tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201691682024-03-12T22:38:07.466-07:00biblioblographyAn atheist's viewpoints on religion, government, culture, adding friction to the fray.
Will be talking about books occasionally, hence the title.
Blunt, mocking (gently & otherwise), shootin' straight from the hip (hopefully), a dash of humor w/liberal doses of cynicism.
Enjoy.Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.comBlogger1030125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-33379102174443193232016-03-06T17:52:00.000-08:002016-03-06T17:52:36.925-08:00More On The Madness Of Muslims: The Bloody Hands Of The Boko Haram<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha0A_ZJ15HVK-8twnB_01WbKPBqtWKtc7gNg0jHYGGqZxMBtEUgvfi53xRfe5NzQrjJaTbDJiNhxzV5RWrIdHxZ2vf8ZmtIMebPj7ZlgvSRadybzm4sTWjFkVhH0iae1OWR8euuA/s1600/bhrealenemy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha0A_ZJ15HVK-8twnB_01WbKPBqtWKtc7gNg0jHYGGqZxMBtEUgvfi53xRfe5NzQrjJaTbDJiNhxzV5RWrIdHxZ2vf8ZmtIMebPj7ZlgvSRadybzm4sTWjFkVhH0iae1OWR8euuA/s320/bhrealenemy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Feel the white-knuckled outrage:<br /><blockquote>
<br /><a href="http://en.news-4-u.ru/boko-haram-carnage-in-nigeria-over-60-dead-the-children-were-burned-alive.html">Boko Haram carnage in Nigeria: over 60 dead, «the children were burned alive»</a><br />
<br />At least 65 people were killed in the attack committed by militants of the Islamist group Boko Haram on the outskirts of Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria. <br />According to the armed forces of Nigeria, were attacked the village of Galore, located a few kilometres East of Maiduguri. <br />AFP referring to escaped the massacre of the bacoor Alumina eyewitness reports that the militants threw the incendiary bomb hut, and inside were heard the cries of the dying, including children. <br />According to him, the massacre lasted about four hours. <br />It concluded that in the crowd of inhabitants who had fled to a neighboring village, exploded three suicide bombers. <br />The real number of victims may far exceed current estimates, as are murdered in the surrounding Bush where they were hunted by extremists. <br />Boko Haram («Western education is a sin» in the Hausa language) — an Islamist group operating in the North and North-East of Nigeria. The militants also attacked the neighbouring countries of Niger, Cameroon and Chad, reminds «Interfax». <br />Boko Haram is seeking to establish an Islamic Caliphate and the imposition of Sharia (Islamic law) throughout Nigeria. It is against Western education, democracy and the principle of separation of powers, and also against wearing Western clothes and all the other elements of the «alien» culture. The extremists frequently attack Christian communities and churches and educational institutions. <br />In March 2015 the group has sworn allegiance to the terrorist organization «Islamic state» (banned in Russia). </blockquote>
<br />Mad dogs all. Xenophobic psychopaths who hide their inhumanity behind religion. Bloody handed bastards who have abdicated reason for the crazy voices in their heads telling them to wash away the ‘sins’ of others in blood, to ignore the cries of the innocent dying, to revel in wrongness because ‘Allah’ (peanut butter and jelly be upon him) had some pedophiliac illiterate dictate astonishing nonsenses. <br />The desert does not create great men: it parboils their brains and puts sand up their asses, driving them insane, giving them crazy ideas about how to conserve bodily fluids. <br />The Boko Haram are rabid animals, unworthy of the designation ‘human’. <br />Till the next post then. <br /><br /><span id="fullpost"></span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-1716431676324277512016-02-21T17:37:00.002-08:002016-02-21T17:37:41.736-08:00More On The Madness Of Muslims– Pakistan, Land Of The Pedophiles<a href="https://www.blogger.com/$Moslem-Child-brides-Islamic-Pedophile%5B2%5D.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAeMowm1sl1K_q_OJaNSAEWTf785yqkmbkr21KnnBskw_JNVa2w_Pvx8ocrBA4CAstj5XZH59FKEVW2vqrZR1Jq8Sm7dU7hhrYNBjf3bigJ8LYf5sF0NFkiuv67ht9rcrbqdnpA/s1600/Moslem-Child-brides-Islamic-Pedophile.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAeMowm1sl1K_q_OJaNSAEWTf785yqkmbkr21KnnBskw_JNVa2w_Pvx8ocrBA4CAstj5XZH59FKEVW2vqrZR1Jq8Sm7dU7hhrYNBjf3bigJ8LYf5sF0NFkiuv67ht9rcrbqdnpA/s320/Moslem-Child-brides-Islamic-Pedophile.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Because there are fewer crimes more disgusting than this:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2016/01/15/Pakistani-clerics-block-un-Islamic-child-marriage-bill.html">Pakistani clerics block ‘un-Islamic’ child marriage bill</a><br />
<br />
Pakistani lawmakers have withdrawn a proposal to impose harsher penalties on those who arrange child marriages after it was scuttled by a religious body who branded it "blasphemous" and against Islam, sources told AFP Friday.<br />
The proposal, which would also have raised the legal age of marriages for females from 16 to 18, called for "rigorous" punishment up to two years in prison for those who organize child marriages, still common in some parts of Pakistan.<br />
Marvi Memon, a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), had moved to amend existing child marriage legislation in the lower house but was forced to withdraw her bid after it was rejected by a parliamentary committee on religious affairs, a source familiar with the development told AFP.<br />
A representative from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) had dubbed the amendment to the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2014 as "anti-Islamic" and "blasphemous" during the committee meeting, the source said.<br />
The CII was formed in 1962 to advise parliament on the compatibility of laws with Sharia.<br />
Its recommendations are non-binding, and it has drawn widespread criticism in the past for other rulings -- including in 2013, when it suggested making DNA inadmissible evidence in rape cases, instead calling for the revival of an Islamic law that makes it mandatory for a survivor to provide four witnesses to back their claims.<br />
"Marvi wanted deletion of the word 'simple' punishment for those involved in arranging child marriages to 'rigorous' or 'two-year' punishment in the actual legislation," the parliamentary source, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, told AFP.<br />
"Marvi also wanted the age for girls' marriage to be raised from 16 years to 18 years, which does not in any way violate the teachings of Islam," the source said.<br />
The original law stipulates the age of marriage at 16 for women and 18 for men but Pakistani religious scholars believe it is not in accordance with Islamic teachings.<br />
They say there is no specific age limit for marriage in Sharia as an individual can marry when he or she reaches puberty and puberty cannot be defined by age.<br />
Rights activists strongly criticized the rejection of bill.<br />
"It is a pity that the committee came under the pressure of the council's unjust ruling," leading rights activist I.A. Rehman told AFP.<br />
Branding the decision "absurd", he warned the council was paving the way for its own disbandment and calling its stance a setback to efforts to safeguard human rights in Pakistan. </blockquote>
<br />
As if there’s not enough sick old perverts getting their hands on children, they also get religious sanction? Seriously, this is one fucked up religion. Not bad enough that women get treated like shit over there, now the children are subjected to the sick desires of some ancient pedophile who is incapable of courting a full grown woman – oh wait, they all get married off at puberty. Can any of these deviants get off on another adult? Probably not. And the real reason behind this horrific nonsense is that some mullah or sheik or whatever gets tired of their current ‘squeeze’, so they go out and marry another child. <br />
And don’t give me any of that moral relativist bullshit – don’t care that it’s part of their religion or culture or whatnot. Messing with kids is the act of a coward – a psychosexual crippled braindead set of nerve endings that has to rationalize the ugliness with religion. <br />
Short eyed shitbags. Sickening.<br />
Till the next post then.<br />
<br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-53232537083029840462016-02-14T22:25:00.000-08:002016-02-14T22:25:32.570-08:00Ding Dong The Dipshit’s Dead– Scaly Scalia Has Left The Building.<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lDMhpIw_jiR4uvWJ4k_yOvCyuQuzNp94MmssZrN_vjNoJr6g2DiHrcMhBvV5cPJH_0S1RdJfOW0DTiLPy8WPSEjVNMjzKiuOCIi-pP8rNUwy6quumnATZdc8WLxPrLI_Sd35sA/s1600/lewisblackevolution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lDMhpIw_jiR4uvWJ4k_yOvCyuQuzNp94MmssZrN_vjNoJr6g2DiHrcMhBvV5cPJH_0S1RdJfOW0DTiLPy8WPSEjVNMjzKiuOCIi-pP8rNUwy6quumnATZdc8WLxPrLI_Sd35sA/s320/lewisblackevolution.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16920600">I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him. - JFK</a></blockquote>
<br />
Yeah, it’s bad form to piss on somebody’s grave after their demise. Some people claim that this guy had a ‘fine legal mind’. He was a fucking homophobe and <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2015/06/scalia-commencement-speech-supports-young-earth-creationism/">Young Earth Creationist</a> – two qualities that shouldn’t be allowed near ANY political office.<br />
<br />
Understand this: I could give a fuck what someone believes. You want to live a life of delusion? Who am I to tell you not to? I can’t tell you what to think say or do – and that works both ways, even if you think you have to force your shit down my throat because you believe some Iron Age campfire stories told by lost shepherds in the desert are real. It gets you through the night? Fine. <br />
<br />
Despite the fact that I despise Catholicism, I rather liked JFK (as per the quote above). Because he got it. Regardless of his ideology, he understood this. <br />
<br />
Scalia didn’t get a lot of things – it’s not the religious conviction that bugs me the most, it’s the intellectual lobotomy that occurs. The special pleading. All the facile and specious ‘arguments’. And of course, the false moral superiority exhibited by these clowns. <br />
<br />
Whenever I have voiced this particular opinion, I always get some fucknut claiming that I only want to elect people who agree with me. Actually, it grates on my nerves it does – what a stupid accusation it is. <br />
<br />
If your faith is going to come first, then you can’t be trusted to make an objective opinion on decisions that affect millions of lives. Same thing in medicine: if your ‘faith’ or ‘conscience’ forbids you to administer effective care, you’re forcing your beliefs on others. THAT is the ethical dilemma, not how you feel about it, but it how it impacts others. Some poor woman being denied contraceptives because she’s had a dozen children already and everyone in the family is broke and starving – fuck your god’s will. Free will? Whadda laugh. Can’t use birth control because somehow your absentee deity might object? Gay people can’t get married? Fuck these people. This isn’t YOUR country, it’s OUR country, learn to share and leave people alone, or get the fuck out and found a theocracy somewhere else.<br />
<br />
And I don’t care if Carson IS a neuroscientist, I don’t care if everyone is applauding Scalia’s so-called ‘brilliance’ – denying evolution is just denying reality. It consists of denying not oodles, not a hillock, but entire MOUNTAINS of forensic evidence. It’s the pathetic equivalent of clamping hands to ears and shouting “NO! I WON’T LISTEN!” Only the feeble-minded see this sort of stubbornness as a virtue, rather than the willful ignorance it truly is. <br />
<br />
As ugly as this sounds, I’m glad this assclown passed. We can only hope someone who is more progressive and objective will replace the stupid anachronisms that Scalia and his cronies perpetuate and propound.<br />
<br />
Till the next post then.<br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-57973512371807324192016-02-07T23:08:00.000-08:002016-02-07T23:08:10.372-08:00More On The Madness Of Muslims: The Evil Of HonorCross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2016/02/07/more-on-the-madness-of-muslims-the-evil-of-honor/">Atheist Oasis</a> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheSd5NqjpXuja24ZVAQvKTygUVcBWVlRvLQ4pX8xRT9KgXPz9zqzolomqixx81D9VM8xKx7aun8z8JWfYWeLrF3IQgbgI5_nZp1w6ksBhf86I254r4jCEZ_quuPaB4sPu8NvHwQA/s1600/jesusandmorespect.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheSd5NqjpXuja24ZVAQvKTygUVcBWVlRvLQ4pX8xRT9KgXPz9zqzolomqixx81D9VM8xKx7aun8z8JWfYWeLrF3IQgbgI5_nZp1w6ksBhf86I254r4jCEZ_quuPaB4sPu8NvHwQA/s320/jesusandmorespect.png" width="320" /></a></div>
I have said this many times here, and on the old blog: the litmus test of any civilization (or an ideology, let’s add that too) that determines its worthiness, is the treatment of women and children. And it’s not enough these mad dogs take children as sex slaves, but that they slaughter other adults to enforce their barbarism.<br />
<br />
Case in point;<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/sunday/her-father-shot-her-in-the-head-as-an-honor-killing.html?_r=1">Her Father Shot Her in the Head, as an ‘Honor Killing’</a><br />
<br />
WHETHER it wins or not, the Oscar nominee with the greatest impact — saving lives of perhaps thousands of girls — may be one you’ve never heard of.<br />
<br />
It stars not Leonardo DiCaprio but a real-life 19-year-old Pakistani woman named Saba Qaiser. Her odyssey began when she fell in love against her family’s wishes and ran off to marry her boyfriend. Hours after the marriage, her father and uncle sweet-talked her into their car and took her to a spot along a riverbank to murder her for her defiance — an “honor killing.”<br />
<br />
First they beat Saba, then her uncle held her as her own father pointed a pistol at her head and pulled the trigger. Blood spewed, Saba collapsed and her father and uncle packed her body into a large sack and threw it into the river to sink. They then drove away, thinking they had restored the family’s good name.<br />
<br />
Incredibly, Saba was unconscious but alive. She had jerked her head as the gun went off, and the bullet tore through the left side of her face but didn’t kill her. The river water revived her, and she clawed her way out of the sack and crawled onto land. She staggered toward a gasoline station, and someone called for help.<br />
<br />
About every 90 minutes, an honor killing unfolds somewhere in the world, usually in a Muslim country. Pakistan alone has more than 1,000 a year, and the killers often go unpunished.<br />
<br />
Watching the documentary about Saba, “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” I kept thinking that just as in the 19th century the central moral challenge for the world was slavery, and in the 20th century it was totalitarianism, in this century the foremost moral issue is the abuse and oppression that is the lot of so many women and girls around the world.<br />
<br />
I don’t know whether “A Girl in the River” will win an Oscar in its category, short subject documentary, but it is already making a difference. Citing the film, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan has promised to change the country’s laws so as to crack down on honor killings.<br />
<br />
Saba’s story underscores how the existing law lets people literally get away with murder when honor is the excuse. After doctors saved Saba’s life — as police officers guarded the door so her father didn’t return to finish the job — she was determined to prosecute her father and uncle.<br />
<br />
“They should be shot in public in an open market,” she told the filmmaker, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, “so that such a thing never happens again.”<br />
<br />
The police arrested Saba’s father, Maqsood, and the uncle, Muhammad, and their defense was that they did the right thing.<br />
<br />
“She took away our honor,” Maqsood said from his jail cell. “If you put one drop of piss in a gallon of milk, the whole thing gets destroyed. That’s what she has done. … So I said, ‘No, I will kill you myself.’”<br />
<br />
Maqsood said that after shooting Saba he went home and told his wife, “I have gone and killed your daughter.” He added: “My wife cried. What else could she do? I am her husband. She is just my wife.”<br />
<br />
Perpetrators of honor killings often are not prosecuted because Pakistani law allows families of victims to forgive a killing. So a man kills his daughter, the rest of the family forgives him, and he’s off the hook.<br />
<br />
Tremendous pressure was applied to Saba by community elders to pardon her father and uncle. In the end, her husband’s older brother — the head of her new family — told her to forgive and move on. “There is no other way,” he said. “We have to live in the same neighborhood.”<br />
<br />
Saba complied, and her father and uncle were released from prison. “After this incident, everyone says I am more respected,” her father boasted. “I can proudly say that for generations to come none of my descendants will ever think of doing what Saba did.” The families still live near each other, although the father insists he will not try again to kill Saba.<br />
<br />
The way to reduce honor killings is to end the impunity. Saba tried to do her part, and let’s hope Prime Minister Sharif does indeed end the legal system of forgiveness.<br />
<br />
“I wanted to start a national discourse about the issue,” says Obaid-Chinoy, the film’s director. “Until we send people to jail and make examples of them, honor killings will continue.”<br />
<br />
Since 9/11, the United States has spent billions of dollars reshaping Afghanistan and Pakistan with the military toolbox; I suspect we would have achieved more if we had relied to a greater extent on the education and women’s empowerment toolboxes.<br />
<br />
A starting point would be to encourage governments to protect teenage girls from fathers who want to murder them. Chipping away at this broad pattern of gender injustice is in the interest of all of us. It is our century’s great unfinished business.</blockquote>
<br />
Yep, keep adding to the list of mad dogs who should be taken out back and shot in the head. That’s all these two psychotics deserve. <br />
<br />
The foremost item is the hypocrisy: both Christianity (free will? HA!) and Islam (not supposed to compel religion, bone up on the fucking thing sometime) is that regardless of their words and teachings, imans and priests (ministers too, if you’re being pedantic) regularly force others in one way or another, to conform to the ‘norm’ or face harsh penalties. And the people in charge of these things tend to be hairy-eyed squalid lunatics, eyes full of an imaginary glory and afterlife. <br />
<br />
Butchering and raping women and children is NOT the heroic act of some ‘divine vessel’ – it is the act of a disconnected mentally unhinged individual (or more). If these buttplugs had been doing this in the name of the Almighty Bob, they’d have been castigated and imprisoned. But because they hide under the umbrella of religion, there are no consequences. <br />
<br />
If you kill women and rape children, I could care LESS why. You did it. And everyone should get equal treatment. So this makes you a savage, regardless of the WHY of it. A voice told you to? Get help, or get out. A book told you? What, are you a gullible child, to blindly follow it, and cause mayhem and slaughter to those around you? <br />
<br />
No more free passes for these psychos, boys and girls. Different culture? Don’t care. Different country? Don’t care. There is no afterlife, so we have to correct this. Here. Now. <br />
<br />
And don’t give me that ‘violence doesn’t solve anything’ crap. Yeah, and Hitler was <i>soooo </i>amenable to reason and rationality that Chamberlain managed to avoid World War II. <br />
<br />
Till the next post.<br />
<br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-6044420132312538162016-01-31T18:15:00.000-08:002016-01-31T18:15:22.718-08:00Allegories Gone Wild: Bye Bye To Beck, Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz48fMuAPQm6lDW2vXLmVrIvnIWWdfJJxFm-LNclP4-xN-reYTqe_2Ys7GuzDmp5mWVO0-EdPP1oB98TIe9OeEAjprfNxpGCTpy-N4cahDSOQyczDWprQeJ3Y-Y3qnimkyJgSBdg/s1600/glenn-beck-fired4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/$glenn-beck-fired4%5B2%5D.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz48fMuAPQm6lDW2vXLmVrIvnIWWdfJJxFm-LNclP4-xN-reYTqe_2Ys7GuzDmp5mWVO0-EdPP1oB98TIe9OeEAjprfNxpGCTpy-N4cahDSOQyczDWprQeJ3Y-Y3qnimkyJgSBdg/s320/glenn-beck-fired4.jpg" width="320" /></div>
Hey guess what people? Glen Beck, rhetorical idiot extraordinaire, is deporting himself!<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.alan.com/2016/01/29/beck-says-hes-getting-ready-to-flee-to-israel-for-end-times/#">Beck says he’s getting ready to flee to Israel for end times</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Glenn Beck hosted a studio audience on his television program last night, where he revealed that he has ordered his staff to find a location outside of the United States from which he can continue to broadcast his programs once American society collapses and the government shuts down his network.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
What a surprise he’s in for: ain’t gonna happen.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
Beck fielded a question from a woman who had relocated her family from California to Texas based upon Beck's warnings of a coming social collapse and wanted Beck's advice on how best to prepare her children for what is to come, to which Beck responded that he and his wife are going to start reading the apocalyptic "Left Behind" series to their own children in preparation for the End Times.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Talk about the blind leading the blind! And they’ll probably <i>praise </i>the ditch and claim that it’s a sign from their imaginary friend.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
Beck revealed that he recently had conversations with two different people who warned that the American economy and social structure are on the verge of total collapse, which prompted him to tell his staff to get to work finding a location in Israel to which they can flee when it happens.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Which two people? Don’t these assclowns love name-dropping?<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
"We have to pick up our pace on finding another place to broadcast," Beck told his staff. "I need to know if I can get to Jerusalem, where they won't shut this down and we can be able to broadcast into the United States. This could end quickly."</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Or, to quote Malcolm from Firefly, “That’s a long wait for a train that ain’t comin’.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
Beck's young daughter happened to be in the room when he made that declaration and was understandably upset by it, but Beck said that we cannot shield our children from the realities of the world because "they're the giants that are going to fix this, they have to know."</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Newflash: your supernatural rubbish has absolutely no basis in the real world. <br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
As such, Beck and his wife are going to be reading the "Left Behind" series to their children because "they have to know that this might be the time ... You have an army on earth now that says they are the army of the Antichrist, they are the army of Armageddon."</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Shee-it, even an atheist like me knows that the ‘Rapture’ is just another made-up story cobbled together from other disjointed fables. That’s okay: if his family is normal (supposition), they’ll likely be telling how their dad thought the world was gonna end when it didn’t, and rub his stupid nose into it. That is if they’re normal.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
Beck, of course, is doing all that he can to prevent this from happening, which is why he has endorsed Ted Cruz for president.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
It’s like a bad movie. According to the Christians, it’s going to happen. And their imaginary pal would likely be somewhat upset that his ‘plans’ were thwarted. But then, we know the delusional make a point of changing goal posts at a moment’s notice.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
"This is why I'm endorsing Ted Cruz and I'm going out this weekend" to Iowa, he said. "If I could change one mind, I am not going to sit at home because I know what the consequences are."</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Yeah Beck, the only minds you’re going to change are feeble ones. <br />
<br />
<br />
But, to butcher a saying by old Billy Shakespeare, “Nothing became his country but his leaving of it.”<br />
<br />
<br />
It’s always hard to separate the histrionics from the publicity stunts. I’m guessing the former here, and will gleefully laugh when again, Glen Blecch!, proves what an idiot he is. Which isn’t hard to do.<br />
<br />
<br />
What would be fun, is if Congress passed a bill banning this blithering loudmouth from coming back from Israel. Hell yeah! <br />
<br />
<br />
Till the next post then.<br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-25866521569139823822016-01-24T16:52:00.000-08:002016-01-24T16:53:31.422-08:00Allegories Gone Wild: Stick To Fucking Pancakes, Bickle, Hitler Was A MonsterCross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/allegories-gone-wild-stick-to-fucking-pancakes-bickle-hitler-was-a-monster/">Atheist Oasis</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/$cruz%5B2%5D.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1aVIYNSBZnjlqcQ9V5C4Ll3R7Sjp0B5zQDaCszlUAP5t8D5ARpGiRf_3ohNQKjxnqH7-igw1_IoOpHopFT465LyDA0iYKsRVeOSGvooLiMKBuqsnOxtCMZNDJxhb7MnLwqbYEg/s1600/cruz.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1aVIYNSBZnjlqcQ9V5C4Ll3R7Sjp0B5zQDaCszlUAP5t8D5ARpGiRf_3ohNQKjxnqH7-igw1_IoOpHopFT465LyDA0iYKsRVeOSGvooLiMKBuqsnOxtCMZNDJxhb7MnLwqbYEg/s200/cruz.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKjKnBcVd7uOujoFiUJxO-oENC1ikrrCve22dAShfebfHk7qACfimQJH8Kxd1S3Vjmk7xevE0K_sMm8O91H9-NhxGPIgXw32fAsqlj4DvmdebwtxaNZkA68Gbl98GowuipUyNLQ/s1600/cruz.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>It is the year of frustration – when the Republican clown car spews yet another assclown. Assclown this week? Ted Cruz.<br />
<br />
<br />
I call him an assclown, because the religious right have their metaphorical hand so far up his ass, he may as well be Charlie McCarthy sans the monocle. Also, he has another wingnut popping out of some other orifice. <br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/10/18/15172/771">IHOP Head Mike Bickle Predicts Coming "Prison Camps" For Jews</a><br />
<br />
<br />
According to Kansas City-based International House of Prayer founder and evangelist Mike Bickle--who played a major role in the August 6th "The Response" prayer event that served as the <i>de facto</i> kickoff event for Rick Perry's presidential bid--in the near future Jews who refuse to convert to Christianity and move to Israel will be pursued by "hunters" sent by God and can expect to be thrown into "prison camps" and "death camps" (<i>see embedded video footage, from Bickle sermons</i>)<br />
<br />
<br />
IHOP Kansas head Bickle says that "the most famous [heaven-sent] hunter in recent history is a man named Adolf Hitler", and has claimed that Jews collectively are "under the discipline of God because of... perversion and sin." <br />
<br />
<br />
In Mike Bickle's view, a lucky one third of the world's Jewish population to survive the apocalyptic persecution he predicts will "get radically saved and become lovesick worshipers of Jesus." Bickle has expounded these prophecies, which he claims are clearly described in Biblical scripture, in multiple sermons from 2004 through 2009.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
I don’t know which ‘bible’ he’s referring to, but he is obviously a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism_(Christianity)">futurist</a>, as opposed to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preterism">preterist</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicism_(Christianity)">historicist</a>. He’s also a fucking lunatic – really? Your god sent Hitler to punish the chosen people? Lay off the crack pipe buddy.<br />
<br />
<br />
Oh, and get this: Oprah is the false prophet? I never cared for her psychobabble bullshit, but this is way too much. Listen to what else Herr Assclown says:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/ted-cruz-welcomes-endorsement-mike-bickle-who-believes-oprah-forerunner-antichrist">Ted Cruz Welcomes Endorsement Of Mike Bickle, Who Believes Oprah Is A Forerunner To The Antichrist</a> <br />
<br />
<br />
Back in 2011, when Texas governor Rick Perry was planning his first run for the presidency, he kicked off his campaign with a massive prayer rally in Houston called "The Response." The event was the source of considerable controversy because Perry organized it in partnership with a whole host of radical Religious Right activists, including several members of the New Apostolic Reformation, a collection of self-proclaimed modern day apostles and prophets who believe that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, they are capable of performing greater miracles than even Jesus himself.<br />
<br />
<br />
One of the key leaders in the NAR movement is Mike Bickle, who also played a central role in organizing Perry's prayer rally. Bickle is the founder of the International House of Prayer, a controversial missionary organization in Kansas City, Missouri, that some critics have labeled a cult and which is best known for engaging in nonstop 24-hour-a-day prayer in preparation for the End Times and for its anti-gay activism in Uganda.<br />
<br />
<br />
Bickle, unsurprisingly is a demon-fighting radical who believes that gay marriage is "rooted in the depths of hell," that homosexuality "opens the door to the demonic realm" and that Oprah Winfrey is a forerunner of the Antichrist.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Ta-DAH! Yet another right-wing wacko who would force his religion down our throat. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/$cruz%5B2%5D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
Really, if this fucknut were touting Zoroastrianism or Manichaeism, or the Popul Voh, then everyone would be dismissing this madman. Due to the ubiquity of religion in our culture, these bozos not only get a free pass for their obnoxious delusions, they get followers and applause. <br />
<br />
<br />
Priests, rabbis, imams, ministers – all these people are parasites, unable to get and hold down any real jobs or contribute to the world at large unless their respective delusions are engaged. Bickle included. <br />
<br />
<br />
The time of frothing madmen spewing their garbage to the gullible will soon be at end. Maybe not, but one can hope.<br />
<br />
<br />
Till the next post then. <br />
<br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-81174846153493640592016-01-17T17:32:00.000-08:002016-01-17T17:32:15.415-08:00More On The Madness Of Muslims: Because When You’re An Animal All That Counts Is Blood And GutsCross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2016/01/17/more-on-the-madness-of-muslims-because-when-youre-an-animal-all-that-counts-is-blood-and-guts/">Atheist Oasis</a><br />
<br />
<br />
These sort of atrocities deserve to be denounced, and the perpetrators deserve to be put down like the rabid dogs they are:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/syria-says-group-killed-300-attacks-countrys-east-074353040.html">Syria says IS group killed 300 in attacks in country's east</a><br />
<br />
<br />
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's government said Sunday that Islamic State militants slaughtered 300 people in an "appalling massacre" committed in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour in daylong attacks that saw the extremists make significant advances in the contested region. <br />
<br />
<br />
The state-run SANA news agency said that most of those killed in Saturday's attacks were elderly people, women and children while opposition activists said many of the victims were Syrian soldiers and pro-government militiamen and their families.<br />
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
The killings are some of the worst carried out by the extremist group, which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq and has killed thousands of people in both countries.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which documents all sides of the Syria conflict through activists on the ground, said late Saturday that at least 135 people were killed. It said around 80 of them were soldiers and pro-government militiamen and the rest civilians.<br />
<br />
<br />
It added that many of them were shot dead or beheaded.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Islamic State group controls most of Deir el-Zour province and much of the capital with the same name, while the government controls several districts in the northern part of the city and the adjacent military airport. Most of the casualties took place in the area of Baghaliyeh near the city.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which is close to the Syrian government, also reported a massacre and said IS killed dozens of people, including women and children, and threw their bodies in the Euphrates River. It said the group took more than 400 civilians hostage.<br />
<br />
<br />
The reports could not be independently confirmed.<br />
<br />
<br />
The IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency had reported a large-scale multi-pronged attack on Deir el-Zour that began with a suicide bombing. On Sunday, it reported that the group expanded its control of areas west and northwest of Deir el-Zour, adding that around 110 Syrian government forces were killed and at least five others captured.<br />
<br />
<br />
It said the group seized control of Baghaliyeh and surrounding areas during the fighting.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
There will be those who declare that ‘radical Islam’ must go. But the issue is, how to separate the moderates from the extremists? On one hand we have a religion that seems to enable psychotic assholes, on the other, it is nigh impossible to dictate to other humans what they should think, believe, or behave in matters ordinary or spectacular. <br />
<br />
<br />
All religion will have to be proclaimed and proven obsolete. People who flip out and start sputtering fanatical foam will need medication. Yet we cannot medicate the entire species – it draws far too close to fascism for peace of mind. <br />
<br />
<br />
And Muslims – the extreme ones – advocate slavery, slaughter, behave no better than any barbarians from history, show no signs of ‘enlightenment’ (none that would fit in any 21st century civilization), declare themselves the sole inheritors of the ‘truth’, and take whatever they want by force. No surprise there – it’s what the Christians used to do, and still try to do, even in this day and age. <br />
<br />
<br />
All ‘western’ religions are bullies by nature. The proponents of such will (at any early opportunity) force their ‘truth’ on others by sword or bullet or torture, where applicable. <br />
<br />
<br />
It is both saddening and maddening, that the mad dogs are at it again. <br />
<br />
<br />
Till the next post then.<br />
<br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-4842597825772032332016-01-10T15:15:00.001-08:002016-01-10T15:15:58.839-08:00And The World Changes, One Mind At A TimeCross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/and-the-world-changes-one-mind-at-a-time/">Atheist Oasis</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsYLkRQfrbcqK5LAIDJgBGz7JkvkKmOJBV82Xmp3fZcyiWVTg2cfr80U5yXgRYoJrPwz6kWoOKDEaxfbmbyC2Et1RgtuSgf6_x35zBud7snPvrtI5c3xDcxFHxWnDAIVYXfsWcQ/s1600/crazyvsreligion.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsYLkRQfrbcqK5LAIDJgBGz7JkvkKmOJBV82Xmp3fZcyiWVTg2cfr80U5yXgRYoJrPwz6kWoOKDEaxfbmbyC2Et1RgtuSgf6_x35zBud7snPvrtI5c3xDcxFHxWnDAIVYXfsWcQ/s1600/crazyvsreligion.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsYLkRQfrbcqK5LAIDJgBGz7JkvkKmOJBV82Xmp3fZcyiWVTg2cfr80U5yXgRYoJrPwz6kWoOKDEaxfbmbyC2Et1RgtuSgf6_x35zBud7snPvrtI5c3xDcxFHxWnDAIVYXfsWcQ/s320/crazyvsreligion.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Lately my web searches have been more…gratifying. Topics that I’ve been carrying on about for years seem to occur to others more often. No, not trying to infer that I’ve inspired others: it’s just some of these subjects are obviously flawed and stupid, and other people are figuring it out. The only thing I know I can take credit for on the interwebs is the use of the word ‘decalogue’. Back in the year 2005, a search for that single word generated zero hits. Now? Google it yourself. That’s not to say I invented the word; it was in usage long before that. It was uncommon back then is all, not common usage. But I know I was the first (back in the days of reluctantatheist.com, which has long been defunct). Can’t prove it. Not a huge milestone either (for me or anyone else).<br />
<br />
<br />
But I digress.<br />
<br />
<br />
It warms the cockles of me heart, though, to see so many of my prior points mirrored somewhere else. <br />
<br />
<br />
For your edification:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/$crazyvsreligion%5B2%5D.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/07/26/the_religious_have_gone_insane_the_separation_of_church_and_state_and_scalia_from_his_mind/">The religious have gone insane: The separation of church and state — and Scalia from his mind</a><br />
<br />
<br />
The headline on the News Nerd was almost too good to be true: “American Psychological Association to Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness.” A study, the story beneath it read, had led the APA to conclude that “a strong and passionate belief in a deity or higher power, to the point where it impairs one’s ability to make conscientious decisions about common sense matters, will now be classified as a mental illness.” Faith’s recurrent lethality was adduced: “Every year thousands of people die after refusing life-saving treatment on religious grounds.” Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, said the article, refuse lifesaving transfusions (on account of biblical prohibitions against the drinking of blood).<br />
<br />
<br />
Most gratifyingly, for a rationalist, the author quoted a certain Dr. Lillian Andrews, who opined that, “Religious belief and the angry God phenomenon has caused chaos, destruction, death, and wars for centuries. The time for evolving into a modern society and classifying these archaic beliefs as a mental disorder has been long overdue.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, I thought, the educated elite is beginning to awaken to the threat that accepting, without evidence, the truth of comprehensive propositions about our cosmos (that is, religion, in all its inglorious permutations), poses to the mental health of our society!<br />
<br />
<br />
A “strong and passionate belief” in a (nonexistent) God does our world immeasurable harm: look no further than ISIS or al-Qaida. In fact, look no further than the damage religion causes to progressive causes of every sort (and thus to our psychological well-being) in the United States, from women’s reproductive rights to same-sex marriage to teaching science in schools to depriving federal coffers of $82.5 billion a year (in tax exemptions). Consider the enrichment of all sorts of faith-charlatans who thrive off the gullibility of millions of Americans. Recall the sick “purity movements” that allow meddlesome parents to ruin the lives of their daughters.<br />
<br />
<br />
I could go on. In any case, it was to be expected that sooner or later psychologists would catch on to the quasi-psychotic elements (including detachment from reality, belief in spirits, hearing “the voice of the Lord, and so on) inherent in religion.<br />
<br />
<br />
But no! I was wrong! The fine-print disclaimer at the foot of the News Nerd’s page ruthlessly dispelled my elation: The story, like the others the site publishes, was “for entertainment purposes only,” and “purely satirical.” In other words, a spoof. The hour was not nigh; psychologists were not yet ready to diagnose firm belief in God as what it is: an unhealthy delusion. Men in white jumpsuits won’t be forcing the faithful into straightjackets any time soon.<br />
<br />
<br />
(Yet would that it were so! Imagine, so many Supreme Court justices and Republican politicians, from Antonin Scalia to Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, disqualified in one fell swoop on mental health grounds from holding public office!)<br />
<br />
<br />
In fact, religion, so potentially dangerous that the Founding Fathers established a “wall of separation” to keep it clear of our affairs of state, continues to enjoy an entirely unmerited imprimatur of respectability. Yet the satire in the News Nerd’s piece derives its efficacy from an obvious truth: belief in a deity motivates people to behave in all sorts of ways — some childish and pathetic, others harmful, a few outright criminal — most of which, to the nonbeliever at least, mimic symptoms of an all-encompassing mental illness, if of widely varying severity.<br />
<br />
<br />
Why childish? A majority of adults in one of the most developed countries on Earth believe, in all seriousness, that an invisible, inaudible, undetectable “father” exercises parental supervision over them, protecting them from evil (except when he doesn’t), and, for the mere price of surrendering their faculty of reason and behaving in ways spelled out in various magic books, will ensure their postmortem survival. Wishful thinking characterizes childhood, yes, but, where the religious are concerned, not only. That is childish.<br />
<br />
<br />
True, belief, say the polls, is waning, but that it persists at all, given the advances of science in the past couple of centuries, and especially since Darwin published “The Origin of Species” in 1859, does nothing if not lead a rationalist to despair. Americans, by and large, cling to their religion (and, yes, their guns). To have all the resources to begin reliably fathoming the mysteries of the universe, and yet to cast them aside for slavish fidelity to primitive fables (most of which deserve no more “reverence” than tales from the Brothers Grimm) that no one past the age of six or seven should believe . . . well, such is the very definition of pathetic.<br />
<br />
<br />
Harmful? Let’s leave aside the mass-market megachurch “God of Love” finding little or no textual support in the Old or New Testament, and take the terrifying deity as the sacred canon depicts Him. One Bible verse alone (Nahum 1:2) describes Him as vengeful, jealous, wrathful, and furious. Or let’s take His supposedly more clement son, who orders us (says Matthew 25:41) cast into everlasting hellfire for trivial transgressions. Who benefits from the misconception that a permanent, inescapable, unimpeachable tyrant oversees our thoughts and deeds, including those of a most intimate nature? The life- and society-damaging neuroses generated by this crazed delusion afflict many of those around us. That is harmful.<br />
<br />
<br />
But the harm is greater than that. All in all, the most pernicious constellation of rubbish misbeliefs forming the core of the Abrahamic faiths concerns women, blamed for sin itself (the “original sin”), and the Fall of all mankind. Every mainstream misogynistic superstition stems from the rotten old myth of Genesis: woman as made not in God’s image, but from one of Adam’s spare parts, and thus inferior to man. Woman as temptress, woman as unreliable, woman as “unclean.” The rest of the Old and New Testaments inculcate an array of injurious ideas: that women depreciate after their initial sexual encounter, and serve only to bear children and satisfy the lust of their mates. That they must submit to their husbands “as unto the Lord,” keep silent in church, cover their (shameful) bodies and heads, and never have authority over men. It goes without saying that none of this fosters mental health.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
It goes at length, in a similar vein. <br />
<br />
<br />
And it <i>is</i> ridiculous, it <i>is</i> rubbish. A slave-master mentality is fostered in all of the Big 3 Abrahamic religions of the West. Whatever your imaginary friend dictates to you, that is law. No argument. The trio of rubbish emphasizes this – even Islam pushes complete submission. To whom? A bunch of words in a book written by a violent pedophile. Just name your imaginary friend something better than ‘Bob’ or ‘Harvey’ – an esoteric nonsense name like allah or yaweh, and all is well! Clean bill of mental health automatically.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Age Of Crazy is nearly at an end. Let reason dictate our course. <br />
<br />
<br />
Of course stone-cold crazies like Scalia (hey, you say there’s no proof of evolution, you’re a fucknut plain & simple, don’t care how over-educated you think you are) or Cruz, or Ryan will be wailing and whining about how this (or that, or whatever) doesn’t count not because it doesn’t, it’s because they <i>say </i>it doesn’t. Hoo-boy, can anyone say confirmation bias?<br />
<br />
<br />
Religion is and should be consider a lunatic fringe, kept around for comic relief, because it is extremely amusing once you’ve shed the shackles of religious psychoses. <br />
<br />
<br />
So keep laughing, keep pointing, keep ridiculing, keep criticizing. It’s still a long way off and uphill, but it’s looking less Sisyphean each year.<br />
<br />
<br />
Till the next post then.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-37041891167254866752016-01-03T13:49:00.002-08:002016-01-03T13:49:40.994-08:00One Year Closer To A Better World<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/$highlevelatheism%5B2%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=20169168" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2016/01/03/one-year-closer-to-a-better-world/">Atheist Oasis</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyeBqme5ZZRVSSAguPSeevHAcAzEPTLMW6eEqTmzG1KUPJvw3pIt4_c4yDd3HH0htGheEpEfkbaUNhzGjQ1QbJh4D-vVtMjxJZZWM5A1GFR6b-gh4o1KGOpQAti3XbRx-zIXdqQ/s1600/highlevelatheism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyeBqme5ZZRVSSAguPSeevHAcAzEPTLMW6eEqTmzG1KUPJvw3pIt4_c4yDd3HH0htGheEpEfkbaUNhzGjQ1QbJh4D-vVtMjxJZZWM5A1GFR6b-gh4o1KGOpQAti3XbRx-zIXdqQ/s320/highlevelatheism.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It’s another year past, the inevitability of entropy that nibbles away at the fringes of our existence. <br />
<br />
<br />
The world has improved in many ways. The stigma of being an atheist is fading, as more flock to our worldview. Religion is diminishing slowly, rationalism chipping away at the fairy-tale façade. The wholly bibble is taken<br />
a lot less seriously these days, as its obnoxious a-historicity, constant and egregious contradictions, and otherwise obsolete nonsenses are continuously called out.<br />
<br />
<br />
The sexual shackles of the slave-master relationship that is religion are now loosening as well. Gay marriage in America has changed the landscape of loving for years to come. <br />
<br />
<br />
Perhaps before I die, I will get to see:<br />
<br />
<br />
1. Creationists being treated like the nutters they are,<br />
<br />
<br />
2. The Catholic Church becomes a distant, unpleasant memory,<br />
<br />
<br />
3. All 3 of the Big 3 (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) are reduced to the sad little jokes they really are, and <br />
<br />
<br />
4. All peoples are treated equally.<br />
<br />
<br />
All of them are nice dreams – well worth striving for. Keep fighting the good fight, folks: there is a light at the end of the tunnel.<br />
<br />
<br />
Happy New Year, and here’s to another year closer to closing down religion.<br />
<br />
<br />
Till the next post then.Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-31749858491115572532015-12-27T15:03:00.002-08:002015-12-27T15:04:09.976-08:002015 - A Good Year To Be Secular<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZQ_etgjCErcYbMxjdPQZcCijNrnpULTqsBVnh2K7pogKE8-JFQ5xR_KrMpKckX9KVatjyQlWtdnpD4eSQvuUdfZO_jSnDh-NnjFNubzyWM32k182uvNcVUKXDFl5apZcasAVeQ/s1600/seculargreetings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZQ_etgjCErcYbMxjdPQZcCijNrnpULTqsBVnh2K7pogKE8-JFQ5xR_KrMpKckX9KVatjyQlWtdnpD4eSQvuUdfZO_jSnDh-NnjFNubzyWM32k182uvNcVUKXDFl5apZcasAVeQ/s1600/seculargreetings.jpg" /></a></div>
Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/12/27/2015-a-good-year-to-be-secular/">Atheist Oasis</a><br />
<br />
<br />
As the hours and days and months all draw to a close, a winding down of events and lives, 2015 was a very good year to be secular.<br />
<br />
<br />
Religion is more and more going into decline, and the landslide decision of Obegefell vs. Hodges made gay marriage constitutional in every state of the land (though how they pulled it off without scumbags like Scalia, Roberts, and Thomas interfering, I could not guess).<br />
<br />
<br />
And for the wistful, sentimental thought:<br />
<br />
<br />
As an atheist, I would not force my views onto others, anymore than I would appreciate that being done to me. My issue is not with crutches for the weak of heart and mind: it gets you through the bad nights, who am I to piss upon it? No, rather my problems is with the religious who would force their beliefs on myself and others. Gay marriage is a one instance; in the ancient world, gay marriage was not only practiced, but most folks couldn’t give a fuck if it didn’t inconvenience their days or their lives. Once the Christians took over, they stopped it right fast, even tried to stomp it out of existence (homosexuality). Also as point of fact, the Catholic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_Mexico#The_conquest">Spaniards</a> were horrified at the ‘abomination’ being practiced in Central America, that they proceeded to slaughter and torture countless innocent victims.<br />
<br />
<br />
No, much as I’d like to see religion vanish/disappear, the fact is that nobody should play the thought police, or the ‘morals squad’. <br />
<br />
<br />
And that should apply in all things. I want a country where the rich and the poor are treated equally, not based on pay scale. I want a country where everyone is treated the same, a level playing field. I want a country where atheist, muslim, christian, jew, all are equals, no free passes, no special treatment. No more ‘non-debates’ – climate change is real, evolution is a fact, nobody is getting ‘persecuted’, and nobody is better than anyone else.<br />
<br />
<br />
Because let’s face it: religion tears down individuals, and rebuilds them. In the meantime, they get infused with all sorts of nonsense – the master-slave mentality, that precursor of xenophobia that is tribalism, that dishonest elevation of the religious person being ‘saved’ (which is shorthand for un-equal).<br />
<br />
<br />
So here’s to the end of a pretty decent year overall, and hopefully more inroads will be paved for the secular folk that are to come.<br />
<br />
<br />
Cheers!<br />
<br />
<br />
Till the next post then.Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-35305071882794878562015-12-20T15:39:00.000-08:002015-12-20T15:39:10.179-08:00Actual Journalistic Integrity: Words Mean NothingCross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/actual-journalistic-integrity-words-mean-nothing/">Atheist Oasis</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8s8viPfjtFzlRFhilMqDqTi5Exof3fuISdh-BRDh3KSYXoYgiqYzQ5YraJMl8Lj0bwMKfdLQ4e3zY8h6eWRTTitVzSHm8wAId1y_fShKRBn5oK8eLtOjt5rI9NGuQrt1rLhRxaA/s1600/GodIsNOTFixingThis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8s8viPfjtFzlRFhilMqDqTi5Exof3fuISdh-BRDh3KSYXoYgiqYzQ5YraJMl8Lj0bwMKfdLQ4e3zY8h6eWRTTitVzSHm8wAId1y_fShKRBn5oK8eLtOjt5rI9NGuQrt1rLhRxaA/s320/GodIsNOTFixingThis.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
“Actions not words bespeak me” – Unknown. </blockquote>
I actually rather appreciate the sentiment, but not the event that prompted it:<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.religionnews.com/2015/12/03/daily-news-provokes-with-cover-on-calif-shooting-god-isnt-fixing-this/">Daily News provokes with cover on Calif. shooting: ‘God isn’t fixing this’</a><br />
The front cover of the New York Daily News for Thursday takes a strong stance against how some politicians are reacting to the San Bernardino shooting with calls for prayer instead of tighter gun control laws.<br />
The headline says, “God Isn’t Fixing This.”<br />
“As latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in pools of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continue to hide behind meaningless platitudes,” the cover reads.<br />
House Speaker Paul Ryan and GOP presidential hopefuls Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham all responded to the attack with tweets about “prayers” for the victims of San Bernardino.<br />
The Daily News’ tweeted image of its provocative front page is currently the most retweeted of 2015 for the news organization, according to Twitter.<br />
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, took a different tone and called for “action” to stop gun violence.<br />
President Obama underscored the need for stronger gun control laws in the United States after Wednesday’s mass shooting, which left at least 14 dead and 14 wounded.<br />
“There’s some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of the mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don’t happen as frequently,” Obama told CBS News.<br />
Some twitter users also called out for more congressional action.<br />
David Mignery tweeted “@SpeakerRyan We need more from you than prayers.”<br />
But others tweeted that calling for prayer should not be mocked at a time like this.</blockquote>
Yes, because prayer comes down HARD on people who mock it. Oh, wait. It does absolutely no such thing. It does not take guns out of the hands of anyone, it changes no minds, it alters nothing in the slipstream of reality. A prayer is an unanswered knee-mail that accidentally comes true once in a blue moon, but only because the person praying is asking for something available.<br />
Of course the spineless Republicans are caterwauling for prayer. It fixes zero, it maintains the status quo, it’s a crippled placebo that works on the more feeble of minds. It also keeps the NRA lobbyists off their backs.<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/$GodIsNOTFixingThis%5B2%5D.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>So get off your knees: nobody’s home nobody up there not even a ghost in a machine or a brain in a vat. <br />
We are all alone here, so let’s take care of each other, and stop passing the buck to someone who doesn’t exist.<br />
Till the next post then.Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-17452672003175538292015-12-13T15:58:00.000-08:002015-12-20T15:33:56.380-08:00Republicans Gone Retarded: The ‘Donald’ Trumps The 1st Amendment <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8X1Uc7YHvIA2lQ3uin0jJ9287bzvChTJOZn81Ac-pDW87Nir-1EORz3Afc-LPyfcpZejF6jt078h5HvJ7PnAmm7i8cPrOnar9563IJREXbpPsgf9Y46a7Qp2-1rGbSN7r0vrdg/s1600/starfishtrump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8X1Uc7YHvIA2lQ3uin0jJ9287bzvChTJOZn81Ac-pDW87Nir-1EORz3Afc-LPyfcpZejF6jt078h5HvJ7PnAmm7i8cPrOnar9563IJREXbpPsgf9Y46a7Qp2-1rGbSN7r0vrdg/s200/starfishtrump.jpg" width="200" /></a><span id="fullpost">Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/12/13/republicans-gone-retarded-the-donald-trumps-the-1st-amendment/">Atheist Oasis</a><br />
<br />Honestly, I know I bang on about Islam, how it’s barbaric, how it’s a vast steaming pile of supernatural crap – and yes, there are occasions where I advocate the actual shooting of some of these people, but not full scale (there are millions of Muslims I don’t have a real problem, I can’t tell them what to do, think, say etc.). But in this country, there are no (and should never be) a ‘thought’ police, or better yet, a ‘secular’ police. Just like there shouldn’t be a ‘morals squad’ anywhere in the known world. <br />
<br />And when it comes to reality, maybe the ‘Donald’ should actually become an apprentice to a politician with ethics (yeah I know, an oxymoron) or somebody who actually understands the constitution.<br />
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/">Donald Trump: Ban all Muslim travel to U.S.</a></span><br />
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"> <cite>(CNN)</cite>Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called Monday for barring<b> </b>all Muslims from entering the United States. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," a campaign press release said. </span><br />
<ul></ul>
<span id="fullpost"> Trump, who has previously called for surveillance against mosques and said he was open to establishing a database for all Muslims living in the U.S., made his latest controversial call in a news release. His message comes in the wake of a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by suspected ISIS sympathizers and the day after President Barack Obama asked the country not to "turn against one another" out of fear. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"> Trump's comments are likely to roil the Republican presidential race, forcing many of his opponents for the nomination to engage in a debate over whether there should be a religious test to enter America. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> But his proposal was met with enthusiasm by many of his supporters, who showed their approval via social media as well as at his rally on Monday night. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> "I think that we should definitely disallow any Muslims from coming in. Any of them. The reason is simple: we can't identify what their attitude is," said 75-year-old Charlie Marzka of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> Moreover, the Muslim travel ban will likely do little to dent Trump's own popularity among Republican primary voters. The billionaire businessman has dominated the GOP contest for months despite repeated controversies that would likely sink other White House hopefuls. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> "Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," Trump said in a statement. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life." </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> Trump's campaign added in the release that such a ban should remain in effect "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/$starfishtrump2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span id="fullpost"> The release pointed to an online poll from the controversial Center for Security Policy, which claimed that a quarter of Muslims living in the U.S. believe violence against Americans is justified as part of a global jihadist campaign. Critics have questioned the reliability of the organization's information.<b> </b>It also pointed to a Pew Research poll, which the campaign declined to identify, which the campaign claimed points to "great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population." </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told CNN on Monday that the ban would apply not just to Muslim foreigners looking to immigrate to the U.S., but also to Muslims looking to visit the U.S. as tourists. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"> "Everyone," Lewandowski said when asked if the ban would also apply to Muslim tourists. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"></span>
<span id="fullpost"> "Great surveillance and vigilance must be adhered to," said Trump in an additional statement Lewandowski provided to CNN. "We want to be very fair but too many bad things are happening and the percentage of true hatred is too great. People that are looking to destroy our country must be reported and turned in by the good people who love our country and want America to be great again." </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> Trump confirmed that his policy would not apply to current Muslims in the U.S. during a Fox News interview on Monday evening. </span><br />
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"><br /></span>
<span id="fullpost"> "I have Muslim friends, Greta, and they're wonderful people. But there's a tremendous section and cross-section of Muslims living in our country who have tremendous animosity," he told Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren. "It does not apply to people living in the country, except we have to be vigilant."</span></blockquote>
<span id="fullpost">
<br /><br />That old trope from Franklin seems salient: 'Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.'<br />
<br /><br />And all I can think when Donald Chump blathers on is, ‘Oh, great. ANOTHER moronic Republican president who’s going to fuck this country right up.’<br />
<br /><br />There oughta be a law. No, better yet, there should be a test. See if any of these mental midgets are qualified to hold office. And denial of reality should be an automatic flunk. You know, people who deny climate change, evolution, all those key NON-ISSUES. <br />
<br /><br />Till the next post then.<br />
</span>Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-10233063005897069572015-12-06T16:14:00.001-08:002015-12-06T16:14:09.602-08:00More On The Madness Of Muslims: Self-Radicalizers?<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lJuNCxyIArw/VmTPTAtjQFI/AAAAAAAABxY/NQgh-Lok2iU/s1600-h/Muslim-Cartoon1%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="Muslim-Cartoon1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Muslim-Cartoon1" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mUNxE4nqOZM/VmTPTzxyEuI/AAAAAAAABxg/m2EKX68KQOA/Muslim-Cartoon1_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="171" /></a>This latest tragedy has been splashed across the pages lately (Web pages? Does that metaphor still work?)</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-california-shooters-likely-planned-multiple-attacks-official-202009239.html#">California shooters likely planned multiple attacks</a></p> <p>U.S. investigators are increasingly convinced the California shooters planned multiple attacks, given their stockpile of weapons, and are looking at whether the Pakistani woman involved radicalized her American husband, officials said on Sunday.</p> <p>Investigators believe the weapons cache collected by Tashfeen Malik, 29, and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, points to more attacks but they do not have evidence on other possible targets, a senior U.S. government source told Reuters.</p> <p>The couple stormed a gathering of his work colleagues in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday, opening fire with assault-style rifles and killing 14 people. The pair were killed a few hours later in a shootout with police.</p> <p>U.S. authorities were trying to learn what contacts Malik might have had with Islamic militants in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, where she grew up, the official said on condition of anonymity.</p> <p>They lack clear evidence that the wife was radicalized overseas or that she in turn radicalized her husband, though they are actively investigating that, the official said. <br /> <br />Authorities are investigating the shootings as an act of terrorism. President Barack Obama scheduled an Oval Office address Sunday to outline how the country is responding to the broader threat of terrorism.</p> <p>Malik's estranged relatives in Pakistan have said she appeared to have abandoned the family's moderate Islam and become more radicalized in Saudi Arabia, where she moved as a toddler.</p> <p>She returned to Pakistan and studied pharmacy at Bahauddin Zakaria University in Multan from 2007 to 2012.</p> <p>"There's a serious investigation ongoing into what she was doing in Pakistan and in Saudi," U.S. Representative Michael McCaul said on "Fox News Sunday." "We think that she had a lot to do with the radicalization process and perhaps with Mr. Farook's radicalization from within the United States."</p> <p>"The wild card here is the wife Malik," said McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He said investigators were also looking at where they got the money to acquire the guns. <br /> <br />U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said U.S. authorities have no evidence that the shooters were part of a larger terrorism cell but were working with their counterparts overseas to gather information about their lives.</p> <p>"We are trying to learn everything we can about both of these individuals," Lynch said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "It will be a long process, it will be an exhaustive process."</p> <p>"And we are trying to learn as much as we can about her life before they met, after they met and frankly, after she came here as well. What we are trying to focus on again is what motivated these two individuals."</p> <p>McCaul said it was unclear what ties the couple had with the Islamic State, which has said the pair were "followers." At a minimum, he said, the militant group inspired the attack. Malik is believed to have pledged allegiance to the group in a Facebook posting shortly before the shooting.</p> <p>"We have the computers. We have the devices. We are currently going through the forensics," he said. "The investigation is ongoing to find out what is precisely the connection between ISIS, say, in Raqqa and in the United States, and what was going on."</p> <p>McCaul also noted that Farook had a large arsenal of semi-automatic guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and pipe bombs.</p> <p>"We are looking at the terrorist financing aspect to this case. I believe on his salary, he was not able to buy this on his own," said McCaul.</p> <p>U.S. officials have acknowledged they had no information about the couple before the killing other than routine matters related to Malik's immigration status in the United States.</p> <p>Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, said the case illustrates the difficulties in detecting self-radicalized attackers. "That's a very real challenge and it's one that preceded ISIL and I presume one that will endure beyond ISIL and its defeat," she said on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."</p> </blockquote> <p>The savage lie of the afterlife prompts events like this. If these two crazies had no belief in it, they likely wouldn’t have gone off and shot a bunch of innocent people. In fact, in all the major shootings and crimes, white collar or otherwise, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who DIDN’T believe in an afterlife. Some cheap rationalization of how it would be ‘judged’ or weighed or whatnot. The Pavlovian component is undeniable (unless you’re religious, in which case <u>everything</u> is subject to interpretation and <u><strong>then</strong></u> denial) – these idiots wanted to impress their slave master Allah. And of course, like all of the big 3 in monotheism, this requires blood. </p> <p>Judaism is now barely a blip on the radar press-wise, Christianity is slowly (TOO SLOWLY) mellowing out, now we’re stuck with the last of the savage creed, Islam.</p> <p>What we need now as a species, is to stop sugar coating reality, stop blindly obeying our less rational impulses (most adults should be able to, but can’t), and put aside this primitivistic nonsense. Our ancestors were for the most part, assholes. History was written by drunken teenagers. We are at this point now so much farther ahead than some of these pompous assholes they call ‘prophets’ – you know, those weird crazy assholes that wandered in out of the desert, driven so mad by heat and dehydration that their drooling gibberish should have earmarked them for a lunatic asylum, not a leadership role.</p> <p>Shooting someone doesn’t make someone’s epistemology correct. Nor does self-sacrifice. The only point religious violence makes, is that fantasy ideology makes for the worst of the worst, blood sacrifices made to a mad bloodthirsty imaginary friend.</p> <p>Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-35718471575257530512015-11-29T13:59:00.001-08:002015-11-29T13:59:30.460-08:00Republican Gone Retarded: More Naïve Nonsense From The Nincompoop Right<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KnxbyHjxvF4/Vlt1PxeNMiI/AAAAAAAABxA/bECVE1M2aMo/s1600-h/clowncar%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="clowncar" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="clowncar" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eitNEX6tN0g/Vlt1QfNNkRI/AAAAAAAABxE/qBiozhxWCCw/clowncar_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="184" /></a></p> <p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/republican-gone-retarded-more-nave-nonsense-from-the-nincompoop-right/">Atheist Oasis</a></p> <p>If you were wondering if the clown car of village idiots has room for one more – you’d be spot on:</p> <blockquote> <p align="left"><a href="http://www.forwardprogressives.com/marco-rubio-united-states-governed-god-not-constitution-video/">Marco Rubio: The United States is Governed by God, Not the Constitution</a></p> <p>While most of the attention this election cycle has been given to presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson, several others such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have slowly been inching their way up the polls, solidifying themselves as viable Republican candidates. </p> <p>Well, one of those candidates, Rubio, recently professed his belief that the United States is governed by “God’s rules,” not the Constitution: </p> <p>“We are clearly called, in the Bible, to adhere to our civil authorities, but that conflicts with also a requirement to adhere to God’s rules. When those two come in conflict, God’s rules always win. In essence, if we are ever ordered by a government authority to personally violate and sin, violate God’s law and sin, if we’re ordered to stop preaching the gospel, if we’re ordered to perform a same-sex marriage as someone presiding over it, we are called to ignore that. We cannot abide by that because government is compelling us to sin.” </p> <p>In other words, he believes that any Constitutional right given to Americans that he thinks goes against “God’s rule” should be ignored – because “God’s rule” supersedes Constitutional law. </p> <p>While that sort of rhetoric isn’t exactly new among Republicans, it’s still extremely dangerous. The United States isn’t (and has never been) a theocracy, but that’s exactly what conservatives like Rubio want to turn it into. They want a nation that ignores our First Amendment rights to freedom of religion in order to force millions of Americans to adhere to religious dogma that they don’t believe in. </p> <p>I think it’s important to point out that this isn’t just Marco Rubio pandering to evangelicals for support. He’s a Republican who doesn’t even support abortion in instances of rape. He honestly believes that if a woman is impregnated following a brutal and violent sexual assault, that she should instantly lose the right to have control over her own body. </p> <p>It’s rhetoric like Rubio’s that prompted me to <strong><em><u>declare that any politician trying to interject religion into our government should be disqualified from running for office. Our First Amendment explicitly states that Americans have the freedom of religion. This means that any politician who’s trying to force their views on others is instantly trying to infringe upon our rights as Americans, thus is not acting in good faith of the oath they took to adhere to our Constitutional law.</u></em></strong> Therefore, I don’t believe they should be allowed to hold public office. That’s obviously my personal opinion, but I believe it stands on solid ground. </p> <p>This is why I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for progressives and liberals to get out and vote in large numbers next November. We can’t let Republicans win the White House in 2016. If we do, not only will that essentially give the GOP power over the Supreme Court for the next 20-30 years, but Republicans will undo all the progress we’ve made over the last few years – potentially setting progressives back decades. </p> <p>We absolutely cannot allow that to happen.</p> </blockquote> <p align="left">It is nice to hear my own (repetitive) declamations echoed by another on the internet, but I’d rather be wrong about this. </p> <p align="left">The Christians teach that everyone believes in this gawd character, that anyone who denies that is in denial, that anyone who speaks against their holy book is a liar, and that we all have to bend a knee at Jebus’ whim. </p> <p align="left">Obviously (to the brighter among us) this is just a load of shit. I wish Rubio and the rest of the Grand Asshole Wankers Party (GAWP) would just leave and go live in the mountains with the other feeble-minded fairy beggars, and leave us to our own devices. </p> <p align="left">For absurdity, the GAWP party has no equals. Pusillanimous puling pious political pipsqueaks, all of whom are as sharp as a marble. This ridiculous tribalism, where one group has ALL the truth, and nobody else does, it’s gotta go. Deep-sixed. 86’ed. Vaminos. Adios. buh-BYE!</p> <p align="left">We need to change this mindset where opinions and feelings take precedence over facts and rights. Where the people who DON’T hear voices in their heads are the crazy ones. I could go on (I have before), but let’s keep it simple.</p> <p align="left">Believe what you want, but mind your own fucking business. Legislating based on one superstition is not giving equal time to other similarly ridiculous nonsense. </p> <p align="left">Or as someone (else) once put it, ‘we should legislate for this life, not the next.’ Which is dead on, since there is no afterlife.</p> <p align="left">Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-2942079908739075252015-11-22T14:17:00.001-08:002015-11-22T14:17:51.078-08:00Republicans Gone Retarded: Presidential Pope-ful Buries Leg In Mouth<p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/republicans-gone-retarded-presidential-pope-ful-buries-leg-in-mouth/">Atheist Oasis</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DVl73l0_oIs/VlI_Cz1XMjI/AAAAAAAABwo/Xx82SAUnwOs/s1600-h/fuckabee2016%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="fuckabee2016" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="fuckabee2016" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E1HED2JrGy0/VlI_DYPO9NI/AAAAAAAABws/qmDdL5KCHLA/fuckabee2016_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="125" /></a>This is the latest shithead to hop out of the Republican Clown Car to change one flat tire out of all four:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/mike-huckabee-says-obama-will-make-us-memorize-the-koran-after-mali-terrorist-attack/">Mike Huckabee says Obama will make us memorize the Koran after Mali terrorist attack</a></p> <p>Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is pursuing an ever-more unlikely bid for the presidency, responded to Friday’s terrorist attack in the West African nation of Mali on social media with a non sequitur about something President Obama never said.</p> <p>“After today’s attack in Mali, the Obama-approved domestic anti-terror plan: Give up your guns and memorize a Koran verse,” Huckabee wrote. According to reports, the attackers in Mali freed some hostages who were able to recite verses from the Koran.</p> <p>Huckabee — or someone hired to manage his Facebook page — seems to delete all negative comments, but the response on the more unwieldy platform of Twitter was not positive.</p> <p>Eighteen people died when gunmen raided the Radisson Blu Hotel and more than 100 hostages were taken, according to the BBC. Malian special forces raided the hotel and have rescued the hostages. The attack was carried about by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and an offshoot group.</p> <p>Earlier this week, Huckabee made a strange analogy comparing Syrian refugees with tainted Chipotle food, and last month agreed with a fringe radio host that slavery is an appropriate punishment for the American criminal justice system.</p> </blockquote> <p>Seriously? What, is Fuck-A-Bee smoking crack or something? And of course, my familiar refrain: “There should be a competency test for people in public office.” Because apparently, every Republican politician is mentally deficient. It seems like the GOP goes and recruits all the village idiots they can – and where else would someone like that have any credence? We should dub these charlatans the New <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Nothing">Know-Nothing</a> Party, but that they accept Irish Catholics now, and they hate all other immigrants. </p> <p>Religion is the symptom of the lazy mind. Instead of taking intellectual inventory of being human and examining it, instead the lazy mind slips into ‘god mode’, and rather than analyzing reality based on evidence, promotes a master-slave relationship with an imaginary being.</p> <p>Thus far, I haven’t seen ONE Republican politician competent enough to be president, let alone be a Governor. </p> <p>Let’s stop electing psychopaths for office – we should settle for someone like Obama, who has actually done an excellent job (well, in comparison to his predecessor, which actually doesn’t say much)</p> <p>Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-41602303219450112612015-11-15T13:17:00.001-08:002015-11-15T13:17:12.770-08:00More On The Madness Of Muslims: Paris And The High Cost Of Accommodationism<p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/more-on-the-madness-of-muslims-paris-and-the-high-cost-of-accommodationism/">Atheist Oasis</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D7TExu65ORU/Vkj2Vaa8VKI/AAAAAAAABwQ/2QmkF2Q9REM/s1600-h/islamiccrazy%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="islamiccrazy" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="islamiccrazy" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LnDztj-YS7E/Vkj2V9So32I/AAAAAAAABwU/gKKWxjRBvDI/islamiccrazy_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="137" /></a>By now you’ve heard the news (unless you’re living in a cave) – Paris was savaged by a pack of mad dogs bent on asserting their dominance over an unwilling world:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/15/world/paris-attacks/index.html">Paris attacks: Authorities hunt for a French national</a></p> <p>Paris (CNN)Authorities are hunting for a Belgium-born French national who is suspected to have been involved in the Paris terror attacks.</p> <p>Belgian and French officials want to find Salah Abdeslam, the French prosecutor's office told CNN. Belgium has issued an international warrant for him.</p> <p>French police released his photo and warned people not to interact with him, saying that he is dangerous.</p> <p>Salah Abdeslam is  suspected of being involved in the attacks. <br />Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to 132, according to news agency Agence France-Presse, citing hospitals. At least 352 people were wounded, many of them seriously.</p> <p>Investigators are working around the clock. The Islamic terror group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the slaughter.</p> <p>Reflecting just how nervous Paris is right now, a panic broke out Sunday evening in a crowd gathered at a memorial erected at one of the sites of Friday's terror attacks.</p> <p>Video showed mourners suddenly spooked, though it's still unclear why. People ran away screaming. Some jumped over lit candles of the memorial, others grabbed their children and sprinted away. The panic ended quickly and police have cleared the memorial, saying no one is allowed to gather, at least for the time being.</p> <p>It's possible that suspects directly involved in Friday's Paris terror attacks remain at large, a French counterterrorism source close to the investigation told CNN on Sunday.</p> <p>A number of arrests linked to the attacks have been made in Belgium, but it is unclear whether they include the occupant or occupants of an abandoned car with weapons inside found in eastern Paris, the source said.</p> </blockquote> <p>The outrage, the horror, the utterly unnecessary loss of life – it almost defies description. Almost. </p> <p>The roots of all the big 3 – Judaism, Christianity, Islam – the roots are soaked in the blood of innocents. Where some psychopath romps in the fields of ‘divinity’ – bloodshed is soon to follow. The Koran says, ‘do not compel religion’ – this rule is broken regularly, buried away under an onslaught of ‘re-interpretation’, hypocritically rejected because it doesn’t suit the needs of the interpreter, doesn’t bend to the need for control and slaughter. </p> <p>It seems that we as a species really need to redefine the overly-liberalized concept of ‘belief’. For too long this has been used as a free pass…from religious exemptions for child abuse to genocidal madness. Too long we have ignored the obvious dissonance between belief and reality, too long have we dwelled in fear because of a carte blanche rule that these mad dogs use to their advantage. </p> <p>Living in fear is no way to live at all. Living under the rule of some hairy-eyed lunatic chained to an antique piece of esoterica? No thanks. </p> <p>And this latest act of terror? We should use every means to find these cowardly little shits, and bring them to justice, rough or otherwise. These people have abdicated their humanity, and have shown the rest of the world how a human being can lose his/her humanity.</p> <p>And I say this again: the concept of the afterlife, it poisons everything. It’s a good likelihood that if this afterlife was NOT a hard and fast rule in just about every culture, terrorist attacks would dwindle to near zero, because no afterlife? No fucking WAY would anyone strap those bombs on and harm innocent people unless there was a big reward in it for them. Religious people deny that, but it’s the truth.</p> <p>This is what we have. There is no afterlife. Time to treat each other equally, time to stop killing others over some trifling medieval esoteric guesswork unsupported by either reality or empirical reasoning.</p> <p>Time to just…stop.</p> <p>Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-86050916086570315662015-11-08T07:19:00.001-08:002015-11-08T07:19:03.568-08:00Republicans Gone Retarded: Crazy Carson And The Pyramid Silos…<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bTiSaG43M6U/Vj9n45bsIhI/AAAAAAAABv4/ZKOIL0GoLUQ/s1600-h/hopenchangedcarson%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="hopenchangedcarson" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="hopenchangedcarson" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Pqb9SpKuAFs/Vj9n5vCkweI/AAAAAAAABv8/4_DzS6997EU/hopenchangedcarson_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="120" /></a></p> <p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/republicans-gone-retarded-crazy-carson-and-the-pyramid-silos/">Atheist Oasis</a></p> <p>It seems simply unbelievable: that a group of disconnected schizoids, psychotics, and borderline personality disorders are elected, let alone listened to. And yet here we are, stuck with the biggest boobs in the political world, morons who never fact-check the noise they blurt out at press releases. </p> <p>And so to show their alleged ‘diversity’, these pusillanimous political pipsqueaks try to bring in some token black, probably to offset the idea that the rethuglickans are an old white boys club, and failing miserably.</p> <p>In 2012, it was Herman Cain. In my book, if you’re a tea(bag) party member, you’re on auto-moron. (Though <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Cain#Call_for_a_third_party">his call for a 3rd party in US politics</a> is actually a strong point.)</p> <p>And now we have…drum roll please…Ben Carson!</p> <p>He’s a neurosurgeon who believes <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/09/24/ben_carson_anti_science.html">that evolution is a ‘tool of the adversary’</a> and that the big bang theory is a fable. WTF is that? How can someone smart enough to become a neurosurgeon be that fucking stupid? Better yet, the General Surgeon Idiot has proclaimed this:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-pyramids">Ben Carson: Archaeologists Are Wrong, The Pyramids Were Built To Store Grain</a></p> <p>In the speech -- given at Andrews University, a school with ties to Carson's Seventh-day Adventist faith -- the neurosurgeon shot down claim that aliens had built the pyramids. But he also disagreed with the archaeological consensus that the pyramids were constructed as tombs for the pharaohs. </p> <p>“My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain,” Carson said. “Now all the archeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big if you stop and think about it. And I don’t think it’d just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain.” </p> <p>In the video surfaced by Buzzfeed Wednesday, Carson goes on to lay out his argument that the pyramids were constructed for grain storage.</p> </blockquote> <p>So regardless of all the actual evidence that says otherwise, he builds what is risibly called a ‘theory’ based on his own person preferences rather than any reality whatsoever. What a fucking surprise. </p> <p>And of course, he tries to be magnanimous about this nonsense: </p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-pyramid-secular-progressives">Carson: 'Secular Progressives' Are Welcome To Ridicule Pyramid Theory</a> </p> <p>Ben Carson is standing by his theory that the Egyptian pyramid theory -- that the pyramids were built by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain -- which has come under scrutiny since Buzzfeed surfaced a 1998 video of Carson referencing it. </p> <p>"Some people believe in the Bible, like I do, and don't find that to be silly at all, and believe that God created the Earth and don't find that to be silly at all." Carson told reporters in Miami during a stop on his book tour. "The secular progressives try to ridicule it any time it comes up and they're welcome to do that."</p> </blockquote> <p>A <em>book tour</em>?!?! Seriously? What is wrong with the American public that they even pay to read crap written by complete idiots? Television has turned the majority of them into uninformed drooling <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jukes_family">jukes</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kallikak_Family">kalikaks</a>, incapable of a rational or original thought whatsoever. </p> <p>Some people are not only silly, most of them are just stupid. Adjectives for this are beginning to fail me. </p> <p>As a friend once told me, ‘just because you’re smart, doesn’t mean you’re not stupid’. At this point, I wonder if Carson paid extra money for his degree, or maybe he learned neurosurgery at Wal-Mart. </p> <p>It’s high time we set a higher bar for US politicians. Look, this guy has a degree, and he’s STILL an idiot.</p> <p>Any suggestions?</p> <p>Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-84508644093274577752015-11-01T08:50:00.001-08:002015-11-01T08:50:54.261-08:00More On The Madness Of Muslims: Overpopulation Is NOT The Answer!<p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/11/01/more-on-the-madness-of-muslims-overpopulation-is-not-the-answer/">Atheist Oasis</a> <br /> <br /><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cMEuoPC1UlQ/VjZC6pxM6XI/AAAAAAAABvg/WgS4gkThqyk/s1600-h/no_more_than_2_children_per_family%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="no_more_than_2_children_per_family" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="no_more_than_2_children_per_family" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z53ucjqGa8g/VjZC7I-JgfI/AAAAAAAABvk/QE8BhpdfTJ8/no_more_than_2_children_per_family_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="193" /></a>There is an ongoing attitude in our species – MORE is BETTER, especially when it comes to having children. The medieval concept that some cosmic babysitter is going to come swooping in and clean up our collective messes is simply stupid. And the religious concept? Why, we need more ‘believers’ because they’ll lead the charge against the un-believers! Let’s face it: religious people need soldiers because they’re always at war with someone. And all this is just an extension of sexual dimorphism, which has run its course, and we should just discard.</p> <p>One of the more ridiculous statements ever heard: “I want to have a MILLION kids after we get married!”</p> <p>This sort of short-sighted idiocy is all too prevalent. The presumption is that there always has been and always will be, room on this planet. The assumption that women are just around to be uteri with heads is just bullshit. It’s this attitude that fosters the rape culture of the Big 3: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. </p> <p>And this medieval attitude is expressed in this headline:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11952163/Muslim-men-having-20-children-each-because-of-polygamy-peer-claims.html">Muslim men having '20 children each' because of polygamy, peer claims</a></p> <p>Baroness Cox, a cross-bench peer, says that Sharia Law is leading to 'shocking' discrimination against Muslim women. <br /></p> <p>Muslim men in some communities are having up to 20 children each because of polygomy and the rise of "religiously sanctioned gender discrimination" under Sharia Law, peers have warned.</p> <p>Baroness Cox, a cross-bench peer, highlighted a series of "shocking" examples of the impact of Sharia law on Muslim women in Britain as she called for them to be given greater protection under equality legislation.</p> <p>She disclosed one case in which a 63-year-old man tried to divorce his 23-year-old wife and arrange her marriage to a Pakistani man who needed a visa.</p> <p>He asked a gynecologist to "repair the hymen" of his wife so she could remarry, and stood to make £10,000 "for effecting the arrangement".</p> <p>"Such shocking cases surely cannot be allowed to continue," she said. "The rights of Muslim women and the rule of law in our land must be upheld."</p> <p>In other examples, Baroness Cox revealed that Muslim men divorce their wives by simply saying or writing "I divorce you" three times.</p> <p>She added: "My Muslim friends tell me that in some communities with high polygamy and divorce rates, men may have up to 20 children each.</p> <p>Clearly, youngsters growing up in dysfunctional families may be vulnerable to extremism and demography may affect democracy."</p> <p>She put forward proposals to close a loophole in the Equality Act which she said enables Sharia courts to practice sexual discrimination.</p> <p>Baroness Deech, another cross-bench peer, supported the bill and said: "We must not tolerate the sweeping of violence against women or children under the carpet by any religion in the name of faith."</p> <p>Labour's Baroness Donaghy, a former chair of the arbitration service Acas, also backing the Bill, said it was not that long ago that women were unequal before the law.</p> <p>"We cannot afford to go backwards and tolerate a situation where any woman is living in fear and isolation.</p> <p>"More needs to be done. This is not confined to Sharia law or Muslim religion. These parallel laws which discriminate against women have existed and may still exist in other religions."</p> <p>Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of MigrationWatch, said Britain was entirely different to Muslim countries, adding: "Those who come must accept that."</p> <p>The independent crossbench peer said: "We must be prepared to insist that there can be only one law.</p> <p>"We must get away from what I call the Rotherham complex where the authorities were so afraid of offending a minority community that they turned a blind eye to the appalling abuse of young mainly British girls."</p> <p>Lord Faulks, the justice minister, highlighted a government review of the operation of Sharia Councils but said that new laws were not needed as there are already protections in common law and existing legislation. </p> </blockquote> <p>All of this nonsense is insane. Women aren’t inferior beings to be treated like chattel, no matter what some book of fairy tales says. Religious polygamy was created to forge armies of believers, because religious people are always at war. This is just sexual dimorphism taken to an idiotic level. The concept of ‘if there’s more of us, we WIN” is short-sighted and moronic.</p> <p>And for those readers who say, ‘so what?’, here is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation#Human_overpopulation">some alarming news</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>The human population has been growing continuously since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1400, although the most significant increase has been in the last 50 years, mainly due to medical advancements, increases in agricultural productivity and the historically unique availability of abundant cheap energy. The rate of population growth has been declining since the 1980s. Most contemporary[clarification needed] estimates for the carrying capacity of the Earth under existing conditions are between 4 billion and 16 billion.[citation needed] In 2013 the human population was 7 billion. By 2025 the world population is expected to grow by an additional 1 billion. Depending on which estimate of overpopulation is used, human overpopulation may or may not have already occurred.</p> <p>The InterAcademy Panel Statement on Population Growth, circa 1994, has stated that many environmental problems, such as rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, global warming, and pollution, are aggravated by the population expansion. Other problems associated with overpopulation include the increased demand for resources such as fresh water and food, starvation and malnutrition, consumption of natural resources (such as fossil fuels) faster than the rate of regeneration, and a deterioration in living conditions. However, some believe that waste and over-consumption, especially by wealthy nations, is putting more strain on the environment than overpopulation.</p> </blockquote> <p>The fact is, we as a species WILL run out of room, very very soon. This ridiculous concept of some imaginary cosmic baby-sitter coming down to ‘clean house’? Never gonna happen. Instead, imagine your grand-children and great grand-children being stacked like cordwood while they’re still alive, millions (perhaps billions) fighting and struggling, breathing and eating the only worthwhile occupation. </p> ’ Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-90946250611103936852015-10-25T06:48:00.001-07:002015-10-25T06:48:20.051-07:00Because The Holy Cee Is A Center Of Stupidity<p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/because-the-holy-cee-is-a-center-of-stupidity/">Atheist Oasis</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-khLFLcJcdIk/VizdnqikxiI/AAAAAAAABvI/I5m6lSUhBaI/s1600-h/villageidiotteresa2.jpg"><img title="villageidiotteresa" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="villageidiotteresa" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kYVKZeLePCA/VizdoqON7yI/AAAAAAAABvQ/u54Ekn5bLbo/villageidiotteresa_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="200" align="right" height="244" /></a>I was raised Irish Catholic. Yes, I was once was a Papist bastard (though I couldn’t tell you any of the popes prior to Ratzinger). I did the whole holy communion, catechism, the whole schlemiel. I’m willing to bet that most atheists who were raised in a specific cult (yes CULT) likely despise their historical hogwash. As a result, when that veritable vacuousness that is the Vatican is mentioned, my lips curl in a sneer and my eyebrows furrow, and I <em>try</em> to be civil in my opinion of it, which is near impossible given my level of contempt for this ‘institution’. </p> <p>Madness. Worshipping statues and crackers. Virgin birth. Unproven ‘miracles’. Complete folderol.</p> <p>Which is why I get…irked, when I see shit like this:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://richarddawkins.net/2015/10/mother-teresas-missionaries-of-charity-refuse-to-allow-indian-orphans-to-be-adopted-by-single-or-divorced-parents/">Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity refuse to allow Indian orphans to be adopted by single or divorced parents</a></p> <p>How many lives are injured by Catholic dogma, with the Church’s response that Dogma is Dogma, and All Will Be Set Right in the New Life? This one’s particularly noxious, as the policy of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity is dooming orphans to a life in state custody, and preventing them from getting forever homes. <br />According to The Catholic Herald, the Catholic News Agency, and The Telegraph, the Missionaries are closing down their adoption service after changes in Indian law that now allow single and divorced parents to adopt children. (Gays in India are still forbidden to adopt children—an odious law that should be changed NOW.) India recently streamlined its notoriously labyrinthine adoption laws because there is a huge backlog of orphans compared to people willing to adopt them via the old cumbersome process. <br />The closure of 30 adoption agencies means that the Missionaries prefer children to live on the street, or abide in government homes for destitute kids, than to find a home with a single parent. Why? Well, first, because single parents can’t provide “real love”. From the Catholic Herald:</p> <p>    Maneka Gandhi, head of the Women and Child Development Ministry, said the Missionaries of Charity have “cited ideological issues” with the adoption guidelines and that “they do not want to come under a uniform secular agenda.”</p> <p>    Sister Amala of Nirmala Shishu Bhawan, a New Delhi orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity, said: “We have already shut our adoption services, because we believe our children may not receive real love. We do not wish to give children to single parents or divorced people.</p> <p>    “It is not a religious rule but a human rule. Children need both parents, male and female. That is only natural, isn’t it?”</p> </blockquote> <p>Yeah, moron, so is starving to death in the streets, getting killed by members of your own species, and dying by ingesting a ‘natural’ poison. Yeesh, these people get right under my fucking skin.</p> <p>Because in the olden time, one parent died, they took the kid away. Wait, what? They didn’t? When parents get divorced, guess what? One of them has to take the child, not put it up for fucking adoption. It’s this sort of lopsided reason that is just plain idiotic. </p> <p>And what is ‘real love’ anyways? Is it different from ‘fake love’? How so? Try pinning a religious person down on definitions, and watch the clumsy mental gyrations ensue. I’ll bet it takes either of those ‘sisters’ at least an hour to cough up a semi-ambiguous explanation that explains nothing at all.</p> <p>These assholes fucked up the whole Western world with their presuppositionalist bullshit. And that manure, it’s gotta stop. </p> <p>Just tired of Italian assholes dictating their weirdnesses to the world, and watching the flocks of sheeple showing their simian side by doing as they’re told.</p> <p>Till the next post, then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-63165913581846341622015-10-18T07:30:00.001-07:002015-10-18T07:30:28.962-07:00The World I Want To Live In…<p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/the-world-i-want-to-live-in/">Atheist Oasis</a></p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WYsqF0f9mzM/ViOtAjwV2XI/AAAAAAAABus/3xQ1GKWU6S0/s1600-h/betterworld2.jpg"><img title="betterworld" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="betterworld" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r-jIvNQsnYY/ViOtA0wW0BI/AAAAAAAABuw/cwag-byEfMY/betterworld_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="184" /></a>Violence is the last resort of the failed argument, and the first resort of the coward. - Zen Proverb.</p> </blockquote> <p>Let’s take a step back for a second, from the complaining and outrage, to get a better overview.</p> <p>Recently, a Muslim poster from a couple of posts ago, accused me and/or this site (Oasis), of advocating murdering Muslims. This is untrue. The only times I advocate something like that, is when faced with the crazy assholes (of any religion) who go about blathering about how <em>their </em>version of <em>their </em>religion is hollering for genocide, slavery, <a href="http://www.radianceweekly.com/236/6474/muslim-role-in-todays-world/2011-01-02/book-review/story-detail/globalisation-breedsgeography-of-anger.html">ideocide</a>, and how blood and fire is the only way to ‘cleanse’ an unclean world. These people (if they can be called that: there is a point where any human can abdicate from humanity) are a blight. A crazy-ass bloodlusting hairy-eyed fanatic is for the most part a rabid dog. I consider a member of ISIS or Boko Haram to be equal to that mad asshole Manson. Or McVeigh. Anyone who is willing to resort to violence to enforce their vision of the world on others, is bugfuck crazy. I don’t care if you hale from the Middle East or Minnesota, Arabia or Indiana. It’s not geographic, it’s not demographic. If I were handed a gun, and told to shoot Manson in the head, I’d do it. Probably without hesitation. ‘Cause that guy, he’s abdicated. He only <em>looks </em>human. This is neither a failed argument nor cowardice: some things just need to be done, regardless of how distasteful they are.</p> <p>Certainly this falls under the purview of Hume’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem">Is/Ought guillotine</a> – that is, my idea of a ‘perfect’ world is based on how mucked up this one is. It’s easy to preach reform, it’s harder to instate it. </p> <p>Here then, is my idealized version of the world.</p> <p>The world I want to live in….</p> <p>Is free of mentally deranged individuals hiding under the umbrella of religion. (Yeah, likely impossible)</p> <p>Is not based on payscale. Everyone gets free housing, food, medical care. Anything else, you gotta work for it.</p> <p>Does not discriminate based on religion, or the lack of it. </p> <p>Only gives free passes to the mentally and physically challenged (and even <em>those </em>should be limited: having Down’s Syndrome, for instance, is not a free pass to massacre people, any more than is someone’s religion).</p> <p>Where everyone is equal, where everything is equitable. Where women and gays have equal rights, where someone’s belief doesn’t fuck up my (or anyone else’s) life that doesn’t believe likewise.</p> <p>It’s too much to ask, I realize that. Our species, we’re pretty amazing critters when we’re not being idiots. </p> <p>I hope that we’re drawing to the end of the Age Of Tribalism. That someday, people can live in peace not fear, where poverty is gone, and we as a species use reason as a tool, where being intellectual is acceptable and not a disease. </p> <p>The old explanations are just that: old. We were born in sin, fucked up from the start, that’s a terrible justification. Who would do that to a child, let alone a nascent species, except some terrible psychopath with too much time on his (imaginary) hands. </p> <p>I say there is no sin, only responsibility. We are responsible to and for one another. Because there is no Allah, Yahweh, Brahma, Jesus, or any other daft deity looking out for us. We are on our own. It is the weak mind that looks for external excuses or validation: there is no fate or destiny outside of what we forge for ourselves. We are like swords, our wills hammering out our purpose on the anvil of reality. </p> <p>Remember this: we are alone, but not to each other. Be responsible. Be exceptional. Be good, be safe, but not at another’s expense if it can be helped.</p> <p>But take no shit from anyone – because there’s limits to <em>everything</em>, even the universe. Prompt no harm, cause no harm, but don’t allow harm to come to you. </p> <p>Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-12331494800750173252015-10-10T23:36:00.001-07:002015-10-10T23:37:55.831-07:00Homophobes Gone Bonkers: Kim Davis Is Wagging The God (Whoops, I Mean Dog)<blockquote> <p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/10/11/homophobes-gone-bonkers-kim-davis-is-wagging-the-god-whoops-i-mean-dog/">Atheist Oasis</a> <br /> <br /><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O3maglJ-C04/VhoDWye1AuI/AAAAAAAABuM/MosIwGf-8tc/s1600-h/kimdavishypocrite2.jpg"><img title="kimdavishypocrite" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="kimdavishypocrite" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QrnYxiduudk/VhoDXRJlf_I/AAAAAAAABuU/EDUY179rLc0/kimdavishypocrite_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="142" /></a>Jesse Helms and Newt Gingrich were shaking hands congratulating themselves on the introduction of an antigay bill in Congress.  If it passes, they won't be able to shake hands, because it will then be illegal for a prick to touch an asshole.  ~Judy Carter</p> </blockquote> <p>Up until now, I’ve kept my big yap shut about the latest ‘salvo’ from the religious right, mostly because it’s…well, sad and ridiculous.</p> <p>It says a lot, however, about how damaged our society is, that anyone would cheer for some homophobe’s ‘belief’ rather than be outraged that such a two-faced hypocrite hasn’t been fired for her refusal to do her job. </p> <p>And this latest little bit of news…well, it’s pathetic.</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/posts/2015/10/8/kim-davis-sought-support-from-lawmakers-months-before-marriage-equality-decision">Kim Davis Sought Support From Lawmakers Months Before Marriage Equality Decision</a></p> <p>If there is anyone left in the world who views the Kim Davis as a simple county clerk standing up to the might of the United States government for the love of God and the U.S. Constitution, this article should dispel those notions.</p> <p>From <em>Vice News</em>:</p> <p>Five months before the Supreme Court's landmark decision declaring same-sex marriage legal in all states, Kim Davis, the Rowan County Clerk in Kentucky who was jailed last month for defying a federal judge's order to issue same-sex marriage licenses, wrote to state lawmakers asking them to back legislation that would exempt her and other county clerks from having to grant anyone a marriage license.</p> <p>Davis sent the letter to legislators about two weeks after she took office. In it, she sought support for "possible" legislation "that would give county clerks the option to exempt themselves" from issuing marriage licenses. She wanted clerks to have the option to not only refuse licenses to same-sex couples, but to refuse them to "all parties, as to not discriminate anyone."...</p> <p>"I can not ask my deputies to issue or be a party to 'the implementation of a contentious societal philosophy change' (per Florida clerk with same views) if I myself would not," the 49-year-old county clerk wrote to dozens of lawmakers. "I know the deadline is close for presentation of bills on the floor, but in light of the Supreme Court's decision to look at this in April, I feel it imparitive [sic] that we be ready to stand with our uncompromising convictions, holding strong to our morals."</p> <p>Davis' communications prove th<u>at not only was her protest premeditated</u>, <u><em><strong>she was aware of the possibility that she might have to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples before she took the job</strong></em></u>. She spent the months leading up to the marriage equality decision gathering support from lawmakers for her push against Gov. Steven Beshear and her own constituents. When she didn't get what she wanted as quickly as she wanted it, she took the nuclear option of unilaterally denying people marriage licenses. We've all seen the fallout of that.</p> <p>In addition, Davis asked lawmakers for a clear exemption to deny <em>anyone</em> a marriage license, whether they were part of a same-sex couple or otherwise. This is not a "reasonable accommodation", this is a carte blanche for a civil servant to not do one of the key aspects of her job while still pulling down a hefty salary. </p> <p>This is not a story of David and Goliath. This is a low-rent <em>House of Cards</em> meets reality TV culture in which political machinations are used to make a nationwide spectacle. </p> </blockquote> <p>It’s enough to turn anyone into a hardened, jaded cynic. The entire event orchestrated well in advance, cloaked to look like a spontaneous ejaculation of faith.</p> <p>I suppose Christians have to have it that way, but there are better means of foreplay, self or otherwise.</p> <p>Oh, and the bunch of them plagiarists: </p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/survivor-condemn-mike-huckabee-kim-davis-for-eye-of-the-tiger-usage-20150909">Survivor Condemn Mike Huckabee, Kim Davis for 'Eye of the Tiger' Usage</a></p> </blockquote> <p>So they stole a popular song that WAS NOT public domain (them thar Fox viewers, ain’t none too keen on doing homework), and they bore false witness.</p> <p>They broke their own rules. Wish that was shocking. But, putting impossible constraints on human nature, that is what the religious do. </p> <p>Yeesh. Some salvo. More like a sprinkler. And it doesn’t help that <a href="http://deadstate.org/kim-davis-outright-lied-in-her-account-of-meeting-with-pope-francis/">Davis actually lied about her meeting with the Pope</a>.</p> <p>People shouldn’t make rules they can’t keep. How does this keep escaping them? All this does is confirm something I already knew: that intelligence is most definitely NOT a criterion in natural selection. </p> <p>Till the next post, then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-76775812340602691212015-10-04T10:01:00.001-07:002015-10-04T10:01:33.861-07:00More On The Madness Of Muslims: Who Cares Where The Beef Is<p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/more-on-the-madness-of-muslims-who-cares-where-the-beef-is/">Atheist Oasis</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j43vKkNXTlI/VhFbaiF4kUI/AAAAAAAABtw/QvYTxc5-IzQ/s1600-h/jesusandmomuslimviolence%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="jesusandmomuslimviolence" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="jesusandmomuslimviolence" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JB5vFXbQHcY/VhFbbAZ2shI/AAAAAAAABt0/zKe-MeEyEKc/jesusandmomuslimviolence_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" height="244" /></a>It’s a sad day in the 21st century, when something this ridiculous and trite leads to tragedy:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/11900906/Muslim-man-beaten-to-death-over-rumours-he-had-eaten-beef-in-India.html">Muslim man beaten to death over rumours he had eaten beef in India</a></p> <p>Mohammad Akhlaq was attacked by around 100 people and despite being taken to hospital, police said "his life could not be saved" <br /> <br /></p> <p>A 50-year-old Muslim man was beaten to death over rumours he had eaten beef, a taboo in India, a Hindu-majority nation.</p> <p>Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged from his house on the outskirts of the capital and attacked by around 100 people on Monday night, a police officer told AFP.</p> <p>"When our team reached the spot a crowd was there outside his house. They (police) managed to rescue him and take him to the hospital, but his life could not be saved," said senior police superintendent Kiran S.</p> <p>Indian police said on Wednesday they had arrested six people and "deployed additional personnel to contain any further repercussions".</p> <p>Mr Akhlaq's 22-year-old son was also seriously injured in the attack and was in intensive care at a nearby hospital.</p> <p>Killing cows is banned in many states of India, a majority-Hindu country that also has sizeable Muslim, Christian and Buddhist minorities.</p> <p>In March, the state of Maharashtra toughened its ban to make even possessing beef illegal, a move seen by religious minorities as a sign of the growing power of hardline Hindus since nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi came to power.</p> <p>The rumours that the family had eaten beef began when a calf was reported missing in Dadri village, 22 miles from New Delhi.</p> <p>"An announcement about the family consuming beef was made at a temple, after which the mob descended on the man's house," said Kiran.</p> <p>The Indian Express quoted Mr Akhlaq's daughter Sajida as saying the family had mutton in the fridge and not beef.</p> <p>"They accused us of keeping cow meat, broke down our doors and started beating my father and brother. My father was dragged outside and beaten with bricks," she told the daily. </p> </blockquote> <p>Horrible. Wish it was unbelievable but over the last decade of watching religious crazies do all sorts of maniacal acts, this is not exclusive to Islam. Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, the list goes on. The vast collective cognitive dissonance of our species may very well cost us our existence. The hairy-eyed psychopaths, the imams, the priests, the ministers, are going to lead us to another extinction event, and all because none of them can agree on an epistemology or an afterlife. </p> <p>And all of them seem to lust for blood and fire, to purge the other, twisted tribalism declaring supremacy and demanding subjugation.</p> <p>I for one will never submit. Fear is their weapon – I will not live in fear. Intimidation is their tool – I will not be intimidated. Terror is their objective – I skin my teeth back and growl at it.</p> <p>I am infidel. I am kafir. And proud of it. There is no afterlife. So I will live this one as it is all we have.  And all the charlatans of history shall not convince me otherwise.</p> <p>Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-48792025809373432532015-09-27T14:14:00.001-07:002015-09-27T14:14:59.259-07:00More On The Madness Of Muslims–Even MORE Proof Islam Is A Rape Culture<p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/more-on-the-madness-of-muslimseven-more-proof-islam-is-a-rape-culture/">Atheist Oasis</a><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hwZgu222YNk/VghcUI65bdI/AAAAAAAABtU/fjZzmAFi-l4/s1600-h/pedomohammed2.jpg"><img title="pedomohammed" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="pedomohammed" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UCFpzroXBKo/VghcUbgFG4I/AAAAAAAABtY/nOL7z3lJaMg/pedomohammed_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="205" align="right" height="244" /></a></p> <p>As if there weren’t enough, the evidence is still mounting:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://pjmedia.com/blog/he-said-that-raping-me-is-his-prayer-to-god/">‘He Said That Raping Me Is His Prayer to God’</a></p> <p>    “He told me that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God. … He said that raping me is his prayer to God.”</p> <p>These extraordinary statements come from girls who were kept as sex slaves by jihadis of the Islamic State, as reported in a lengthy and revealing New York Times piece that was published Thursday.</p> <p>Not only does the piece illustrate the horrifying ordeal that Yazidi and other non-Muslim women endure at the hands of the Islamic State when they are forced into sexual slavery, but — most surprisingly — the article explains in detail how these monsters believe they are pleasing their bloodthirsty god by destroying these girls.</p> <p>Reported the Times’ Rukmini Callimachi:</p> <p>    In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her — it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.</p> <p>Both before and after he raped her, he prostrated himself in Islamic prayer:</p> <p>    “He told me,” the girl recounted, “that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God.”</p> <p>This was no isolated incident. A fifteen-year-old girl who had been forced into sex slavery recalled:</p> <p>    “He kept telling me this is ibadah” – that is, worship of Allah. “He said that raping me is his prayer to God. I said to him, ‘What you’re doing to me is wrong, and it will not bring you closer to God.’ And he said, ‘No, it’s allowed. It’s halal.’”</p> <p>All this is reminiscent of Hamas’ statement:</p> <p>    “Killing Jews is worship that draws us closer to God.”</p> <p>What kind of god is this?</p> <p>What kind of moral blindness has overtaken non-Muslim leaders? They sit and drink tea and “dialogue” with Muslim clerics while being careful to avoid mention of anything like this — if they’re even aware of it at all — much less ask them what they’re doing to combat within Muslim communities the theological basis for sex slavery.</p> <p>It must be faced: in Islamic texts and teachings, such a theological basis manifestly exists.</p> <p>The Times quotes Kecia Ali, an academic Islamic apologist at Boston University:</p> <p>    In the milieu in which the Quran arose, there was a widespread practice of men having sexual relationships with unfree women.</p> <p>“Unfree women”: for some reason, Ali doesn’t want to say the word “slave.” She goes on to claim:</p> <p>    [I]t wasn’t a particular religious institution. It was just how people did things.</p> <p>However — and surprisingly, considering the track record — the Times had the integrity to cite Cole Bunzel of Princeton University. The article noted that Bunzel points out:</p> <p>    [There are] numerous references to the phrase “Those your right hand possesses” in the Quran, which for centuries has been interpreted to mean female slaves. He also points to the corpus of Islamic jurisprudence, which continues into the modern era and which he says includes detailed rules for the treatment of slaves.</p> <p>     There is a great deal of scripture that sanctions slavery. You can argue that it is no longer relevant and has fallen into abeyance. ISIS would argue that these institutions need to be revived, because that is what the Prophet and his companions did.</p> </blockquote> <p>Religion of peace my homesick ass. Pedophiliac fanatics is what these ass clowns are. As a left wing liberal atheist, I’m supposed to tolerate such behavior? I used to be against the death penalty, but this psychotics are obviously mad dogs, and should be put down toot sweet. </p> <p>Women should off limits. Children should be off limits. Female children ARE NOT CHATTEL, just because some musty old tome written by some illiterate pedo says so.</p> <p>Religion: giving excuses to sociopaths for centuries to date.</p> <p>Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-58212610159622955182015-09-20T11:59:00.001-07:002015-09-20T11:59:01.594-07:00Philosophy 101–Essence Vs. Existence<blockquote> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existence_precedes_essence">“Existence precedes essence”</a> – Sartre. <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--Sp7llbNf6A/Vf8B8pKuNsI/AAAAAAAABs4/_vmbGYeKT_o/s1600-h/Existentialistsheep2.jpg"><img title="Existentialistsheep" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Existentialistsheep" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cINVPyeSw7E/Vf8B9G6w2dI/AAAAAAAABs8/azWDsU97f94/Existentialistsheep_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="188" align="right" height="244" /></a></p> </blockquote> <p>Cross posted @ the <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/09/20/philosophy-101essence-vs-existence/">Atheist Oasis</a></p> <p>As a nice change of pace, let’s discuss an existentialist concept, a very divisive one. It cuts to the very root of the dissension between theist and atheist. </p> <p>Is this the ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg” question? Well, the reality is, the egg precedes the chicken by some millions of years. (Of course, the creationists still think this is a pertinent question – which is why nobody engages them in a ‘debate’ anymore.)</p> <p>What prompted this post (no, this is not a ‘blog’, it’s a blog POST – I wish people would get this right!) was that I was watching a new show on Netflix, called <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3501074/">‘Madam Secretary’</a>. It’s quite good. However, at one point in the pilot episode, Dr. Elizabeth Faulkner McCord’s husband is introduced, a one Dr. Henry McCord, a professor of theology. The moment was showcased by his claiming that ‘essence precedes existence’.</p> <p>Now, due to the entrenchment of religion in our culture, my response a decade ago would’ve been, ‘wow, how interesting’. But this was one of those ‘yell at the TV moments’, and caused me to straightaway look this nonsense up. (Despite one of my recent <a href="https://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/extreme-religiousness-as-mental-illness-file-this-under-about-bloody-time/">muck-ups</a>, yes I do indeed research 99% of the time, even when I’m confident I’m right.)</p> <p>This then, is the source of ideological divisiveness in this country. Claiming that essence precedes existence is essentially a dualist concept (and we <a href="http://biblioblography.blogspot.com/2010/08/dangers-of-dualism-or-sometimes-there.html">all know how much I detest</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism">dualism</a>) – and it is what fuels the conflict between the ‘pro-lifers’ (another nauseating neologism I despise) and the pro-choice crowd. It is the belief that a soul exists. </p> <p>This is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presuppositional_apologetics">presuppositionalist</a> nonsense. It is anything but rational, anything but scientific.  It is, however, an invidious, insidious concept that we are surrounded by, in multiple forms, both blatant and subtle. It is so much in our culture, that when someone says ‘energy is never destroyed, it only transforms’ (in reference to the claim of soul existence) that I almost pop a vein.</p> <p>As a reductive materialist, everything is rooted in the physical. And until there is some replicable results that prove otherwise using strict empirical methods, that’s it. Done. We’re here, we are, get used to it. </p> <p>Because as I constantly tell people (being an aged flatulence means I get to repeat myself more often than someone younger), it’s not about whether the energy is still there – it’s a question of, what happens to the information? Because that is the actual crux of that issue lies here – if the book is burned, what happens to the words? </p> <p>They become ash. That’s all. Any other proposition is wild speculation without scientific proof.</p> <p>Till the next post, then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20169168.post-79837801862375623012015-09-13T12:52:00.001-07:002015-09-13T12:53:45.043-07:00Never Forget, Never Forgive: The 14th Anniversary Of A Tragedy<p>This Friday marked the historical tragedy of 9/11 – a tragedy we should never forget. This then was the wake-up call our country needed…would that we hadn’t needed or experienced it. </p> <p>The largest red flag since the Holocaust, it is more proof that indeed, there is no one looking down on us. If there were, the clouds should’ve parted, and ethereal hands come down to slap those planes down.</p> <p>But it was more than that. Never more clearly has the message been delivered: religion is toxic. Religion poisons the mind. It breeds psychotics by the boatload, or gives them unwise shelter. It devalues our lives by valuing a vague promise of something other. It suppresses the natural sex drive of people (and look how fucked up some of us are because of that). It teaches hate and tribalism wearing the mask of love. It lowers the sense of self-esteem by deeming all unworthy. And it is all vague guesswork – there is no proof that can be replicated in a lab, no bat-phone to the great beyond. It is all wild speculation, and that, simply put, is no good. </p> <p>The religious were put on notice that day, regardless of which one, that there are things beyond the pale, that no amount of sincere belief can change.</p> <p>Till the next post then.</p> Krystalline Apostatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09044558668644447375noreply@blogger.com0