in favor of building science classrooms. Can you imagine a more cheerful sign of progress?

St Paul’s School in south west London has knocked down its chapel to make way for new science classrooms, becoming the first of the country’s leading public schools to do without a place of worship.

While £5 million has been spent on a new theatre and £4 million on a sports complex, no money has been made available for a replacement chapel.

There are now plans to start saving money in 2020 to pay for the construction of the remaining buildings, but no date has been assigned to the chapel, leading to fears that it will be seen as expendable.

What’s the point? In a few decades, there won’t be enough religious rubes to pay for the damn thing anyways. What is a chapel but a testament to our own ignorance and superstition? I love the fact that a school originally founded by a church has made the decision to move forward and abandon its religious roots. It’s proof that the power of these institutions is seriously starting to wane. A few more decades, and they’ll hopefully be just a painful distant memory…

IHOP 24 hour prayer session does nothing

Remember these wackos? A few weeks ago, The International House of Prayer and their fearless leader Mike Bickle, made headlines after accusing Oprah Winfrey of being the Anti-Christ. These people are not to be underestimated. Since its humble beginnings, the church has grown by leaps and bounds. It’s recently opened a four-year Bible college, and plans of building a massive 100 million dollar church complex (which will undoubtedly be a gaudy monstrosity).

Their whole schtick involves a 24/hour, 7 day a week prayer session that never stops. It’s supposedly been going on for 12 years (I have my doubts about this claim), and in order to accomplish this, young volunteers pledge to spend a minimum of 25 hours a week at the church, often in late night shifts. They’ve been praying for gay marriage and abortion to be made illegal. Fortunately, they’re talking to their imaginary friend the whole time, so all of this prayin’ has done precisely shit in actually changing anything. Of course, this whole effort probably feels inspiring to the members, which explains why they’ve been growing so fast. They have vision, and regardless of how frightening it is (they subscribe to the “Seven Mountain Dominionism” scary bullshit), that’s what these kind of people want from their church these days: a clear idea of how to change society to fit their narrow worldview.

Life imitates Art for woman in Iran

It’s hilarious how most Muslims are convinced that their restrictive religious repression of women is somehow intended to protect them. You hear this all the time in Islamic countries; they think we let our women “run around unprotected” while they “bravely” restrict every part of their lives in the misguided belief that it’s really all for their own good. The culture of Islam makes women seem like dangerous, seductive weapons that cloud the judgement of men. Why else would they execute victims of rape, if not to vindicate the idea that it is always the woman’s fault for seducing the rapist in the first place?

In the light of this prism, the slavery of women is viewed as an extension of man’s submission to God, but as the old adage goes: ladies first! Rebelliousness, seen in any light, is to be extinguished, as was the case with actress Marzieh Vafamehr, who found out herself living out the plot of her new movie “My Tehran for Sale“. The scenario involves a young woman struggling to live in a country of contradictions, where young people live secret lives together in a brutal religious theocracy. This important movie is currently being distributed on the sly, since the country has banned it.

According to an interview with the director of the movie, the government sought a number of bogus charges, including failure to cover her hair with a hijab, consuming alcohol on set, and being part of the production (she wasn’t). The sentence is the kind of thing you’d expect from a theocratic and misogynistic society: 90 red-hot lashes and a whole year of rotting in jail, all for the “crime” of acting in someone else’s movie. Considering the number of women that often fail to survive the aftermath of such unnecessary brutality, I hope she’s made of tougher stuff.

The contradictory nature of Iran is why there are really two pictures of this place: one filled with young women who live out their lives in a secret world that resembles our own, and the other populated by religious thugs who patrol the streets looking for these secret places. When these worlds clash, the only ones to bother talking about it tend to be Persian Christian Missionaries operating out of the Alpharetta, Georgia. Their presence there only exacerbates the situation of course; religion is precisely the problem in Iran. Another faith is hardly the solution.

We have to ask ourselves what we can do ourselves to expose the evils of this religion outside of the sphere of influence of Christianity. It’s our duty to see that the injustices of any faith are given the proper attention they deserve. Until we do, how can we continue to claim the moral high ground?

Harold Camping does it again

There’s a new End Date, True Unbelievers. Harold Camping brings the good news of Armageddon, and you don’t have to wait very long: It’s October 21st!

Honestly, I thought the dude was dead after I saw that last video of him shying away from the spotlight after yet another failed prophesy. I’d feel sorry for this old man if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s a bigoted jackass who wants the world to erupt in bloodshed. That’s what Rapture is: a genocidal fantasy.

77 reasons to support bigotry

The Friendly Atheist has an interesting article written by two fans who recently attended a “Marriage Symposium” organized by the Illinois Family Institute and Patriots United (any time an organization has the words “Family” or “Patriot” in it, you know something racist/homophobic/ultra-conservative is going on). One of the pieces of literature at the event that intrigued me was the pamphlet entitled “77 Non-Religious Reasons to Support Man/Women Marriage“, (sounds more positive than “oppose civil rights, doesn’t it?).  This testament to ignorance has so many gems in it, I found it difficult to choose which one was my favorite…

#18: Without man/woman marriage, there will be no institution specifically protecting the right of children to be in a relationship with both parents.

[Translation: If gays are allowed to marry, parents will mysteriously be unable to have a relationship with their kids because gay sex is gross]

#22. If the love between adults were the only important factor, we would expect stepparents to be interchangeable with biological parents. But this is not generally the case.

[Translation: Because you don’t love your step-dad hard enough, “Todd and Fred” shouldn’t be allowed to care for another human being.]

#29 Same-Sex Marriage makes an implicit statement that mothers and fathers are interchangeable, and sex is irrelevant to parenting. The burden should be on those who make this strong, non-intuitive claim.

[Did religious people just say that the burden of proof is on people making extraordinary claims? Shocking. If proof can be shown that the gender of the parents makes no difference at all – say from a study conducted by the American Psychological Association– would they be willing to accept it?]

#32 Mothers and fathers each make unique contributions to the child’s development. Father’s absence creates risks in children that mother’s absence does not create.

[Translation: Dad’s are more important than moms. After all, they’re more likely to physically and sexually abuse their kids, based primarily on factors such as feelings of self worth, unemployment and substance abuse. Does that mean poor people shouldn’t have kids?]

#33 Teenage boys without fathers are at risk for juvenile delinquency, violence, criminal activity, gang membership and incarceration.

[Hey, I know a way that this kid could have not one, but two dads, making him twice as likely not to turn out shitty! Hint: it involves some degree of butt-sex]

#41 Once same sex marriage becomes legally and socially acceptable, more women will decide to raise children together. They will view this as easier than putting forth the effort of crossing the gender divide and cooperating with a man through marriage.

[Translation: Men will become increasingly marginalized because all women will magically lose their intense desire for sexual and emotional intimacy with the opposite sex, since men are such hard work that it’s not really worth it.]

#55 The judges who imposed same sex marriage in Iowa stated “The research…suggest that the traditional notion that children need a mother and father to be raised into a healthy, well-adjusted adults is based more on stereotypes than anything else.” This is not true as a general statement

[Translation: We refuse to accept any evidence that contradicts what we already know to be true.]

#57 If enough judges say enough implausible things, people will lose respect for the law.
[Translation: If the law doesn’t work to our advantage, we’ll ignore it.]

#60 By the time the activists are finished, there will be nothing left of marriage but a government registry of friendships

[Translation: if gays are allowed the same rights as everyone else, they’ll ruin it the same way they ruined Glee clubs, male cheerleading, and fashion.]

You’ll notice the document sounds like the paranoid ravings of emotionally insecure people (mostly dads) afraid of losing their place in society. It makes sense: most of these movements are populated by old, racist white people; exactly the types of folks that see their power and influence diminish in today’s society. Their fears about an uncertain future (something every generation has had to face) has found a perfect focal point in the Gay Rights Movement. And because they see themselves as crusaders working for the benefit of children, they will interpret their increasingly marginalized views as the right ones. It matters little what society itself wants: they already know the desired outcome. Now all they need to do is try and work for it. I’m happy to report that these efforts will ultimately prove futile. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself this question: “were you convinced that same-sex marriage should be opposed after reading this logical juggernaut?”

Nintendo Jesus

A fan found this article on Kotaku of a woman who supposedly found the image of Jesus on her old Nintendo. Truly it’s a message of hope for all of you gamers out there who worry that the “King of Kings” doesn’t approve of your lifestyle.

A Maryland woman said she was surprised to find what appears to be an image of Jesus Christ on the top of a used Nintendo Entertainment System she purchased on eBay for $US31 this week.

“We were inspecting it for cracks/damage and when we turned it just right into the light, the image showed up,” she said. “Our reaction was mainly curiosity at first. Then as we looked at it closer and ruled out what it couldn’t be, we began to get excited about it.”

They should be excited: think of how much money they can sell this console for now! Some gullible idiot paid $28,000 for a partially digested “Virgin Mary” grill-cheese sandwich, and that thing had to be encased in plastic to ensure it wouldn’t disintegrate into nothingness. Think of how much bread a hard-core Christian gamer will fork out for this piece of Jesus Junk? It’ll be way more than 31 bucks, I can guarantee you that!