2012 Doomsday soothsayers are all insane

Last podcast, Ryan and I talked about the hilarious idea that the Earth will come to an end on Dec. 21, 2012. This day, made famous by the fact that the Mayan calendar essentially resets, is the latest date doomsday enthusiasts have claimed will mark the end of days.  The majority of these soothsayers actually have no idea why the calendar ends, and incorrectly assume Mayans somehow “decided” not to have a calendar that would count higher than that date. In reality, the truth is far more banal. You can read all about it here, or listen to the podcast if you are really curious (you should be listening anyways!)

There will always be a contingent of the population that secretly wishes for death and destruction to rain down and usher the final curtain call for mankind. We generally tend to have a fascination with our own mortality, and for some this manifests itself as a kind of “End of Days” worship. It gives these crackpots something to be excited about I suppose. The majority of them believe they will be spared (usually because they are either very religiously devout, or have made some kind of preparations) and their lives will forever be changed. Usually these poor desperate people just want out of the terrible drudgery of their own lives, and an Apocalyptic future seems preferable to a slow and uneventful death.

If you want to read a hilarious/scary site, check out 2012warning.com, which boasts a prophet by the name of Gianna Sullivan who regularly receives messages from the Virgin Mary (is she Jesus’ secretary now or something?).

Since beginning in July, 1988, Gianna has received the weekly public MESSAGES to the world from Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary; and these MESSAGES have been recorded in all 6 volumes of I am your Jesus of Mercy through January 21, 1999. These public messages were received during apparitions of Our Lady to Gianna at the weekly public Marian prayer group, first at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, and then from November, 1993, through September 7, 2000, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It was during this time that Our Lady referred to herself as “Our Lady of Emmitsburg” and entitled the Emmitsburg area as the “Center of my Immaculate Heart.”

I guess when you are being spoken to by a virgin who never died (see this article if you don’t know what I’m talking about), you’re allowed to give yourself crazy titles. Here is her prediction of what will happen in 3 years:

After awhile, you will see a time when there is another body in orbit around your solar system, coming between Earth and the Sun and leading to tremendous devastation. Approximately 60-70% of the world’s population, as you know it, will cease. Of those who survive, 60% of them could die of disease and starvation.

Oh noes, I better start buying preserves so I don’t starve to death!

Who wants this man for mayor?

OK, I was tempted to make fun of what this guy is saying, but he is literally incomprehensibly insane. I think he says Jesus Christ a total of 12 times in less than 3 minutes. He wants people to work for a dollar a year (and fire anyone who says no), and claims as mayor, he’ll refuse to work with anyone connected with Satan. This Glenn Moon character should forget about running for mayor, and instead look for a job with Fox News.

Also, don’t you love how much he yells? Is he running for Mayor or coach of a little league team?

Bibleman is terrible

I wonder which part of the Bible he follows. Do you think he would stone kids to death for being disobedient, or swearing at them? There’s also a chick superhero in the group. I bet whenever she’s on her period, the others ask her to stay out of their secret fortress or something (hey, I didn’t make the rules here!). The show is apparently geared to 6 year olds, which goes a long way to explain why it looks so goddamn terrible.

Islam doesn’t have a monopoly on crazy

Because it’s almost literally halfway across the world, we don’t hear a lot of news about all the crazy stuff that happens in India. As far as most westerners are concerned, India is supposed to be a peaceful place, filled with sacred cows, gurus, and outsourced telemarketers. But all is not well in the world’s largest democracy, and they face the same challenge many other developing nations do; the growing power of religious fundamentalism.

Subodh Kerkar didn’t realize he would be receiving death threats for his sketches of Hindu god Ganesh, but it seems as though a fundamentalist group called Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has warned him they would cut off his fingers for his blasphemy (you can visit their website, but I assure you it’s nothing but nonsense).

The group takes a hard core stance regarding modernism and secularism, which they regard as dangerous. It was founded in 2002 after hardliners felt that the fundamentalism of Islam and Christianity needed their Indian counterpart, and like these two denominations, it is xenophobic, racist, and violently opposed to blasphemy.

I don’t find it surprising at all  so many religions are developing fundamentalist tendencies, especially in light of the growing popularity and power of modernism. These religions rightly feel that education, science, and ethics erode superstitious belief. My concern is these dangerous and ignorant fools will continue to threaten individuals who are simply trying to express themselves. It’s why we need to continue to fight for the rights of all individuals to speak their own minds; it’s the only way to beat these assholes.

Compton pastor suspected of embezzling $800,000

Religious devotees are so much more righteous than us lowly atheists, don’t you agree? How else can you explain the fact they are less likely to commit a crime, have a divorce, or abuse drugs. Oh wait, that’s actually the opposite, but hey, who’s counting?

The latest story of delicious impropriety on the part of the faithful comes from Compton, where Rev. E. Joshua Sims has been arrested after he was suspected of embezzling almost a million dollars from the Double Rock Baptist Church. He also threatened some of the church members who had begun to question his finances, during his sermons (for some suicidal reason).

Hey, don’t be so surprised when your beloved pastor ends up being a con man, people. Has there ever been a sweeter con than religion? Guys like Peter Popoff and Jim Bakker know full well the financial gains one can achieve from tricking the faithful. They would practically sell their kidneys on the black market if they thought they could be closer to God as a result.

Human beings are mostly confused, superstitious idiots who are easily shepherded by individuals that have only their own self interest at heart. I think it’s time people stop blindly trusting those who claim to hold a special place with God; they tend to either scam you out of your money, molest your kids, or both!

Can you believe this crap?

Ryan and I will be recording a show later today about the “coming” apocalypse of Dec. 21, 2012, and I thought I’d include this video so you could get pumped about the podcast. Here’s my favorite quote: “History has a surprisingly accurate track record for those who say the end is almost near”…Uh, what the fuck does that mean? How can anyone have been accurate about improperly predicting the end of the world? I think the very fact that we are still here seems to prove that statement to be, oh, I don’t know, entirely MADE UP!

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 083

This week, Ryan and I talk about the Catholic church’s attempt to lower the statute of limitation on child abuse.

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 083
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Friendly Atheist under attack

Ok, the title of my article is a little inflammatory, but how else can you describe a concentrated effort on the part of the Illinois Family Institute to get Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta fired from his job as a high school math teacher? Sounds like an attack to me.

IFL director Laurie Higgins is on a crusade to get the school faculty to punish him for writing an atheist blog on his free time, even though it plays no part in his teaching life. I won’t pretend to know all the details (go to his site for that), but I thought it might be fun to put up some choice quotes from the whole affair:

…even if Mr. Mehta does not view his math classes as opportunities to proselytize, there still remains the fact that he is a role model and he regularly engages in very public discourse on very controversial topics. For many parents, views on homosexuality and belief in God are two of life’s most important issues — issues that are critical to both civilized and eternal life.

I personally think the elimination of hunger and suffering in the world are more important issues, but what do I know, I’m just a godless heathen! Also, if that statement wasn’t ignorant enough for you, here is a classic one that should be put on a trophy for “worst analogy ever made by a retarded Christian”

Many parents would recoil at having their children spend a school year under the tutelage of a teacher — particularly a charismatic teacher — who in his or her free time blogs favorably about racism and travels the length and breadth of the country preaching racism. Similarly, some parents may recoil at having their children spend a year under the tutelage of a teacher who spends his free time blogging favorably about atheism and homosexuality and traveling the length and breadth of the country preaching favorably about atheism.

So, let me get this straight: Hemant’s blogging on issues of gay rights and atheism is racist? This from a woman who has compared homosexuals to Nazis? Do these morons ever listen to the delicious irony that sometimes spills out of their ignorant mouths? If it’s any comfort Hemant, she did call you charismatic at least…

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 082

This week Ryan and I talk about all the hot weather here in Montreal, and why that’s making your podcasts all the better. Plus, we also talk about child brides, Steve Harvey, and Yale University Press and their decision to censor themselves.

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 082
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Openly Atheist fighter in the UFC

As some of you may already know, The Good Atheist isn’t the only blog I work on. I’m also pretty deep into the MMA scene, and Ryan and I have a reputation as being the “bad boys” of the mixed Martial Arts world through our site, Fightlinker.com (we also record 2 podcasts a week for that site as well, so if you love the sport, go check out the other podcast). I’m not sure what that means exactly, but we’re the guys who make fun of people for entertainment purposes. Apparently that’s still cutting edge.

One fighter who I’ve always given a hard time is Frank Mir. Frank is one of the cockiest fighters in the UFC, and after watching him on the reality show “The Ultimate Fighter”, I couldn’t help but root for his opponent the whole time (he came off looking like a huge dick the whole show).

Over the past year though, it’s been getting a lot harder to hate the guy, especially after he came out of the atheist closet and admitted to being a huge fan of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. This makes Frank the first openly atheist fighter in a major fight organization. Say what you will about his attitude; it takes fucking guts to say that shit. I hate to say it, but if he keeps doing this kind of thing, I’ll have no choice but call myself a fan. I feel weird saying that…

Bus drivers suspended for over atheist ad

With atheist bus ads popping up all over the US, there’s bound to be some conflict a-brewin’ (they are kind of intended for that purpose, anyway). The latest controversy comes from Des Moines, Iowa, where bus driver Angela Shiel was suspended after she refused to drive a bus with an atheist banner on the side. She might get fired over this, since the Des Moines Area Regional Transport (or DART) has a policy that drivers are not allowed to choose which buses they drive.

Now before you decide on whether or not she should be allowed to refuse such a simple thing, how would atheists have responded to a non-believer refusing to drive a bus with a Christian ad on it? I don’t know about you, but I would have told that person to suck it up and do their job. We all have to do things we aren’t always comfortable with, but them’s the breaks. At the end of the day, it’s just a stupid ad, and letting people speak their minds isn’t a crime.

This is a tough situation for DART, since firing Angela would only anger theists, and capitulating to her demands would mean that other drivers could follow suit. Their priority is on providing a reliable service, and not having to deal with people’s religious convictions. I think the solution is letting her wear a t-shirt emblazoned with I believe in God while driving the bus if she’s feeling conflicted about the whole thing. Problem solved!

Bahamas divided over Sexual Offenses Act

You have to wonder what century we’re living in sometimes. The Bahamas is currently a hotbed of controversy as men and women are passionately debating about the amendment of a Bill intended to protect women against marital rape. It seems some don’t believe rape is ever possible once the couple is actually married, and you can guess what ‘historical’ document they are using to prove their claim: yep, it’s the Bible!

The craziest thing about this debate is how many women actually oppose the Bill.

“I disagree with the bill because I disagree that a man can rape his wife. The Bible tells me that a man’s body is his wife’s and her body is his. How could he rape her?”

“If a man wants to have sex with his wife he is supposed to [have sex with her] regardless of what the circumstances [are]. I don’t see why he should be charged with raping his own wife, she is never supposed to say no”

“If I were married and my husband wanted to have sex with me I wouldn’t stop him, [because] I’m not supposed to, even if I was tired or feeling sick, I wouldn’t tell him no”

Ladies, if you don’t think that a husband can ever rape you, then why would this Bill affect you in any way? Since you obviously feel that you are his property, the law doesn’t apply to you. It’s supposed to be used by people who actually don’t like the idea of being forced into sex. I know it’s weird, but not every woman out there feels it’s kosher to be held down and forced into intercourse. Crazy, huh?

Wait, Christians need proof of their religion now?

You know the word “faith” that religious people keep throwing in your face every time their arguments for the existence of God falls flat? They use the word so often it’s lost almost all meaning. It’s really just a cop out; a word that allows them to avoid having to answer difficult questions.

Whether or not Christians admit it, their beliefs are more than just faith; they are convinced the evidence for the divinity of Jesus is overwhelming, and the Bible is a literal account of the history of the Earth. It’s why people can release these kinds of books and sell thousands of copies to anyone desperate enough to try and reconcile science with religion (a very futile effort).

The Proof that God Exists and the Bible is True doesn’t sound like a book that places much emphasis on faith. Its purpose is to “arm” Christians with enough false or misleading science so they can convince themselves they have examined all the evidence for their belief. It just goes to show that simply having “faith” is not enough. All humans need proof of something, whether they admit it or not. Here’s the pitch for this book:

Scientific proof of a young universe and a young Earth (as the Bible says)

How all proven supernatural occurrences (that is, where the laws of nature are broken) that have been verified by a number of scientists are tied to Christianity, and there are no proven ones outside of Christianity.

Wow. Just wow.

Rabbit Jesus!

I actually think I prefer this version of the story to the Christian gospel (it also involves chocolate, which is awesome). It finally made me understand why all my old pets are burning in hell. I should have told them about Rabbit Jesus!

Hitchens laments the appeasement of fundamentalists

Here’s an article from Christopher Hitchens on Yale University Press and their decision to censor their own book out of fear of Islamic violence.

Yale University Press announced last week that it would go ahead with the publication of the book, but it would remove from it the 12 caricatures that originated the controversy. Not content with this, it is also removing other historic illustrations of the likeness of the Prophet, including one by Gustave Doré of the passage in Dante’s Inferno that shows Mohammed being disemboweled in hell. (These same Dantean stanzas have also been depicted by William Blake, Sandro Botticelli, Salvador Dalí, and Auguste Rodin, so there’s a lot of artistic censorship in our future if this sort of thing is allowed to set a precedent.)

More pandering to religious extremism. When are we going to stop being so gutless when it comes to [updated] threats of violence for expressing our freedom of speech?