Don’t rush to conclusions

Posted on by

I received a message to check out a story floating around the blogosphere about a huge wedding involving hundreds of child brides in Gaza (I thought it a bit weird that the mainstream media had missed that big story). Naturally I wanted to know more, but as I dug a little deeper, I realized the real story was the deep distrust of Muslims in general, and powerful Islamophobia that exists on the web.

OK, maybe I’m partly to blame here; after all, I’m not exactly the biggest fan of the religion. I consider Mohammed a morally reprehensible character, but then again I think the same thing of Moses, David, Noah and all the men of old world religions. These guys are normally genocidal maniacs interested only in their own flock, content to murder the world to make their ideologies the only truth. But Mohammed’s 9 year old wife Aisha is not something you can ignore very easily, and child brides are not isolated incidents.

Still, the “webs” had a gigantic freak out, with rumors of hundreds of little girls being wed simultaneously floating around, all from a bunch of pictures that seem, at least in hindsight, to be fairly innocent (although the moms need to go a little easy on the damn makeup). Everyone is so ready to jump on the hate bandwagon that any amount of impropriety invariably leads people to assume the very worst. There was a wedding and little girls were there? They must have been all sex slaves I tell you!

Can we all calm down and take the time to check our facts people? And this is “The Good Atheist” talking here; I don’t exactly have the most stellar reputation when it comes to fact checking (hey, you try recording funny podcasts without going out on a few limbs), but even I can smell a rat that big. Let’s not look like total bigots, shall we?

Can you make it through the whole song?

Posted on by

Your challenge for today is to make it through the whole song here without losing your sanity. If I did it, so can you. For those of you who are gluttons for punishment, you can go visit Billy Wayne here.

I think the most interesting line in this terrible song is this: “He sent his only son to bear my shame”. I really have to wonder what shame he’s talking about. Is it possible this former Broadway actor has some kind of deep, dark (and possibly sexy) secret, and only Jesus can admonish him for such a shameful sin? I wonder what it could be…

Catholic League Freaks out over Penn and Teller

Posted on by

I love listening to this guy. In case you haven’t heard of Bill Donohue, he’s the president of the Catholic League; an organization devoted to trying to get everyone to stop being mean to Catholics. Bill’s not a big fan of Penn and Teller (especially after getting totally ass-raped during the show they did on Mother Tereasa), and he’s now freaking out about their season finale.

It sounds like P&T made their last show about the Vatican, and I can guarantee there is a scene involving a Darth Vader uniform and a gigantic dildo light saber (that’s all I know as of now). Sounds like a pretty kick ass show, but old Bill is having none of it:

Just recently, Jillette took after me again in his usual foul way. That doesn’t matter, but what matters greatly is his pathological obsession with bashing Catholics and their religion. There is no legitimate place for this kind of frontal assault on any demographic group.

CBS/Showtime needs to send Penn & Teller a message and let them know that they have crossed the line for the last time. This should be their final season. We know that they’ve been told before to drop the Catholic bashing, and yet they persist. By doing so, Penn & Teller have effectively stuck their middle finger right in the eye of CBS.

Well, I think exercising your right to free speech is a lot less frightening than burning people alive for witchcraft, don’t you think? Oh, and if you don’t think that’s something Christians do anymore, you might want to take a trip to Africa. And by that, I mean stay the fuck away from there!

More nonsense in Texas

Posted on by

In case you were wondering, the answer is yes, Texas is now the craziest state in America. It seems like every day Texans are pushing back on separation of church and state, and now that they are requiring schools to teach the Bible, I have to wonder when they are going to officially declare themselves a theocracy.

It’s your typical reactionary response to modernism. Parents believe their children are immoral and corrupt because they refuse to read or follow the Bible (which is probably a good thing), and so they foolishly believe creating mandatory courses on the “Good Book” will fix everything.

I have to wonder what kind of shit storm this is going to create. The founding fathers specifically called for the Establishment Clause in the Constitution to avoid this kind of pandering to religion; as soon as one becomes the “official” religion of the state, the whole democratic process is threatened. The problem is these Christians are so busy trying to force their religion down everyone’s throat they are forgetting why this separation is so important. As a Christian how they would feel if their children were forced to study and learn the Koran, or the Upanishads?

Ken Ham thinks he knows something

Posted on by

If you’re not familiar with Ken Ham, then you are officially a fly by night atheist. How could you not know about this crazy Aussie? He’s the man behind the Creation Museum, perhaps the largest and most expensive temple to ignorance ever created. With a 27 million dollar budget, and over half a million visitors since it opened in 2007, the Creation Museum is a snapshot in time, a reminder the human race still has a long way to go before being able to officially call itself “enlightened”.

Ken commissioned a study recently. Turns out young evangelicals are abandoning their faith in droves, and Ken thinks he knows why. He believes Christians are allowing secular values to poison the minds of children, and the only solution is a literal interpretation of the Bible. If kids are rigidly taught the Earth is only 6000 years old, then they are less likely to be negatively influenced by pesky things like science and logic.

Ironically, I think the reasons so many evangelicals are leaving their faith is actually BECAUSE of all the deception on the part of evangelical ministers. Once young adults realize they have been lied to and deceived, why would they stick around? The truth is, Ken, with today’s modern technology people are becoming more and more informed, and it’s almost impossible to keep kids ignorant. Don’t you think they’ll be bitter when they realize your creationist “science” is a bunch of bullshit nonsense?

Thanks for the study though, Ken. You confirmed something I’ve always believed; that evangelism is on it’s way down. The future looks bright, Ken; just not for you and your ilk.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 081

This week, our special guest Jeff is back to delight all of you fans who can’t get enough of him. We’ll be talking about sacrificial goats, exorcism in New Zealand, and the atheist trek to the Creation Museum!

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 081
Loading
/

Woman dies after botched waterboard exorcism

Posted on by

You hear this kind of news all the time; an independent or strong willed woman is deemed to be possessed, and an exorcism ceremony is performed, usually resulting in tragedy. Here is such a tragic tale, this time coming out of New Zealand. Five people were arrested and found guilty of the manslaughter of Janet Moses, but not one of these people will be facing any jail time. They were given 300 hours of community service (what, so they can do more fucking waterboarding?), and are being supervised for the next 12 months.

The accused are all Maori, the indigenous natives of Polynesian descent who first settled in New Zealand. According to their religious traditions, the existence of demons and witchcraft is thought to be real. They were convinced that the victim, Ms Janet Moses, was possessed by a whanau (demon), and that she had a makutu (curse) after stealing a statue from a local hotel. The five exorcists decided to pour water down her nose and mouth in an effort to banish it. She drowned as a result.

I can’t imagine anyone else getting off with such a light sentence for such a crime. The judge must have felt that since their intent was not to harm the woman but rather to “cure” her, this extenuating circumstance merited such an anemic sentence. Personally, I wish the judge had thrown the book at them. We don’t need more uneducated and superstitious idiots running around exorcising people against their will. We also don’t need these same morons getting a slap on the wrist for killing a fellow human being.

Let the man kill his goats in peace!

Posted on by

In America you hear a lot of talk about why religious freedoms are important, and people should have a right to practice their faith as they see fit. Usually when someone says this, it’s their particular rights that are being infringed, often by other religious folks who find certain cultures and practices to be both alien and disturbing. Here is an interesting article about a Texas man named Jose Merced who believes in a very unpopular religion called Santeria, and his rituals includes the live slaughter of goats, turtles, lambs and birds (dozens of them at once) in his home. The whole thing is a bloody mess, although it seems like this guy at least eats everything he kills (so there’s not too much waste).

It appears his Texan neighbors aren’t too happy with his slaughterfest, and the city is trying all kinds of tactics to prevent him from doing this within city limits. Mr. Merced fought back, citing his Constitutional right to practice his religion as he sees fit. Besides, he says, Texas isn’t exactly the safest state for animals; people regularly hunt and fish, and no one is bugging them.

I find the slaughter of animals to be a disgusting remnant of a more primitive time, but I eat meat, so who the hell am I to judge? I love it when Christians are faced with the reality of what “freedom of religion” really means. Is it surprising most people actually don’t really believe all religious customs should be respected and allowed? I’m inclined to agree with them many should not, but at the same time, how do you distinguish which ones should and shouldn’t be allowed? Here’s an idea: educate people so they stop thinking cutting the throats of small animals to appease an angry and jealous god is a huge waste of time, energy, and is utterly senseless. Once you’re done with that, also teach them that the belief in God was a way for our ignorant ancestors to explain the forces of nature in a way they could understand. If you’re not willing to do that just yet, I suggest you let that crazy bastard kill and eat all the damn goats he wants!

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 080

This week, we talk about the movie Legion that’s coming out, as well as talk about cultism (and Star Wars fans are in for a treat)

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 080
Loading
/

The Bible is not a book for all seasons

Posted on by

I don’t read the National Post very often. I find their brand of economic and social conservatism makes them the “Fox News” of Canadian newspapers. In keeping with their conservative roots, an article was recently published called The Bible: a book for all seasons, where the author argues that “The Good Book” is a timeless tome suitable for all ages. He suggests which parts of the Bible to read (depending on your age), with the flawed assumption that there is anything to really learn from reading this dusty, morally ambiguous tome.

I think his funniest suggestion is for teenagers to read the story of Job. In case you’ve never read it, the story goes something like this: God’s favorite human is Job, who is a great worshiper (making the necessary sacrifice of innocent animals to appease his jealousy), but the Devil and he disagree as to how loyal Job really is. So, for the purposes of settling a cosmic bet, God allows the Devil to completely fuck Job over. His house is destroyed, his wife and children are all killed, he loses all his belongings and his physical health deteriorates. Job is not angry about this, but asks God why he has done such a thing. His (supposedly) wise response is “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?”.

I guess if you have some rebellious teenagers, the story of Job represents every parents’ response whenever confronted with a question they can’t answer: I made you, and you’d better listen to everything I say. That’s right kids, your parents are vengeful gods that you must eternally listen to and admire. Yeah, truly this is a book for all ages!

I think with all the millions of great books humans have written over the many centuries since the invention of the printing press, we can do a little better than that, wouldn’t you agree?

Science is wicked!

Posted on by

The majority of religions are convinced their vision of the universe is beautiful and inspired, but you really need to turn to science for the good stuff. Not even the most clever religion can grasp the true size and scope of the cosmos. For some, the scope of the universe may be overwhelming, and it may convince them that without the notion of gods, our existence is random and meaningless. But what does that matter? Does one need meaning to get up in the morning and enjoy the pleasures of being alive? You live in a universe with billions of other galaxies, all retreating away from one another at astonishing speed. Is that not mind-blowing?

Rabbis fight swine flu with prayer

Posted on by

Whenever there is an outbreak of a disease, you can always count on a bunch of loud religious people to break out in spontaneous fits of prayer. Here we have a group of Rabbis praying and blowing their ceremonial horns in an effort to ward off the Swine Flu, which they call H1N1 to avoid the insult of mentioning swine. If I was in that plane, I probably would have flipped out at all the yelling, chanting and loud horn blowing going on. If you want to pray in your private places of worship, you can chant your nonsense until the cows come home. Once I’m in a plane with you lunatics, however, I don’t take too kindly to all your insane noise making. Any of these morons aware prayer does absolutely nothing? If you want to fight off the disease, how about a comprehensive vaccination campaign for the young and elderly? Turns out that science is AWESOME at preventing outbreaks.

Super Atheism

Posted on by

I have to admit this fucking guy confuses the hell out of me. Martin Martinovich (who seems Russian to me) has a religion called “Super Atheism”, a belief that a super advanced alien civilization created man as he exists today (by crossing Chimp DNA with their own “Super Sapien” DNA). He also claims the legend of Atlantis is present all over the world, even though the only mention of it is in Plato’s Republic (guess that doesn’t really matter to him). For him, Atlantis is actually the home planet of our genetic masters in the sky, which orbits the Sirius star. Yep, sure sounds like atheism to me!

This junk is your standard New Age bullshit, except this one tries to use the word “atheism” in it. As an unbeliever, I have to tell you this idiotic and fanciful theory is both extremely childish, stupid, intellectually dishonest, and embarrassing. I can sum it up nicely by quoting a few passages from Martinovich’s own website:

Super Atheism respects and understands the power of RA: a hidden cosmic light as a balance, nature’s low, structure of the Universe and mankind that lives within. Light determines meaning, structure, and purpose of everything: known and unknown. Light has a constant tendency to become a matter.

What the hell does this garbage mean?

Italian atheist suing over Jesus’ existence

Posted on by

Here’s a bit of weird news: an Italian atheist is suing a parish priest for repeatedly claiming Jesus Christ was a historical figure. Luigi Cascioli is a 72 year old lifelong non-believer who has grown tired of Italians blindly accepting the notion of the literal existence of God, and has decided to involve the courts.

It’s a fairly amusing tactic, but since the burden of proof is on Cascioli to disprove the existence of Jesus, it’s likely he won’t win (just try disproving the existence of fairies why don’t you?). Rev. Enrico Righi has already pulled out the “Josephus and Tacitus” card, claiming these two historians, who lived decades after the supposed death of Jesus, wrote vaguely about a ‘Christus’ figure, therefore somehow proving his existence. As to the supposed God like powers of the guy, there’s no mention of it.

I’ve always argued that although someone may have existed by such a name, it’s unlikely the person identified in the New Testament ever existed at all. The fact none of his supposed miracles are ever mentioned outside the Bible should tell you it’s about as accurate as Homer’s The Odyssey. Is it surprising that people who exaggerate or confabulate stories in order to make it more thrilling? Have you never watched a movie “based on a true story” before? They usually don’t stick very much to the source material, if you know what I mean.

At the same time, I don’t like the idea of courts getting involved here. I admire Luigi’s tenacity and sheer gumption, but I don’t feel it is necessary for a court of law to decide whether or not priests are allowed to make historical claims about their deities. It smacks me as very totalitarian to force conformity through the mechanism of law. It’s best that people come to their own conclusion that all religions are bullshit.