religion
pharyngula | September 11, 2006A reader sent me a link to this unpleasant video of Scientologists in Clearwater, FL. I recognize the work: it's by Mark Bunker of XenuTV, where you'll find a whole collection videos documenting the kind of religious fascism Scientology, the creepiest cult on the planet, sponsors.
Bunker's videos show how these grim fanatics can take over a whole town by terrifying the residents and coopting the police—it's very unsettling.
oracknows | September 10, 2006Yesterday, I posted about a story indicating that a Danish newspaper had published some of the cartoons from the Iranian Holocaust Cartoon contest, pointing out how, when the original Danish cartoons poking fun at Islam were published, we saw riots, death threats, and demands for punishment. When Iran, supposedly to make fun of the Holocaust and the West's supposed "double standard" with respect to the Holocaust, holds a contest and publishes a bunch of anti-Semitic cartoons, the reaction is largely a worldwide shrug of the shoulders and some fairly minor protests. Some of the collective yawn…
oracknows | September 9, 2006Just what every kid wants! For children of extreme fundamentalists looking to be raptured, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Spider-Man, or Superman just won't do! What would Jesus think when He returns? Harry Potter represents witchcraft, an abomination! Star Wars replaces God with The Force. Superheroes are too frivolous, and Superman is too obviously a Christ-figure.
So what's the answer if you're a concerned fundamentalist parent who wants to maximize the chance that her child will be one of the chosen when the Rapture comes?
Why, Armor of God PJ's, of course!
Yes, according to the manufacturer…
jrosenhouse | September 8, 2006Another point made in the Newsweek article mentioned in the previous post is that Harris et al are as hard on religious moderates as they are on the fundamentalists:
It is not just extremists who earn the wrath of Dawkins and Harris. Their books are attacks on religious “moderates” as well--indeed, the very idea of moderation.
The idea is that on the one hand we have the dogmatic fundamentalists, the ones who reject science wholesale and place their hands over their ears when they sense a bit of contrary data coming their way. On the other are more moderate people. They're the ones who…
mikethemadbiologist | September 8, 2006Just in case you thought that maybe the U.S. wasn't being run by crazy people, a new book claims that Karl Rove "enlisted a trio of clergymen to exorcise Hillary Rodham Clinton's left-wing spirit when he moved into her West Wing office in 2001." The story is corroborated by Deal Hudson, a former Fordham University professor and Republican political operative.
Sen. Hillary Clinton summed up the reaction that any person who is not completely fucking insane would have, saying, "I'm speechless." It's hard to make a politician speechless. It's even harder to make the Mad Biologist so...
My…
jrosenhouse | September 8, 2006Via Afarensis, I came across this Newsweek article about atheism. It focuses mainly on Sam Harris, RIchard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett. Overall I think it's a pretty good article. Here are a few highlights:
This was not a message most Americans wanted to hear, before or after 9/11. Atheists “are seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public,” according to a study by Penny Edgell, a sociologist at the University of Minnesota. In a recent NEWSWEEK Poll, Americans said they believed in God by a margin of 92 to 6--only 2 percent answered “don't know”--…
oracknows | September 8, 2006This is just hilarious. I particularly like the part about "hooligans," "Godless Sodomites," and "fag-enabling fools." And don't forget: "the Satanic spirit of mockery." (I wonder if Respectful Insolence⢠would qualify.)
Funny, but Phelps looks and sounds much as I pictured him. Actually, I couldn't watch more than the first half of it, as it rapidly gets tiresome and repetitive. Still, it's disturbing to see that the Westboro Baptist Church nutcases are now doing video, and the production values are actually better than I would have expected. Too bad it's all to dress up truly vile, hate-…
pharyngula | September 8, 2006Minnesotans are going to be a little less above average in October, when a gaggle of evil morons hit the state: James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and Gary Bauer are having a rally in St Paul to "motivate pro-family conservative Christians." It may also help motivate us pro-family liberal atheists.
Andy wonders which Minnesota politicians will show up for these hucksters for fascism: would Michele Bachmann be a safe bet? Mike Hatch better not; I've seen a few of his ads, and his gun-totin' bird-killin' pseudo-populism is almostas annoying as Mark Kennedy's badly acted family dramas that play up his…
pharyngula | September 8, 2006Hallelujah! You'll want to play this mp3 for any of your religious friends and relatives. The chorus will make them jump up and exclaim…something.
jrosenhouse | September 7, 2006It seems the big evolution confab in Rome has ended. The verdict? No change:
A participant at the Pope's closed door symposium on creation and evolution, Jesuit Fr Joseph Fessio, has denied speculation about a change in the Church's teaching on evolution, saying nothing presented at the meeting broke new ground and that American debates on Intelligent Design did not feature in discussions.
Catholic News Service reports that the annual gathering of former doctoral students of Pope Benedict, which was hosted in part by the Pontiff at his summer villa in Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome,…
scientificactivist | September 7, 2006OK, I'll admit that this is more than a little scary.
In a recent entry, I expressed skepticism toward a recent finding in Nature that had been hailed as a way to extract "ethically sound" lines of human embryonic stem cells. The technique involves removing a single cell from an eight-cell blastula and using this cell to derive a line of stem cells while allowing the remaining cells to grow and develop normally, without any apparent damage to the embryo. This was an interesting advance, but it didn't seem to address some of the fundamental points plaguing the debate on human embryonic stem…
pharyngula | September 6, 2006My baby sister (she was in her thirties and had two kids of her own, but she'll always be my little sis) died a few years ago of one of those sudden, massive infections—the kind of unexpected reminder of bacterial dominance that killed Jim Henson. When I attended the funeral, I was reminded of another lower life form that afflicts humanity: the minister was an ecstatic Jesus freak who, rather than talking about the young woman we'd lost, or trying to give words of reassurance to a grieving family, instead tried to turn the affair into a revival meeting, asking people to TESTIFY FOR JESUS!!!…
clock | September 6, 2006Mr.WD: 'Postmodern' Christianity -- it's still that old time religion, part 4
pharyngula | September 6, 2006This is exactly what I hear when someone tries to promote their favorite cult.
pharyngula | September 3, 2006Wow, I'm impressed: The J Train finds a small guttering flicker of reason on WingNutDaily. It's an article by a conservative Christian opposing public prayer at football games—he'd been in Hawai'i, where he'd been shocked to discover that pre-game prayers were given by Buddhist monks, and he found himself an uncomfortable minority in a sea of people following some strange religion (hmmm…does anybody else know what that's like?)
It's actually funny to read. He's plainly horrified that he'd have to be in the presence of someone reciting a pagan prayer! He doesn't quite get the response right,…
oracknows | September 2, 2006This time, the Virgin Mary is on a tree:
LOCKPORT -- A Harvey Street woman claimed on Wednesday that she heard the voice of the Virgin Mary and has seen visions of the Mother of God in the trimmed branches of a maple tree in front of her house.
Antonia "Toni" Filipertis, 84, a devout Catholic, comes to tears when she relates the story which began about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Her family firmly believes her.
Neighborhood children and adults see and wonder. Several teachers from John Pound Elementary School came across the street to take a look. Principal Roberta Donovan could not swear to the…
pharyngula | September 2, 2006Via AlterNet, here's another book I'm going to have to add to my wishlist: The Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll). It'll complement all the information on the subject I get from Jesus' General.
pharyngula | September 1, 2006Man, I've been picking on the Vatican a lot lately. Don't worry, I'll abuse all other religions later (I'm thoroughly impartial), but it's just that the Catholic church has been doing such stupid things. Like this:
A Vatican official has said the Catholic church will excommunicate a medical team who performed Colombia's first legal abortion on an 11-year-old girl, who was eight weeks pregnant after being raped by her stepfather.
Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, the president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family, said in addition to the doctors and nurses, the measure could apply…
mikethemadbiologist | September 1, 2006
Here's what the mayor of Salt Lake City, UT said yesterday. You would think he's one of those Northeast liberal elitist, latte-drinkin' types...
Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Jackson:
A patriot is a person who loves his or her country.
Who among you loves your country so much that you have come here today to raise your voice out of deep concern for our nation - and for our world?
And who among you loves your country so much that you insist that our nation's leaders tell us the truth?
Let's hear it: "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"
Let no one deny we are patriots. We…