Archive for October, 2008

Poll says “U.S. is blessed”

26 October 2008 by Stardust

. . . even though we fuck things up. Most Christians believe that their God picks favorite countries to bless more than others, and believes that this God likes the U.S. best.


Poll: U.S. is blessed, but troublesome in the world

WASHINGTON — Six in 10 Americans think the U.S. is “uniquely blessed” by God, but a higher percentage — almost eight in 10 — think the country sometimes does more harm than good when it relates to the rest of the world, according to a new study on religion and America’s role in the world.

Overall, the study commissioned by the PBS program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly and the United Nations Foundation found that Americans, including majorities of religiously involved citizens, think the country should be involved on the world scene.

But researchers found that 79 percent of Americans feel that U.S. involvement abroad sometimes does more harm than good, and 44 percent feel that view strongly.

Globally, do we more harm than good, or more good than harm?

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Islamic Clerics in Malaysia Rule to Ban Tomboys

26 October 2008 by Stardust

No wonder there isn’t a whole lot of progress to rid the world of hunger and poverty. Leaders of all religions are too busy monitoring what people wear and how they act to think of much else.

The Pew Forum

The National Fatwa Council forbade the practice of girls behaving or dressing like boys during a meeting Thursday in northern Malaysia, said Harussani Idris Zakaria, the mufti of northern Perak state, who attended the gathering.

Harussani said an increasing number of Malaysian girls behave like tomboys, and that some of them engage in homosexuality. Homosexuality is not explicitly banned in Malaysia, but it is effectively illegal under a law that prohibits sex acts “against the order of nature.”

Harussani said the council’s ruling was not legally binding because it has not been passed into law, but that tomboys should be banned because their actions are immoral.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a law or not. When it’s wrong, it’s wrong. It is a sin,” Harussani told The Associated Press. “Tomboy (behavior) is forbidden in Islam.”

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Only fools believe . . .

25 October 2008 by Stardust

. . . in zombie Jesus.

Mondo Gonzales is at it again, this time focusing on another group of people with his intolerant bigotry — atheists.

“Atheism is a faith”, says Mondo, which we know is totally false. He might be able to understand correctly what atheism is if he could step outside of his fundie bubble for five minutes and take the time to truly educate himself about atheism instead of simply inventing a meaning for himself from his own imagination.

Mondo, atheism = No god beliefs. And if you want to make the claim that there is a god, then it is you who must show us the proof of the existence of your god, without using your mythology book. Where is your verifiable evidence? I can say there is a pink unicorn buried in my back yard based on a storybook which was written about the pink unicorn, and you will tell me I am full of it. Millions of people believe in the various Hindu gods. You cannot prove that the Hindu gods do not exist, but there are ancient texts. You cannot prove that Odin doesn’t exist. You cannot prove that Isis doesn’t exist, you cannot prove that Ra doesn’t exist. And all of these mythologies that were once religions have texts. Human beings have invented many gods throughout the agesand wrote about them. So Mondo, based on your reasoning, all gods and goddesses who people have believed in and wrote about must exist simply because no one can prove that they don’t exist?

With his published ignorance, Pastor Mondo is showing just how little he understands science and theology. My neighbors and I just shake our heads after reading his little essays. (And shows us the lack of quality of this newspaper that prints such drivel.) It’s disturbing to see grown people in the year 2008 who are so incredibly ignorant in the field of science and with such a lacking of knowledge in the field of evolution. Fundamentalism such as Mondo’s is one of the bigger reasons why our country is so far behind the rest of the Western world in the fields of science and mathematics. Mondo, here is a site for you to read through concerning evolution.

Mondo’s latest tirade is simply is an attempt to justify his own worldview. Mondo’s worldview shows lack of tolerance of those who are different. I think we atheists are getting under Mondo’s skin by knowing that we just simply exist. And it is bothering the god believers immensely that there are more of us than they had realized and we are no longer staying silent in the shadows. But I think that it is a good thing that Mondo is bringing attention to the subject of atheism and drawing us into discourse and hopefully he is also bringing it up in his church sermons. There are many atheists in church pews who are encouraged to hear that so many others think as they do and may realize the fear tactics being used to control them.

Is Atheism a religion of faith?

The typical atheist “believes” somehow life evolved from non-living things (rocks, primordial soup, etc.). Yet let it be screamed from the rooftops, not a single scientist has ever produced life from non-life empirically or in any other way. The laws of science and probability all speak against this even being a possibility, most specifically for those who believe it happened randomly, with no intelligent input. Yet this is exactly what evolutionists want us to “believe” happened.

*snip*

The chemical steps that led to life on Earth remain a matter of intense speculation.” What’s the point? They have no proof, but instead will dismiss evidence a Creator is the only logical conclusion while staying committed to their “intense speculation.” That is why God calls them fools (Rom 1:22).

How many times do we have to tell these fools that atheism simply means lack of belief in the existence of any god, gods,goddesses. Period. We are not the delusional who believe that a 2,000 year old mythology book is real. Atheism is saying gods do not exist and requires no faith in anything. But it sure takes a whole lot of faith to believe that a god always existed, and took interest in a speck of a planet in the vastness of the universe, made his own little pets on this little speck of a planet for the sole egotistical purpose of worshiping him forever, and then plays games with these little pets if he doesn’t like how they use the “free will” so creates a son for himself to torture and kill in a most horrific way, only come back to life and float up into heaven. This Christian mythology is just as bizarre as any of the myths invented by humans to try to explain things they do not understand, or things they have no control over (like death, natural disasters, weather, drought, floods, etc.)

Mondo…science is based on a hypothesis, verifiable evidence and facts. Religion is based on faith and falls in the category of delusional theology. Mondo, you have zero evidence for the existence of your god, you have zero evidence that your god made a son for himself and turned him into a zombie. Christianity is MYTHOLOGY. Jesus and God are figments of human imagination just as all the gods of other cultures around the world throughout time.

I could write more, but in my current condition cannot sit here that long so I will let the rest of you post your responses to Mondo and maybe educate him a bit.

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When the going gets tough . . .

25 October 2008 by Stardust

. . . globally, people start beckoning to their imaginary friends.

Hundreds in India pray for global economic recovery

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) – Hundreds of people gathered for a Hindu religious rite in a town in eastern India on Friday, seeking divine intervention into the global economic crisis as stocks plummeted worldwide, organisers said.

The rite was performed on the same day as the Indian rupee hit a record low of 50.15 per dollar, and the Indian share market dropped 11 percent to three-year lows.

More than three hundred people watched the rite being performed by 131 priests in a temple in the beach city of Puri in Orissa state.

The priests poured water into pots from a nearby pond and carried them out in a procession to the temple, shouting praises of Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth.

The priests burnt sandalwood and clarified butter, and offered flowers to the goddess while chanting hymns.

“The entire world is witnessing a financial crisis and Goddess Laxmi can only help us in this crucial situation,” Kumuda Ranjan Samantray, one of the organisers told Reuters.

The financial crisis was set off by a U.S. housing market collapse nearly 15 months ago.

And we have here from Western civilization:

Britons flock to Church of England’s prayer for credit crunch

LONDON (AFP) – Britons fearful about the global financial crisis are turning to God — at least online, flocking in their thousands to a special prayer on the Church of England’s website, the Church said Thursday.

A new “Prayer for the Current Financial Situation” has been viewed nearly 8,000 times since it was published online in September, increasing traffic to the ‘prayers for today’ section of the website by 28 percent.

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‘No God’ slogans for city’s buses in London

23 October 2008 by Stardust

Think we would succeed with this endeavor in Chicago, New York or any other big city in the US of A?

Bendy-buses with the slogan “There’s probably no God” could soon be running on the streets of London.

The atheist posters are the idea of the British Humanist Association (BHA) and have been supported by prominent atheist Professor Richard Dawkins.

The BHA planned only to raise £5,500, which was to be matched by Professor Dawkins, but it has now raised more than £36,000 of its own accord.

It aims to have two sets of 30 buses carrying the signs for four weeks.

The complete slogan reads: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

Richard Dawkins states:

This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think – and thinking is anathema to religion

We have been seeing stories in the news here and there about the atheist billboards popping up around the country, thanks to groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation, but we need to do more to let other atheists know that they are not alone and to let them know and especially let the believers know that there are more of us non-believers than they realize.

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More boo-hooing

22 October 2008 by Stardust

In June 2007, Sony was forced to apologize when Anglicans boo-hooed about the video game “Resistance: Fall of Man” which featured a violent shootout inside a building that resembled an Anglican cathedral in Manchester, northern England. Anglican leaders demanded that the game be removed from store shelves, and Sony refused.

While we continue to hear stories from whiny religious folks about their delusions being offended, one of the latest complaints from some Muslim groups is that they find the background music in the eagerly anticipated “LittleBigPlanet” to be “offensive”. LittleBigPlanet was to be released yesterday but has been delayed as the game’s developer caved to the protests of the Muslim groups.

Videogame delayed over possible offense to Muslims

. . .” its release date has been put back after one of its background music tracks, a song by Mali-born artist Toumani Diabate, was found to have included expressions from the Koran, which could be interpreted as an offense to Muslims.”

Shit, the entire text of the Koran and Bible is offensive to many of us! The Koran and the Bible contain some of the most offensive literature ever published. Why aren’t we all out there protesting and demanding apologies and removal of these questionable texts from store shelves? Well, that answer is easy . . . the majority of we Americans believe in the freedom of speech and expression.

Religious folks complain about certain games, movies, and other forms of entertainment being offensive to them and instead of just not buying the product or choosing not to see a film they find objectionable, they want to censor these things for everyone. I find many films, games, magazines, etc to be offensive and I simply do not purchase those things or attend those films. It would be crazy for me to go around demanding that just because something offends me that it must be removed or changed to accommodate my sensitivities. But when the religious folks go around demanding things be removed or banned to accommodate their beliefs, god botherers are taken seriously, as the developers of LittleBigPlanet are taking their demands seriously.

According to a separate statement on the website of Media Molecule, the British-based developers of LittleBigPlanet, they were “shell-shocked and gutted” by the delay to the game’s release.

“We learnt… that there is a lyric in one of the licensed tracks which some people may find offensive, and which slipped through the usual screening processes,” the statement read.

“Obviously MM and Sony together took this very seriously. LBP should be enjoyable by all.”.

Now, how many “true believers” are going to be enjoying this game anyway, with or without the “offensive” background music? Why can’t these folks go find some hungry people to feed, some poverty to fight against, some wars to solve, some abused children to care for, etc?

As one commenter at GamesRadar said sarcastically, “what brave new world we live in.”

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This is Your Brain on Xianity

21 October 2008 by Bob

h/t to Pharyngula — and why xianity melts your brain…

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Here’s a Mind Bender

20 October 2008 by Bob

Now are these idiots “Real Xians” or not?

Dear friends:

THIS IS EXTREMELY SERIOUS.

Minutes ago I spoke with friend Dr. Norman G. Marvin, M.D. and he is so concerned at what he has learned about Barack Obama’s family in Kenya that he is calling a special prayer meeting in his home to pray against the witchcraft curses attempted by them against John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Dr. Marvin sent me the below e-mail from Flo Ellers. Flo is credentialed with the International Fellowship of Ministries which is based in Washington State. She is also a member of EndTime Handmaidens and Servants of Jasper, Arkansas.

IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE, PLEASE PRAY TODAY AND CONTINUALLY THAT ALL SUCH CURSES BE BROKEN AND SATAN’S PLAN FOR AMERICA BE DEFEATED, IN JESUS’ NAME. PRAY AND COVER MCCAIN AND PALIN WITH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE, IT IS TIME YOU LEARN!!!

Jim

I do hope this is my mistake, and an instance of Poe’s Law

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