This is a tragedy, amplifed by the idiocy in the subhead:
Brazil girl, alleged rape victim, aborts twins
The procedure on the 9-year-old girl draws complaints from Catholic church
You don’t really need to say more than that.
That’s the message I get from this horrible little video. The conceit is that someone writes a letter to god, asking why he let violence occur in the schools, and he replies…and gee, god sure sounds like a snide pissant. The omnipotent, omniscient lord of the cosmos couldn’t do a thing because those liberals put a restraining order on him. Right. Crazed madmen run through a public school murdering children, and good ol’ Jehovah channels Cartman and says, “Whoa, let ’em bleed to death — some of the kids don’t pray to me, and the principal doesn’t begin the school day with a public obeisance. Screw you guys, I’m going home.”
Fundamentalist theology sure is an ugly thing, isn’t it?
It’s hard, you try it: it’s the Religion 101 final exam. I sure hope they post the answer key sometime.
Although…if it’s evaluated in the same way religion is, maybe any answer will do, and I’ve actually aced it.
Oh, wait — I answered it the atheist way, which is to leave it blank. That’s probably the one way you’re guaranteed to get stern angry looks from the teacher and expulsion from the whole school.
The UN has passed an absurd resolution that tries to make defamation of religion illegal. No more blasphemy for us!
At least a Canadian spokesman has the right idea.
“Canada rejects the basic premise that religions have rights; human rights belong to human beings,” said Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.
“The focus (here) should not be on protecting religions, but rather on protecting the rights of the adherents of religions, including of people belonging to religious minorities, or people who may choose to change their religion, or not to practice religion at all.”
Christopher Hitchens also makes strong points (you’ll have to listen to the odious Lou Dobbs to hear him, unfortunately).
I confess to some mixed feelings about this one. Several schools in Wisconsin hold their graduation ceremonies in local churches, and Americans United is threatening litigation to block them. One the one hand, I am all for secularizing ‘sacred’ spaces — let’s take them all over and do something useful with them for a change. On the other, I don’t think that’s what this particular situation is all about, since it looks like the schools are using the churches to pollute what should be a secular ceremony with religious smog.
There is a poll, so you can weigh in on the topic…and like all online polls, I’m sure this one will be incredibly influential.
Should public schools be allowed to hold graduation in a church building?
Yes (79%)
No (21%)
There’s an interesting Gallup poll that compares religious fervor between nations. Here’s a quick summary:
Religiosity is correlated with poverty — the poorer you are, the more godly you are. I guess God really does like that poverty thing.
The US is not the most religious nation, not by a long shot — we are well below the median. It is, however, an outlier, as the most religious wealthy nation.
There is wide regional variation within the US. Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina are like poor Middle Eastern or African countries; Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are like middle-of-the-road European nations, in terms of their religiosity.
I suspect there has to be a dangerous cycle imbedded in these relationships. Poverty leads to more religiosity as people reach for desperate hope; and religion does nothing to solve real problems, leading to worsening poverty.
Would you believe that a Swedish politician has suggested that their prime minister should end all of his speeches with “God bless Sweden” (translation)? It’s got to be a joke. She explicitly points to the US as a model — why any country would want to emulate the United States’ greatest flaw, its ignorant religiosity, is a mystery to me.
A big chunk of Australia is on fire — over 700 homes have been burned, and it’s estimated that over 300 people have been killed. We know the cause: a drought that dried tons of brush to tinder, lightning strikes, and deplorably, apparently a number of arsonists.
Well, that’s what I would say were the causes. But then, I’m one of those materialists. Danny Nalliah, pastor of one of those cheesy evangelical organizations, has a different idea.
CTFM leader, Pastor Danny Nalliah said he would spearhead an effort to provide every assistance to devastated communities, although he was not surprised by the bush fires due to a dream he had last October relating to consequences of the abortion laws passed in Victoria.
He said these bushfires have come as a result of the incendiary abortion laws which decimate life in the womb. Besides providing material assistance, CTFM will commence a seven day prayer and fasting campaign for the nation of Australia tomorrow Wednesday the 11th February.
CTFM has called upon all Australian Bible-believing God-fearing Christians to repent and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ for His mercy and protection over Australia once again.
There’s a simple word for people like Danny Nalliah:
Ghoul.
He sees a catastrophe, pain, and loss of life as an opportunity to proselytize for his idiotic religion. His faith is a parasite that feeds on death and destruction and fear. That’s all he’s got. This is just more of the same from this wretched ghoul: before the fires, he was making similar accusations of blame.
He had previously said drought and the world financial crisis could be partly blamed on human sin.
These people are useless lunatics.
Would you believe that indulgences are back? Do a little dance, say a little mumbo-jumbo, and the Catholic church will declare that you will get time off from your sentence in purgatory after death.
How do they know?
And what if they’re wrong?
I’d be very annoyed if I juggled beads for hours and hours and then found out that the High Supreme Cosmic Jailer only gave time off for life minutes spent smelling flowers or something.
Oh, well, at least they aren’t selling get-out-of-purgatory-free cards just yet. When that happens, we’ll have to go through another 30 Years War, and once was enough.
They just don’t get it. Here’s a beautiful example: Kurt Warner, the hyper-pious quarterback for some football team, has a number 13 on his jersey. Why?
“A lot of people believe 13 is an unlucky number,” Warner said, “but I’ve kind of embraced it.”
He added: “A lot of negative things come with the No. 13. My life is never dictated by superstitions. My faith is first and foremost. If you believe that God’s in control, there is no reason to believe in superstitions.”
Believing in bad luck is superstition, but thinking that rituals dedicated to a great hairy ju-ju in the sky will let you carry a football across a chalk line in the grass is not? Bwahahahahaha!
Man, I’m glad the magic space man made him lose his big ball game on Sunday.
