Legislating Reality: More Proof That Evolution Doesn’t Select For Intelligence

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

Man, in his ignorance, supposed that all phenomena were produced by some intelligent powers, and with direct reference to him. – Robert Ingersoll, The Gods

“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.”  Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

It is simple madness, to try to smother the truth by passing a law against it:

Unprecedented Attack On Evolution 'Indoctrination' Mounted In Missouri

A Missouri lawmaker has proposed what ranks among the most anti-evolution legislation in recent years, which would require schools to notify parents if "the theory of evolution by natural selection" was being taught at their child's school and give them the opportunity to opt out of the class.

Holy shit, like it’s not bad enough some parents resist sex education. But this? It’s lunacy.

The bill had its first public hearing Thursday after being introduced in late January.

It really shouldn’t have been heard at all.

State Rep. Rick Brattin (R), who sponsored the bill, told a local TV station last week that teaching only evolution in school was "indoctrination."

Oy gevalt. A Republican sponsored it. Whadda surprise.

"Our schools basically mandate that we teach one side," he told KCTV. "It is an indoctrination because it is not objective approach."

Oh, let me guess: this assclown wants to the schools to teach Islamic or Vedic creationism, right? Also, reeks of a tu quoque.

The bill is one of several anti-evolution proposals that have already appeared in statehouses across the country; the Daily Beast counted four states (Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Virginia) where legislation had been introduced. The proposals would allow for a range of approaches to evolution, from presenting a "debate" over evolution versus creationism to requiring that local school boards allow intelligent design to be included in biology courses.

There is no debate. This was settled back in the seventies. Forensic evidence for the win! (Were it that easy.)

But Brattin's bill appears to be the only one, and perhaps the first, that would mandate parental notification that their children were being taught evolution in school, the curriculum that most mainstream science teacher groups endorse.

Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, told TPM that he was not aware of any state legislation that had included a provision that parents be notified if evolution was being taught at their local schools.

Well, then that’s it for biology.

“It’s an absolute infringement on people’s beliefs,” Brattin told the Kansas City Star of requiring schools to teach evolution. “What’s being taught is just as much faith and, you know, just as much pulled out of the air as, say, any religion."

Codswallop. No, better to call it what it is: bullshit. Religion is just the rotting dingleberry on the anal hairs of humanity. Evolution is many things, but the core component is anything but ‘faith’. It is a systemically empirical methodology whose very foundation is based on scientific principles.

Unsurprisingly, the proposal has drawn criticism from those science teacher organizations.

The bill "would eviscerate the teaching of biology in Missouri," Branch said in a statement. "Evolution inextricably pervades the biological sciences; it therefore pervades, or at any rate ought to pervade, biology education at the K–12 level. There simply is no alternative to learning about it; there is no substitute activity."

"The value of a high school education in Missouri would be degraded," Branch said.

So people’s hard-earned tax dollars are being funneled into unnecessary political nonsenses? Wonderful.

Brattin's bill provides:

The policy shall require the school district or charter school to notify the parent or legal guardian of each student enrolled in the district of:

(1) The basic content of the district's or school's evolution instruction to be provided to the student; and

(2) The parent's right to remove the student from any part of the district's or school's evolution instruction.

The bill would also require schools to "make all curriculum materials used in the district's or school's evolution instruction available for public inspection ... prior to the use of such materials in actual instruction."

It looks like the future of our children’s education is falling into the wrong hands: the hands of the preacher, who breaks the back of reason with rhetoric; the mob, who will shred the rational in the name of superstition; the foam-flecked fanatic, with his fantasies of world’s end and all living bowing down to his deranged dogma; the willfully woefully ignorant, who delight in their lack of sense and are rewarded for their mindlessness with empty promises of an afterlife never to come.

May the days of religious ignorance end soon: it is an embarrassment to the species.

Till the next post, then.

Read More...

Summary only...

Allegories Gone Wild: A War On Tugs, Or A Tug Of War?

^{Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis}

8

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. ¹⁰ What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also. – Genesis, Chapter 38

But Rosie, you're all right
(You wear my ring)
When you hold me tight
(Rosie, that's my thing)
When you turn out the light
(I got to hand it to me)
Looks like it's me and you again tonight, Rosie – Jackson Browne, Rosie

Courtesy of the Atheist Republic:

Mormons Release Video Declaring War on Masturbation

 

It’s time to cry havoc, and let slip the floggers of war. (oh…all right. Not very good. Trot out your own damned euphemisms then.)

It seems as if the Mormon church is trying to get a handle on this ‘problem’. But hey, wait: how is it a problem? It isn’t. It’s a normal, natural step for people to understand  their own sexuality. In fact, most professionals say that it’s actually quite healthy (unless of course, the practice interferes with relationships, work, or general intercourse with other people).

So why do these wearers-of-holy-underwear, these baptizers-of-the-dead, these polygamous sanctimonious purveyors of a hat-born religion give a rat’s ass in a whirlwind what anyone does with their privates in private? That’s right – because old Scratch is giving us all hand-jobs to lure us away from Jebus.

All because some nitwit in the lying bible made up a story about sperm landing in the dirt.

Ridiculous.

Till the next post, then.

Read More...

Summary only...

Mars Madness–A Panspermic, Frivolous Lawsuit

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

Necrophilia. Murder. Cannibalism. Sacrifice… and then we wonder why UFOs don’t just land and aliens don’t just say hello. - George Carlin

Let’s face it: it would be a neat alternative, that aliens laid the foundations of life on this planet. Some mysterious otherworldly being spreading alien seed on a lifeless orb, and watching it spring forward.

In fact, this very item tends to be a stock-in-trade for science fiction writers of today, not to mention some very popular science fiction shows and movies.

Alas poor Yorick, wouldn’t that be swell?

The proof has, sadly, not been forthcoming. Evidence is at zero. Rational consensus is that not only are we alone, we have been all along.

There are those of course, who disagree:

Alien Life Lawsuit: Rhawn Joseph Claims NASA Is Involved In A Cover Up Over Mars ‘Jelly Doughnut’ Rock

Scientist Rhawn Joseph has filed a lawsuit over what he alleges to be a conspiracy involving NASA, Mars and a mysterious rock.  Joseph claims the space agency refused to investigate what he deemed to be alien life on Mars, calling the conclusions reached by NASA as “little more than magical thinking.”

Joseph filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, reports Popular Science. Joseph, working as an astrobiologist, claims NASA has failed to investigate evidence of life on Mars. The astrobiologist discusses his working, published in the Journal of Cosmology, that concludes the “jelly doughnut” rock that suddenly appeared in front of the Opportunity rover is a “ a fully grown bowl-shaped organism resembling Apothecia.”

The abstract reads, “What appears to be spore-producing "paraphyses" can be observed on the structure, as is apparent upon magnification and which is typical of Apothecia. Apothecia are composite organisms, a mixture of fungus and cyanobacteria.” Joseph refutes NASA’s claims that the object is either a rock or piece of debris from a nearby impact.

Joseph is focusing on the “jelly doughnut” rock that was discussed during a public event for Opportunity’s 10th anniversary.  The Mars rover first photographed the outcrop on Sol 3528 and again 12 days later, Sol 3540. Despite not traveling over the area, Opportunity discovered a mysterious rock, dubbed “Pinnacle Island.”

Steve Squyres, lead scientist for the NASA Mars Exploration Rover mission, said at the time, “It just plain appeared at that spot and we haven’t driven over that spot.” During their initial analysis of the rock, the “jelly” part has a high concentration of magnesium, sulfur and manganese than other Martian rocks. For now, the team has yet to reach a definitive conclusion as to how the rock got there, they believe it may have been knocked over by Opportunity’s wheel as it was making a turn, but do they determine it is a rock and not a sign of Martian life.

While life on Mars would be a significant discovery, Joseph says NASA has refused to actually investigate the rock with all photographic evidence taken by Opportunity being of “low resolution” and “slightly out of focus.” Joseph says he discovered the evidence of a Martian organism after magnifying the images.

After comparing structural examples of apothecia, or “shield lichen,” with what was found on Mars, including the “paraphyses,” the “spore producing organs, he concludes the organism grew over the twelve days that Opportunity photographed the rock outcrop. “Typically, if deprived of moisture, Apothecia will quickly dry and dehydrate and then become quite brittle--exactly as depicted in the photos of the Martian ‘mystery" structure,’” states Joseph.

Despite this evidence, NASA has yet to acknowledge the Mars mystery rock is in fact evidence of life. Joseph’s lawsuit laws out his claims as well as detailing the ways he tried to contact NASA officials to research the rock. Joseph is not seeking damages but wants NASA to “take 100 high resolution close-up in-focus photos of the specimen identified in Sol 3540, at various angles, from all sides, and from above down into the "bowl" of the specimen, and under appropriate lighting conditions which minimize glare. Take a minimum of 24 microscopic in-focus images of the exterior, lip, walls, and interior of the specimen under appropriate lighting conditions. NASA, and the rover team, must make public and supply Petitioner with all high resolution photos and images of that specimen.”

As io9 points out, Joseph does not have the best reputation within the scientific community. The Journal of Cosmology tends to have some dubious articles and would not be considered as reputable as journals such as Nature or Science. The journal previously hosted a dubious "proof of alien life" article last year and has a history of publishing research that has been deemed "Way, way, way ridiculously oh-holy-wow-how-could-anyone-publish-this wrong."

So who is this Rhawn Joseph anyways? The Rational Wiki says this:

Rhawn Joseph is a neuropsychologist who worked at the Veterans' Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in California.

He is involved with the Journal of Cosmology, and he advances eccentric views on the origin of life on Earth.

Joseph is the author of Astrobiology: The Origins of Life and the Death of Darwinism, published in 2001. In the book he writes that "Contrary to Darwinism ... the evidence now clearly indicates, that the evolution of life had been genetically predetermined and precoded..."

And he has co-authored a book titled NeuroTheology: Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious Experience – the title alone is enough to make some of us cringe.

It’s simply New Age self-entitled self-validation for the weaker minds. We’re here, we’re alone, get the fuck over it. Say what? We’re not? Prove it.

As for Rhawn: he’s making a tempest out of a teapot before he even handles the teapot. Why isn’t NASA jumping on the bandwagon? Because they’re doing what real scientists should do – collating data and waiting for the Martian dust to settle.

Till the next post, then.

Read More...

Summary only...

More Muslim Madness–Sharia Sucks Dick Part Two

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis
It is sickening, that something like this should happen anywhere on the planet, but there it is.

'Nobody thinks I'd dare show my face here' – inside a Nigerian sharia court

The man who threw the first stone was a taxi driver, his skinny shoulders poking through a faded red football shirt. He hurled a rock with such force it splintered as it crashed into the side of the sharia court. The next one sailed in through an open window, hitting a spectator on the head.

"God will punish homosexuals!" the taxi driver screamed as the crowd joined him in pelting the building.

Inside Upper Sharia Court 4, officials sprang into action, unsurprised by the violent turn in the trial of seven men accused of being homosexual in the ultraconservative Nigerian state of Bauchi. Judge El-Yakubu Aliyu's white scarf, a symbol of wisdom, was trampled in the dusty ground as he was bundled into a back office for his safety.

Among the viewers trapped in the court was John, a gay rights activist, who wondered if he had made a terrible mistake in attending the trial. On the run since a sweeping anti-gay bill was passed this month, John had ignored the advice of everyone he knew by sneaking into his home state at dawn. "Nobody thinks I'd dare show my face here, so I have the element of surprise," he had said earlier, directing a rickshaw along labyrinthine back routes to avoid detection.

The legislation had whipped up an undercurrent of homophobia in the sleepy north-eastern state, where sharia law already outlaws sodomy, and prompted an exodus among gay men. But John, who secretly founded the state's first gay association in 2007, said he couldn't stay away. "It's my job to help these men," he added. He hoped to speak to the judge privately and pay the men's bail using money he had scraped together from donations.

Rabid homophobes. Just fucking great. As if there’s not enough of these animals to go around already. Angry, sickening hatred and raging tribalism.

In fact, the savagery goes even deeper:

It had begun with a message posted on a website last June. Edward, a bread-seller, began talking with a user named "FynBoy" on 2go, a popular instant messaging service. The two connected instantly; weekly messages became daily messages, until they were talking constantly. In December, FynBoy made a plea: "I love you and I can't stop thinking of you. I want to meet you," he wrote to Edward.

Where to meet in a rural state that had outlawed being gay? Using their homes could endanger their families. Hotels were risky, as frequent arrests across the country showed. Edward never considered another risk, a betrayal that took on cataclysmic proportions in a virulently anti-gay climate. By the time he had messaged to say he had found somewhere, FynBoy had placed two of his own calls. One was to friends connected with a local vigilante group. The other was to the Hisbah – the religious police.

FynBoy came to Edward's friend Barry's house. At first Edward and FynBoy sat on the bed, in the room with no light, and talked in whispers. Then FynBoy touched Edward's arm and asked him to undress. He wanted to take a picture on his battered phone, for a memento.

As Edward undressed, FynBoy picked up his phone. Within minutes, a group of neighbourhood vigilantes were swarming into the mud-brick alleyways. "It was a trap," said Edward later, shaking as he recalled the beating the men inflicted on him. "I don't know why they did it. I can't sleep when I think of it."

They dragged him outside, naked, and demanded the numbers of every other "dirty gay" he knew. They agreed to let him go in exchange for testifying against his friends in a court. "We know where you live," they warned him, before leaving him barely conscious in a sewage-filled gutter.

Completely despicable, what some ignorant shitheads will do to satisfy their hatred and release it. Do entrap someone in such a way as to do violence over an imagined affront – it turns the stomach.

It cannot be too soon, that this mental disease called religion is gone.

Till the next post, then.

Read More...

Summary only...

Allegories Gone Wild–Gay Rights As Omens?

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis
Interesting past time, isn’t it? Playing connect-the-dots with a book written by madmen and liars (yes, it’s the bibble I’m speaking of), anyone can get that folderol to agree with their warped perspectives.

Case in point:

Pastor: Obama is paving the way for the Antichrist

Already no stranger to controversy, the Rev. Robert Jeffress, a Dallas megachurch pastor, is coming out with a book that claims President Barack Obama is clearing the way for the Antichrist.

Jeffress, head of the 11,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, writes in his book “Perfect Ending” that he does not believe Obama is the Antichrist, yet he links Obama’s support of gay marriage to the coming of the Antichrist. Many Christians believe Jesus’ Second Coming will feature a confrontation with an enemy called the Antichrist, based on interpretation of passages 1 John and 2 John.

“For the first time in history a president of our country has openly proposed altering one of society’s (not to mention God’s) most fundamental laws: that marriage should be between a man and a woman,” Jeffress writes, according to an advance copy provided to RNS.

“While I am not suggesting that President Obama is the Antichrist, the fact that he was able to propose such a sweeping change in God’s law and still win reelection by a comfortable margin illustrates how a future world leader will be able to oppose God’s laws without any repercussions.”

Jeffress said on Wednesday (Jan. 8) that he’s particularly concerned with issues such as the current battle over whether organizations will have to provide free contraception to employees.

“I’m not saying the president is an evil man who’s trying to destroy our society, but Americans are willingly giving up their freedom for what they’re told is a greater good,” he said. “A future world dictator will assume power under the guise of the greater good of the world.”

Jeffress said whether it’s the National Security Agency’s surveillance on American phone calls or the implementation of Obamacare, he sees a gradual encroachment on Americans’ freedom.

“How it can be that this leader is able to usurp freedom of speech with little or no opposition?” he said. “People will be conditioned to surrender personal rights for the so-called greater good.”

Last year, Pat Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network that Islam is the Antichrist, and he has linked security cameras to the end times and “the mark of the beast.” Christians have interpreted Revelation 13:16-18 to mean that there will be a marking of humans, or a “mark of the beast.”

Pointing to the idea of the Antichrist has not been uncommon for so-called “dispensationalists,” who understand God to work in a series of “dispensations,” or periods in history. In the 1960s and 1970s, dispensationalists “had a field day identifying who was the Antichrist,” said Scot McKnight, a New Testament scholar at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Ill.

“Mercy, when I was in college, the dispensationalists were doing this all the time: Henry Kissinger, etc., were all identified as the Antichrist. Gorbachev was one, especially with that funny birthmark (of the supposed beast) on his head,” McKnight said. “People today have stopped identifying the beast and the Antichrist because the former generation was completely wrong, obviously.”

A dispensationalist, Jeffress says what happens in the future should impact what Christians do today.

“It is foolish to try to identify the Antichrist, but what we can do is see how what is happening now is paving the way for what may come in 10 years or may come in 1,000 years,” he said.

In his book, Jeffress makes his case that Christians should study prophecy more closely. “Evangelist Billy Graham once observed that ‘the most neglected teaching in the church today is the second coming of Jesus Christ,’” he said.

Though he never lived in Dallas, Graham was a longtime member of First Baptist Dallas before he switched memberships in 2008 to a church closer to his home in North Carolina. Graham joined First Baptist Dallas during his first Dallas crusade in 1953. At the time, the Rev. W.A. Criswell led the church, considered by many to be the pre-eminent church in the Southern Baptist Convention, according to The Dallas Morning News. Jeffress has been senior pastor of the church since 2007.

The outspoken Jeffress has made controversial claims about Mormons, Muslims, Jews, Catholics and gays and lesbians in the past. He ignited a controversy at a summit hosted by the Family Research Council when he introduced Texas Gov. Rick Perry by calling Mormonism a “cult,” referencing the faith of Perry’s opponent for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, before the 2012 election.

In a sermon at First Baptist ahead of the 2012 election, Jeffress urged people not to vote for Obama, saying that the president was making it “relatively easy for the Antichrist to take over.”

Jeffress wasn’t claiming that Obama is the Antichrist, and said he was not questioning the president’s faith. “But what I am saying is this: the course he is choosing to lead our nation is paving the way for the future reign of the Antichrist.”

Last year, former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow was scheduled to speak at First Baptist but pulled out after the resulting controversy.

The church owns and operates a school, a college, several radio stations and Dallas Life, a mission for the homeless on the southern edge of downtown Dallas. Last year, the church completed a $135 million building campaign to renovate its downtown campus.

Holy shit. It seems like the crazy parade never stops marching: they toss their shredded sense to the wind, like ticker tape. At least this con man gave himself some room claiming it could be ten or a thousand years (as I recall, there’ve already been a few of those pronouncements, also all dead wrong). And instructing his parish on how to vote? Should be an automatic cut-off on being tax-exempt.

As for this alleged anti-christ – *that’s a long wait for a train that ain’t comin’.

And these antiquated ideological dinosaurs, these whiners of things past, their goal is no different than any other philosophical bully: to have it their way, because to them it is the ONLY way.

This war of attrition, this education of the masses, will be a long arduous road.

Till the next post, then.

 

 

 

 

* Yes, a Firefly reference

Read More...

Summary only...

More On The Madness Of Muslims: Sharia Sucks Dick

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

I still wonder at the stupid gullibility of people who want to treat this (or any, for that matter) religion with any sort of respect whatsoever. If this hypothetical divine being cares so fucking much about who and/or how people fuck, then we’d all have some extra layers of tissue flaps that would server as a natural chastity belt.

And as if it’s not bad enough that Nigeria is considered the email scam capitol of the world, this sort of garbage does not shine well on them.

The Nigerians who dare to speak of love as a tide of anti-gay hatred rises

The party had just started when the gunshot pierced the music. Instantly the men scattered, knowing what it meant: a police raid.

They had gathered in a hotel in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi, renting out almost a whole floor for a surprise birthday party. But in the minaret-dotted city, where sharia in theory requires gay men to be stoned to death, such stolen moments are fraught. Someone had tipped off the Hisbah – the religious police.

As officials stormed in on that night in 2007, John (not his real name) felt numb with fear. He ran to a room, switched off the lights and crawled under the bed. "They checked room by room. They opened the door and flashed a flashlight, but they thought it was empty." They arrested 18 others.

A week later, John went to Friday prayers at the mosque. He prayed for 18 of his friends who faced sodomy charges in a sharia court. He prayed for their lawyer, who was forced to sneak into the first hearing via a side door as a mob threatened to stone him for defending "gay marriage". He prayed for strength to do what he had decided to do next.

"That incident really gave us the courage to start doing something. We couldn't hide any more," recalls John. And so, in one of the most conservative states in Nigeria, he started holding underground meetings with other gay people. They supported each other when neighbours accused them of being "demons". Sometimes money was pooled together to pay bail or buy condoms, handed out to those who couldn't afford them. Mainly, though, they helped each other cross the lonely horizon of living each day in denial, finding solace in mutual acceptance.

For years, they gathered in secret. But last week Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed the same-sex marriage (prohibition) bill, unleashing a wave of homophobia that threatens to sweep away seven years spent building a fragile haven. The far-reaching law targets not only homosexuals but also those who support their rights, or who fail to report gay people. At least 40 arrests last week swelled the number of those incarcerated to almost 200 across Nigeria, rights groups told the Observer.

One by one, John and his friends fled the city.

"More than 90% of Nigerians are opposed to same-sex marriage. So, the law is in line with our cultural and religious beliefs as a people," said Reuben Abati, the presidential spokesman. The president's approval ratings soared after months of dismal news about corruption, political violence and a radical Islamist insurgency in the north.

From his location in hiding, John thinks about what to do next. "I'm not comfortable here at all. I cannot stay here doing nothing."

In a hotel room in the capital, Abuja, two women in hijabs are visiting Dorothy Aken'ova to buy goods considered contraband: sex toys. Providing a rare place where society women feel comfortable enough to buy roleplay lingerie without being judged is just one way Aken'ova tries to liberate her sexually repressed country. Another is hiring lawyers to defend men or women arrested for being gay.

The mother of three has filled her week with phone calls, trying to find lawyers willing to represent those in detention. One man was arrested after his landlord said it was suspicious he shared a flat with another man.

"The lawyers who accept these jobs will charge the skin on your bum. But then the cost of armed guards to accompany them isn't cheap," Aken'ova sighs, before telling the two giggling women the price for bottles of massage oil.

Money – sometimes out of Aken'ova's own pocket – is no longer the biggest problem. Simply persuading someone to take up cases is much harder, with many fearing they will be targeted by association. "As soon as I mention gender minority rights, people ask me: 'Are you a lesbian?' You can tell they're willing to immediately dissociate with you if you answer in the affirmative," says Aken'ova, whose quick smile blossoms as brightly as the tattooed flower on her right biceps.

Such reactions are common across Africa, where populist bills have cracked down on homosexuality, often tightening colonial-era laws. International pressure against such moves has fuelled anti-gay sentiment, with leaders using anger at perceived western interference as an escape valve. The Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, last week said gay people were the product of "random breeding" in the west when "nature goes wrong", but blocked an anti-gay bill after months of pressure from international donors. Unlike Uganda, about half of whose budget is supplied by western donors, Nigeria is flush with petrodollars and can defy such pressure.

For campaigners, the problem starts with the title of the bill. "People read it and think: OK, I agree with this. They don't question what else is inside that bill," says Aken'ova, who has never heard of anyone campaigning for gay marriage. "It's not [just] anti-gay people; it's anti-people."

Last year, a lawmaker said of the bill: "You have a right to your sexual preference but by trying to turn it into marriage do you realise you could be infringing on the human rights of the other person who finds it repulsive?"

So far, they haven't been the victims. Last week Ibrahim Marafaa, a 47-year-old teacher who was arrested before the bill was signed, was publicly flogged and fined 5,000 naira (£20) after "confessing to his abnormality".

"If he feels an injustice has been done, he has the right to appeal within 30 days," said Alhassan Zakaria, the sharia lawyer who oversaw the whipping.

Down south, too, floggings aren't uncommon. Lagos-based rights worker Olumide Makanjuola recounts how a friend of his agreed to be flogged in a bid to "whip the devil out of him". "He just wanted to stop being the subject of hatred," Makanjuola says, very softly.

Immaculately dressed and dreadlocked, he talks energetically, at incredible speed, despite several nights awake fielding dozens of phone calls.

Earlier he spent an hour talking to family members to reassure them about his safety. Then two friends called to say they're leaving the country. One, a doctor, asked if he could be prosecuted for treating gay patients.

Last year Makanjuola documented a case where four men suspected of being gay were publicly stripped, beaten, tied together and paraded naked in a south-western village. The police said they had no evidence of the incident, captured on camera by a jeering mob, but opened investigations to find out if the men were "sodomites".

Makanjuola refuses to believe the mob's anger was about homosexuality which, he says, was a scapegoat for their desperation in a country where mismanagement and corruption have left most people jobless and poor.

"They're a clear example of people who are frustrated by the system. But they should be directing it at our leaders who are buying houses in London and Dubai using looted funds," he says.

Others have little truck with that argument. "Being gay is due to lack of parental care," says Abdullahi Sani, a policeman who took time off work to attend the lashing in Bauchi. "Twenty lashes is child's play compared to the offence. The victim has ceased to be a normal human being. He has lost sight of God."

Sani should get a hundred lashes for his lack of compassion and humanity. Jonathan Butplug is a weak little tool. Nigeria is facing something most nations (sometimes including our own) suffer from – a lack of education. Something most religions claim to provide, but fail horribly.

Always thought scapegoating was a Jewish thing – apparently not.

Till the next post then.

Read More...

Summary only...

Separation Of Church And State–Because Otherwise, Everybody Wants A Piece Of The Pie…

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

The devil made me do it! – Geraldine AKA Flip Wilson

It can be safely said, this sort of donnybrook is vastly amusing:

New York Satanists unveil plans for Oklahoma goat-headed statue

A satanic group has unveiled designs for a 7ft-tall statue of Satan it wants to put at the Oklahoma state Capitol, where a Ten Commandments monument was placed in 2012.

The New York-based Satanic Temple formally submitted its application on Monday to a panel that oversees the Capitol grounds, including an artist's rendering that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard that's often used as a symbol of the occult. In the rendering, Satan is sitting in a pentagram-adorned throne with smiling children next to him.

"The monument has been designed to reflect the views of satanists in Oklahoma City and beyond," temple spokesman Lucien Greaves said in a statement. "The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation."

The Satanic Temple maintains that the Oklahoma Legislature's decision to authorize a privately funded Ten Commandments monument at the Capitol opened the door for its statue. The Ten Commandments monument was placed on the north steps of the building in 2012, and the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has sued to have it removed.

Similar requests for monuments have been made by a Hindu leader in Nevada, an animal rights group and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Funnier still, is how people are purpling over it:

In response, the Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission recently placed a moratorium on considering any new requests.

"Anybody can still make their request, but we'll hold off on considering them until the lawsuit is adjudicated," commission Chairman Trait Thompson said.

The push by the Satanic Temple has rankled elected leaders in this conservative state known as the buckle of the Bible Belt, who say such a proposal would never be approved by the commission.

"I think you've got to remember where you are. This is Oklahoma, the middle of the heartland," said Representative Don Armes. "I think we need to be tolerant of people who think different than us, but this is Oklahoma, and that's not going to fly here."

While Greaves acknowledges the Satanic Temple's effort is in part to highlight what it says is hypocrisy of state leaders in Oklahoma, he says the group is serious about having a monument placed there.

The group already has raised nearly half of the $20,000 it says it needs to build the monument.

"We plan on moving forward one way or another," Greaves said.

Another Oklahoma legislator, Representative Earl Sears, called the group's effort "an insult to the good people of the state."

"I do not see satanism as a religion, and they have no place at the state Capitol," said Sears.

On its website, the Satanic Temple explains that it "seeks to separate Religion from Superstition by acknowledging religious belief as a metaphorical framework with which we construct a narrative context for our goals and works.

"Satan stands as the ultimate icon for the selfless revolt against tyranny, free & rational inquiry and the responsible pursuit of happiness," the website says.

The hypocrisy is so obvious, I’ll not even explore any of that. But it is amusing, that the Christians with their constant whinging about persecution, wouldn’t hesitate to visit their imaginary mistreatment on others.

Till the next post then.

Read More...

Summary only...