Christians are scary

If you don’t like the violent rhetoric of modern day Christians, then you don’t know the Bible, baby! He hasn’t called you to debate. If this guy had his way, everyone would be equipped with breastplates and swords, fighting the unbelievers. If the Bible had been written today, would that be replaced with bulletproof vests and holy grenades? Hey, thanks for being uncompromisingly insane, Rod Parsley. You remind us all of the violent nature of religion.

Christians want the freedom to shut Comedy Central up too

In possibly one of the most ironic cases of life imitating art ever, Christians are now saying because Mohammad can’t be made fun of on Comedy Central, Jesus should be off limits too.

A coalition of religious and conservative leaders is trying to stop a proposed Comedy Central cartoon that puts Jesus Christ in a modern-day context – before it even gets started.

The newly formed Citizens Against Religious Bigotry said Thursday that it believes the “JC” series would be offensive. They accuse Comedy Central of a double standard in mocking Christian figures and beliefs while recently refusing to let “South Park” depict the Prophet Muhammad for fear of offending Muslims.

“You don’t have to be a Christian to be offended by this,” said Brent Bozell, head of the watchdog Media Research Center.

Yeah, you really do. Newsflash, retards: every day, people are doing stuff you may not approve of or personally agree with. But they’re still allowed to do it because we live in a free society. Here’s a novel concept for you douchebags: if you don’t like a TV show, then don’t fucking watch it.

Christian teachers use holy water on atheist colleague

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?

Ted Haggard is back in the preaching business

I feel sorry for Ted Haggard. After being exposed as a crystal meth smokin’ closeted homo, the church he helped build forced him out of the state, and totally disowned him. With his friends and support network having abandoned him, he’s spent the last few years trying to figure out what to do with his life. Turns out being a preacher doesn’t give you a lot of marketable skills, so he’s gone back to his bread and butter, opening a small church in his home he calls “St. James” (a nod to a Book of James passage that says “faith without works is dead”).

Rather than accept the fact he’s hungry for rock hard man cock, he’s come back to the religious fold to continue preaching a gospel that quite clearly states that these feelings are an abomination. It reminds me how people can often create their own private kind of Hell by refusing to accept reality. If Haggard is deluded enough to think this is the life he wants, he’s forgotten his constant craving for man-sausage will cause him an unbelievable amount of internal conflict and pain.

Why don’t you stop living a fucking lie and just succumb to your biological urge to have sex with other men? There’s really nothing wrong with it; the only reason you feel this way is because of a primitive book that was written long ago by a bunch of primitive, ignorant sheep fuckers who thought the earth was flat and diseases were caused by demons. Do you really want to base your life on their bullshit “insights”?

Judge allows Hutaree terrorists to be under house arrest

Remember the wannabe Christian terrorist group that was arrested in March for plotting to murder a police officer (and subsequently bomb the funeral)? The members of the militia have been released while they await for their trial, on the order of District Judge Victoria Roberts who claims federal prosecutors failed to properly make a case for their incarceration.

The Government relies on the seriousness of the charges as well, to argue that Defendants must be held without bond, because they present a danger to the community. While the Government argues that the Defendants are also a flight risk, its reasons are not persuasive. Importantly, the Court’s Pretrial Services Agency concludes that the Defendants do not present such a risk.

All 9 have been ordered to stay home with an electronic tracking device on their ankle, but a part of me wonders if a bunch of antigovernmental wackos are really going to honor the court’s decision and stay put. This is especially true for anyone facing a possible life sentence. Luckily these guys don’t seem like the brightest bulbs in the bunch, so if they do try take a run for it, I don’t think it’ll be too hard to track them down.

What’s interesting about this case is these wackos didn’t end up actually doing anything, so it’s possible they might argue their First Amendment rights were violated. It’s hard to say how this one will go: they were hoping to kill a lot of cops, and that’s not something which will win you a lot of points with a jury of your peers.

Christian arrested for preaching homosexuality sinful

You all know I have a special disdain for homophobic Christians who go around trying to tell everyone that homosexuality is a sin. What I have more disdain for, however, is any government that grants police the power to arrest people simply for saying shit they don’t agree with. Take the Public Order Act in the UK; it was passed into law to supposedly help control soccer hooligans (football for you Europeans), but recently it was used to arrest a man for preaching that homosexuality is against God’s will:

Police officers are alleging that he made the remark in a voice loud enough to be overheard by others and have charged him with using abusive or insulting language, contrary to the Public Order Act.

Christian campaigners have expressed alarm that the Public Order Act, introduced in 1986 to tackle violent rioters and football hooligans, is being used to curb religious free speech.

This is also in the wake of an atheist being sentenced to time served and community service for leaving “insulting” materials in the prayer room of John Lennon Airport. What’s going on here, Britain? Do you have a problem with people speaking their minds? I hate to say it, but if you’re incapable of defending something as basic as free speech, what exactly do you think that says about your country?

I don’t like anyone being jailed for saying something I don’t agree with, even if sometimes the shit spewing from their mouths can be truly evil. Besides, do you really think it’s a good idea to make any of these bigots martyrs?

Nate Phelps on the Grayness of Life

The sexy and talented Carisa Hendrix was able to film Nate Phelps (of the Westboro Phelps family) when he came to visit the Center for Inquiry, Calgary a few months ago. She did a great job, and if you love the fact she did this out of the kindness of her own heart, be sure to give her a big “thank-you” shout. I demand it!

Jesus penis abs causes controversy

It’s hard to draw the human body; take it from me, I should know. If you’re not completely familiar with all the muscles and what they look like, your design might end up looking a little bit off. Take this crucifix, for instance: The artist is clearly drawing on older versions of depictions of Jesus, and at first glance, it would appear rather than having normal abdominal muscles, this skinny Jesus is sporting a massive hard-on. Hey, I’m not the only one who sees an erect penis; lots of people in this Oklahoma church have left the parish because of the design.

Sure, the Bible says not to worship false idols, but where is the fun in that? Surely if there was a God, he would be cool with being depicted as having a massive shlong, am I right?

Home Grown Terrorist arrested in Michigan

Normally, if you hear about a plot by an armed civilian militia trying to kill government officials, you figure it’s happening in some unstable developing country. It’s hard to believe in this day and age, the most powerful and wealthy country in the world also seems to have similar problems with armed maniacs trying to overthrow the present authority.

A few days ago, police and FBI agents arrested 9 home grown “terrorists” who were planning on killing a cop in order to later murder a bunch of police officers at his/her funeral. The small militia is composed entirely of Christian fundamentalists, and claim the name of the group, the”Hutaree” means “Christian warrior” (although by all accounts the word is simply made-up).

These religious nutjobs are very anti-government, and are convinced the former Secretary General of NATO, Javier Solana, is actually the Antichrist. Their plan is simple: to defend Christianity by waging war on those who oppose the divine authority of Jesus Christ (in other words, anyone who has half a brain). Their “About Us” page says it all* (including the fact it’s illegible at times):

“We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. All Christians must know this and prepare, just as Christ commanded…The Hutaree will one day see its enemy and meet him on the battlefield if so [sic] God wills it.”

This has to be the part of their scheme that confuses me the most. The Bible “predicts” the Antichrist will come, but this is all supposed to lead up to the event Christians call the Rapture, where true believers get whisked up to God’s magical-sky-playland. Only non-believers will be “left behind” to face-off against Jesus in the final conflict. So what exactly do these fundamentalists think their job is? Do they think they are responsible for bringing down the Anti-Christ and failing to let prophesy be fulfilled?

Of course you could argue religious nutbags simply find in their respective texts whatever they want to find; in this case, these paranoid weirdos needed some kind of moral justification for the twisted evil they were about to commit. This is what makes religions conviction so frightening; anyone wanting to find reason to harm, torture or kill their neighbor can find plenty of religious passages encouraging violence in their respective holy texts; there’s no limit to the kind of twisted logic you’ll be capable of if you put enough time and effort into looking for it. If you think there’s a difference between these assholes and the fuckfaces who blew up the World Trade Center, you’re underestimating just how crazy fundamentalists really are.

*(Update: The site now sells outdoor apparel and cowboy hats)

NZ Christians won’t allow woman the right to end her own life

When health care reform was first proposed in the United States, one of the talking points raised by conservative idiots trying to scare the general public was the dreaded “death panels“, a supposed government entity that would be “whacking” old people willy-nilly. Rational minded policy makers failed to dissuade the public (who were spoon-fed this nonsense by right wing talking heads) that this threat was simply a fabrication. The controversy ended up being about “end of life” services; essentially giving people the ability to chose when they want to stop receiving treatment for terminal ailments, rather than letting the choice be made by other people. It’s a responsible way to look at the realities of death; not everyone wants to keep fighting when they’ve been in pain their whole lives.

In the end, the real controversy about “end of life” services is actually over the fact the religious right abhors euthanasia, which they regard simply as “a sin”. Take the story of this New Zealand woman who can’t seem to be able to die in peace: After suffering a cerebral hemorrhage 20 years ago and living in pain ever since, she’s recently decided to stop eating and simply let herself die. Her own fellow citizens, however, are trying to prevent this, motivated by the primitive thought a supernatural being would not approve of her actions:

Margaret’s life is important, she is a unique and unrepeatable miracle of God’s loving creation. The taking of one’s life is contrary to the moral law. Our life is a gift from God. We are but stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. The decision to kill oneself, is not a rational decision. She has been assessed by psychiatrists as being lucid, but was she also assessed as being severely depressed and if so, why is she not being treated for this condition?

The problem for these religious folks trying to force Margaret Page to eat is this is actually a form of assault in their country, so although it’s apparently illegal for someone to kill themselves (a law I’ve come to realize is entirely motivated by religious sentiments), it’s also illegal to shove food down their gullets to keep them alive. Hello paradox!

The doctors may still choose to keep her alive if she become unconscious from malnutrition, since it’s unlikely they would be charged with assault (I’m hoping of course this won’t happen). The religious organization “Right to Life” is asking the authorities to save her, but when is someone actually going to bother to listen to the person who’s actually living that life? She no longer wants to suffer and wishes to die, but religious opposition is making even this simple request impossible. This is the degree of control religion wants to have over every single human being. They may mask it under the guise of “respecting life”, but their need to dominate all aspects of human life makes it impossible for them to respect anyone’s right to actually make their own choices.

**NOTE** She recently succeeded in choosing to end her own life. You can read all about it here.

Repent Amarillo, before you get blown to holy bits!

If you’ve got a giant hard-on for Jesus and the military, you need to check out “Repent Amarillo”, a fundamentalist Christian organization that tries to look like an Army recruitment video, specifically because this image is attractive to them. As far as they are concerned, there’s a spiritual war going on, and they intend to fight it with full army gear. It’s a site that’s not welcoming to everyone. If you’re a pussy moderate Christian, you should know better than to question the word of the Lord!

While some of them support our efforts, and some may not, it is not about us and it is not about them. It is about Jesus Christ.

Not satisfied by just staying home and clutching their Bibles, these guys are taking on extra-curricular activities to help spread the word of the Lord your God (for is ruling over your life with an iron first not the most loving expression a deity can have over his monkey slaves?). Here’s a list of events they have dedicated themselves to crashing for the good of your eternal life:

1. Gay pride events. (Jesus hates gays, even more than he hates Fig trees)
2. Earth worship events such as “Earth Day” (apparently Jesus hates hippies)
3. Pro-abortion events or places such as Planned Parenthood
4. Breast cancer events such as “Race for the Cure” to illuminate the link between abortion and breast cancer. (Their “scientists” must also be wearing a lot of camo in the lab looking for that spurious link)
5. Opening day of public schools to reach out to students.
6. Spring break events.
7. Demonically based concerts. (I don’t know about your music, but how much of it is “demonically based”)
8. Halloween events. (Are they joyless?)
9. Other events that may arise the ministry feels called to confront. (Nothing spells comfort like crazy fundies in full army gear and guns, don’t you agree?)

They want to try and save our souls so we don’t go to hell, but is this accomplished at the end of a bayonet? I guess in their twisted world view, if they can’t save you from Hell, they’ll try their best to send you there pronto.

God, take over the media!

Take from the unrighteous, and give the media over to the crazy Christian fundies. Oh Lord! don’t you know with your super magic you can simply change things and make it easier for the blatantly ignorant to spread the message we all better love you before you throw us into hellfire. Three cheers for the prince of peace!

Party Jesus causes stir in India

I need to get my hands on this book: Apparently a publishing company in India released a book with a picture of Jesus holding a beer and a cigarette in the state of Meghalaya in India. Government officials have been busy confiscating all the textbooks, and making sure everyone know just how offensive this is.

Personally I want to ask why they included this awesome image. Was this an accident, or a hilarious jab intended for Christians? Either way, I suddenly wish I had a few more fans in India so I could get my hands on it. They’ll probably destroy them all and punish the publisher for their blasphemy.

Now I know for a fact few Christians have much of a sense of humor when it comes to their Messiah (probably also because their own religion suggests blasphemy is a sin), but why would God punish you for having a good laugh? Lighten up, God!

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 118

Welcome to another episode of The Good Atheist Bonus Show. This week, Ryan and I talk about why religions are misogynistic, why Canada is slowly becoming ‘Post-Christian‘, and why being an atheist isn’t elitist!

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 118
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Religious Right issues bullshit manifesto

There’s a bit of an ideological war going on in the Christian faith, and if you weren’t paying close attention, you wouldn’t even know it’s waging. Take the “Manhattan Declaration” for instance (not the one on climate change), a frightening manifesto by religious conservatives that claims equality and anti-discrimination laws are destroying people’s freedom of religion. Their biggest issues, unsurprisingly, are gay marriage (which they equate to bestiality, polygamy and incest), abortion rights, and assisted suicide:

Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s [NOTE: are they referring to taxes here, cuz they usually hate that shit]. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s

The whole document is an attempt by Conservatives to paint themselves as martyrs fighting for people’s rights. In reality, they’re resisting the way society is changing; namely, how it’s becoming more tolerant and egalitarian. It’s taken a long time, but we’re finally beginning to understand human sexuality is not a covenant with a supreme being, but rather the product of biological impulses. You can no more chose your sexuality than you can your eye color, although there are plenty of ways people try to cheat this (think colored contacts and gay-to-straight “therapy”).

You want to know why it’s a bad idea to let religious institutions dictate what marriage is all about?

Yet it is critical that the impulse be resisted, for yielding to it would mean abandoning the possibility of restoring a sound understanding of marriage and, with it, the hope of rebuilding a healthy marriage culture. It would lock into place the false and destructive belief that marriage is all about romance and other adult satisfactions, and not, in any intrinsic way, about procreation and the unique character and value of acts and relationships whose meaning is shaped by their aptness for the generation, promotion and protection of life…Some who enter into same-sex and polyamorous relationships no doubt regard their unions as truly marital. They fail to understand, however, that marriage is made possible by the sexual complementarity of man and woman, and that the comprehensive, multi-level sharing of life that marriage is includes bodily unity of the sort that unites husband and wife biologically as a reproductive unit.

You hear that? Marriage isn’t about romance, love or wanting to share your life with someone else. It’s all about procreation, and if you aren’t happy about that, too fucking bad! Your body was made by God to create offspring, and if you think otherwise, you’re committing a sin against him. So, rather than divorce the man who fathered your children and who lovelessly sticks his seed-squirter into your baby-receptacle, you should stick it out for the good of mankind; happiness and love be damned!