Christian Group Executes Santa

A repost from the "Friendly Atheist"

It seems that the "War on Xmas" has two fronts

"Don't Ask Don't Tell" Repealed - A Victory in the War for Reason!

Seventeen years ago, then-President Bill Clinton had a crazy idea that all of the men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces were human beings, regardless of their professed sexual orientation. Clinton was motivated, in part, by a man named Allen Schindler, a radioman in the U.S. Navy who was stomped into unrecognizability and, ultimately, murdered by two of his fellow sailors because Schindler was gay. And so he promised to undertake a massive effort to make it so that gay soldiers could serve in the military without fear or discrimination.

Read more here.

So, What Does the Bible Say About Rape?

Think that the Bible is a source of morality? I beg to differ.

The following is courtesy of the recommended http://www.blaghag.com/

(click on pic for larger image)

A Personal Report from a Christmas Parade

Yesterday, my nuclear family and I attended the Christmas parade in one of the better “to do” suburbs of the smallish city we inhabit.

By mere happenstance we claimed a spot of sidewalk in front of one of the many minor mediocrities of architecture that operate as a church. Early in the proceedings a man who had been handing free hot chocolate gave me the most ridiculous little pamphlet called, “Which Way Are You Going?” published by the Liberty Gospel Tracts; an Orwellian name for an organization whose main goal was to invite you into slavery.

(On their website, they offer an "Ask a Question" section. The section has some helpful advice for female visitors, "If you are married, we must biblically direct you to your husband first. I Corinthians 14:35 deals with women having questions in church, and instructs them to ask their husbands at home. If your husband does not know the answer, you might encourage him to write to us here. The Bible also instructs the older women to teach the younger women, in Titus 2:3,4. If you write to us with a question, we will pass it along to one of our ladies here, who will help you to find the answer from the Bible." For it's awful humor, read previous responses to questions...)

This will teach me to accept free drinks from strange men.

As simple and bald as the little broadside is, it really does encapsulate the entire position of the religious establishment. Specifically, after establishing that there are no other options in life other than subservience to the celestial “capriciously malevolent bully” or to suffer for aninfinite time in a torture shop run by his enemy on page 1, page 2 ensures us that we are unable to help ourselves lead better lives, page 3 says that even if we are successful through talent, education and self-discipline, that such personal victories are without meaning unless we abase ourselves are the non-existent feet of a jealous god.

I was very tempted to refuse his offer of “literature” or at least tell him that I had already decided, at least in general terms, my course of life; thanks but no thanks. My inherent politeness forced me to mumble a thank you and turn away. I had after all taken the drink.


However, the question one is confronted with is what if the roles were reversed?

Would a dedicated Christian accept a free hot chocolate on a cold day in exchange for a pamphlet extolling the virtues of logic, reason and humanistic compassion, during their attendance at a Darwin Day parade?

I am guessing that the whole scenario would be unlikely.

Skeptic Michael Shermer on Atheism, Happiness, and the Free Market

Baptist Pastor Wishes Death on Homosexuals

Yep...Religion sure it just one more way to look at the world...perfectly valid....doesn't lead people to hate or anything...

The Second Coming Sale in Wisconsin

Some things do not require comment, only exposure:

America's Dumbest / Smartest cities

Full list: http://www.portfolio.com/graphics/BrainiestBastions.pdf

As a point of personal interests to friends and family, Charleston WV is smarter than Youngstown, OH.

Christians Boycott Someone with Different Opinions: In other news, Sky Still Blue

Recently, several freethinking and atheist groups have had the courage to express the unpopular fact of their existence by taking out ads and billboard in selective cities. The biggest stink has been raised by the billboard in New Jersey, where it seems that it is ok for the faithful to bombard their neighbors with their beliefs but atheists should just shut up and be glad that all those followers of Christ don't burn or lynch anymore. Well, not usually.

So now, ministers and such of the Ft. Worth area are calling for a boycott of city buses because the public transit authority accepted adds promoting atheism. (They simply declare "Millions of Americans are Good Without God.")

When it was suggested that they could buy counter adds on buses, the "Rev. Kyev Tatum says residents shouldn't ride the buses -- and churches shouldn't buy Christian ads -- because the Fort Worth Transportation Authority has put profit over principle."

What "principle" would that be? That Christians own December? That Christians should never be confronted by opposing opinions?

More here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7323085.html

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise: Atheist holiday display officially excluded

This is why we have to fight and be so outspoken about who were are and the denial of our rights. Nothing more offensive than a right denied.

WEST CHESTER, PA -- It is now official; Chester County will be putting up the Jesus Creche, the Menorah, a Christmas Tree, Santa and maybe some reindeer and a sleigh, but as predicted not the Tree of Knowledge.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Freethought Society’s continued fight to have their Tree of Knowledge display included on the courthouse lawn. This year the County Commissioners passes Resolution 58-10 which would allow the county to choose which displays to put up on the courthouse lawn. Surprise, surprise, it is all the same displays that were there last year except that the Freethought Society’s Tree of Knowledge which as been purposely and deliberately excluded.

When I first talked about this story many in the greater atheist community thought that this resolution would restrict all holiday displays religious and non-religious alike. This however was not the case and was never even the intention.

The intention from day one of the introduction of this resolution has been to endorse the Judeo-Christian religions and to give Christians and Jews the sole use of public land to advertise their beliefs in the name of the government.

More Here: http://www.examiner.com/atheism-in-philadelphia/atheist-holiday-display-officially-excluded

Anne Hathaway Tells Why She Left the Catholic Church

During a recent interview with the excellent Terry Gross of NPR's "Fresh Air" Ms. Hathaway talked about why she could not longer be a member of the Catholic Church:

GROSS: I should mention, this is maybe a good place to talk about it, that your brother is gay, and he got married in Canada. And I read that your family left the Catholic Church when your brother came out because the Catholic Church is so, like, anti-homosexual.

So was it a hard decision or just like a no-brainer to leave the church when your brother came out?

HATHAWAY: Well, it wasn’t really like we had a family discussion about it. We didn’t sit around the dinner table and say, okay, this is the decisive action we’re going to take now. It was more something we realized we’d all done as individuals, and then it became something that we’d done as a family.

And gosh, was it difficult? You know, when it’s family and someone is excluding your family, and someone is not accepting of your family, it does become a bit of a no-brainer, doesn’t it?

GROSS: So was it hard for you to leave the church? Was the church important to you before?

HATHAWAY: Faith is important to me. You know, being raised with one faith and having to go out into the unknown and try to cobble together another, that was hard. But I wasn’t really leaving something because I realized I couldn’t have faith in this religion that would exclude anyone, particularly my brother, for the way he’s born and for loving someone. I mean, how do you exclude someone for love? That seems to be the antithesis of what religion’s about.

And by the way, you know, I [don't] mean to Catholic Church-bash. I do understand that, for a lot of people, the religion provides a lot of peace and direction. But I don’t know… if they could be accepting of women and of gays… I think that the religion gets a lot of things right.

But for me, I couldn’t lose myself in it. I couldn’t look to it for guidance because it’s like I said, I don’t believe in this aspect.

While I will disagree with Ms. Hathaway about her view that "religion gets a lot of things right" I will praise her for doing what too few have the honesty and courage to do: to refuse to be part of an organization that treats their own family members as second-class human beings. It just goes to show that if you are part of an organization that does so, then you really are little more than a coward.

"Good Radiation"

A hip hop ballad to National Public Radio. The last thread of reason on America's airwaves.

Mobilizing for the War on Christmas

So, here is a recent story about the Loudoun County (VA) Supervisors reversing a policy preventing religious holiday displays by third parties at their courthouse. The new policy allows 10 third party holiday displays ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE BASIS.

Is it just me or would you love to see a manger display surrounded by displays for the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Festivus, the Winter Solstice and Chalica. The Baptist would lose their their minds. Better yet for them to be 11th in line to see what marginalization feels like.

The real issue behind the bogus "War on Christmas" meme is the discomfort of Christians of not being treated with cultural deference; the idea that they are just another unfounded superstitious belief, and not the fountain of the American Dream its adherents still want it to be.

This is a recent quote on the subject from rationalskepticism.org

"I'm sick of these lame wars on Christmas.

I hereby declare WAR on Christmas.

Over Christmas I shall draw up my battle plans for my Christmas rival a holiday whose only purpose is to give to the needy and less well off in society instead of just being greedy little shits who moan about getting socks and undies from relatives you barely see.

Next winter solstice I urge you to give hard earned dollars to a charity that does not directly benefit you.

Together we can beat Christmas and encourage good will towards fellow humans, as opposed to the rife consumerism down in the name of a zombie jew whose message has long been forgotten in favour of greed, bigotry and gluttons in red suits."

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/08/AR2010090804480.html

Atheist Group’s Billboard Targets ‘Closet’ Non-Believers

"An atheist group that has paid for a large billboard outside the Lincoln Tunnel reading “You KNOW it’s a Myth” says it is targeting “closet” atheists as part of its Christmas season campaign."

More: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/11/27/atheist-groups-billboard-targets-closet-non-believers/

Tony Blair, Christopher Hitchens Debate Religion

"Audience members voted on the debate and preliminary results posted on the Munk Debates website sided with Hitchens, with 68 percent saying that religion is more of a destructive than benign force in the world."

Read article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/27/tony-blair-christopher-hi_n_788717.html

Watch Debate here (start with part 2): http://www.youtube.com/user/hitchensblairdebate

Therapy for the Delusional

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the guide most commonly used by psychological professionals) defines a delusion as:

A false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everybody else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary. The belief is not one ordinarily accepted by other members of the person's culture or subculture. (Emphasis added)

The main point being that this esteemed group of professionals had to add that second sentence to the definition in order that religious people not be included among the deluded.

But, of course they are. And where is the logic in essentially saying that so long as most other people believe it that any belief is acceptable?

History is replete with “mass delusions”, i.e. widely accepted beliefs, which were wildly unethical or harmful:

• Nazism
• Slavery
• Witch Hunts
• McCarthyism
• Belief in demon possession
• Belief that illness was caused by sin

These were “acceptable” because most people in society, at one point, believed in them? That is just complete bullshit meant to protect the delicate constitutions of the blindly faithful and religious apologists whose delusions are catered to, pampered and protected like some parents guard their child’s belief in the tooth fairy.

Isn't it time we stopped protecting and being so deferential to people of faith? Any therapist will tell you that you should never buy into a deluded person's fantasies. If you do, they will never get better.

So, without malice, the next time someone tries to force you or your children to pray, or to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” or to attend a religious service in which you have no interest or to have a religious element to a public, secular event SPEAK UP. Nothing gets better if you don’t.

For those of us in delicate positions for whatever reasons, such as employment or interacting with a spouse’s family, anonymous flyers, letters to the editor, comments on local websites, or simple personal non-participation and other types of public action can be just as valuable. But you must do something to show that this type of behavior is not only outside the bounds of polite society, but deeply delusional.

Young Christians Leaving the Church at Fast Rate Ever

Quote:

Those marking "no religion," called the "Nones," made up the only group to have grown in every state, from the secular Northeast to the conservative Bible Belt. The Nones were most numerous among the young: a whopping 22 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds claimed no religion, up from 11 percent in 1990. The study also found that 73 percent of Nones came from religious homes; 66 percent were described by the study as "de-converts."

Other survey results have been grimmer. At the May 2009 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, top political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell presented research from their book American Grace, released last month. They reported that "young Americans are dropping out of religion at an alarming rate of five to six times the historic rate (30 to 40 percent have no religion today, versus 5 to 10 percent a generation ago)."

...approximately 70 percent of American youth drop out of church between the age of 18 and 22. The Barna Group estimates that 80 percent of those reared in the church will be "disengaged" by the time they are 29.

more: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/november/27.40.html

Religious do not have monopoly on virtue, says Queen Liz

I have never been a fan of the Windsors and support republics and democracy as much as possible, but a big tip of the crown to the Queen of England for the shout out:

"Speaking at Church House, central London, she told members of General Synod that believers and atheists were equally able to contribute to the prosperity and wellbeing of the country."

Full Article Here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/23/queen-synod-virtue

Apple Goes Full Homophobe

Apple fully approves of new "Anti-Gay" app with a 4+ rating.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/24/apple-manhattan-declaration-app_n_788075.html

Beating Kids is Bad, Mmmmmm,K?

We can all agree that child abuse is bad. Unless it is for Jesus. Anything you do for Jesus is ok.

Angie sets those who never "spare the rod" straight:

Underwood’s theoretical equations of religion development

Egyptian polytheism +local Canaanite customs +Zoroastrism =Judaism

((Hinduism – caste system) + Ancient Indian folk medicine and philosophy) + Late Classical Greek Philosophy = Buddhism

((Messianic Judaism +Buddhism) *Classical Greek Philosophy)^{Roman Political Organization} = Christianity

(Ancient Arabian Legends + Christian evangelism + Judaism)*Nomad Culture = Islam

(Islamic Prophetic Authority +Christianity)^{American Exceptionalism} = Mormonism

(Poorly written 1950’s style pulp science fiction + Cult of Personality + pseudoscience) * Islamic-like Prophetic Authority = Scientology

Of course the whole point of these statements would be that no religion is truly original. Even the Neanderthals had some sort of religion. Religion is demonstrably less the result divine inspiration than the barrowing and blending of preceding mytho-philosophical systems with modern (at the time) thought.

Like Christopher Hitchens said, Mormonism is just Scientology plus 180 years. But then again, Islam is just Christianity plus 650 years. They are all equally…unlikely.

What Mormons Believe, and Don't Want to Talk About

This might be the biggest con ever just to convince your wife that it is cool to have sex with other women. Of course it is no crazier than than talking shrubs or virgin births.

Theory of Beauty

This is a link to a presentation from the TED conference on a Darwinian Theory of Beauty. I think that, assuming you could sneak it past the local school board and the evangelical snitches, it would be a very good and reasonably quick introduction to evolution to a teen or young adult audience.