SO NOW THE JEHOVAH'S WITLESS ARE IN THE NEWS

Canada parents fight for babies

"A Canadian couple is protesting in court after officials briefly took custody of three premature babies in order to give them blood transfusions.

The babies were part of a group of sextuplets born 15 weeks prematurely to parents who are Jehovah's Witnesses.

The couple, who have not been identified, say their religion forbids blood transfusions. They are seeking alternative treatment for the infants. "

Six babies might die, thanks to some religious wackjobs. Nice.

Italy in Jehovah's Witnesses row

"A Catholic priest in Italy has denied a church funeral to a man he believed had links to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

"Marino Tiberi Vipraio, 52, who lived in the central Abruzzo region of Italy, died on Wednesday of a heart attack.

"He was buried without religious rights, despite a desperate appeal from his family to the local bishop.

"Italy's 400,000 Jehovah's Witnesses have had legal recognition since 1976, but the Catholic Church has always opposed their teachings.

"This may appear on the surface to be a local story of a row between a parish priest and members of his congregation, but it underlines real tensions that exist in Italy between the Catholic Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses. "

Let's hear again, how religion unites people.

Moscow bans Jehovah's Witnesses

"A Russian court has barred Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the capital, Moscow.

"The court ruled that group's practices broke up families, encouraged suicide and threatened its members' health by not allowing blood transfusions.

"Lawyers for the group said the ruling was a step back for democracy and was reminiscent of Soviet rule. "

I must admit, I somewhat ambivalent about this one. On one hand, they're one more loony-toon cult with dangerous practices, on the other, I'm an avid opponent of thought police.

Further on this:

Jehovah's Witnesses avoid Moscow ban

"A court in Moscow has refused to ban the local activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses, in a case presented by the religious community as a test of Russia's treatment of religious minorities.

"Freedom of belief still exists in Russia

Jehovah's Witnesses spokesman

"The community had been accused of breaking up families, encouraging suicide and threatening the health of its members by not allowing blood transfusions.

"But the Jehovah's Witnesses argued that Russia's religious law was being used to restrict religious organizations other than the long-established faiths of Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam.

"A spokesman for the community welcomed the decision, saying that religious freedom had been preserved in Russia despite "pressure" from the Orthodox Church.

"Despite all the efforts of the prosecutor, justice was victorious," Yaroslav Sivulsky told Reuters news agency. "

I guess no one heard about this:

Jehovah's Witnesses drop transfusion ban

"Leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses movement have revoked a strict ruling that their members automatically face ex-communication if they accept blood transfusions.

"They took the controversial decision at a secret meeting in New York, following years of recrimination from ex-members and non-Jehovah's Witnesses over the ban.

"The religious community insists that receiving blood is still wrong.

"But under the changes, transfusions have been relegated to "non-disfellowshipping events" - in other words you will not be thrown out of the religion if you have one.

"That may come as cold comfort to many who have watched loved ones die because they refused blood. "

Welcome to the 21st century, you Luddites.

I keep finding evidence that the wholly bibble is a second-rate Necronomicon: it gives poor and alternately confusing advice about topics as perceived by a tribe that was lacking in technology and in some cases, anything resembling general knowledge of the world they lived in, let alone the one we live in now.

We need as a local as well as a global society, to disregard this piece of trash. It's not scientific in any sense of the word - hell, it's not even historically accurate. It's a piss-poor compilation of oral tradition (read: anecdotal crap) that leads the myopically-minded down phantasmagorical bunny trails.

I could care less how much influence it's had over the centuries (the large bulk of it was legislated anyhow) - or how it's 'enriched' people's lives (that's entirely subjective anyways: I've heard anecdotal 'evidence' from all sorts, from Gnostic nutjobs to Buddhist buttheads, about how a particular belief system has 'changed their world(s)'; the placebo effect writ large).

If you want to hinge your entire existence on a fantasy, go to, I say, go to.

You just leave me and mine outta your little departures from reality.

Now excuse me: the real world awaits.

Till the next post, then.