Philosophy 101–Essence Vs. Existence

“Existence precedes essence” – Sartre.

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

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.

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.)

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 ‘Madam Secretary’. 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’.

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 muck-ups, yes I do indeed research 99% of the time, even when I’m confident I’m right.)

This then, is the source of ideological divisiveness in this country. Claiming that essence precedes existence is essentially a dualist concept (and we all know how much I detest dualism) – 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.

This is presuppositionalist 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.

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.

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?

They become ash. That’s all. Any other proposition is wild speculation without scientific proof.

Till the next post, then.

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Allegories Gone Wild: We Are Legion, For The Crazy Are Many

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." – Mark 5-9

Between sexuality and sin, one would think religion has fucked up enough people. But noooo…..the garbage just keeps on spilling over into the real world.

For instance.

Wanted: The Philippines Needs More Exorcists

Alvin Bailon and his wife were at their wits' end last September. Their 12-year-old son, an honors student, had begun having anxiety attacks, mostly about school. "And then all of a sudden he would slowly lose consciousness," Bailon recalls. "We term it as doze off. He would doze off and he would fall down slowly."

They brought him to three doctors, had his brain scanned (no irregularities were found), tried all sorts of anxiety pills prescribed by doctors. They even went to healers who use crystals for therapy.

Then they tried a beach retreat that the healers had recommended. Their son did well, but Bailon says on the car ride home the child "dozed off" and whispered in a totally unfamiliar voice, "Shhh, you might wake him up."

That's when the Bailons did what many in the overwhelmingly Catholic country do when facing a family crisis: They turned to the church — and its Office of Exorcism, opened in 2006 to address a growing number of cases and run by Father Jose Francisco Syquia.

Dressed in a short-sleeve button-down shirt, the Rome-trained exorcist says he has been driving demonic spirits out of people and houses for more than a dozen years. He has seen a steady increase in cases in the past decade, with 200 so far this year.

"At any given time we have at the minimum 30 cases," says the 48-year-old. "And we're only five exorcists."

Father Syquia leads a team of four priests who get additional assistance from volunteers: psychiatrists, doctors, lawyers and laypeople.

Given the number of cases he's juggling, Syquia recently sent a letter to the Philippine bishops conference asking that it send one resident exorcist to each of the country's 86 dioceses.

"[The] majority of them do not have exorcists or a team of exorcists that deal with these kinds of cases," says Syquia. "Therefore many of the Filipinos tend to go to the occult practitioners, what we call the faith healers, spiritists, etc."

Syquia believes these occult healers are responsible for the increased number of demonic possessions. The healers leave a person with "spiritual openings" that allow demons to latch on, he says.

Meanwhile, it's a draining job for the official exorcists. Just one session of prayers for a possessed individual can last four hours. And it may take several sessions, according to Syquia, to drive out evil spirits.

"That's very tiring," says Father Winston Cabading, secretary general of the University of Santo Tomas and a member of Syquia's team.

Not only that, the exorcists also have to deal with the aftereffects. They believe that demons retaliate against the priests.

"You expect that there will be more, what we call, retaliations because you are jumping into enemy territory and retaking ... what truly belongs to God," says Syquia. "And therefore it's more like maybe a commando raid behind enemy lines."

At least one of Syquia's trainees quit. Syquia says the trainee believed he had developed unexplained illnesses because of the work he was doing.

Nonetheless, Syquia believes young priests and seminarians have a real interest in spiritual warfare. And if they stick to it, they can help people like Alvin Bailon's son. After 10 months and 14 prayer sessions, Bailon says the boy is almost his old self.

"We've seen a lot of improvement in my son's condition, which is most important," the father reports. "He's back in school. He's doing so well, he's actually very independent."

What a complete load of bullocks. Big problem is, the Philippines (like many other 3rd world countries) is woefully behind in both medical and psychiatric technology, so they have to try to bind things together with glue and string. The Spaniards really fucked that country up with their Catholic bullshit.

There’s no such things as demons. It’s superstitious crap, which is yet one more reason (among many) we should go about denouncing the wholly bibble. At this point, I could care less if some gullible fools get all squiggly about how they’re butt-hurt: they can bite me. I take the time to denounce that nasty little tome of iniquity and death every chance I get. Popularity contests are for high-school teens (and brain dead Republicans). If we have to step on a few toes to get some progress, too damn bad. This sort of thing is a waste of valuable time, resources, and human emotion.

Till the next post, then.

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The Fallible Senses Anecdotes Rely On…

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

GHOST, n. The outward and visible sign of an inward fear. – Ambrose Bierce, the Devil’s Dictionary

Ghosts. They seem to proliferate our culture almost as much as any other supernatural drivel. There are multitudinous movies, cartoons, even (aackk!! GAGGG!!) reality TV shows about bunches of noodleheads claiming these ephemeral myths exist (or trying to prove it – which they fail at, of course).

What follows is one of the stupidest puff pieces ever written.

Horrors that tell me ghosts are alive and well

Swiss scientists who dismiss the supernatural as a trick of the mind are missing something...

Do I believe in ghosts? My reaction is usually a vehement, kneejerk “No, it’s stuff and nonsense” – untiI I remember that I do believe in them, actually.

Right out the gate, this woman abolishes all credibility. Does she often say one thing but believe another? There’s a word for that somewhere….

Not because I want to, but because I have to. I’ve variously been jinxed by French victims of the 100 Years War, haunted in a cursed cottage in Hereford and, briefly, adopted by the ghost of a black Labrador.

Yeesh, another one of these entitled idiots who thinks the alleged spirit world gives a rat’s fart in a whirlwind about the fact she even exists.

I pondered my encounters with apparitions when researchers from Switzerland this week claimed that ghosts are all in the mind.

The author doesn’t even bother referencing this: here is an article for research for the interested reader.

Aside from the fact that the Swiss are not a fanciful race, being instead the sort of nation that built the Large Hadron Collider to play about with sub-atomic particles, I was piqued at the “scientific” revelation that specters don’t exist.

Worst ad hominem ever.

My first paranormal encounter was on a family holiday in Périgord 16 years ago. There were 10 of us in a pretty gîte with a swimming pool, but as soon as we arrived, my two otherwise biddable teenage nieces refused to sleep in their room as it felt “creepy and undead”.

Teenage hormone overload, probably.

Then one sister sprained her knee, after which another went over, painfully, on her ankle. By unspoken agreement nobody ventured into the games room because it was “cold”; a euphemism for marrow-chilling.

Pubescent gawkiness is not proof of anything, except that teenie boppers are clumsy.

One night, my brother-in-law met an old lady in long skirts and a shawl sitting on the stairs, brooding. Sad but resigned, she conveyed that she meant no harm. He was so traumatised, he didn’t tell his wife until we were on the ferry home.

Was she a ghost? This undescriptive paragraph is again, aimless rambling.

I, meanwhile, went on a cycle ride, tumbled off at high speed and was found unconscious, with head injuries and a torn knee joint, by a French couple. I was discharged from hospital some days later, hobbling on crutches.

Apparently, lack of coordination runs in the family.

I returned to thank the couple who rescued me; they explained that their daughter had fallen off her horse at the exact same bend in the road a decade earlier and spent months in a coma.

Means absolutely nothing. Dead French soldiers causing a bicyclist to be injured. Yeah, self-obsess much?

Then they broke the news that our house – and theirs – was on the site of a field hospital in the 100 Years War, which treated wounded French soldiers after an attack by the English so savage as to have caused outrage, even by the grisly standards of the time. Coincidence? It felt more like vengeance.

Again, so fucking what? This is proof of nothing else except the author’s lack of critical thinking, and the usual rampaging narcissism.

Scroll forward 10 years and my husband and I, with our elder daughter, rented a cottage in Herefordshire, complete with thatched roof. It was sweet. It was perfect. It was malign.

That’s enough material for a Lifetime movie (retch!).

Within hours we realised something was wrong. Eight months pregnant, I awoke one morning to find insect bites all over my bump; nowhere else.

Likely a rash. You know how these nutjobs tend to accentuate the mundane to prove their delusions. And at 8 months preggers, she could very well have been projecting her hormone imbalance onto her environment.

As the days went by a dreadful lethargy affected us all: we grew exhausted and depressed. We bed-hopped because we couldn’t sleep. Even the dog was subdued. It took us longer and longer to get up and out; it was as if the house was subsuming us into the very fabric of the building. By the end of a week, I had lost a stone in weight and it was with deep gratitude that we departed.

Shee-it, that could’ve been anything. Chemical spill, a leak, there’s a whole bundle of scientific reasons for this. And not even a reason for why the cottage was ‘haunted’.

Later that same holiday, we headed to North Devon and toured the 11th‑century Chambercombe Manor, one of Britain’s most haunted homes (no, I have no idea why we did that either). There, a man in our group turned white and started yelling: “There’s someone horrible behind me! Take a picture!” We could see nothing. The guide, however, said with studied matter-of-factness: “Yes, I’m afraid there is. And you are right, he’s not a nice character at all. Let’s see if he will go away.”

I have an unfriendly phrase for this: humoring the crazy asshole.

Then I felt a weird shiver down my left leg, and involuntarily rubbed it. “That’s the dog,” said the guide. “Black labrador. Friendly enough, but you must make him stay in the kitchen or else…”

Makes you wonder how many times the guide played this trick on the rubes.

And so, as I remonstrated to thin air “Good dog! Stay! Stay!”, the rest of the party gratefully filed out through the chapel and into the hallway.

Probably rolling their eyes and circling a finger to their temples…

It was freaky, it was impossible, it was real. As we legged it to the car, the poor anguished man was standing in the garden shaking as the guide shrugged: “I’m sorry, yes, he is still with you. It’s very puzzling.”

Guide likely enjoys doing this to the gullible touristas.

For all I know, he could be there still. So I take the appliance of Swiss science with a large pinch of salt, and invite you, dear readers, to share your eldritch stories of harrowing hauntings. Sometimes the inexplicable is all the explanation any of us needs.

For all we know, you’re skipping your meds, lady. The ‘inexplicable’ is for lazy thinkers, people who think a few tailored anecdotes (from someone who freely admits they say one thing but believe another) is counted as ‘evidence’.

Oh, and hey wait! What horrors, exactly? We’re missing some of the key components here: blood soaked walls, the distant wailing, the faces distending from the rubbery walls, the deep tragedies of legendary suicides and/or murders. Stating that the area was the scene of a monstrous tragedy is not the same thing. In fact, if you really think about it, the entire planet is one vast graveyard. Chances are that dozens of folks died on the spot you’re sitting on (or in the near vicinity), but we don’t have squads of spooks marching across the scenes of multi-car pileups on freeways, or even across marches and marshes. It’s stupid to say ghosts exist: no one can even come close to proving there is any such thing as an afterlife. That should occur a posteriori (and a priori, if I had my way).

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Faith Freed The Slaves? More Tea-Bagging Bullshit

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." – Unknown

I wish we lived in a place more like the America of yesteryear that only exists in the brains of us Republicans. - Ned Flanders

Another unsurprising and complete gaffe, in a long and embarrassing line of them:

The insane lie about slavery that Christian conservatives are spreading

The fanatical right in the US has a problem on its hands and that problem is American history. History tells a tale that does not fit the narrative of the Tea Party and libertarian version of American’s founding and history.

That was evident this week, when former senator Jim DeMint, who is head of the Heritage Foundation, a libertarian think tank, made the claim that it was not the government that freed the slaves, but faith.

Talking to Jerry Newcombe on the radio show  Vocal Point, DeMint said, “[Abolitionism] came from a growing movement among the people, particularly people of faith, that [slavery] was wrong.” DeMint goes out of his way to say big government had nothing to do with freeing the slaves; it was on the Constitution and Lincoln, because obviously neither of those is big government. DeMint goes on to say:

The reason that the slaves were eventually freed was the Constitution; it was like the conscience of the American people. Unfortunately there were some court decisions like Dred Scott and others that defined some people as property, but the Constitution kept calling us back to ‘all men are created equal and we have inalienable rights’ in the minds of God. But a lot of the move to free the slaves came from the people; it did not come from the federal government. It came from a growing movement among the people, particularly people of faith, that this was wrong. People like [British abolitionist William Wilberforce] who persisted for years because of his faith and because of his love for people. So no liberal is going to win a debate that big government freed the slaves. In fact, it was Abraham Lincoln, the very first Republican, who took this on as a cause and a lot of it was based on a love in his heart that comes from God.

DeMint misses some important historical points here. For starters, while he is correct that Lincoln was a Republican, he ignores the history of the Democratic and Republican parties and their ideologies at the time. The roles of the party had been reversed and did not fully change place until around the time of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Secondly, there is no historical evidence Lincoln governed with faith. Lincoln never joined a specific religion, yet he did appear to believe in some form of God or deity. This however is not sufficient evidence that Lincoln fought to free the slaves because of a religious or faith-based obligation to do so.

DeMint also misses another important piece to the historical puzzle: most churches refused to take part when offered a leading role by abolitionists. As historian John R. McKivigan explains in his book  The War Against Proslavery Religion: Abolitionism and the Northern Churches 1830-1865, “All but a few small denominations balked at a commitment to uncompromised abolitionist principles and programs. As a result, civil war and government ended slavery in 1865.”

History is not on the side of DeMint, who is fighting to change the country’s history to fit a new narrative he has for the Tea Party and the far right. DeMint knows the true history of this country is built upon the backs of liberals, union men and women, and those who fought against an oppressive South, ruled by then conservative Democrats, who are now in turn the conservative right’s Republican Tea Party.

While crediting Lincoln with freeing the slaves is actually historically inaccurate in his intentions, it is correct that the war Lincoln chose to fight did bring an end to slavery. Lincoln himself said he was not interested in freeing the slaves when going to war—his goal was preserving the Union, and freeing slaves happened to be a later part of his military strategy.

Lincoln wrote in a letter to abolitionist Horace Greeley in 1862:

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing  any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing  all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”

So while in the end Lincoln’s decision to go to war with the South to save the Union did result in the freeing of the slaves, this was not his intention. DeMint is continuously wrong in his assertions and his invented history in which his party saved the day and freed the slaves without big government, only a Constitution and God himself.

This narrative DeMint is trying to create has a thorn in its side that it does not even try to remove, and that is that the South still holds onto anger over its Civil War loss. They still fly Confederate flags and refer to the war not as the Civil War, but as the war of northern aggression. Some cities still have monuments erected in celebration and remembrance of fallen Confederate heroes. This does not sound like the narrative of those who hold faith so deeply they fought to free slaves. Instead, it tells a tale of a radical Christian Right that fought to the death for its “god-given right” to own slaves.

This does seem to be the latest trend in Tea Party politics; if only history were different and they could be the heroes, their lost political capital could be regained. They want to appear as though they stand against tyranny and will fight for the little person.

Inventing history and creating heroes out of thin air is what the Tea Party is trying to rally behind. These are the exact events we are watching play out in Nevada right now, with rancher Cliven Bundy taking up arms with a band of libertarian fanatics against the Bureau of Land Management.

Bundy stopped paying his federal fees for letting his cattle graze on government-owned land and went as far to say, “I don’t recognize [the] United States government as even existing.” This type of delusional rhetoric is exactly what the Tea Party is about.

Their desire to enact a political revolution is so obsessive they are willing to cling to anyone with a gun who will stand up against the US government. They ignore the fact that Bundy is nothing more than the freeloaders they campaign against, refusing to pay his rent and stealing from the US government by using its land to feed his cattle.

Apparently, a white Tea Party libertarian is a revolutionary, and a group of them are national heroes; yet when police evict a minority family from their home at gunpoint because they failed to make rent, the minorities are freeloaders living off the American citizens tax dollars.

Just as DeMint is fighting to change the history of America to include his band of slave owners as abolitionists, the party is trying to use someone like Bundy, who for all intents and purposes is a domestic terrorist, as a national icon against their invented tyrannical government.

False narratives are the sign of a party in its death throes. We are witnessing a party struggling to stay relevant in a world that has become increasingly liberal. The erratic behavior from the right is nothing but a response to the current climate that shows liberalism has won.

Markos Moulitsas of Daily KOS writes, “But if you wonder why conservatives seem to carry perpetual grievances, it’s because they know they have lost. The entire world around them has left them behind. Heck, they’ve created an entire alternate media world in which to cocoon themselves. But they know they’ve lost.”

The right knows the fight is moving out of their hands: more than a dozen states have legalized gay marriage, their religious beliefs are being squeezed out of government, and the population is done with pampering the corporate elite.

This changing political climate has the right scared and backed into a corner. It should come as no surprise they are lashing out and grasping at straws. From extremists pointing guns at federal agents to a retelling of historical events, the Tea Party rhetoric machine is gassed up and ready to spread mythology and endorse violence and terrorism until its final breath.

Jebus wept. What the fuck is up with these people? I stopped watching the news a while ago, because of my blood pressure. And that was because, almost inevitably, some Republican was always blathering out some of the most ignorant and uneducated dreck, that I would extend my hands claw-like toward the set, and yell, “How in FUCK did this idiot get elected?!?” I’m sure many of you have had similar responses.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: we need to abolish the Republican Party in this country. It does nothing but harm: restricting reproductive rights, gay rights, always braying for the White Jay-sus and the sacred cow of capitalism. It’s enough. Tell every Republican you meet: “You’re on the wrong side.”

That’s what I always do.

Till the next post, then.

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Republicans Gone Mental: Palin Slinging Imaginary Poo

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis
So let’s see if I’ve got this straight. As if it’s not enough that Christians want special dispensations (gee – whadda surprise!), they also want to imagine some sort of war on their societally approved madness.

Case in point:

Sarah Palin: ‘Angry atheists’ are trying to ‘abort Christ from Christmas’

If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, Sarah Palin said, he would probably go on Fox News to complain about the war on Christmas.

The former half-term governor of Alaska and failed vice presidential candidate appeared Thursday at Liberty University to promote her new book Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas.

She told the audience of students that the U.S. Constitution was written by and for moral and religious people, and that nonreligious people probably were incapable of appreciating its principles.

“If you lose that foundation, John Adams was implicitly warning us, then we will not follow our constitution, there will be no reason to follow our constitution because it is a moral and religious people who understand that there is something greater than self, we are to live selflessly, and we are to be held accountable by our creator, so that is what our constitution is based on, so those revisionists, those in the lamestream media, especially, who would want to ignore what our founders actually thought, felt and wrote about in our charters of liberty – well, that’s why I call them the lamestream media,” Palin said.

She seemed to imply that Jefferson, who spent his summers at a home not far from the present-day site of Liberty University, may have been inspired by the religious college founded in 1971 by televangelist Jerry Falwell.

“Thomas Jefferson and his thinking, I believe that much of it fundamentally came from this area, having spent his summers here, having spent influential years here, two miles away from Liberty University,” Palin said. “Man, there’s something in the water, perhaps, around here – again you are fortunate you get to taste it.”

Palin said Jefferson would likely agree that secularists had set their sights on destroying the religious themes in Christmas celebrations.

“He would recognize those who would want to try to ignore that Jesus is the reason for the season, those who would want to try to abort Christ from Christmas,” she said. “He would recognize that, for the most part, these are angry atheists armed with an attorney. They are not the majority of Americans.”

Palin said there was a double standard that protected atheists at the expense of the religious.

“Why is it they get to claim some offense taken when they see a plastic Jewish family on somebody’s lawn – a nativity scene, that’s basically what it is right?” she said. “Oh, they take such offense, though. They say that it physically even can hurt them and mentally it distresses them so they sue, right?”

“But heaven forbid we claim any type of offense when we say, ‘Wait, you’re stripping Jesus from the reason, as the reason for the season,’ but heaven forbid we claim any type of offense,” Palin said. “So that double standard, I think Thomas Jefferson would certainly recognize it and stand up and he wouldn’t let anybody tell him to sit down and shut up.”

I’m not sure where to begin with this chicanery. First up, Thomas Jefferson was a closet deist – apparently, like most Republicans, Palin doesn’t fact-check before she shoots her mouth off. Secondly, saying ‘the U.S. Constitution was written by and for moral and religious people, and that nonreligious people probably were incapable of appreciating its principles’ is like saying that anyone who doesn’t drive a stick shift doesn’t drive at all – it’s a bogus claim. The ‘immoral atheist’ meme has been debunked countless times. Thirdly, that Jefferson received ‘inspiration’ centuries ago from an institution built in the 20th century is just plain bugfuck nuts. Fourth, paraphrasing a dead person to support your own views is just plain bad form. Fifthly, I personally wish there was any ‘double-standard’ favoring atheists – that’s just plain bullshit. If anything, the ‘poor persecuted’ Christians have been running things and having everything their way for far too long…for millennia in fact. And now are weeping about their loss of special dispensations.

Furthermore, their mythical man-child jebus isn’t the ‘reason for the season’. As anyone with half an informed opinion can tell you, humanity has been celebrating solstices centuries long prior to the fictional Palestinian ministry.

After regurgitating half-truths and outright fabrications for years – gee whiz, why wouldn’t any atheist get angry? It’s similar to someone from another country who has never visited your country, never read anything about it, doesn’t even speak the language, and yet that someone sees fit to lecture you at length about your own country, culture, and citizenship as if you know nothing about it at all.

It’s a pisser.

Till the next post then.

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Ding Dong The Bitch Is Dead: Another Liar Bites The Dust

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it – Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 4

There is perhaps few emotional crimes worse than pandering to a person’s grief with promises of falsehoods. And while I usually try to empathize on this sort of topic, I really can’t.

Sylvia Browne is dead.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

She was a liar, a fraud, a snake-oil salesman, a confidence man*. In short, she made millions on the ghoulish garbage known as the afterlife. Pandering to the lowest common denominator of poor education, she raked in undeserved riches with her scam. Her history is risible: let’s take a look;

Psychic readings

Browne started to give psychic readings in 1974, and performed thousands of one-on-one readings for a wide variety of groups and individuals. As of 2008, she charged $850 for a 20- to 30-minute telephone session.

More than prostitutes charge per hour. And likely less satisfying.

Browne was the author of dozens of books on paranormal and spiritual topics. She discussed a wish for people to feel that they are loved by God. Browne claimed that God comprises both a male and a female part, named Om and Azna respectively. She stated that the entity of God loves all people and living beings equally, no matter what one's specific religious or spiritual beliefs are. According to Browne, this includes atheists, people who do not believe in a god or gods. Browne wrote that people's actions and intentions define a person and soul, and that people of all religions, spiritual beliefs, and non-beliefs may go to "the Other Side", as she referred to Heaven. Browne wrote that she presented her beliefs in a way that allows readers or listeners to take what they want from her teachings and leave behind what they do not agree with.

Wow – she must’ve learned that in psychobabble city.

Paranormal claims

Browne claimed that she knew what it is like in Heaven. In her book The Other Side and Back, she says the temperature is a constant 78 °F (25.6 °C), that there are no insects unless one wants there to be, that pets go to Heaven, and that a house can be built wherever one wants. She asserted that the "other side" exists approximately three feet above ground level and at a "higher vibrational level" and that this makes it difficult for humans to perceive. Like a number of other psychics, she claimed to have been born able to perceive a wider range of "vibrational frequencies".

Browne declared that she could see angels, and that they looked similar to depictions in paintings but had different traits depending on their "phylum." She also claimed that they do not speak. Browne professed the ability to speak with her spirit guide, "Francine," and gave details of 54 of her own former lives as divined by her.

Yeesh – self-involved much, lady? So she sees shit, knows the thermostat, and claims to have had 54 lives? 54 separate personalities is closer to reality.

Here’s where the hilarity really begins:

False predictions

Browne made many public predictions which have subsequently been proven false, including the following:

• In 2002: Browne told the parents of 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck, who had disappeared earlier that year, that Shawn was dead and had been kidnapped by a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks. Hornbeck was found alive in 2007; his kidnapper was Caucasian and short-haired. In June 2008, UK television network ITV2 was sanctioned by Ofcom for re-airing the Montel Williams episode featuring Browne's original prediction.
• In November 2004, to the mother of kidnapping victim Amanda Berry, who had disappeared 19 months earlier: "She's not alive, honey." Browne had claimed to have had a vision of Berry's jacket in the garbage with "DNA on it." Berry's mother died two years later believing this to be the case. Berry was found alive in May 2013.
• On Larry King Live in 2003, Browne predicted she would die at age 88. She died in 2013, aged 77.

Aye caramba! A psychic who can’t even predict her own death! Who’da thunk it?

Funnier still:

In 2000, Brill's Content examined ten recent Montel Williams episodes that highlighted Browne's work as a psychic detective, spanning 35 cases. In 21 cases, the information predicted by Browne was too vague to be verified. Of the remaining 14, law enforcement officials or family members stated Browne had played no useful role.

In 2010, the Skeptical Inquirer published a detailed three-year study by Ryan Shaffer and Agatha Jadwiszczok, examining Browne's predictions about missing persons and murder cases. Despite Browne's repeated claims to be more than 85% correct, the study reported that "Browne has not even been mostly correct in a single case." The study compared Browne's televised statements about 115 cases with newspaper reports, and found that in 25 cases where the actual outcome was known, she was completely wrong in every one. In the rest, where the final outcome was unknown, her predictions could not be substantiated. The study concluded that the media outlets that repeatedly promoted Browne's work had no visible concern about whether she was untrustworthy or harmed people. Among the predictions examined in the study were the following:

• In 1999, Browne said that six-year-old Opal Jo Jennings, who had disappeared a month earlier, had been forced into slavery in Japan. Later that year, a local man was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Jennings. In 2003, an autopsy of Jennings' remains found that she had died within hours of her abduction.
• In 2002, Browne claimed Holly Krewson, who had disappeared in 1995, was working as an exotic dancer in a Hollywood nightclub. In 2006, dental records were used to positively identify a body found in 1996 in San Diego as Krewson's.
• In 2002, Browne claimed Lynda McClelland, who had disappeared in 2000, had been taken by a man with the initials "MJ"; was alive in Orlando, Florida; and would be found soon. In 2003, McClelland's son-in-law David Repasky, who had been present at Browne's reading, was convicted of murdering McClelland; her remains were found near her home in Pennsylvania.
• In 2004, Browne said that Ryan Katcher, a 19-year-old who had disappeared in 2000, had been murdered, and his body could be found in a metal shaft. In 2006, Katcher's body was found in his truck at the bottom of a pond, where he had drowned.

In a 2013 follow-up article, Shaffer reviewed more recent predictions by Browne, as well as predictions whose outcomes had been earlier classified as undetermined but were now largely resolved. According to Shaffer, Browne was mostly or completely wrong in 33 cases and mostly accurate in none.

I take it back – this isn’t funny, it’s horrifying. The American people will listen to any idiot with a good lie, regardless of how often the person in question is proven wrong.

What I love, is how James Randi braces these bozos:

Scientific skeptic James Randi, a retired stage magician turned investigator of paranormal claims, was a vocal critic of Browne, and claimed her accuracy rate was no better than educated guessing. On September 3, 2001, Browne stated on Larry King Live that she would prove her legitimacy by accepting the James Randi Educational Foundation's $1,000,000 challenge to demonstrate supernatural abilities in a controlled scientific test. However, by April 2003, Browne had not contacted Randi to make testing arrangements.

On May 16, 2003, in another appearance on King's show, Browne said she had not taken the test because Randi refused to place the prize money in escrow. Randi responded by mailing a notarized copy of the prize account status showing a balance in excess of one million dollars; Browne refused to accept the letter. In late 2003, despite challenge rules that money could not be placed in escrow, Randi announced that he was willing to do so for Browne; Browne did not accept or acknowledge this offer. In 2005, Browne posted a message online that she had never received confirmation of the prize money's existence, despite Randi's claim that he had a certified mail receipt showing Browne's refusal of the package. In 2007, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360°, Browne's business manager Linda Rossi stated that Browne would not be taking Randi's challenge "because she has nothing to prove to James Randi."

Wow – squirm much, you fucking ghoul?

I consider these people to be beneath contempt. Unemployable (or too lazy to go out and get a REAL job), they scam and flim-flam the gullible public (we can perhaps blame this on TV’s ubiquitous garbage, but that’s another topic). Psychics are lower than priests, rabbis, imams, or ministers. At least most of the latter think they’re doing the right thing – but a psychic? If they’re not mentally wrecked, they’re lying scumbags.

I am terribly tempted to go pee on her grave. And see if her ‘psychic’ son Christopher Dufresne can actually track me down using only his mind.

Just kidding – there’s no such thing as psychics.

Till the next post, then.

*An side to the PC police – I use the terms purposely, and independently of gender. So spare us all your semantic objections.

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End Of Days? And The Bleat Goes On…

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis
Frankly, I’m surprised that his handlers let him off his leash.

George W. Bush to Raise Money for Group That Converts Jews to Bring About Second Coming of Christ

Next week, former President George W. Bush is scheduled to keynote a fundraiser in Irving, Texas, for the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute, a group that trains people in the United States, Israel, and around the world to convince Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah. The organization's goal: to "restore" Israel and the Jews and bring about about the second coming of Christ.

Messianic Jews have long been controversial for Jews of all major denominations, who object to their proselytizing efforts and their message that salvation by Jesus is consistent with Jewish theology. Last year, Abraham Foxman, president of the Anti-Defamation League, told Politico that former Sen. Rick Santorum's appearance at an event hosted by another Messianic Jewish organization, the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, was "insensitive and offensive." And Commentary magazine, which bills itself as a "conservative American journal of politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues," noted, "it must be understood that the visceral distaste that the overwhelming majority of Jews have for the Messianics is not to be taken lightly." Many Messianic Jews are Christians who have adopted aspects of Jewish ritual observance; others are Jews who share the Christian belief that Jesus is the Messiah.

Asked about Bush's upcoming appearance at the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute (MJBI) event, Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said, "It's disappointing that he would give his stamp of approval to a group whose program is an express effort to convert Jews and not to accept the validity of the Jewish covenant." Foxman was traveling overseas and unavailable to comment.

(After this story published, Rabbi David Wolpe of Los Angeles' Sinai Temple, whom Newsweek has called the most influential rabbi in the country, tweeted, "This is infuriating." On Monday, he published a story in Forward on the subject, writing, "the sudden rise of ‘Messianic Jews’ owes more to a clever way of misleading untutored Jews than to making theological sense. It should not receive the imprimatur of a former President of the United States.")

Based in Dallas, the MJBI claims that it acts like the Apostle Paul in helping to "educate Christians in their role to provoke the Jewish people to jealousy and thus save some of them (Romans 11:11-14)." It has Bible schools in 12 countries, an online school of "Messianic theology," and programs to train Messianic rabbis and pastors. Its logos feature a star of David and a menorah, and its website promotes the weekly Torah portion, a "Yiddish Mama's Kitchen," and links to purchase Judaica and books, such as Christ in the Old Testament. The nonprofit organization brought in approximately $1.2 million in revenue in 2011, the last year for which records are available.

At the November 14 event, which will be held at the Irving Convention Center, Bush will discuss his White House experiences, according to promotional materials. Bush, the group says, will "share his passion for setting people free." Last year, Glenn Beck was the star of the group's fundraiser, which was held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

This year's event is designed to bring in funds for the group's proselytizing operations. And the former president is helping out with more than just speech-making. The most expensive of the ticket packages, which range from $100 to $100,000, includes 20 invitations to a VIP reception and photo opportunity with Bush, 10 signed copies of Bush's book Decision Points, and passes to tour the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

Alisa Stephenson, MJBI director of events and partner relations, would not say whether Bush is receiving a speaking fee for his appearance. "We cannot have any outside advertising or any media whatsoever involved in this, so I most likely cannot answer any of your questions," she tells Mother Jones.

At last year’s MJBI fundraiser, Beck received a "Defender of Israel" award. During Beck's time as host of his Fox News program (which ended in 2011), hundreds of Jewish leaders denounced his on-air rhetoric as anti-Semitic—particularly his repeated invocation of Nazis and the Holocaust to demonize political adversaries and his accusation that George Soros is a "puppet master" who collaborated with the Nazis. "One of the reasons why I love Israel so much is I'm a guy who's for the underdog," Beck told the audience. "I'm a Mormon, which is kind of the Jew of the Christian world."

Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church in Dallas, which Beck attends, introduced Beck as a "prophet" at the event. Morris told the crowd that his church has supported MJBI because "when we do this, the Bible tells us, it's going to change the whole world. That it's going to hasten the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's going to bring about worldwide revival."

When asked how the MJBI managed to secure Bush to keynote its fundraiser, Stephenson cited its track record of drawing influential speakers, pointing to the appearance by Beck.

At last year's event, members of the MJBI's board of directors explained the organization's mission of converting Jews to an audience of hundreds who were seated on a professional football field, wearing formal clothes, and eating pork barbecue. Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, a leading Messianic Jew and televangelist who chairs MJBI's board of directors, maintained that "our numbers are growing and growing," because "the Bible predicted that the day would come when the blindness would come off the eyes of the people it all began with." He was referring to Jews. The Bible, Bernis continued, "tells us that the day will come when all of Israel will be saved." The MJBI, Bernis said, "is one of the ministries that God has raised up to bring that to pass." Other featured speakers last year included David Barton, the religious right's discredited "historian," who this week used Beck's radio show to announce that he won't challenge Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in next year's Republican Senate primary.

Another MJBI board member, Rabbi Marty Waldman of Baruch HaShem, a Messianic congregation in Dallas, described his own conversion experience before making a pitch to the audience to donate money to MJBI. Money, he explained, is needed to hasten the return of Jesus. With the funds it collects, Waldman said, MJBI trains "people to preach the good news of the Messiah to the Jewish people." That's important, Waldman noted, because when there are "enough" Jewish people who call Jesus their savior, "some sort of a trigger will go off in heaven, and our father in heaven will say, 'Okay, son, it's time to get your bride.'"

Even if these nimrods get their wish, and every Jewish person on earth starts hollering ‘Jebus is the Meshach’, I can guarantee the same thing will happen that happens every day: nothing. From sea to shining sea, life will go on as if no momentous event has occurred. Because it didn’t. And it never will.

And seriously, if these clowns wanted to get any kind of intellectual props, they lost it by bringing on Glenn ‘Dreck’, and actually stooping to have the former Commander-In-Thief come by and spew his usual version of glossalia all over the place.

There won’t be a Second Coming. Hell, nobody’s going to even be breathing heavy. Of course, religions are great at the anticlimax thing. All foreplay, and no release.

Till the next post, then.

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Allegories Gone Wild: Obama Is The Antichrist? Pull The Other One Please…

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis
Sometimes my eyes hurt from popping out in disbelief, especially when the wankers start spewing this ass-nonsense:

Lively: Obama Is The Antichrist, Working With Satanic Gays To Bring About The Apocalypse

Scott Lively, the pastor behind anti-gay laws from Uganda to Russia, appeared on TruNews yesterday to reveal to host Rick Wiles the identity of the Antichrist: President Obama. While he refused to mention Obama by name, he said that the Antichrist is the person “heading the largest superpower of the world today.” Lively explained that the Antichrist (read: Obama) will cancel all of the world’s debts in 2015, end the Mideast conflict with a peace treaty between the Israelis and Palestinians and introduce a one-world economic system and secular humanist religion.

Lively: Regional war breaks out and at the same time, because of that, the global economy collapses, crashes. That begins the serious pain for the entire world that the globalists actually want to prepare them for the global, one-world system. They already have the economic system to bring in; just nobody is ready to accept it. So at the right time, after there’s been enough pain, what happens is the Antichrist—I won’t name any names here but he is heading the largest superpower of the world today—steps in at the right time and does three things. He declares a global jubilee in which all the debts of the world are eliminated, this is after there’s been massive numbers of people who have died—
Wiles: Scott, I told people, I told our audience years ago, I’m going to say 2008, I said on this program this global financial crisis will be so bad that at some point in the future a world leader will say the only solution is biblical, we will have to cancel all the debts and we are going to have a global jubilee.
Lively: Amen. And we just happen to have one coming up, September 23, 2015.
Wiles: And the politician who does it is going to be hailed as the greatest man on the planet.
Lively: The hero of the world, right? This is the guy that also is going to be able to do what no one else in the history of the Middle East conflict could do. He’s going to have brought a peace treaty between the Palestinians and the Israelis; the Palestinians get their two-state solution and the Israelis get the permission to build on the Temple Mount. And who is the hero? It’s the guy that I’m not going to mention his name.
Wiles: And a lot of Christians when they see the Temple going up are going to hyperventilate, thinking this is a great thing and they have no idea that Antichrist is coming.
Lively: Only because it’s a symbol of what’s coming. Here’s the one other part that’s been missing, you’ve alluded to it and we’re very close on this that at the same time he introduces the new global system but here’s the other missing component. What’s the religion of the Antichrist? The religion of the Antichrist is secular humanism.

[As Lively explained, the imminent apocalypse is the result of homosexuality, which he said is “at the heart of the Antichrist kingdom” (along with Islam). He repeated his claim that homosexuality caused Noah’s Flood and the destruction of Sodom, arguing that gay rights is the issue that “portends the End Times” and is backed by the Devil.]

What is the issue that God is using to divide the sheep and the goats right now? It’s not whether Jesus Christ is Lord. It’s where do you stand on homosexuality? You know why? He gave us the warnings about that. From Genesis to Revelation, he has given us the advance notice that this issue portends the End Times and that when you see these things happen you’ll know that is the context that you are in. That’s the issue that is dividing the church right down the middle, of all the issue that God could’ve chosen. And the people who are going to the world’s side and the Devil’s side on that question are completely blind to its importance as a biblical topic; they think it is unimportant, that God doesn’t care about that when He gave us the only sin associated with the destruction of cities with fire and brimstone, the only sin associated with a reprobate mind in Romans 1, the thing that the rabbis said was the last straw before God brought the Flood, the issue that seems to be the heart of the Antichrist kingdom in Revelation 11 when it says that the two witnesses are struck down in the city that is mystically called Sodom and Egypt: homosexuality and Islam.

[Lively argued that only Vladimir Putin is the world’s last hope, and called for other nations to follow in his footsteps in implementing stringently anti-gay laws.]

We don’t want to gloss over the problems that we have with Mr. Putin but by the same token he’s the only world leader capable of standing up to the West and he is championing the traditional marriage and Christian values regarding the central moral issue of our time that no one else has the capability to do what he’s doing. Really there’s a chance here for him to inspire all the morally conservative countries of the law to adopt a similar law that he just adopted, his country just adopted and really have a chance maybe to roll some of this terrible agenda back.

Really, Lively and Wills are just going to have to stop sucking on that glass pipe – religion seems to have the same effect on rational thought as crack cocaine.

Obviously Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum are futurists – that is to say, they believe that all the alleged ‘prophecies’ will occur in the not-too-distant future at an unspecified time. As opposed to preterists and historicists.

This nonsense has been going on for far too long. So many people have pointed the finger at prominent figures –from popes to presidents.  Religious people are such children – they live in a comic book world of extremes, and they love to point and call names at someone they disagree with.

Jesus never existed, there is no devil, no antichrist, all of that folderol is the invention of a bunch of Iron Age shepherds who pretty much do what today’s Republicans do – pull their info straight out of that orifice-that-shall-not-be-named.

No wonder religion appeals to those assholes…it’s the oldest con-game in the book, and all it requires is the steady stare of the psycho and the spittle of the passionate ranter to convince all those sheeple.

Till the next post, then.

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UFO Religion Demands Swastika Back

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis
It’s difficult to make this shit up:

UFO religion the Raelians want to rehabilitate the swastika

As the beachgoers of Long Island soaked up the sun last month, their attention was caught by a light aircraft flying above with a flag trailing behind it. On it was a huge swastika and the web address "proswastika.org". People were outraged. Who was responsible for publicly flaunting this ugly symbol of hate? Neo-Nazis? Pranksters? Neither, apparently.

The Long Island swastika actually belonged to the Raelians – the world's largest "UFO religion" – and the stunt was part of their pro-swastika campaign aimed at rehabilitating the symbol. Not because the Raelians are far-right extremists, they believe the Nazis' hijacking of the ancient Sanskrit peace symbol has been allowed to stand for long enough.

Before Hitler adopted it as the Nazi logo in 1920, variations of the swastika had been used by civilizations in China, Africa and South Asia since the bronze age.

"As long as we associate the swastika with Hitler and the horrors of the Nazi regime, they own it," argues Thomas Kaenzig, head of the pro-swastika movement. "We want to take it back. The swastika is an ancient symbol of good luck and harmony. It can be found all over the world.

Swastikas may have been depicted by ancient cultures since as far back as 2000 BC, but surely the pro-swastika movement recognizes that what it represents today still offends millions of people? ""If somebody associates the swastika with something negative, then I feel offended," says Kaenzig. "It's part of our official symbol. What about our feelings? When we flew the flag on the East Coast it wasn't to incite hatred, but to educate."

Have we discussed the Raelians before? Well, the wiki entry states that:

Raëlism (also Raelianism or the Raëlian Movement) is a UFO religion that was founded in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël. It is numerically the world's largest UFO religion. An adherent of Raelism is a Raelian.

The Raëlian Movement teaches that life on Earth was scientifically created by a species of extraterrestrials, which they call the Elohim. Members of this species appeared human and when having personal contacts with the descendants of the humans they made, they previously misinformed (on purpose) early humanity that they were angels, cherubim or gods. Raëlians believe messengers, or prophets, of the Elohim include Buddha, Jesus, and others who informed humans of each era. The founder of Raëlism, members claim, received the final message of the Elohim and that its purpose is to inform the world about Elohim and that if humans become aware and peaceful enough, they wish to be welcomed by them.

Great story, isn’t it? At least it tries to be scientific – but it reeks of the panspermia.

But there’s much to like about this particular religion. For instance:

Raelian ethics include striving for world peace, sharing, democracy and nonviolence. Sexuality is also an important part of the Raëlian doctrine. The Raëlian Church has attracted some of its priests and bishops from other religions despite having liberal views of sexuality.

Also:

Raëlians believe that sex is a normal, natural and healthy part of life and encourages people to be true to their natural sexuality. They promote healing from damaging messages from strict puritanical belief systems and social stigmas that stifle one's natural sexuality. Acceptance of masturbation, homosexuality, bisexuality, pansexuality, naturism and any legal, safe and consensual adult activity is promoted as part of a healthy and long life, and this is used to attract young converts to the religion. Raelians believe that sexuality is a gift of pleasure to mankind from the Elohim. The Raëlian book Let's Welcome our Fathers From Space says that new advanced extraterrestrial civilizations will ultimately practice a final religion or "religion of the infinite" that involves ubiquitous practice of Sensual Meditation.

Aside from the little green men from Mars weirdness, this sounds a little bit of all right.

They’re pro-cloning too:

As opposed to the scientific definition of reproductive cloning which is simply the creation of a genetically identical living thing, Raëlians seek to both genetically clone individuals, rapidly accelerate growth of the clone to adulthood through a process like guided self-assembly of rapidly expanded cells or even nanotechnology. and then transfer the mind and personality of the donor into the clone. Raëlians believe humanity can attain eternal life through the science of cloning.

In the final stages of development, hitherto unknown information contained within undamaged DNA would be enough to bring others back from the dead including their memories and personality. This would be done by taking a small sample from someone's body and preserving it at the time when the level of the brain's efficiency and knowledge is highest. On the day of death, a cell would be taken from the sample for the cloning to take place, and the memories and personality would be restored to their peak level.

Claude Vorilhon told lawmakers that banning the development of human cloning was comparable to outlawing medical advances such "antibiotics, blood transfusions, and vaccines."

Wow. Coupled with the topless rights of women, sounds kinda cool, no?

Problem is, their cosmological views are inconsistent with the evidence:

Raëlian cosmology as proposed in 1973 by Raël states that the observable universe has no creator and is infinite in time and finite in size and surrounded by infinite space.

In Raëlian cosmology, our observable universe is an "atom" of a much larger level of matter (and possibly organism) and subatomic particles in our bodies also possess universes like our own, but on a much smaller scale. This pattern, atom within universe within atom, is believed to be infinitely repetitive, from the infinitely small, to the infinitely large. The Raëlian Messages by Raël state that humanoid extraterrestrials, who were originally called under the name Elohim (singular: Eloha), verified this cosmology scientifically.

Because of the difference of mass, the activity of life inside in a living thing's atoms would undergo many millennia before enough time passes for that living thing to take a single step. Raëlians believe the universe is infinite in time and space and lacks a center. Because of this, one could not imagine where an ethereal soul would go.

Umm…no.

The universe is most definitely not infinite. This is fact. As far as I’m concerned, infinity is an abstract placeholder, a way of stating a numberless number that has no measurable limit. But everything is finite, and can be counted.

What really dampers my enthusiasm for this cult (and yes, it fits the parameters), is that there’s a lone individual claiming extraterrestrial contact, a charismatic individual who is the messianic center of it all, and yet nobody anywhere else has seen heard or spoken with these alleged ‘Elohim’.

Definitely a deal-breaker for the hard-core skeptic.

Till the next post then.

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Defending The Delusion: Or How Journalists Pander To The Sheeple…

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing. — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5)

Puff pieces. Nauseating things. They’re usually filler, pandering to the great unwashed, designed to tug a tear from the brainless. And this article is illustrative of that:

In defence of prayer

Whenever the US Congress and Senate are officially in session, the daily activities commence with someone saying a prayer. The same ritual occurs in many state and local governments throughout America: a prayer, the pledge of allegiance to the flag and then the business of the day.

To get a feel for what these prayers are like, consider this one that opened the US House of Representatives session on Friday:

"God our Father, we give You thanks for giving us another day. Bless the Members of the people's House as they gather at the end of another week in the Capitol. Endow each with the graces needed to attend to the issues of the day with wisdom, that the results of their efforts might benefit the citizens of our Nation and the world.

"On this Flag Day, may we be reminded of the greatness of the democratic experiment that is the Republic of the United States and diligent in our responsibilities as citizens to guarantee the freedoms enumerated in the Constitution for all who claim this country as their home.

"We also ask Your blessing leading into this weekend upon fathers throughout our country. May they be their best selves, and may their children appreciate fully the blessing their fathers have been to them. May all that is done this day be for Your greater honor and glory. Amen."

This was said by the House's resident chaplain, a Roman Catholic priest. He gives many of the prayers, although "guest chaplains" from other faith backgrounds are also invited throughout the year.

This is a clear violation of SOCAS. But this author goes on a tangent:

In an increasingly diverse nation, people are rightly asking if these prayers still have a place. The simplistic answer is to demand complete separation of church and state and advocate for the end of these prayers. But they are a tradition that has been in place since the initial meeting of the Continental Congress in 1774 (and even earlier in some state sessions).

No, it’s not ‘simplistic’ to demand that separation. An argument from tradition would also state that the Founding Fathers had slaves – so we should re-institute that atrocity.

It's the reason the US supreme court decided in 1983 (Marsh v Chambers) that these prayers are legal – but on one very big condition: the prayer opportunity cannot be "exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief".

What exactly constitutes proselytizing is hard to pin down and means something very different to each person.

What a load of shit. The word proselytize means, "1: to induce someone to convert to one's faith. 2: to recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or cause, and transitive verb: to recruit or convert especially to a new faith, institution, or cause”. The meaning is unambiguous, and not contingent on interpretation.

The supreme court is again hearing a case about crossing that line, this time from in a town in western New York where the claim is that the prayers have been far too Christian over the years and efforts have not been made to invite non-Christians to participate.

  And the best way to deal, is to eliminate the superstitious fluff.

The issue goes to the heart of the first amendment of the constitution that grants religious freedom:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Wrong again. The issue is about expressing religion itself – and that the government should stay out of that arena.

Keep in mind that these prayers are said among grown-ups (well, as much as you can call lawmakers that some days). Those who want to take a moment to pause and reflect can, those who don't can reasonably be expected to tune it out.

This is the dishonest backhand: don’t like it? Shut up about it.

Any appearance of religion in government does not mean there's a theocracy. Yes, some legislation (anti-abortion bills, in particular) in America is motivated by religious causes, but by and large, there is respect for the diverse society that we live in today. It's built into the very nature of such large deliberative bodies that are responsive at the ballot box to a multicultural voter base. If someone really crosses the line, they will be called out and voted out.

Oh please. It must be soothing to be so naïve. Lawmakers cross the line so often, it’s been smudged out of existence. George W. claimed ‘gawd told him to invade Iraq’ (which was ploy to get him re-elected). There’s too many of these sort of examples to list in a single post.

It's true that the US has a growing atheist (or simply agnostic) population, though it is still less than 20% of the population. The overwhelming majority of Americans practice and identify with some religious tradition. It forms a part of many people's personal morality and their sense of being. That doesn't mean every decision comes from the Bible or the Qur'an or the Torah or the Vedas. But it does mean that people see their belief system as a spiritual guidance.

An argument from numbers? Pathetic.

That's why the prayers should stay in place, albeit in a more explicitly diverse way. These daily prayers can showcase how pluralistic America is, and they can still offer some inspiration for those for whom faith is an integral part of life.

No they shouldn’t – because they’re symptomatic of a more primitive, more superstitious tradition that we should’ve outgrown centuries ago.

There is nothing to hide with the prayers. They become part of the official record. At the federal and state levels, they are easily searchable online. What stands out to me after browsing through them for this year alone, including at the federal level, is a need for more diversity. Many governments are good at inviting clergy from different Christian traditions, but not at inviting other religions to take part. For example, in my home state of Pennsylvania, the state house hasn't had anyone other than a Christian give the prayer, according to the records released thus far for 2013.

Oh no, we can’t do something as simple as discontinue this…no, no, no, too many people’s petite toes might be stepped upon. Instead, let’s complexify everything even further by allowing every crazy delusionist a shot at being heard.

When I called the offices that coordinate the prayers in Pennsylvania, it was clear that they weren't trying to exclude anyone, they simply select people to give the prayers based on the nominations they receive from fellow lawmakers (and sometimes the politicians themselves will offer the daily prayer). There probably needs to be a greater effort to recruit people from other faiths. And yes, that should include having some atheists, as well.

Pander, pander, pander. It’s nauseating, it is. It’d be simpler (but not simplistic) to simply do without the nonsense altogether.

Controversies are inevitable. Recently in Arizona, an atheist politician used his prayer slot to offer some thoughts that one of his fellow lawmakers took issue with. Having so many faith traditions exist side by side has brought plenty of friction over the years in American society. It's never going to be perfect, and there are likely to be more court cases about public prayers, regardless of the outcome of the current one.

And yet still the obvious solution is avoided assiduously.

That is part of the grand experiment of America. But so is the ability to practice religion. Simply striking it entirely from our legislatures doesn't honor the many faith traditions who have come to this nation seeking religious freedom.

Wrong – striking it from the legislatures saves a whole lot of tax money, and that means a fatter wallet for us the citizenry. Wouldn’t you agree?

Because it really boils down to ‘my dad can kick your daddy’s ass’, only in this case, the fathers are not only not present, but never existed in the first place.

Till the next post, then.

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Republicans Gone Stupid: Yet Another Pseudo-Scientific Claim

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis
Really, just when you thought these jackasses couldn’t come up with anything stupider:

Trent Franks's Abortion Ban Now Has a Rape Exception

On Wednesday, Representative Trent Franks argued that the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortion after twenty weeks, did not need Democrat-proposed exceptions for rape or incest because, "The incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low." The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee agreed enough to approve the bill, but the Arizona Republican's comments (which either were or were not worse than Todd Akin's legendary abortion gaffe) drew some unwanted media attention to the legislation. In what appears to be an attempt to limit the fallout, the House Rules Committee's GOP leadership has quietly amended the bill to include previously dismissed rape and incest exceptions, though women hoping to make use of them would be required to report the crimes to the police before getting the abortion.

Also, a female abortion opponent, Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, will now oversee the debate of the bill (which Franks sponsored) when the entire House takes it up next week. Unsurprisingly, the changes were not enough to win the hearts and minds of the pro-choice crowd. Planned Parenthood Eric Ferrero called the last-minute rape and incest provision, "A cynical political attempt by House leadership to cover up the deeply ignorant and offensive views on women’s health expressed by the bill’s sponsor." Putting Blackburn's female face in front is similarly unlikely to fool anyone.

Man, I am so sick of these assholes. Always legislating the reproductive health of women, and trotting out facile stupidities when challenged. What is it about this party that attracts the mentally deficient?

Furthermore, I could give a rat’s fart in a hurricane what gender, religion, or pseudo-philosophy an anti-abortion (aka ‘pro-life’) nitwit is – wrong is not contingent on any factor except being wrong.

The fact is, that while these idiots are putting on a dog-and-pony show about their alleged morality, and that pointy-hatted moron in Italy is dictating prophylactic policy, our planet is getting dangerously over-overpopulated, and the witless masses out there just keep pumping out more mouths to feed that drain our resources.

I predict that outcome will end in more than just tears.

Till the next post, then.

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David Bowie, The Catholic Church, And The Pearl Clutchers

David Bowie - The Next Day (Explicit) - YouTube

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

After watching a very, very old movie with David Bowie in it (The Hunger – and I suppose that it was a little bit of all right in 1983, but only gets an ‘eh’ and a horizontal palm shaking slightly), I googled Mr. Bowie, and lo and behold, even at the age of 66, he’s still managing to piss somebody off. Namely, the usual suspects:

Critic: New David Bowie video 'offensive' to Christians

Forget “Let's Dance,” David Bowie, 66, is back and raising hell – if you will – with his new religion-themed music video “The Next Day,” the title track in his first studio album in 10 years.

Taking a page out of Madonna and Lady Gaga’s playbooks, Bowie’s latest offering is wrought with racy religious imagery and stars Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard and Oscar-nominated actor Gary Oldman. 

Directed by Fiona Sigismondi, the controversial video opens with a priest played by Oldman punching a street-urchin beggar in the face, then entering a club -- while perving at women’s backsides -- filled with less-than-saintly behavior. Cotillard embodies a prostitute-turned-saint while Bowie rocks out on stage as the Christ-like figure in robes, while nearly-naked folks dance provocatively around him. In the background, a Cardinal can be seen dealing in cash and a nun prays, all before the stigmata saturates the scene.

The contentious music clip, deemed “a bloody battle between the sacred and the profane,” was banned from YouTube for “violating terms of service” just a few hours after its release on Wednesday, and returned with an age restriction a little while later.

But some say Bowie’s creative vision mocks Christianity, and wish it was gone altogether.

“The video is offensive and distasteful. It is a misrepresentation of the multitudes of clergy who have given their lives to help hurting people. Undeniably, some clergy have misused their position, but to focus on these few is a character assault of their position and call,” Jay Lowder of Harvest Ministries told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “Bowie’s verse claiming ‘they work with Satan while they dress like saints,’ is to attribute God’s work through man as being sinister and evil in its origin. I find it hard to excavate any level of truth or reality from this video except Jesus was continually in the midst of those who were blind and sinful.”

The shorter version? This picture says it best:

Our culture is becoming sandwiched between the Pathetic Church Of Victimology and awash in a sea of undeserved entitlement. Everybody wants special privileges just because they exist. But the religious? They want more than just privileges: as a rule they whine continuously that they as a group should be granted special dispensations. No stepping on toes, no criticism, no critical thought applied to that meme plague they bring and distribute at the drop of a hat (good news my homesick ass).

But this is the human race we’re talking about – somebody somewhere is getting stoked up about something (usually something idiotic).

Personally, I’m done being polite about these subjects. I usually don’t hesitate to laugh in people’s faces when they say something beyond stupid, nor am I shy about explaining how said something is patently and relentlessly stupid.

Anyways, the religious (especially the Christians) love to whinge on about how they’re persecuted in this country. When I hear this, I tell them straight up: are churches being closed? Are their beloved TV networks being shut down? Are there folks being scooped up in the middle of the night because of their faith, or being separated from their children? Not in this country they’re not.

So it’d be nice if they put a cork in it, close their pie-holes, quit yapping, and all in all just STFU – because the complaint department’s closed, and their persecutory complex, like their little imaginary sky daddy, is all in their fucking heads.

Till the next post, then.

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Happy Zombie Day!

Cross posted at the Atheist Oasis

“Sweet Zombie Jesus!” – Professor Farnsworth, Futurama

Yes, that time of year has rolled around again (how the time flies) – where I point out (for the umpteenth time), that yes, Jesus is a zombie, by the purest technical definition, and then several people post responses insisting that no their favorite imaginary friend is in no uncertain terms not a zombie (but this time I won’t waste my effort trying to educate them…because delusional is as delusion does). Go look it up for yourself – but by all means keep your re-interpretation of reality to yourself.

So just for kicks and giggles, here's an old favorite of mine Sam Kinison (although at the time, I didn’t realize how misogynistic he sounds):

 

And the all time classic Robot Chicken short, Kill Bunny:

 

So have a funny bunny day, and try not to stuff your faces with too much chocolate (because we all know holiday chocolates are part of some vague shadowy ambiguous dentist conspiracy? Or is the internet lying to me yet again?).

Till the next post, then.

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Mormons And The Racist Mentality

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis
Of the top twenty craziest bullshit religions, the Church Of Latter Day Saints has got to be in at least the top ten. They wear holy underwear: they baptize the dead; they think that each and every one of them is going to inherit their very own planet and become some sort of deity (of course none of them ever inquire whose deity they’re going to be. That’s rather implied, right?).

One of the more loathsome anachronisms that religion has perpetrated, is the lie of racial inequality. In the Western world, this concept of a ‘holy race’ can be traced directly to the ancient Israelites and their penchant for narcissistic self-loathing. The ‘mark of Cain’ has directly contributed more to racism than any other Occidental ideology to date.

And of course, the top craziest of the crazy cults that old whore Christianity has spewed out into our world, Mormonism, was right up there throwing gasoline on the brushfire of xenophobia:

Mormons can finally say 'we got it wrong' over black priest ban

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints announced the publication of a new edition of the scriptures on 1 March. What matters here are the changes made to several headings introducing the text. The changes to Official Declaration 2 – the section lifting the priesthood ban for black men – have implications that are staggering.

Chapter headings are considered to be a study guide rather than sacred, canonised text, so there are no concerns about alterations changing holy writ. But included alongside the scriptures and produced by the leaders of the church, they still carry the unmistakable imprimatur of authority. Many of these changed chapter headings, a side-by-side comparison of which can be seen here, bring the historical context included more in line with current understanding of questions such as where Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, lived when he wrote one section or another, or the year certain revelations were received.

What is extraordinary is the admission that in the earliest days of the church, black men were ordained to the priesthood just as white men were. Elijah Abel, a black man, even served in some of the highest governing bodies of the church. Over the years that practice not only ceased, but the history of it was largely forgotten. It wasn't until 1978 that black men were again allowed to receive the priesthood and black women were allowed to attend the temple. Most members were unaware that there was ever a time when black people were allowed equal participation in the gospel. Trying to explain or defend the racist practice introduced toxic folk doctrines that perpetuated racism into our present day, more than 30 years after the ban was lifted. Even the recent Broadway musical Book of Mormon alludes to this with the statement that "In 1978 God changed his mind about black people"."

Oh really?

Some famous commentary from a historically famous Mormon, old ‘Brigand’ Young:

"You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind....Cain slew his brother.  Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings.  This was not to be, and the Lord put a  mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 290).
"In our first settlement in Missouri, it was said by our enemies that we intended to tamper with the slaves, not that we had any idea of the kind, for such a thing never entered our minds. We knew that the children of Ham were to be the "servant of servants," and no power under heaven could hinder it, so long as the Lord would permit them to welter under the curse and those were known to be our religious views concerning them." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 172).
"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 110).

There’s plenty more to back that up, here.

The truth of the matter isn’t that their religion is better or worse than others (they’re all bad) – it’s that religious leaders take advantage of their cultic status to pass along their own ignorant opinions, and this just ends up polluting the meme stream.

When religion is laid to its final dusty rest, we will al be the better for it – it perpetuates ignorance and rewards stubborn stupidity.

And just like all the other crazies, these nut jobs make me tres nervous.

Till the next post, then.

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