Sharia: providing a framework for the subjugation of women for over a thousand years, and with the help of misogynistic clerics, perhaps a thousand more! Hey Australia, that’s the second time in two days that you make it on my site. Not a good sign…
NOTE: I’ve been informed of the low reliability of this so-called “news” program. I wonder, is it owned by Rupert Murdoch by chance?
Wow, he’s right: Evolution doesn’t explain how gravity works, and it certainly doesn’t explain the second law of thermodynamics. Did you also know Newton’s First Law (the velocity of a body is constant unless another force acts against it) doesn’t explain why Ben Stein thinks he understands what the fuck he’s talking about? It must mean the Theory has no real value. It’s much more logical to assume that God did everything slightly difficult to explain. Who wants to live in a world of quantum indeterminacy? If you’re Ben Stein, all you need to do is jam your fingers in your ears so tightly that it starts to effect blood-flow to your brain, and presto: no more pesky science that makes God look like an incompetent fool.
If you don’t remember Kent Hovind, it might be because you’ve come into the atheism scene a little late. He’s currently in jail for failing to pay taxes on a number of his enterprises, including a religiously themed amusement park called “Dinosaur Adventure Playland“. This bastion to ignorance features not only depictions of humans and dinosaurs co-existing, but also a replica of the Loch Ness Monster. It’s to be expected when your “scientific” claim is these animals lived during the dawn of man some 6 millennia ago, and a few are still alive today.
Kent’s “education” includes a doctorate from a diploma farm that fancies itself a University. His hilariously unoriginal, grammatical nightmare dissertation has been the subject of some scrutiny. When Wikileaks obtained a copy of it from Patriot Bible University, they denied it was the completed version, and since then neither Patriot or Hovind have responded to critics demanding to see his thesis. I suspect some of this zeal may have partially to do with the fact that he insists on being listed as “Dr. Hovind” in the phone book. I imagine it’s insulting to anyone who actually bothered to get the real deal.
If you’re wondering about his conviction, it was a result of his fringe beliefs taxes are unconstitutional and therefore wrong. It didn’t even seem to matter to him that all he needed to do was “play ball” and bother to register as a church, thereby avoiding this pesky tax nonsense. Nope, he chose instead to declare total autonomy from the United States, and when the government came knocking on the door asking where their cut of the bread was, Hovind claimed the various enterprises were the property of God, and therefore exempt. This novel defense would later secure the guy 10 years in jail.
What I find hilarious about the whole thing is even in creationism circles, Hovind is considered a total hack. Answers in Genesis – the same brilliant minds that brought you the Creation Museum – thinks his arguments are so bad they’re actually harmful to “the cause”. It’s a nice reminder that creationism nonsense – mainly fueled by religious evangelicals – still comes loaded with all the divisive trappings of theology. There’s no unity there. Even Ken Ham, who started AIG in the US, was forced out of the parent organization in Australia. These Young-Earth Creationists are similarly vilified by Old-Earth Creationists who feel “the cause” is disservice by such literal interpretations of scripture. See the trend here?
I could tell this video was inspired by Hitchens. The “Jesus meek and mild” was the dead giveaway. Still, this video series stands on it’s own as a comprehensive, attractive and well written treatise against the so-called “Prince of Peace”. It’s the first video of what I hope will be a fruitful series. Of course, I think you all know the drill here: watch this video, tell your friends about it, and most importantly, subscribe to their feed!
If you aren’t familiar with “flash-mobs“, they’re essentially spontaneous gatherings of people who perform some kind of pointless or silly act. They then vamoose as quickly as they assembled. Here, we have a Franciscan looking dude with some shiny chalice-like object. Notice everyone around suddenly kneeling to show their love of some dead make-believe guy. Sad.
If you actually bother to pay close attention to what the audio is saying (which I actually don’t recommend you do unless you’re a sucker for punishment), you’ll notice they try and squeeze Jesus in books in which he’s clearly not a part. Judges, Numbers, Deuteronomy? I don’t recall seeing the name Jesus anywhere in those books…
Hey, isn’t it considered plagiarism to claim a work as your own? Just sayin’!
I never realized how many crazy sexual positions Bonobos try. I think they put us to shame. What the hell was that crazy one hanging from the tree all about? Should we add that one to the Kama-Sutra?
Remember the “Miss USA” interviews? What happens when you substitute the word “evolution” with “gravity” on the embarrassment that was the Miss USA “Let’s Ask These Bimbos if they think proper science should be taught in school” video? You get something funny enough to make you shart a little…Enjoy the weekend!
NOTE: Miss Washington is still awesome. I love facts too, baby!
Firstly, I’d just like to point out my general dislike of news programs. I hate the way they present the news. At the beginning of this particular broadcast, I practically turned it off once I heard their ridiculous “let’s ask a question so we can pretend to be objective” routine”
“Is it possible that potentially fatal diseases can be stopped in their tracks by allowing a healer to channel thought and prayer into our brains?”
No, it’s not. The best fucking minds in the world keep telling you this, and yet you keep asking the question as though it’s still open for debate. It isn’t. We’ve tested these kinds of claims for decades, and the only thing we’ve found is that people often lose their hard earned money, if not their lives, to charlatans who pretend to have healing powers.
I know that the program eventually exposes faith healers, but why the hell did they chose to present the news in such a distorted way? You’re not presenting it fairly if you take their claims at face value at the beginning of your program. I can’t tell you how angry that shit makes me…
I can understand why the guy at the 4 minute mark wanted to remain anonymous. He was tricked out of over 1000 pounds of his own money. But he was probably desperate, and very afraid. Those are the kinds of vulnerabilities Faith Healers exploit. Trust me, when you’re sick and desperate for a cure, you don’t tend to make very smart decisions.
Also scary is how the founder of this nonsense, Vienna Stibal*, claims her bullshit can also cure AIDS? I agree with the idea she should be criminally libel for those kinds of dangerous statements. When are we going to start realizing how dangerous fuckwads like Vienna are?
*(Update: THer website no longer exists)
What better way to celebrate the majesty of the uber-exploitive parade of vapidity that is the Miss American Pagent than to feature a video with contestants telling people about their “thoughts” on evolution. Most of these airheads tow the “teach the controversy” line, as though “students” deciding between fantasy bullshit and rigorous science isn’t a total waste of time.
Thankfully, a few actually believe, but the general feeling I get is that even those that do probably have no idea why it’s true. So which one of these geniuses does the best job of embarrassing the rest of humanity?
I posted this a while ago, but after rewatching it this morning, I couldn’t help but think there might be a few people who’ve never seen this parody. My favorite is still “Scary Mary“, although “Shining” is a close second.
Another persuasive and well thought out video. This dude is awesome.
Isn’t that sweet? I mean here I was, worried that Rick Perry’s “The Response” would be “Christians Only”. Luckily, his spokesperson assures us all will be free to join them in worshiping a 2000 year old no-show, regardless of their own personal convictions. What else could a person ask for?
From the songwriter’s own words:
I wrote a song called GOD SAID after watching Pat Robertson declare that the earthquake in Haiti was because of a curse from God. After hearing A man named Rev Wiley say that he was praying for President Obama’s death during the election (the prayer didn’t work BTW). After hearing people fiddle around with the idea of a curse on Japan after their recent disaster. After hearing about Koran burnings and battles that seem to have people’s interpretations of religious texts at the foundation of them all.
I’m not one of those who claims that religion is the ONLY thing that causes all of the wars and bloodshed, but it has caused many. But not necessarily even the religion but the interpretation of a few dangerous minds put into the wrong position of power or influence. I figured it was time to have a conversation with extremists like this, and put that kind of thinking in its proper perspective.
I’m sure there will be some disagreements. I put some of my more radical ideas in there, and there will probably be some disagreement about a few things here and there. That’s ok with me, I’m all for civil discussion and people having their own ideas. I don’t mean any harm, but they’re my ideas (and the directors – we all pitched in). There will be places to have these discussions, but mostly, I tried to stick to the unifying point, which is anti extremism and fundamentalism. I mean well by it. I encourage THOUGHT, REASON, LOVE, and RESPECT. I hope that comes across at the very least.
It’s a great song with a powerful message. I don’t think we could ask for anything better.
Here we see a glorious display of nationalism, xenophobia and religious division. There’s nothing like showing up to your neighbor’s house, chanting “Death to Arabs” while waving a gigantic Israeli flag. Is it any fucking wonder why the Middle East is still a gigantic shit-hole? Maybe it has something to do with all these assholes about.
I love whenever people start making specific claims about their magical play-land in the sky. Did you know you’ll be able to finally drink all that wine your local mullah told you was forbidden? Good thing you never bothered to actually try the stuff when you were alive…better to wait until you’re dead to enjoy the little pleasures in life.
I think the Muslim concept of Heaven is by far the most provincial. It’s quite obvious that a group of repressed desert people made it up. The rest of us couldn’t give a rat’s ass about rivers of honey and wine that doesn’t make you drunk (what is it, Synthohol?). And if there’s no such thing as jealousy in heaven, why the fuck do you need all your women to be virgins? Sounds like some pretty serious sexual insecurity there…
Did anyone like the sexy lady who called believers “idiots”? What did you think of the religionists trying to argue that belief in God is the same as our trust in currency? Hilarious.