December 29, 2007

Oh, Hi... Could I Speak To Mr Satan please

A town in the US state of Louisiana is to be allowed to change its telephone prefix so that residents can avoid a number many associate with the Devil.

Christians in Reeves have been unhappy since the early 1960s about being given the prefix, 666 - traditionally known as the Biblical "number of the beast".

For the next three months, households will be able to change the first three digits of their phone numbers to 749.

Mayor Scott Walker said CenturyTel's decision was "divine intervention".
Unfortunately for these superstitious morons the number of the beast was recently revealed to actually be 616. But it's too much to expect christians to reject widely held misconceptions and traditions in the face of contradictory evidence.

And of course, It has to be a case of "divine intervention", A miracle if you will. It couldn't possibly be a result of the phone company saying "let's change the damn number, Shut them whiny cry babies up".

Science Vs Faith FlowChart

Pastor "sexually harassed" By 4-Year-Old Girl

A retired pastor from Canada was sentenced to three years in prison today after telling a McHenry County judge he was sexually harassed by the 4-year-old Lake in the Hills girl he pleaded guilty to molesting.

Kenneth R. Cooke, 73, appeared to have reasonable chance at a probation sentence given his age, health problems and lack of criminal history heading into his sentencing hearing this afternoon.

But the Calgary man who once headed his own ministry likely blew his chance of avoiding prison when he took the witness stand and painted his pre-school age victim as a sexual aggressor.

"On a couple of occasions I felt I was sexually harassed," Cooke said. "I think there is psychological evidence that children even in their younger years can become interested in sex."

Christians For Strip Clubs

If this doesn't demonstrate perfectly the notion that most Christians only believe in the belief of god i don't know what will.
Kid Rock performed his "What if Kid rock were president of the U.S." and pledged he would "turn churches into strip clubs" but promised, "We would remain one nation under God." Both comments got cheers from the audience.
The only thing i dislike more than christians are frauds who claim to be christian for effect and then reject it when it suites them.

[HT: Ed Brayton]

December 28, 2007

Are Creationists Dumb On Purpose?

Any dialogue with a creationist soon makes it apparent that the average IQ of a creationist is that of a dog turd. But are these people really that stupid, Or is it a cunning plan to make us think that they really do believe this "god done it" tripe?

When creationist say things like "if we come from monkeys why aren't babies born monkeys and why don't we speak monkey?" [1] do they expect an evolutionary biologist to read that after a long day mapping genomes and say "of course, Evolution can't be true because we don't speak monkey!"?

When Kirk Cameron holds up pictures of his "crocoduck" [2] does he expect people like professor Dawkins to drop to his knees and weep at the realisation that his life has been wasted researching and teaching evolution?

For what it's worth, I don't think creationists are as stupid as they look. I don't think it's possible for anybody to be as stupid as creationists look and still manage to dress themselves.

I think what they are doing is pretending to be complete morons because that is the only way an adult can get away with not understanding something as simple as evolution. Evolutionary processes' have been explained countless times in countless different ways to these people it's impossible for them to claim that it still doesn't make sense unless they give the impression that they are too stupid to understand it.

Take Sherri Shepherd for example. This is a person who apparently understands evolution well enough to claim it isn't true yet has trouble figuring out if the earth is flat or not. This woman can't possibly be that dumb, can she? Or if she is that dumb what makes her think she is allowed an opinion on the validity of evolutionary theory?

The idiocy that is displayed by creationists can't possibly be genuine. It has to be either a defence mechanism or it's an attempt to drag the discussion down to a level of absurdity that makes intelligent discussion impossible.

It's like an adult who wants to believe in Santa. The only way they could possibly get away with it would be to give the impression that they are a bit simple.

December 26, 2007

Ron Paul, The Creationist Moron

I used to have a lot of respect for Ron Paul, He seemed like the only presidential candidate able to drag America out of the global mess they have found themselves in.

That was until i see him denounce evolution as "a theory".

See, Ron Paul is a christian, And like most cristians he is happy to disbelieve in science and justify it by claiming it offers no proof, And then favour an alternative "theory" that happens to offer no proof and no evidence at all, Like creationism.

If evidence and proof is so important to the religious, Why are they so willing to stake everything in an idea that offers neither? Their demands for "evidence" is simply an excuse to deny the existence of something that proves biblical creation wrong. They are dishonest, Intellectually retarded cowards. To them it's not about being right, It's just about finding excuses to justify a belief in something that is patently untrue.

Ron Paul is nothing but another "science is wrong, God done it" idiot.

December 22, 2007

The Only People To Ban Christmas

It's that time of year again when the christian right are victims of this imaginary threat from liberal secularists who apparently want to ban Christmas.

I would like to take this opportunity to put the paranoid christian rights mind at rest and assure them that secularists don't want to ban Christmas. We enjoy Christmas too - probably because it has very little to do with Christianity and is an excuse to eat and drink to excess.

But Christmas hasn't always been this well protected, It once did have a group who were devoutly intent on removing Christmas and all of it's association to Christianity. Unfortunately for the christian right this group were puritan Christians. And they succeeded.

For 22 years after 1659 celebrating Christmas became a criminal offence and anyone found "feasting" or generally enjoying themselves were subject to an on-the-spot fine of 5 shillings. Even after the ban was lifted it took decades for Christmas to be celebrated again. In England king Charles I ordered soldiers to patrol the streets looking for anyone preparing food for Christmas and shops were ordered to stay open and trade on Dec 25th. Church mass was also outlawed on this day.

The christian puritans didn't think that people were conducting themselves in a "holy manner" and didn't even believe that Jesus was born on the 25th December as the bible has no mention of his birth date (which seems odd considering the other trivial details it includes).

So next time one of you right wing Christians want to start flapping your arms and pretending to be victims remember that the only people ever to ban Christmas were Christians who thought it was un-christian.

Creationists Use Super Evolution When It Suites Them

In a monumental display of intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy the creation museum use "super evolution" to explain how Noah got so many animals on to his boat.

when presented with the problem of how Noah managed to gather all of the 100,000,000 [1] species of animal and keep them alive on the boat the creationist museum comes up with this amazingly simple concept, All by themselves.

What they claim happened is that Noah only took a few of each type of animal [2]. For instance, He took crows, But not humming birds, He took dogs, But not wolves and he took pumas, But not lions. And then -- This is the amazing part -- After the flood, Through genetic mutations and natural selection, Different species managed to branch off from the species that Noah originally took and went on to to form the multitude of species we see today. Calculations estimate that a speciation would occur about once a day to go from the 10,000 animals the creation museum claims Noah caught to the 100,000,000 we have today.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Isn't this what creationists categorically claim didn't happen? Well it would be, but they use a special ingredient. God done it. It's simply not good enough to have evidence, genetic similarities, retroviruses and chimp chromosomes to prove that evolution and speciation has always happened. It turns out "proof" is nothing more than the need to introduce something to make a separate and equally unsupported preconceived conclusion possible.

But isn't it a problem that for so long creationists have been saying evolution and speciation through natural selection was impossible? It would be, But you have to remember creationists are filthy, Dishonest liars. so why would it be a problem? They have the ability to deny something when it contradicts them and embrace it when it supports them. It's one of the benefits of being intellectually dishonest and having absolutely zero integrity.

Of course, They don't have a shred of evidence that this ever happened, So naturally they are going to believe it all the more passionately and be all the more offended when someone calls them out on their bullshit.

December 20, 2007

Archbishop On The Turn?

Dr Williams - Archbishop of CanterburyIn an interview with the BBC [1] Dr Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Made a damning attack on the accuracy of the bible in a style that one would expect from Atheist such as Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. While it is always nice to see intellectual honesty from the religious it does make me wonder how he can retain belief in the fundamentals while rejecting minor details as being false.

The Anglican leader ripped apart the idea that three kings followed a star by saying the story of the three kings was nothing but a "legend" based on one vague reference in the gospel of Matthew and that they couldn't have followed a star that rose in the sky and remained stationary over Jesus because "stars simply don't behave like that".

He also said it wasn't necessary for new Christians to believe in a virgin birth, Which i always thought was the foundation.

As it is coming up to Christmas the Archbishop also see fit to reveal that he thought Jesus probably wasn't even born in December and that "Christmas was when it was because it fitted well with the winter festival."

It seems from the interview that the only thing the Archbishop actually believes to be factual in the bible is that Jesus' parents were called Joseph and Mary, Though in reality there is as little evidence for that, Or anything else contained in the bible, As there is for kings, virgins births or stars that remain stationary.

This time next year we can expect a book from the Archbishop titled "Christianity: What a load of bollocks."

[H/T: Oz Atheist]

December 19, 2007

The Forced Child Marriages Of Islam

The happy couple. Mohammad, The sweaty paedophile in urine and feces stained trousers sits next to his new wife, An 11 year old girl who goes by the name Ghulam.

According to UNICEF some 60 million girls are married off while underage to perverted old men, Mostly in Islamic countries where underage marriage and sex with children is not only legal but even traditional. If sex with children was good enough for the prophet.

December 16, 2007

Limerick About Islam

Just a short post sharing a Limerick i came up with while outside smoking a cigarette just now. It's about Islam.
There once was a boy called Mohammad
wont be happy 'till the worlds been Jihaded
don't like cartoons or bears
or seeing womens hair
and if you disagree you'll be beheaded

Britain To Get Creationist Theme Park

The latest salvo in creationism's increasingly ferocious battle with evolution is about to be fired in Lancashire [England]. Not in a fiery sermon preached from the pulpit, but in the form of a giant Christian theme park that will champion the book of Genesis and make a multi-media case that God created the world in seven days.

The AH Trust, a charity set up last year by a group of businessmen alarmed by the direction in which they see society heading, has identified a number of potential sites in the north west of England to build the £3.5m Christian theme park.

[1] This is excellent news. It will be the biggest failure creationists have had since they invented "super evolution" as a bizarre rationalisation to explain how Noah got so many animals on the ark and since Ray Comfort thought the modern banana was designed by god.

The only people we can expect to go to a "creationist theme park" in the UK are atheists who have nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon and are in the mood for a bit of a giggle.

I look forward to laughing at their humiliating failure, And i look even more forward to potholer54 ripping them a new arsehole after his inevitable visit.

December 15, 2007

Mike Huckabee Denies Evolution [Video]

On Real Time with Bill Maher Mike Huckabee is asked if he really doesn't believe in evolution.

Huckabee's response is absolute gold "None of us are running to be an 8th grade science teacher, We are running for president", As if not understanding a simple concept taught to children is ok for a president.

Here's how it works, If you believe a 2000 year old book over science and evidence you are a fucking moron and you have no business trying to become the president of America.

Congratulations, America Is Now Legally A Christian Theocracy

Congratulations, America is now legally a Theocracy based on christian mythology.

The following is from a bill that was passed.
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;

(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;

(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;

(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;

(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and

(6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world
So much for a seperation of church and state, Well it was good while it lasted.

Sam Harris Debates Rabbi David Wolpe

Atheist author Sam Harris debates Rabbi David Wolpe at the the celebration of Jewish book and can be viewed on the Jewish TV Network.

The debate is an interesting one with some good points raised, But Rabbi David Wolpe has this annoying habit where if he feels he is losing the point he will either continue talking until the original point is entirely lost in a mountain irrelevance, or he will crack a joke.

December 14, 2007

Ray Comfort's Nightmare

Most of you would have heard of Ray Comfort and his cretinous arguments for intelligent design. The most famous argument being his "atheists nightmare" video where himself and Kirk Cameron sit around making idiotic statements and then congratulating each other on being right in that typically self-righteous smug way that is often found in christians.

In the atheists nightmare video Ray Comfort makes the claim that the banana is designed to fit in the human hand, Has a "tab" at the top to make it easy to open and is easily digestible, And this, According to Ray, Is proof that it had a creator - "Almighty god".

In his rush to put together a moronic argument Ray must have neglected to do his research. Because even a passing acquaintance with the history of the banana shows that the banana we eat today, The one Ray uses for his demonstration, Only looks and tastes like that because of thousands of years of cultivation. Evolution, The thing Ray is trying to disprove, Is entirely responsible for the very thing that Ray is using as evidence for a designer.

Wild bananas, The one found in the image at the top of the page, Taste bitter, Have a tough skin and are littered with tens of large, hard seeds. So in a way ray is kind of right, the banana did have a "designer", But it wasn't Rays god, it was primitive man who used evolution and cultivation to change a species of plant in to something more palatable.

You FAIL Ray. Have another go, But this time, Do some research, Moron

Creationist Murders Evolutionist

A FRUIT-picking trip to southern New South Wales ended in the death of a Scottish backpacker who became embroiled in a bizarre row about creationism and evolution.

English backpacker Alexander Christian York, 33, was today sentenced to a maximum of five years jail for the manslaughter of Scotsman Rudi Boa in January last year. Mr Boa, 28, died on January 27 after being stabbed by York at the Blowering Holiday Park, near Tumut.

Mr Boa and his girlfriend Gillian Brown arrived in Australia from Scotland at the end of 2005 and went to Tumut to pick fruit as their first port of call on a round the world holiday.

The Scottish couple and York, neighbours at the caravan park, were becoming friends and spent the night of January 27 drinking at the Star Hotel in Tumut. However, towards the end of the night, an argument between York and the pair about creationism versus evolution escalated into a shouting match at the pub.

The couple, both biomedical scientists, had been arguing the case of evolution, while York had taken a more biblical view of history.

Although the altercation had been defused by the time the Scottish tourists left the hotel, it became inflamed again at the caravan park when all three were quite drunk.

According to Ms Brown, York was making dinner when he attacked the couple outside his tent, stabbing Mr Boa with a kitchen knife as the argument escalated.

source

December 13, 2007

Pope Benedict XVI Finally Makes Sense

After trying to blame Atheists for the worlds problems Pope Benedict XVI, The ex-Hitler youth member, Has finally said something that makes absolute sense. It's just a shame he can't use the same sense and logic and apply it to what he personally believes and teaches.

In a message he plans to send on world peace day the pope says that policies concerning global warming should be "based on evidence and science and not claims", Which is a brave thing to say for someone who's entire life philosophy is based on the exact opposite of evidence and science and exists entirely due to "claims". It's a classic example of someone in a glass house throwing stones.

The pope said that predictions of ice cap melting due to CO2 emissions are from "prophets of doom" and are not based on "evidence" and that decisions should be "uninhibited by ideological pressure".

I guess the person in charge of insuring he doesn't say things that expose him as a hypocrite was off that day.

December 11, 2007

I Was Denied Priesthood Because I Don't Believe In God

Sounds likely, Doesn't it? surely for someone to work in a field they would need to at least believe what they are teaching/researching, Right?

So why is this creationist moron crying about being fired from a biology lab?
The battle between science and creationism has reached the prestigious Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where a former researcher is claiming he was fired because he doesn't believe in evolution.

Nathaniel Abraham filed a lawsuit earlier this week in US District Court in Boston saying that the Cape Cod research center dismissed him in 2004 because of his Christian belief that the Bible presents a true account of human creation.

Abraham, who is seeking $500,000 in compensation for a violation of his civil rights, says in the suit that he lost his job as a postdoctoral researcher in a biology lab shortly after he told his superior that he did not accept evolution as scientific fact.
This guys is such a moron that he said he "truly believes there was no conflict between religion and his job." after he had said he did not want to work on "evolutionary aspects".

Christian Morality Is Not Moral

Through fear of punishment and hope of a reward the christian filth faith can force it's followers to refrain from doing bad (sometimes) - Does that sound like morality?

The religious are brainwashed in to this idea that morality, A sense of right and wrong, Can only be known through their religion and their god. But if you only do good things because of a fear of punishment and hope of a reward, How moral can you be? If you are bribed and coerced in to behaving a certain way how much personal credit can you take for your actions? And what would you do if you weren't bribed and coerced?

In the christian model, Morality is nothing more than fear, The controlling force of christians and children alike. The church doesn't teach compassion, It doesn't teach empathy, It teaches fear. It doesn't tell you why you should do good, Only what will happen if you don't.

I'm not saying that "morality" doesn't exist, I'm saying it isn't the result of a god and it certainly isn't the result of christian teachings. Are we to assume that before mosses came down with the ten commandments people thought it was ok to steal, murder and rape? Are we to assume that before jesus' teachings people lacked compassion? we only have to reference the story of the good Samaritan, A story jesus told, To see that people had a sense of decency and compassion long before jesus.

So if we remove the god controlling aspect of morality, If we remove the fear aspect of morality we are left with religious people doing good for the same reason as atheists. And if they wouldn't do good without the threat of punishment and the hope of a reward we are left with compassionate atheists doing good and psychopathic religious people forced into not doing bad through fear.

December 10, 2007

Conservapedia: Homosexuality Now #1

yay, Go homosexuality!
You may remember the piece i wrote a while back showing the ten most viewed pages on conservapedia, The conservative christian version of wikipedia which tells the facts in a way that they can agree with (ie not facts at all).

It's unsurprising that conservatives christians would need their own version of facts to reference.

Back then the main focus was on homosexuality, practices of homosexuals and diseases commonly associated with homosexuality, But the main page was number 1. Now things have changed slightly and some other wholesome subjects have made it in to the top 10, Like Adolf Hitler, But the focus is still definitely on homosexuality as the most viewed page on conservapedia now is homosexuality.

They don't even bother going to the homepage to search for homosexuality anymore. How does that work? Do these people have it bookmarked or something?

The New Conservapedia Top 10

  • 1. Homosexuality‎ [2,109,409]
  • 2. Main Page‎ [2,017,730]
  • 3. Homosexuality and Anal Cancer‎ [295,889]
  • 4. Homosexual Agenda‎ [274,883]
  • 5. Arguments Against Homosexuality‎ [253,098]
  • 6. Examples of Bias in Wikipedia‎ [241,670]
  • 7. Wikipedia‎ [230,354]
  • 8. Adolf Hitler‎ [225,234]
  • 9. Theory of Evolution‎ [224,222]
  • 10. David Beckham‎ [217,655]

The Difference Between America And England

As a British citizen, And more specifically an Englishman, I can't help almost constantly being reminded of the differences between America and England, Especially when it comes to religion. In America religion is an important part of society, Even for those who don't believe in it due to the influence it has on public policy and education. In England however we have a comparatively relaxed approach to religion and our motto seems to be; "say what you like about religion, We all know it's bollocks. But try not to piss of the Muslims, You know what they are like".

The differences between the institutional approach to religion can best be summed up in the following picture.Can you imagine if in America they too celebrated someone who so fully and concisely proved a key aspect of christian doctrine to be false?

Extra information.
£5 note: Elizabeth Fry, Worked to improve conditions in prisons.
£10 note (above): Charles Darwin, Naturalist.
£20 note: Edward William Elgar, Composer.
£50 note: John Houblon, First Governor of the Bank Of England.

December 08, 2007

Top 10 Atheist Quotes

Inspired by this post from mojoey linking to this article at listverse i thought I'd share with you my top 10 atheist quotes.

  1. Man created God in his image: intolerant, sexist, homophobic and violent.
  2. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish
  3. People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs
  4. I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
  5. We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes
  6. Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.
  7. I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence
  8. When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.
  9. Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions
  10. Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

Doctor Calls For Ban On Circumcision

A London consultant is calling on doctors to push for a ban on the circumcision of boys in a debate to be published in tomorrow’s British Medical Journal.

Geoff Hinchley, an accident-and-emergency consultant with Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust, argues that “male genital mutilation” should be made illegal as is female circumcision and other “ritual forms of infant abuse”.

“There have been many spurious and now unsupported health claims for circumcision, including the prevention of penile cancer, masturbation, blindness and insanity,” he writes. Although “there may be a case that male circumcision reduces HIV in sexually active adults”, he says the decision to undergo the procedure should be left “until the person is old enough to make his own informed healthcare choices”.

Possible longer-term complications “include pain on erection, penile disfigurement and psychological problems”, while the penis of a circumcised adults may have reduced “sexual sensitivity”.

“Far from being a harmless traditional practice, circumcision damages young boys,” he says.
It's about time this barbaric practice of child genital mutilation is outlawed. The Doctor is right, Ritualistic forms of infant abuse are not to be tolerated.

Another Fake Christian Arrested For Paedophilia

A popular US radio DJ and host of the Godtalk program has been
indicted on two counts of child pornography using the internet.

The self-described progressive and former Catholic priest, Bernie
Ward, works for San Francisco radio station KGO, hosting a
night-time chat show and Sunday morning religious program,
Godtalk.

KGO's website today reported that Ward was indicted in the US Federal Court on two counts of child pornography using the internet.

December 07, 2007

7% Of Priests Are Paedophiles

The scale of child abuse by priests remained hidden in the United States for years until the Archbishop of Boston confessed in 2002 to protecting a priest he knew had sexually abused young members of his church.

According to the group "Bishop Accountability," some 3000 priests out of the 42,000 across the country have since been denounced after abusing children, some of whom have been investigated and convicted.

US Catholic authorities have paid out close to 3.2 billion dollars in damages, forcing many dioceses to sell off their assets.

There must be a reason why priests are so more likely to be paedophiles than the general public. It used to be the assumption that there were no more paedophiles in the church than anywhere else and that it only got reported more, But if the numbers from "bishop accountability" are anything to go by being a paedophile is almost a requirement.

hardly the behaviour you would expect from people who really believed in god.

December 06, 2007

Evolution In Florida

After getting an "F grade" in the Fordham Institute's grading of the science standards Florida is revamping it's science curriculum and will now be using the term "evolution" instead of the ambiguous euphemism "biological change over time" to describe, Well, Evolution. I personally don't care what they call it, Evolution, As a word, Simply means to change over time. So if they want to play silly little games with words and pretend they have won it's fine by me, Just so long as children are taught facts and real science.

Unsurprisingly this move has caused outrage among the states more idiotic residents and more worryingly among at least one member of the Florida State Board of Education. Donna Callaway says she will vote against the new standards because she wants creationism in one form or another taught alongside evolution.
"My hope is that there will be times of prayer throughout Christian homes and churches directed toward this issue. As a SBOE member, I want those prayers. I want God to be part of this. Isn't that ironic?"
As much as the Discovery Institute tries to distance it's self from religious language, Hidden agendas and in to science it's followers continue to expose them. The DI can use "sciency words" in their papers and in their literature, But they can't prevent those who follow them from telling the truth -- That Intelligent Design is about getting god in to the science class and has nothing to do with education or the truth.

Just like they couldn't stop Bill Buckingham saying that the ID policy was a "stand for jesus" they wont be able to stop Callaway and people like her continuously exposing the true agenda of the intelligent design crusade.

As long as the discovery institute have people like this on their side, They don't need enemies.

For every time the DI say "Intelligent design isn't religion" there will be at least 10 other cretins saying "we want god in the classroom under the guise of science!".

Take Offence Now! Everyone's Doing It!

With the christian professional victims taking offence to the Golden Compass you may be feeling left out. what is there for us to be offended about? Well, If you are Atheist, Apart from the obvious, Not a lot. well, certainly nothing that will receive media coverage.

But if you are religious and feel left out there are a list of movies [*] that you can, And should, Be offended by. So what are you waiting for? take offence now and start stamping your feet!

'The Da Vinci Code' (2006)

Who was offended? Catholics
What was their beef? The Vatican, along with several Catholic groups around the world, objected strongly to the assertions made in the book and movie about the motivations of the Catholic Church in allegedly covering up a relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

'The Passion of the Christ' (2004)

Who was offended? Jews
What was their beef? Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" was one of the biggest hits of 2004. Its stark images of Jesus' crucifixion and the violence toward him, as well as villainous portrayals of many Jewish people, created a religious furor. Rabbis around the world said the film had the potential to transmit potent negative images, attitudes, stereotypes and caricatures about Jews and Judaism.

'September Dawn' (2006)

Who was offended? Mormons
What was their beef? "September Dawn" is described as a love story set against the backdrop of a 19th century massacre of a wagon train of Utah settlers. Though the massacre is documented, Mormons decry the portrayal of church members as murderers.

'Water' (2005)

Who was offended? Hindus
What was their beef? Shooting on the film, which depicts the plight of Hindu widows, was disrupted when fundamentalists and supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its mentor, the Sangh Parivar, staged raucous protests.

'Submission' (2004)

Who was offended? Muslims
What was their beef? When Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, a descendent of Vincent van Gogh, released the 10-minute film "Submission," with its criticism of violence against women in Islamic society and its images of seminude actresses with passages from the Koran displayed on their bodies, he became the target of death threats. He shrugged them off, but on the morning of Nov. 2, 2004, he was killed in the streets of Amsterdam by Mohammed Bouyeri.

'Hollywood Buddha' (2003)

Who was offended? Buddhists
What was their beef? Director Philippe Caland's comedy about a struggling movie producer who buys a Buddha head and finds it changes his luck so enraged Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka and Thailand that they marched on government buildings, threatening to fast -- even to the point of death -- if the movie wasn't pulled from distribution.

'Bowfinger' (1999)

Who was offended? Scientologists
What was their beef? The Church of Scientology has gained a reputation for being litigious in protecting its reputation. "Bowfinger" screenwriter Steve Martin's riff on the religion, called MindHead in the movie, drew a more muted response. Makers of the movie (starring Martin and Eddie Murphy, pictured) downplayed the connection to Scientology, and Scientologists kept their protests to the pages of local newspapers, criticizing reviewers who drew any comparison to Scientology.

[HT: nmmng]

December 05, 2007

Put Your Questions To Richard Dawkins

If you have any questions you would like to put to professor Richard Dawkins now is your chance.

Richard Dawkins is appearing on BBC's "have your say" where he will be answering a selection of questions submitted to the BBC website.

If you have any questions submit them here

Red Bull Scrap Blasphemous TV Advert

Cry baby christians get their own way yet again by stamping their feet and claiming to be offended. This time offence was caused by something as harmless as an advert for the caffeinated energy drink Red Bull.

Father Marco Damanti wrote to the makers of the soft drink calling their advert a "blasphemous act" and demanded that the company scrap the advert, And as expected, They happily agreed.

The advert depicts the nativity with Mary, Joseph and jesus along with four wise men instead of three, The fourth is bearing a gift of red bull.

[Hat tip: FreeThinker]

Flat Earth Moron Thinks Nothing Came Before Jesus

In yet another example of the astounding intelligence required to be a christian Sherrie Shepard, The imbecile who doesn't know if the earth is flat or not, Had no problem telling everyone how nothing came before jesus.

I love how the other women realize what a cretinous point she is trying to make and just carry on talking over her.

December 04, 2007

If Anything Needs To Be Expelled It's Ben Stein

Ben Stein, The monotone robot impersonator, Was on with Glenn Beck promoting his upcoming indoctrination propaganda documentary, Expelled: No intelligence required allowed, Which is a pro-creation, anti-science, diatribe filled abomination.

Beck opens up by criticising the way children "aren't being taught, They are being force fed one liberal, socialist anti-american point of view one right after another", Which links in to Ben Stein and his documentary on how "god done it and science is wrong".

We get nothing new from stein that we hadn't already heard in the Expelled trailer. But keep an ear out for some particular moronic quotes. Especially one about a lightning strike hitting a mud puddle and making a Boeing 747 (yes, He really thinks that's what we think happened).

If they're so sure that their position is unassailable, let the other guy talk and then blow him out of the water and say, "You fool, you didn't know this, this and this
That's what we have been doing, For years! It's just that your side is too ignorant to listen and too dumb to understand.

Is Atheism A Religion?

Atheism is often branded a religion by religious apologists in an attempt to drag it down to their level in the absence of having anything intelligent to add to the discussion.

But is Atheism really a "religion"? yes, It is. In the same way, As Pat Condell says, creation is a science and Islam is the religion of peace. In other words, When language no longer means anything.

In common language a religion is an organisation based around the belief in the supernatural which requires it's followers to perform certain rituals, Follow certain rules, Dress certain ways and, More often than not, Hand over a portion of their earnings so that it's leaders can buy one more palace, Sail one more boat and adorn their temples with even more gold, All while the people it claims to help continue drinking poisoned water and continue watching their children die from malnutrition.

Atheism on the other hand has no leaders, It makes no demands of people and it has no rules. people become atheists because of what they believe by default, They don't believe it as a result of being an Atheist.

Atheism doesn't hold utter disdain for women, Atheism doesn't prey on the weak and the poor and Atheism doesn't indoctrinate children with fear and lies, So in that respect alone, it can't possibly be a religion worthy of the name.

Of course, This isn't the only tactic the religious apologists use in an attempt to drag us down to their level. On occasions they also claim that science is a "faith". It's almost as if they have given up on trying to make themselves look good and simply attempt to make everyone else look as bad as them.

let's look at what "science" is. It's the use of empirical evidence and testing to explain the world around us. There is as little faith in science as there is humility and peace in religion. If something is claimed on faith alone it is of no use to science as it can't be tested and it can't be proven, And as such can't be used to explain anything. So again, it can only be a faith when language no longer means anything.

Then we have the religious attack on evolution. Look, I know that it must be hard for you to accept something that so flatly contradicts something written in your stupid little book, Especially when it has so much evidence to back it up and the only thing you have to go on is something written by a primitive goat herder 2000 years ago, But evolution is a fact. It does happen, It has happened and it is what caused every species of animal on earth, Including humans, To come in to existence. It has been proven and every new test devised that has the capacity to falsify evolution shows to support it. So you aren't going to change any minds by claiming "Darwin is our god" or that evolution is a "faith based religion". All that does it confirm your idiocy even further.

December 02, 2007

Killing For God

Creationist Museum Gets Bitch Slapped

Hat tip Pharyngula

There is a great educational injustice being inflicted upon thousands of children in this country, a large percentage of whom come from the Kentucky, Ohio and, Indiana areas. The source of this injustice is a sophisticated Christian ministry that uses the hook of dinosaurs, the guarantee of an afterlife, and the horrors of hell to convince children and their families to believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. The tax-exempt ministry, Answers in Genesis, and its new $28 million creation museum in Boone County has become the de facto source of science information to thousands of Christians who are throwing away reason and 500 years of scientific inquiry and replacing it with ignorant dogma.

If adults want to believe in a 6,000-year-old Earth, that dinosaurs and humans lived together in harmony (all dinosaurs were vegetarians, you see) and that Noah saved all of the Earth's animal species by placing them on his ark, then they have the right to do so. What I object to is that thousands of children, particularly the growing number of Christian home-schooled children in this country, are visiting the museum in droves, much to the delight of the museum's founder, Ken Hamm.

These kids are learning that despite a fossil record that clearly shows a progression of simple life forms becoming more complex life forms over billions of years (the first bacteria are believed to have established themselves approximately 3.8 billion years ago), they are taught that the first man was made from clay and that the first woman was made from the man's rib. Instead of learning that the process of natural selection, over 3,800 millions of years, has changed populations of organisms into the approximately 10 million species (conservative estimate) that inhabit the Earth today, they are taught the "poof" theory of creationism.

What is particularly sad about this ministry is that because they are so fervent in their mission to get people to believe (or rather make believe) in their simplistic world view, many Christian scientists and secular scientists are playing catch-up to counter the damage they are doing.

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Faith Is A Virtue, Or Is It?

I'm sure many of you have heard the phrase "faith is a virtue" before and it has become one of those sayings that we have heard so often that we no longer look at the words which make up the saying and simply have an understanding of what the collection of words mean. We understand it to mean "belief in god is good" (which i would disagree with anyway).

But let's suspend our ignorance for a second and actually look at the saying and what the words mean.
Faith - Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.
Virtue - A particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial quality; advantage.

Is "faith" really a "virtue"?

The saying implies that to believe something that has no evidence, No reason and lacks logic is a beneficial, advantageous quality. Really? I would say the exact opposite.

I would say to have "faith" makes you idiotic, Naive and a simpleton, A long way from "virtuous". How many drugs have been developed on "faith"? how much "faith" was used in the space missions? if you were to look at what "faith" has brought mankind you will see nothing but mistakes, Ignorance and war, Nothing virtuous to see here.

So next time someone rattles off this meme as if it proves a point explain to them what it really means and ask them to explain exactly how "faith" is supposed to be a "virtue".

Mojoey Atheist BlogRoll Hits 500

I'm a little late to the party on this one but i felt i had to blog about it. Better late than never, Eh?

Some of you may already know about the Atheist Blogroll set up by Mojoey. It's a way for bloggers to link to each other and a great way to keep track of what's going on in the atheosphere (I just made that word up).

By dropping a simple piece of code on to your blog you can have the latest posts displayed from atheist bloggers and have your own posts included (you can see the blogroll on the right hand side of my blog). I have had the opportunity to find numerous interesting blogs and inspirational articles because of the blogroll. I don't know what i would read if it wasn't for the blogroll and my collection of Atheist RSS feeds (which i may publish at some point).

Anyway, On the 27th of last month the Atheist blogroll hit a milestone with the addition of the 500th atheist blog, TriflingIdeas. So congratulations to Mojoey and congratulations to Jen over at TriflingIdeas.

December 01, 2007

Get Your Own Muhammad Teddy Bear

If like me you thought "man, I'd love to have a Muhammad teddy bear" when you heard the news about the British school teacher arrested in Sudan, You are in luck.

You can now get your Muhammad teddy bear at cafepress

How God Makes You Dumb

If i were to collect the entirety of the worlds evidence supporting evolution from fossil records, Transitional fossils, DNA comparisons, ERV DNA, Chimp Chromosome #13 and Bacterial resistance to antibiotics and presented it to a creationist, Is it at all likely that the creationist would accept that evidence and then reject creation? No, That isn't likely at all.

Their religion has an explanation for the origin of man, God made us, So no science, No matter how conclusive the evidence is, Will ever be publicly accepted by someone who claims to believe the bible is the absolute truth.

The "god done it" answer has a number of flaws. Firstly it prohibits you from educating yourself. If "god done it" then any other answer, No matter how conclusive the evidence, Must be wrong. It is also an all encapsulating answer. Everything you don't understand can be answered with "god done it". So when you look at it like that it isn't really an answer at all, it's just an excuse for you to stop thinking about the question. It doesn't explain anything, It doesn't put you another rung up the ladder of understanding and it certainly doesn't have any testable evidence.

Dinesh D'Souza, During a recent debate with Daniel Dennett, Said the following about evidence;
"If i was arrested and tried for murder, And i knew i didn't commit that murder, Would any amount of evidence change my mind?"
This kind of attitude towards evidence, Evidence which contradicts what they think they know, shows what we are dealing with when we try to have a reasonable discussion with the religious. What Dinesh D'Souza is saying is that he has already come to a conclusion about god and that no amount of contradictory evidence is going to be able to change his mind.
Isn't this the definition of ignorance?

It's especially disingenuous when we have to sit through his facile "evidence" for god. That's right, After the jumped up twerp who always looks like he is wearing someone else's clothes stands there and says he is going to disregard any evidence we put to him, He then has the audacity to expect us to listen to his own evidence, Supporting evidence which he searched for after reaching his conclusion.

So what's my point?

This disregard for evidence is ok if you are an adult, As far as i know it's still perfectly legal to be a idiot, And its even legal to demonstrate your idiocy to others (something that Dinesh D'Souza does regularly with the promotion of his books). So as far as i am concerned Dinesh D'Souza can disregard evidence that contradicts his opinion, Creationists can dismiss evidence that contradicts evolution and young earth nuts can dismiss evidence that says the earth is billions, Not thousands, Of years old. it makes no difference to me, To scientists or to the truth what these people think.

But it doesn't stop there. These people (providing they have bigger balls than their arguments do) have the capacity to reproduce. They may have children. Now the thing about children is they ask questions and they ask a lot of them. It is at this stage where the information that children receive has to be factual and it has to encourage them to ask even more questions, seeking greater understanding and clarity.

While "god done it" may be a satisfactory answer for an adult for a child it inhibits their understanding and prevents any more questions being asked.

If the answer you give to a child, And the answer to every conceivable question, Is "god done it", what other questions are left to answer? none are left to answer. Well, None except the questions that can be answered with "god works in mysterious ways" and "god has a plan for everyone".

Unconvincing Arguments For The Existence Of God[s]

Minnesota Atheists Public Relations Officer August Berkshire has been working on and revising his list of "Unconvincing Arguments for God" [PDF] and the list has grown to be 34 items long including precise reasons why these facile arguments are flawed and why Atheists find it hard to take them seriously.

In this post i am going to take a handful of the unconvincing arguments and explain to the believers why the arguments shouldn't be made and why they are so easy to destroy.

God of gaps

The god of gaps argument is often thrown in at short notice when an Atheist or scientists says "I don't know". The assumption of the person making this argument is that if something can't be explained by science, that alone is evidence that god done it.

Evolution wouldn't favor a false belief

This argument goes something like "why would evolution favor a species incapable of seeing reality?". Of course this argument is flawed to anyone with even a passing acquaintance with evolution. Evolution doesn't favor the truth, It favors what if beneficial. God can be used to keep people behaving well, Much like santa does in children, And religion has been used in the past for controlling groups, Armies and societies. So where it is beneficial, Evolution will favor it, Regardless of how true it is.

Altruism

Some arguments are made that altruism is evidence of god because evolution rewards only selfish behaviour. While it is true that evolution does tend to reward selfish behaviour altruistic behaviour is evolutionary beneficial because it creates a more harmonious society. Evolution has taken advantage of the fact that if everyone is willing to help others there is more chance of the individual receiving help when they need it.

The “Fine-tuning” of the Universe

Some religious people argue that the six physical constants of the universe can only exist within a very narrow range to produce a universe capable of sustaining life. Therefore, since this couldn’t have happened “by accident,” a god must have done it. Again, this is a god-of-the-gaps argument. But beyond that, this argument assumes that we know everything about astrophysics – a field in which new discoveries are made on almost a daily basis. We may discover that our universe is not so “fine tuned” after all.

Another possibility is that there may exist multiple universes – either separately or as “bubble universes” within a single universe. Each of these universes could have its own set of constants. Given enough universes, by chance it is likely that at least one will produce and sustain life.

Pascal's Wager

Pascals wager sates that we have everything to gain and nothing to lose by believing in god. This is flawed for two reasons.
1) pascal assumes that someone can force themselves to believe something based on the inferred consequences of not believing.
2) Even if the wager is right, it doesn't do anything for proving that there is a god, Only that believing it might be best based on the consequences.

Pascals wager can be used as an argument for believing anything where disbelief results in punishment.

False Dichotomies

A false dichotomy is an argument that assumes only two answers are possible (if X is wrong then god done it) and is also an extension of the "god of gaps" argument. The false dichotomy argument is most common in arguments presented by creationists. In these argument the creationist never presents any evidence for their own position and only ever seeks to refute evolution (if evolution is wrong, god done it).
Religious people have a tough, if not impossible task to try to prove a god exists, let alone that their particular religion is true. If any religion had objective standards, wouldn’t everyone be flocking to the same “true” religion?
Instead we find that people tend to believe, to varying degrees, the religion in which they were indoctrinated. Or they are Atheists.