religion
oracknows | December 14, 2008The other day, I mentioned how the ever-warped and evil Westboro Baptist Church wanted in on the Washington State melee in which every religious and antireligion group out there is trying to get a display at the capitol after the state allowed a Christian Nativity scene. Included were the lyrics to a lovely jingle these twisted idiots came up with called Santa Claus Will Take You To Hell.
Ed Brayton may have posted an image of the actual poster that the WBC wanted to display and reported that the State of Washington, deluged with requests for displays, has declared a moratorium on new…
gregladen | December 12, 2008In a Playboy Magazine! (Below the fold, of course)
The details (and another photo, because you know you want to see more) can be found here.
oracknows | December 12, 2008I detest Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. Few religious loonies bring the hate home in a more concentrated fashion than Phelps and his not-so-merry band of homophobic nutcases. Whether it be threatening to picket the funerals of Amish girls killed in a school shooting, showing up on TV to spew hate against homosexuals and anyone who doesn't agree with their particularly twisted brand of fundamentalist Christianity, planning pickets at the memorial for the passengers and crew of Flight 93, or praising God for the tsunami four years ago, few people can bring the religious crazy to…
nisbetmc | December 12, 2008In a Policy Forum article this week at Science, Hampshire College professor Salman Hameed discusses the reasons for widespread rejection of evolution across Islamic countries.
Surveys show, for example, that public acceptance of evolution stands at lower than 20% in many Muslim nations. The reason, Hameed details, is that few citizens have had exposure to evolution in school and so to form an opinion about evolution, instead rely on what they might pick up via interpersonal sources or in the media.
The result is that many Muslims misperceive evolution as equaling atheism and as a direct…
evolvingthoughts | December 11, 2008... shh, not so loud or everyone will want one.
Here's a piece by Darksyde at Daily Kos in which he reports the outgoing EPA chair (who has overseen all manner of bad science and decisions, although that may not be his own fault) as saying
"It's not a clean-cut division [between evolution and creation]. If you have studied at all creationism vs. evolution, there's theistic or God-controlled evolution and there's variations on all those themes."
It seems to me that theistic evolution is not exactly about God controlling evolution, although there may be plenty of biblical warrant for God…
pharyngula | December 11, 2008The skirmish over Christmas in Washington state just gets funnier every day.
Now someone wants to put up a Festivus pole in the capitol. That's hilarious enough, but it gets better.
The Westboro Baptist Church has demanded to be allowed to put up a sign that says, "Santa Claus will take you to Hell". I never thought I'd laugh at Fred Phelps and his gang of hateful loonies, but there you go.
We aren't done yet! Bill Donohue of the Catholic League has to butt in and bray, too.
Gov. Gregoire is responsible for this mess. Having first acceded to the requests of atheists to attack Christmas, she…
pharyngula | December 9, 2008
The scene above is from a Pentecostal church in Detroit, where workers are rightfully concerned about their economic future. The religious approach, however, seems to be to put a couple of big ol' dinosaur SUVs (at least they're hybrids in this case) on stage, streak people's foreheads with oil, and pray for a big bailout.
I hope they don't get a dime.
Not that I'm unsympathetic to the plight of the workers, but this irrational approach is how they got in trouble the first time.
gregladen | December 8, 2008Remember the Atheist Sign that ruined everything for everybody up in Washington State? Well, now those damn free thinkers are going to impose their freedom of speech on the god fearing (or should that be "atheist fearing") people of Illinois.
Here's the sign being provided by the Freedom from Religion Foundation:
And it will be placed in the Illinois City Hall in Springfield. Right down from Homer and Marge's place.
Hat tip: The Friendly Atheist.
oracknows | December 8, 2008The thought of Jack Black as Jesus just cracks me up:
See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
You know, more and more I'm starting to be of the mind that perhaps marriage should not be defined by the government. After all, to the government, marriage is nothing more than a contract. Consequently, I wonder whether the government should simply issue civil contracts to any couples wanting to be married, be they straight or gay, without distinction of sexual orientation and let people for whom a religious imprimatur on their union matters go to their churches to be officially "married."
gregladen | December 8, 2008The atheists ... this time disguised as hedonistic sun worshipers ... are at it again. A "Winter Solstice" sign bought and paid for by the Freedom from Religion Foundation identifying religion as "Myth and supersition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds" was put up at a holiday display.
A whole bunch of religious yahoos got really mad. They claim that the sign is offensive and should be suppresses. So much for tolerance.
The Freedom From Thinking Independantly Foundation (I'm making that part up) held a big-ol' rally at the State Capitol. (Details here.)
Also at the capitol were…
pharyngula | December 8, 2008There was a protest against the atheist sign in the Washington state capitol this weekend. These people don't seem to pay much attention to what comes out of their mouths.
"The No. 1 thing is, we want the state of Washington and the governor to represent everyone in the state," said the Rev. Kenneth Hutcherson, the pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond. "But just because you must represent everyone in the state doesn't mean that you put up with intolerance from the people that you represent."
So please tear down the sign representing the views of atheists in Washington! Silly man. And if…
gregladen | December 7, 2008Welcome to the War on Christmas.
As I think it was Mike who pointed out for himself, "Happy Holidays" is what I learned to say when I was a kid because it was inclusive of New Years. Later, it continued to make sense because I discovered Jewish People. Eventually, by the time I was ten or so, it became apparent that there were actually a number of other religions. Then, eventually, it became clear that there were people (like me, it turns out) who do not affiliate with any relgion but still like to sing Christmas carols. OK, I perwsonally do not sing the chrismas carols, but I do EAT THE…
gregladen | December 7, 2008... so, you think can sing, eh?
Well, Desiree Schell, talk show host with Q. Transmissions of Edmonton, Canada, has asked me to tell you about a contest.
Q Transmissions wants YOU to sing us what is sure to be the next smash hit on the Skeptical charts... Fervent Unbeliever!
...
Perform your best rendition of the song. YouTube, your blackberry, your laptop... it doesn't matter how you do it as long as we hear your lovely (or not so lovely) voice serenading us. Like this!
Get all the fame and prestige that a skeptical talk-show on a community radio station can provide. And a prize!
Go to Q…
gregladen | December 6, 2008With her pants down, squatting over the pile of fertilizer she has created. Below the fold. Don't go there unless you are prepared to be shocked and amazed.
------------------ the fold ------------------------
Well, OK, so maybe this is not as shocking as you were expecting.
This is one of several (click here to see them all) examples at the Sun Sentinel of Caganers, a Catalonian Spanish tradition dating to the 17th century. These squatting, defecating figurines are to be placed with nativity scenes. Then, people coming over to visit you are challenged to find the squatting, pooping,…
jrosenhouse | December 5, 2008As I write this, Bill O'Reilly has devoted a major chunk of his show to how “out of control” the situation in Washington is. He dug up some troll of a preacher to declare that Christmas is the most sacred of Christian holidays (which is absurd). And he's lambasting Governor Gregoire for her fecklessness.
The occasion for this is that the big sign was stolen today.
An anti-religion placard posted alongside Christmas displays drew a thief, a preacher, a part-time elf and a security detail to the state Capitol on Friday, as a weeklong uproar over religious speech hit a bizarre peak.
It all…
pontiff | December 4, 2008Robert Ebert: Win Ben Stein's Mind.
Peter R. Saulson: Review of "Beyond the Hoax: Science, Philosophy and Culture" by Alan Sokal
Skewers of "Expelled" from the first:
This film is cheerfully ignorant, manipulative, slanted, cherry-picks quotations, draws unwarranted conclusions, makes outrageous juxtapositions (Soviet marching troops representing opponents of ID), pussy-foots around religion (not a single identified believer among the ID people), segues between quotes that are not about the same thing, tells bald-faced lies, and makes a completely baseless association between freedom of…
evolvingthoughts | December 4, 2008
This is just embarrassing. Here's a representative of Parliament in the ALP, which I have noted before is increasingly pandering to religious interests:
LABOR MP James Bidgood, the first-time MP under investigation for selling pictures of a protester attempting to set fire to himself outside Parliament House, has declared the global financial crisis an act of God.
Mr Bidgood, who was carpeted by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd over his actions yesterday and apologised to Parliament, makes the new claims in a DVD, The Australian reports.
In a speech to a function held in Parliament he argues that…
jrosenhouse | December 3, 2008The Freedom From Religion Foundation has won the right to post an anti-religion display next to a Christmas tree and a naticity scene in the Capitol rotunda in Washington State:
An atheist group has unveiled an anti-religion placard in the state Capitol, joining a Christian Nativity scene and “holiday tree” on display during December.
The atheists' sign was installed Monday by Washington members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national group based in Madison, Wis.
With a nod to the winter solstice - the year's shortest day occurring in late December - the placard reads: “At this…