I've been slacking off on Pharyngula lately — I've had a week to relax and get caught up on a few other things. Here, though, are a few links to ridiculous religiosity that have been piling up in the mailbox.
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Cockroaches are God's wrath. And did you know Jesus had a roach problem?
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Vera Ivie knows what GW Bush's problem is: we haven't been praying hard enough for him. Get on your knees now!
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You know what would help Christianity's image problem? If all the ministers were clowns. Oh, wait…they already are. Never mind.
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Pope Ratzi has a chief exorcist (which implies a lot of little assistant exorcists, too…), and he has declared Harry Potter to be satan. Good Catholics seem to have a real problem distinguishing reality from fantasy, don't they?
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In a related news item, the Pope has set up exorcism squads to fight satanism, which is synonymous with godlessness. I'd be looking forward to a visit from strange people in red robes and funny hats, but this is from the Daily Mail, and it's illustrated with a picture from the movie, The Exorcist, so this is of dubious provenance.
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Revere looks at Christianity Today's tally of the most important events of the year. Most of them weren't that important.
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Somebody might have hurt a pro-lifer in some tussle at a protest somewhere. There doesn't seem to be any trustworthy account anywhere of this unfortunate (if genuine) event, but that won't stop the right-wingers from shrieking about it. In other news, Cthulhu has risen from the dark depths…you won't find any newspaper or police accounts of this, but trust me.
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I don't think Jeebus had a roach problem, rather he and his followers had a magic mushroom problem.
I don't think Jeebus had a roach problem, rather he and his followers had a magic mushroom problem.
It's a metaphor. His followers are the roaches.
I, would like to take the person who cracked that idiots skull and the receptionist out for a few rounds of stiff
drinks for job well done.
More humor here:
http://www.thercg.org/articles/wcdcny.html
And people wonder why the human species will be soley responsible for its own extinction. There really is no end to the moron brigade.
Roach problem? Get a bong...
Would god get mad if they hired an exterminator, or do they just have to live with roaches because it is part of god's plan?
Clowns. I hate clowns.
Rick Racki, aka Riff-Raff, the troupe's only hobo clown, said the outfits make people more receptive to a spiritual message. "There's something inside them that just opens up," the 43-year-old said. "They're more open. They're less afraid."
The only thing more frightening to me than a Southern Baptist proselytizer would be one dressed like a clown. And I should know, I've been one. (the former, not the latter)
Odd. Doesn't he know Harry Potter is a fictional character? While it will be easy to win a supernatural battle against someone who isn't real, what is the point?
Really, this guy needs to consult with the Vatican PR department or something. It won't take too many strange PRs before he makes himself irrelevant.
And anyway, where was he when Sauron of Mordor was riding high. Now there was someone clearly on the wrong side!
If he performed 30,000 exorcisms and did them regularly for 50 of his 82 years, that would make it 600 per year. With a 5-day work week and a 2-week annual vacation, the poor man was doing an average of 2.4 of these a day. With travel time between each exorcism, he's been a busy man indeed!
Conservatively estimating only a gallon of pea-soup projective vomit per demon over his career, that's still more than five hundred 55-gallon drums of vomit. Plus, figure dry cleaning at about $10 per set of vomit-stained vestments, you get a cleaning bill of $300,000 to get that vomit out. And that's IF demon vomit is chemically the same as regular vomit and can be so easily removed.
And Harry Potter is just the same as Hitler and Stalin! Man, I knew it! It was the way he had all those Death Eaters killed by firing squads, and then there was that time he ordered the roundup of Muggles for extermination!
... Sheesh. The 82 years have not been kind to this man.
The creepy thing is that we're all laughing at this bugfuck insane stuff only because we're safely outside it. But inside the Vatican, apparently they're DEADLY SERIOUS about it all. Unless he's lying (obviously possible, even probable), this old fart has subjected more than 30,000 people to his primitive juju. You have to wonder how many of them were mentally ill and needed real medical care, or were maybe just suffering from epilepsy or diabetes or whatever, and died under his fanatical care.
I'll make the point one more time: They're SERIOUS about this stuff.
Religiosity of this type not only provides cover for extremism, it IS extremism. And this is not some unauthorized dimwit out on the edge of Catholicism, this is an OFFICIAL Vatican representative, a freakazoid from the vital core of the Catholic Church.
@ #4
Shorter version: True Xians(TM) aren't allowed to enjoy themselves. Ever. Fun is "of the Devil."
Really, this guy needs to consult with the Vatican PR department or something.
I just had Eddie Izzard and the "PR Department of Rome" go through my head.
Cthulhu has risen from the dark depths...you won't find any newspaper or police accounts of this, but trust me.
any news of Dagon?
He's not answering his cell.
Harry Potter is now ofically the Devil.
Exorcism squads.
If all this is true, maybe Pope Ratzi is planning to change "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" back to it's original title.
Having spent some time in Nazareth, I would be astonished if Jesus didn't have a cockroach problem.
Jesus as web editor is hilarious. Check out the email responses.
this old fart has subjected more than 30,000 people to his primitive juju.
LMAO! The vomit analysis was worthy of the Onion! thanks Hank.
However, on the '30k exorcism thing...
i rather picture lines of parishioners claiming demon possession, daily, and he simply waives some incense over them and gives them a blessing. Then claims they are free of demons.
He might be able to process 30 or 40 a day that way, before lunch.
are we sure that the Exorcist is an informative documentary of how the CC performs exorcisms?
are we sure that bishops in the CC really DO take this shit seriously... or are they simply placating their more, uh, 'devout' parishioners?
That "Harry Potter is Satan" article is from September 2006. Still bugfuck crazy, but kind of old.
I can't wait for the invasion of Pope Palpatine's exorcist squads. That ought to be fun (if it's even true).
"Magic is always a turn to the devil," said the Roman Catholic priest, according to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.
Amorth, who is also the president of the International Association of Exorcists, said the series contains many positive references to "the satanic art" of magic and makes no distinction between black and white magic.
If magic is always a turn to the devil, what's this white magic?
stelios, sometimes it is difficult to tell the real sites from the satirical ones. Here is another. "Show Me Clowns for Jesus".
http://www.showmeclownsforjesus.com/
Here is their, serious?, introduction.
"Cultivate learning opportunities to develop and refine Christian clowning skills.
Encourage high ethical , professional, and Christian clown standards.
Promote clowning as a ministry to bring joy and the love of Jesus to others."
Even George Carlin couldn't do better.
by the way, on the pope's CEO of excorcism claiming potter is da debil...
that was quite a while back:
not saying it isn't worthy of discussion (it is), but it isn't exactly front page news.
here's a fun interview from 2002:
http://www.medjugorje.org/framorth1.htm
what is the latest news on this assclown? There doesn't appear to be anything in the last few months.
"makes no distinction between black and white magic"
leaving the fiction issue aside for a moment...
I suppose I was imagining the references to "Dark Arts" and the Defense therefrom.
"How to edit a webpage like Jesus" is definitely not serious. Go read the FAQs and some of the articles.
"Magic is always a turn to the devil," said the Roman Catholic priest, according to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.
I first read that as "Magic is always a turn on to the devil". Entirely different, much more entertaining, yet no less stupid.
The rite of exorcism involves a series of gestures and prayers to invoke the power of God and stop the "demon" influencing its victim.
Do they get hazardous duty pay? We all know that Satan is fond of hurling himself out the window while inside the body of a priest. That's gotta be worth a few bucks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XcX5dG4eJ4
I knew the Devil was behind all that Harry/Draco fanfic!
We all know that Satan is fond of hurling himself out the window while inside the body of a priest.
thought that was Pizuzu's kick?
Attn: people who think the Harry Potter books are tools of Satan: Read the damn books. All the way through the end of Deathly Hallows. And try again to tell me with a straight face that Harry Potter is driving kids to the devil. Harry's only a friggin' literal Christ figure...oh, sorry, did I spoil the ending for you?
Nobody's allowed to fake their own death and resurrection but Jebus Cripes! You got that?
"If the majority of the people are agnostic and atheistic, it may be that they are partly to blame for the problems we have."
Oh dear. I think Vera Ivie has been hoodwinked into thinking that the percentage of non-religious Americans is somewhere in the double digits.
She might also be satisfied that plenty of Americans are praying for George Bush, and his approval rating is God's answer.
More humor here:
http://www.jesuspets.com/Home.aspx
Once the Rupture comes whose going to look after all those pets? The cockroaches?
I was given the gift of an hour today and spent it browsing Barnes and Noble's in St Cloud. Near the cafe, right in the middle of a display table of featured, stacked books, under the tee-rack mounted poster announcing the books as "HUMOR", yep, right in the middle: a stack of A.J. Jacobs' recent book, The Year of Living Biblically. Just thought you'd like to know.... Am gleefully meeting 2008 tonight with book in hand!
In other "religious" news :
Us town escapes 666 phone prefix!
Oh, I forgot: this morning's Mpls Star Tribune had a front page article (Second section, mercifully) on "The Highway of Holiness" (I-35, that runs between International Falls MN and Laredo Texas--of course). The dupes think "I-35" stands for "Isaiah 35:8....
Here's the url: http://www.startribune.com/local/12928811.html
Oh noes! Atheistic people are the reason why Dubya's a lousy president!
Aside from that, I kind of like the notion of the Pope's new Goon Squad. Can we call them terrorists?
Well, except for the warm shelter and the stockpiles of food, I doubt those little cockroaches care much for we humans. Look at how they scurry away when the lights are on.
What, the big sky daddy is being blocked by the faithless. Does not seem so all powerful.
Wait, this is not christianity, this is The Secret.
I might have missed if someone else posted this, but the "alleged anti-conservative attack" apparently was completely fabricated by the supposed victim:
http://canadiancynic.blogspot.com/2007/12/shriek-shriek-shriek.html
Well, except for the warm shelter and the stockpiles of food, I doubt those little cockroaches care much for we humans. Look at how they scurry away when the lights are on.
no, no...
see, they're just like little shoe elves, doing work to help you out at night, when they can't be seen. they run away because they aren't supposed to get caught helping you out.
yeah, that's the ticket.
How will Jesus respond to this question?
Are You Drinking With Me, Jesus?
(Peter Berryman)
Do you nestle by my barstool
Makin' me so calm within
Have you touched me with your warmness
Or have I touched myself with gin?
cho: Are you drinkin' with me Jesus
I can't see you very clear
If you're drinkin' with me Jesus
Won't you buy a friend a beer?
If you're omnipresent, Jesus
You don't have to use the phone
If you're always by my side, Lord
You need never drink alone
Do you teeter with me, Jesus
On my way home so forlorn
If you think that you feel bad now
Wait until tomorrow morn
Does your head pound with the masses
As hungover you do rise
What does heaven look like, Jesus
Seen through holy bloodshot eyes
Should we take a taxi, Jesus
Should we try to walk from here
I know you can walk on water
Can you walk on this much beer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff5FoGtAbro&feature=related
Well, damn, Ichthyic. I guess I need roaches where I live so they can do my housework. snicker
Well, damn, Ichthyic. I guess I need roaches where I live so they can do my housework. snicker
works for me
:p
ever see "joe's apartment"?
Ratzi has a chief exorcist? BFD. His predecessor conducted exorcisms while when he was the pope. Remember this story from 2000?
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/42/story_4278_1.html
No. The last twenty years, the only things from MTV I could handle were "Beavis And Butthead" (Which really surprised me.) and "Daria". But I fear I am off the various topics now.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116707/trailers-screenplay-E10356-310
Nope she is correct. All the polls show it. And in the younger generation it approaches 40%.
really?
that's good news.
last I heard was Pew data from around 2002 showing atheists in single digits:
where do you find more up to date poll info?
This hardly makes any sense. Satanism implies a belief in god, just that you are opposition to god. Most of the occult deals with non christian deities, though most 'demons' are merely co opted deities. The the Godless rejects all of this as nonsense.
These people claim to be moral leaders cannot seem to tell the difference. Methinks Ratzi should go back to co ordinating his Prada.
Ichthyic, if I am going to watch a movie with talking bugs, I am going to stick with "The Naked Lunch". But thank you for the link.
These people claim to be moral leaders cannot seem to tell the difference.
or they can (and likely do), but instead choose to lie instead.
now why would they do THAT, I wonder...
xianity simply can't stand competition. It's always been that way.
apparently Islam can't stand it either.
Seems to me that the CC has had "PR" departments for as long as it has existed.
The fact that some old people died was big news for Christianity Today. Has anyone sat down with them to explain the facts of life?
Anyone who breaks out in that theme song will be shot!
I just cannot seem to give a flying fuck here. I have heard to many stories about pregnant women trying enter these clinics being pushed around by these anti-choicers. And where is the MSM for all of this?
Yes, Harry Potter is a fictional character, but so is Jebus.
A lot worse than that. Attacks on family planning centers, abortion clinics, MDs, staff, and patients are so common they rarely make the national news.
The casualty list from the Xian terrorists runs 7 assassinated MDs, 17 attempted murders, and 200 or so wounded, many seriously.
Xians have a long, long history of being violent.
The Pope story is wrong. The 'exorcist squads' are just wishful thinking on the part of an enthusiast.
http://podblack.wordpress.com/2007/12/30/potter-pope-and-all-that-exo-f…
"But Father Frederico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, flatly denied the Petrus report. The papal spokesman said: "Pope Benedict XVI has no intention of ordering local bishops to bring in garrisons of exorcists to fight demonic possession.""
"Get on your knees now!"
Didn't Monica Lewinsky try that?
"Q once compared my reaction to roaches to God's reaction to our sin"
Wow. That Q, eh? He's just a barrel of laughs.
Oh no I am a heathen!
If magic is always a turn to the devil, what's this white magic?
White magic:
2 slices of Wonder Bread
1 tsp Parkay
1 tbs Miracle Whip
2 oz Boiled Ham (or subs. Oscar Mayer bologna)
1 individually wrapped slice of Kraft American cheese food product
ack! that sounds like pure poison!
white magic?
yeah, voodoo magic, maybe.
I keep thinking this is the formula used to turn people into zombies in that movie "Serpent and the Rainbow".
I have mentioned at various times that Prescott Bush, Dumbya's grandfather, was treasurer of Planned Parenthood in 1947.
He lost his first Senate campaign because churches attacked him for that. If today's journalists were not such brown-nosing Republican wimps, they might ask Dumbya and the current Rethug candidates about that.
Furthermore, Prescott supported the socialist Interstate Highway System of Eisenhower and civil rights legislation and the Peace Corps. He also voted to censure Joe McCarthy.
He doesn't sound like he could be a Bush Republican today.
I know. And then there's Ming the Merciless. I sure hope there was somethin' in the encyclical about that rat bastard. Not to mention Dr. No, Dr. Evil, Gargomel from the Smurfs, that scary witch/queen character from Snow White...
Geez. That Pope guy, seems to me he's doing a pathetic job of defending us from the ravening hordes of deadly fictional characters. We need someone of sterner stuff, clearly.
How 'bout He-Man? Always liked the cut of his jib. Probably the man for the job. That and picturing He-Man in a mitre sorta amuses me. I mean, even more than mitres do on their own.
My cousin was an assistant exorcist at the Vatican for a while. I think he spent more time in training than in the trenches doing actual exorcisms. I think it was a pretty cushy job.
Hmm. Lets see... Negative about anything different than themselves. Fearful of everything and anything new. Their only vision is over 2,000 years old, and stolen from everyone else. Their authors are almost universally negative about *everyone*, except themselves, and when they do write "positive" things, its usually a distortion of facts, to make it **look** like something positive came out of things, like, oh, just off the top of my head, Katrina and the tsunami... Scratch visionary, their heads are so far up the butt of the nearest idol that they can't see *it* properly, never mind envision anything else. And as for builders... WTF have they built in 2,000 years other than more fracking cathedrals and/or churches?
Yeah, I know exactly which on I am. And I don't think this clown has a clue what *any* of the words he is using mean. lol
Re: How to edit a webpage like Jesus.
I'd LOVE to know what kind of leverage these assmonkeys have over their Lord and Saviour that they could force Him to sign any kind of agreement. I guess they made Him an offer he couldn't refuse...
Luka Bratsi eats loaves and fishes.
Christianity grows?? in the soul? Like a fungus perhaps? Or a bacterial culture? This new Pope is one wierd Dude.