Tag Archives: abuse

Woman left handicapped after exorcism

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In the slums of Khanewal, Pakistan, the poor and indigent who suffer from treatable illnesses are sent, often by physicians wishing to unload their patients, to the Islamic equivalent of exorcists. They are called Pirs (or Peers), meaning “old man”, and these “saints” often perform barbaric torture rituals they believe can clean people of djinns, or demons.

One victim of their archaic stupidity was a woman suffering from asthma by the name of Zakia. She was taken to a famous local Pir called Safdar Khan, who proceeded to tie her up, sticking a hot poker through her wrists and feet while she howled in agony. He then beat her mercilessly until she stopped moving. This, to Safdar, was proof that the demon had been driven out.

Zakia is now bed ridden and can no longer walk. Her brother Zain – outraged that his superstitious idiot parents would take her to such a charlatan – knows that the police will do nothing to help him. As far as everyone is concerned, Safdar is a respected holy man whose words carry much weight. Zain, on the other hand, is just another unimportant peasant whose story will be forgotten in a few days.

The police know there was no other way which is why they haven’t said anything and the doctors come to us regularly for such things,” he said. Shani said that Safdar often ‘treated’ patients who had been referred to him by hospital officials.

“They always send us the cases that they know are for us. The possessed people are treated here. That is why the doctors will never go against us. Safdar is one of the most famous healers in this city,” he said.

Of course, if you think that’s the worst thing that can happen to you when going to get “exorcised”, you’re in for a horrible surprise:

In Notak Nasheb Sainghar, Pir Javed Shah broke into Shehzadi Bibi’s house late at on Friday night and told her that her house was haunted by ‘evil’ djinns who were causing her daughters to fall sick.

Shah gave Shehzadi and her daughters glasses of water that had been drugged and the family fell unconscious. Javed Shah repeatedly raped Shehzadi the entire night. When the family woke up the next day and went to the hospital doctors refused to treat her for fear of the djinns.

What a fucking shithole of ignorance, all thanks to the power of faith.

More Wife-Beating debates

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You’ve got to be impressed with any culture that has a televised debate on the merits of wife beating according to the Koran. Hey, here’s a fucking idea: stop trying to reconcile modern values with a book written in the 7th century.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 146

Ryan is still in Tennessee, so until he gets back, we’re putting episode 100 on ice. This week, Jeff joins me to talk about a woman being executed for the crime of adultery, and why Christian video games are complete garbage.

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 146
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Christian teachers use holy water on atheist colleague

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You’d figure schools would be the place where atheists would be the ‘safest’ … after all, these places are supposed to be bastions of knowledge and education. But lately it just hasn’t been that way. From Texas re-writing its textbooks to students harassing atheist teachers, there’s a full on movement a brewin’ to make schools a battlefield between belief and non-belief. Sometimes these battles are disturbing, sometimes they’re funny, and sometimes they’re stupid. This particular tale about a spat between Christian and atheist teachers in Florida probably leans more towards the funny / stupid side of the spectrum:

Two Florida teachers allegedly poured holy water on another teacher because she is an atheist, WPLG-TV in Miami reported. The station said Leslie Rainer and Djuna Robinson have been removed from their classrooms. The veteran and self-proclaimed Christian teachers work at Blanche Ely High School.

In April, they were reassigned after another teacher, Schandra Rodriguez, who is an atheist, said they poured holy water on her during an incident at the school on March 11.

“Miss Robinson obtained a little bottle with some perfume in it in jest, and the students will all confirm she never went close to Miss Rodriguez. Miss Rodriguez was on the other side of the classroom and that was basically it,” said Johnny L. McCray Jr., Rainer and Robinson’s attorney.

The accused teachers said it was a joke. Rodriguez, however, said they did it because she is an atheist.

Rodriguez is still teaching at the school, and some said it’s not fair.

“If we are going to ban talking to students about God, then the atheists should also be banned from telling kids there is no God,” said the Rev. Kirby Thurston.

The only thing these teachers were banned from doing was acting like atheists are unholy creatures on par with vampires and demons. It kinda sounds like a bunch of people getting butt-hurt over nothing, but I guess I’ve never had a job where co-workers promote the idea I’m evil because of my beliefs (or lack thereof), so who am I to play this down?

Israeli man jailed for defrauding women with “holy semen”

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Have you ever lied for sex? Perhaps in a way, we all have to some degree; after all, when you want to sleep with someone you’re usually on your best behavior, and you’re probably look, smell and dress a lot better than you normally do. And ladies, don’t get me started about all the things you do to make yourselves sexier; the push-up bra is just a subtle form of deceit I tells ya!

There are those that can stoop to historic lows, like this guy in Israel, who told women his semen had magical healing properties. So effective was his lying (well, until the ladies got wise to the scheme) he even got them to PAY him money to sleep with him. If you’re thinking of using this guy’s play-book, you might want to avoid doing it in the “holy land”; he’s been arrested and thrown in jail for 10 years for the crime of tricking dumb bitches into sex.

Aharon, who was arrested last August, “over many years presented himself as a righteous man, as a saint with healing powers, who exploited the naivity of women and teenage girls, while carrying out appalling sexual acts and obtaining large sums of money by fraud,” the Israeli Justice Ministry said in a statement.

Now I don’t want to condone his actions, but I have to wonder what exactly these women were thinking in the first place. Does religion really make you this vulnerable/stupid? If so, I think we should jail ANYONE who takes money from desperate and lonely people for their own personal gain. Catholic Church, I’m looking in your direction.

1 in 33 women pressured to have sex by clergymen

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Having never been religious in my life, I sometimes forget the degree of power and reverence preachers tend to have. These men (for they are almost always all male) are seen by many as being a direct link to God, and it’s a position of power few humans seem to be able to handle very well. It turns out roughly 1 in every 33 women attending church services are approached by priests and are pressured into having sexual relations with them.

I don’t see why anyone is really that surprised. Why do most men crave power? The more power you have, the better breeding possibilities at your disposal. I don’t even think most men in positions of influence even realize this is their true intent. They probably just think it’s a sweet perk or something. Why would it be any different simply because these guys are “men of the cloth”?

Priests shaking up their female congregants is enough of a problem that states like Texas and Minnesota have made it illegal to:

[cause] the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person’s emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman’s professional character as spiritual adviser.

In other words, if you’re a “Holy Man”, your clout with God makes the ladies vulnerable to your advances. It’s another piece of revelation that leads me to believe I’ve chosen the wrong profession. I should just quit this atheist gig and start my own harem church!

Woman dies after botched waterboard exorcism

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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.

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…

Villagers kill 5 ‘witches’ in Kenya

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If you have a weak stomach, then I urge you not to watch this video. This is uncensored human stupidity at work. If you’ve ever said superstition isn’t harmful, then you’ve obviously never traveled to some of the less fortunate parts of the world, where the combined brutal ignorance and extreme poverty are a recipe for disaster.

If you think this video is outrageous, consider the fact the person who recorded this video had also notified the police 45 minutes before the attack, but they did nothing. Now 5 people are dead, and all we can hope is that the video itself can lead to some convictions and help curb these kinds of attacks.