Multiculturalism: Egypt's Doin it Rite

pic link

The men standing in this picture from Egypt are Christian. You see, the protestors in Egypt are mostly Muslim. Islam does not give a pass on prayer because you are protesting, so they have to pause in their protests five times a day to kneel and pray. Their Christian neighbors are shielding the praying Muslims with their own bodies.

Back in January*, the Egyptian Muslims did the same for the Christians, attending Christmas masses so that if Muslim extremists wanted to bomb Christian churches, they would have to kill large numbers of Muslims, too.

Sometimes, my fellow human beings make me proud.

*Some Christians celebrate Christmas December 25th, some celebrate it 12 days later.

The Difference Between Tragedy and Not

Today, Christianity taught me the difference between a tragedy and an ignorable event: Christians!

Chuck Colson, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Dead

I am personally outraged over the media’s inattention to what’s really happening in Iraq. And you ought to be as well.

I am outraged! All those dead Iraqis, it's shameful we in America aren't hearing more about it. There have been 1,421,933 Iraqi deaths as a result of our invasion. When was the last time you heard that number on the nightly new- wait, that's not what Chuck's outraged about? Oh.

On Sunday, October 31st, Islamic terrorists set off a car bomb and then took dozens of worshippers hostage at Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad. A few hours later, at least fifty-eight people were dead.

Oh, 58 Christians. Well, I'm certainly not in favor of killing Christians, but, Chuck, that's not even half a percent as many Iraqis as we've killed. I suppose maybe Chuck's upset that nobody's heard about these deat- oh, wait, we have?

Most of the news reports, at least here in the United States, treated it as just another instance of Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence. It wasn’t, and we shouldn’t permit it to be interpreted that way.

Iraqi on Iraqi violence is fine, really. Who cares if the Muslims kill one another? Who cares if we kill Muslims? Muslims killing Christians, on the other hand, is a tragedy and we better all be weeping.

What is also clear is that if all you knew about the attack was based on American news sources, you wouldn’t know that Christians were being specifically targeted. As columnist and media critic Terry Mattingly noted, news reports, at least initially, didn’t even identify what kind of Christian church had been attacked.

Even when they named the church, they missed the part about Christians being in the crosshairs. They used words like “standoff” and “hostage crisis” as if they were describing a bank robbery gone sour.

First of all, "standoff" is an appropriate way to describe a standoff. And if someone's taken hostages, it's a hostage crisis. There's not some separate set of words to describe violence done to Christians, though clearly Chuck would like there to be- you know, so we're aware people who matter are being killed as opposed to those vermin who can die any way they like for all Chuck cares.

And what the fuck difference would it make what kind of Christian church was being attacked? My guess would be because Chuck could sleep just fine if it were a Catholic church, but I fail to see what difference it would make to the rest of us.

So, just to be clear, Chuck, 1.4 MILLION dead Muslim Iraqis is no big deal. 58 dead Christian Iraqis is a tragedy of epic proportions. Good to know.

Stop Dressing Like a Terrorist! (I mean you, JBiebs)

The most famous of all terrorist fashion statements, at least in the US, is the hoodie, as made famous by Ted Kaczynski, who was also attempting to popularize unkempt hair and beards, apparently. Unless you want people to think you are a terrorist, you should probably get rid of that hoodie and cut that hair.

Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist, preferred a more groomed look, and white T-shirts. If you don't want people to think you are a terrorist, grow a beard and don't wear white T-shirts. Maybe you shouldn't be a man anymore, as well. Just to be sure.

Andrew Joseph Stack III, frequently referred to as a "tax protestor", flew a plane into a government building. Clearly terrorism. He favored plaid button downs. Remove any plaid button downs from your wardrobe immediately if you don't want to freak people out on planes.

Hutaree, famous for a multipart plot to kill police officers by the dozens, made it just threatening to be a woman as a man, by including a woman in their group. They preferred to wear colored T-shirts and camouflage.

So, just to review, if you don't want people to mistake you for a terrorist, shave your beard and cut your hair, don't be clean shaven, don't be a man, don't be a woman, don't wear hoodies, don't wear plaid button downs, don't wear white or colored T-shirts and don't wear camouflage.

Oh, wait, silly me. All you have to do is not be brown in America. American nonMuslim terrorists don't exist, you see.

I See You on the Bus and I'm Ashamed

The percentage of people who believe that President Obama is a muslim has increased from 12% before the election to 18%. I believe Steve Benen has it right when he says that this is not a reflection of people who believe, contrary to all evidence, that President Obama prays towards Mecca five times a day, but simply that "muslim" is the nastiest thing these people can think of to say about our president.

Think about that for a second. "Muslim" is the new "ni*ger".

What country do we live in? What century? Who are these people, my countrymen, my neighbors, who seek to turn an entire religion into an insult? And why do I feel so responsible?

There has been a large influx of muslims to the area I live in in the last decade. A muslim family has, in fact, moved into the house down the street from me. My niece saw one of the women, wearing a gorgeous gold and red headscarf, and said, loudly, "Oh, that thing on her head is so pretty!"

I cringed.

I feared that the woman had heard and that my niece's innocent enthusiasm for a truly beautiful piece of fabric would offend this woman, make her feel out of place or unwelcome. Then I cringed over my cringing. Was I being hateful, too, assuming she would misinterpret a child's innocent enthusiasm?

I can't imagine how they feel, listening to the uproar over the (not at) Ground Zero (not a) Mosque. Do they feel safe at all, trusting of anyone when "muslim" is the worst insult 18% of Americans can think of? Are they safe?

I see another muslim woman on the bus with her young son. He is adorable, she is loving and kind. How does she feel, bringing her son up in a country that considers him the ultimate insult, the most terrible of dangers? How does she explain this to him? How does he understand?

Nothing ever changes, does it?

From the Hospital: Notes on Fort Hood

(This is a friend of PF's. Her roommate is watching Fox News nonstop and she wrote this out for me to post for her. She's doing okay, btw. They might let her go home today. What they thought was an infection at the surgical site turned out to be an allergy to the coating on the stitches, which will make the scar heal badly, but it won't kill her.)

The tragedy at Fort Hood was just that: a tragedy. A man went over the edge as people occasionally do and now innocents suffer. I understand the fear and confusion and anger that are the aftermath of such events. However, if I hear "Muslim" mentioned one more time . . .

Timothy McVeigh blew up a building and killed innocent children, and nobody spent a moment pontificating on how dangerous white, Christian men are. The Fort Hood shooter does not represent every Muslim everywhere, he represents only himself. Intimations or outright shouts to the contrary should be called out as the bigotry they are.

Why Atheists Should Care About Rifqa Bary

rifqa bary, muslim, islam, atheism, atheist, bigotry

Much has been made in Christian circles about Rifqa Bary, the Christian convert from a Muslim family that ran away from home earlier this year, but few in atheist circles have made mention of Ms. Bary, perhaps viewing the case as an interreligious conflict that doesn't affect atheists at all.

We should care about Ms. Bary. The entire fiasco reveals a shocking bigotry toward Muslims, and we all know whom Christians hate more than Muslims: atheists.

In a nutshell, Ms. Bary is a 17-year-old girl who lived an average American life until quite recently. She attended a private school, was a cheerleader, had an active internet life. Her family is Muslim, but as the above picture amply demonstrates, not of the fundamentalist variety. There is no headscarf, hijab or burqa in the above picture, in fact, you can see her legs. Her father bought her a laptop and allowed her to prance around half naked at football games.

All of which makes what happened next, and the media attention given to it, outrageous. Apparently, Ms. Bary converted to Christianity at 14, and her family found out a few months ago. Unsurprisingly, her parents were angry, as would be Christian parents upon finding out their child had converted to Islam. Ms. Bary then ran away, from Ohio to Florida, to live with a man she met on the internet. This man, a Christian minister, failed to report her presence to the authorities as Florida law requires.

Ms. Bary's parents reported her as a runaway, and when the authorities found her in Florida she told them that she feared her father would kill her, being Muslim and all. Honor killings do occur, but it is a custom of fundamentalist Muslims, not the sort of Muslims who send their daughters to private schools, buy them laptops and allow them to show their legs. The Barys are originally from Sri Lanka, a country with a small Muslim population and no history of honor killings. (In fact, Ms. Bary's parents immigrated to the US to get her better medical treatment for an injury to her eye.)

If Ms. Bary's parents were not Muslim, do you suppose her claims would have been taken seriously? Do you suppose the national media would have picked up the story? What about the minister who hid Ms. Bary in his home? Do you think he would have avoided being charged for harboring a runaway? Ms. Bary still has not been sent home. In fact, it looks like she will never be sent home, and will be kept in foster care until her 18th birthday.

Why should this matter to the atheist community? A family was unfairly demonized simply for being Muslim. They have now lost custody of their child, though there is no evidence they have, or will, harm her in any way. Considering the way Christians feel about atheists, this sets an alarming precedent for our community as well. What happens when the child of an atheist converts to Christianity and then makes wild claims about their parents to the authorities? Given this example, I can picture such children being encouraged to do so in order to be fostered in a Christian home.

All I can say is that we, as atheists, should pay attention to this case. It may well show us the future for our community, too.

Gaddafi Is One Sly Mofo

demographic, winter, china, america, muslim, islam, christian, racism, ageism

Selwyn Duke of American Thinker (lulz) gives Muammar al Gaddafi, Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution of Libya (that appears to be an official title. and you thought "president" was cool.) more credit than I would have thought possible. You'll see.

While the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding was good cinema damn, i think i just choked up my skull, it was also a big fat Hollywood fiction NO! it wasn't a documentary?!. With Greece's fertility rate of 1.36 children per woman -- well below the replacement level of 2.1 -- "big" is not a modifier demographers would associate with today's Greek families. In fact, a more accurate film might be called My Big Fat Muslim Wedding. does Mr. Duke get how averages work? there are big Greek families. not every Greek family involves a mother, a father, a child and part of a torso.

the next five, count 'em five, paragraphs are devoted to the demographic woes of notArab people. white europeans? not reproducing enough. asian? not reproducing enough. mexicans? no reproduco enougho. (though they do "stream across our sieve-like southern border" by the million.)

next up: ageism!

The young and vibrant are the worker bees; they are the inventors, innovators and creators of wealth. old people are like leeches, lazy, stupid leeches. They drive the economy. Of course, the elderly may take jobs out of necessity or boredom, lazy, stupid leeches! but they can match the economic engine of a peak-working-years population little more than they could match it on the athletic field. because in America's increasingly white collar economy, old is a disadvantage . . . asshat. This is part of the reason why famed economist Adam Smith taught that decreasing population correlates with economic depression. Adam Smith died in 1790. I'm guessing that prior to penecillin and pacemakers, "old age" was a different thing than it is today.

after the appetizer of ageism, we get to the main course: racism.

Now we come to the death of the West. Many of you know that Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, the face of 1980's terrorism, has been relatively well-behaved for nigh on 25 years now. he's busy being the Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution Of course, this may be because Ronald Reagan effected a bomb-induced attitude adjustment in 1986. first of all, people died. be respectful. secondly, a lot has changed since 1986. The Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union fell apart, the socialism scare is . . . oh, yeah. Yet, such punitive action, while sometimes necessary, seldom yields a permanent change in behavior without a permanent change in vital signs. It didn't scare Saddam Hussein or the Taliban sufficiently, that's for sure. oh, for cryin' out loud. (Of course, they don't wear dresses, either. he included a link here. to a pay site. i'd just like to say: Muslims- they dress funny, hahahhahahaaha. asshat.) But is faint-heartedness on the part of Gaddafi the reason? Or is there another factor? Well, a clue can possibly be found in something he once said:

"There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without swords, without guns, without conquest. We don't need terrorists, we don't need homicide bombers. The 50 million Muslims will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades."

translation via Mr. Duke: "Islam will spread through breeding like Mexicans through a sieve!"

Is this Gaddafi wearing pragmatist's clothes? instead of dresses! Perhaps he realizes that the West is voluntarily committing civilizational suicide, aka birth control and all he need do is stay out of its way. Gaddafi's so sly, he doesn't car if winning happens now, or 100 years after he dies. Now that's one sly mofo!

If so, he simply notes what civilizations from the good to the bad to the ugly dress wearin' mooslins! always have understood, that their success largely hinges upon their ability to replenish that invaluable resource: people. except for old people, who are like wrinkly vampires. lazy, wrinkly vampires. For example, the ancient Romans at one point became obsessed with the idea that they weren't creating enough babies which had everything to do with their deep understanding of the writings of Adam Smith?; Joseph Stalin, hardly a pro-lifer, outlawed abortion; and the Nazis had their Lebensborn program yeah, they were just a little interested in eugenics, which requires, you know, teh bebbes. And even today governments are taking note of the problem. To name a handful, Russia, Poland, France and an Italian town are offering citizens substantial monetary incentives (i.e., cash and sometimes tax breaks) to be fruitful and multiply. Yet it isn't working -- and for good reason: a cultural problem cannot be solved with a political solution. yeah, you can't buy my uterus with a tax break. Why, even demographically correct Augustus Caesar "demographically correct"? what does that mean?, who wielded absolute power, could not remedy the birth dearth among Roman nobility. i guess his power wasn't quite so absolute, now was it?

This almost universal concern is warranted because a people is like a species: a failure to reproduce leads to extinction. OW! Teh Stoopid, it burns! that is such an amazingly racist biology fail, i'm not sure what to say. Americans are not a species. Nor are Muslims. human beings are a species, but we're in no danger of dying out. Now, this doesn't mean that neutron bomb-like cityscapes how can cityscapes be like neutron bombs? does he perhaps mean a cityscape after a neutron bomb? in which case, why use a neutron bomb? N bombs are as destructive as A bombs, the added benefit is that they kill more people, not destroy more buildings. lie in the West's future. More likely is that its peoples will be dominated -- and supplanted -- by other cultures. so, the future will be exactly like the past? amazing! hey, Mr. Duke! Yeah, you! the land you're standing on belonged to the native peoples of the Americas- until they were dominated and supplanted by Europeans. Oh, its new master may not be Islam; it may be China, India or, even more likely, different groups in different parts of the West. who? who's left if we remove the US, Mexico, Korea, Japan, Europe, China, India and the entire Muslim world? Venezuela? The point is that while the Third World and Asia are following in our footsteps, they are far healthier demographically and may be able to recover. But we may soon be at the point of no return.

Now the question is, does this matter? does what matter, that the world is continuing just as it always has? If you listen to the left, our demographic demise is something to be ignored when possible and applauded when not. it's just the way things are, don't get your panties in a twist about it. As Kathryn Joyce did in an incredibly snide and stupid article titled "Missing: The ‘Right' Babies," yeah, she called you on your racism the concern about the West's baby bust is often chalked up to just "old-fashioned race panic." pretty much. The left's implication is that cultural suicide is our civilization's comeuppance. cultural suicide? talk to some real live middle easterners, Mr. Duke. They listen to our music, watch our movies, wear our clothes- we'll be all right.

The irony of this is that the people extinguishing themselves are leftists, people who aren't enlightened enough to understand that their "enlightened" values will die with them. people enlighted enough to understand that lots of brown babies isn't something to panic about. Whether tomorrow brings us a Chinese hegemon unlikely, a worldwide caliphate unlikely or, more likely, a bipolar or multi-polar world you mean a world the same as ours? what?, it may be a place ruled neither by the virtues of Christendom i'll be happy, anyway nor the values of those crucifying her why would you want that, Mr. Duke?. When the people who birthed political correctness disappear i'm fairly certain we're not supposed to go in the rapture, they won't be able to reproduce it any more than little baby libertines. what. the. fuck. Of course, also true is that the West's glorious triumphs, such as its unprecedented respect for human rights, would also fade into history. yes, no one will ever respect human rights again without America to give them an "attitude adjustment".

And this is something mature racist people consider. Would the world be a better place with China as the dominant force? If you have trouble with that one, ponder how the Chinese are currently raping Africa as they zealously exploit the continent's resources. They are making European colonialism look beneficent. probably not.

Mature racist people also do something else -- they acknowledge facts. And what bothers me about the current debate over population is the steadfast refusal to do so. there is no problem here. human beings are not dying out. as a whole, we're fine. all you're left with is the argument that certain types of humans need to be encouraged, and certain other types discouraged, and we call that racism. If you believe that man is a pox upon the planet, be forthcoming. If you think he needs to cut his numbers by 90 percent, make your case. If you want a "Planetary Regime" to control world population -- which Obama's science czar John Holdren wrote about before i was born, btw. -- stand and be counted. But, as liberal icon Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, "You're entitled to your own opinions, but you're not entitled to your own facts." Before debating where we should go, there must be an acknowledgement of where we are. you're a racist. there we go. i acknowledged it.

When I ponder our materialism, promiscuity, frivolity and selfishness, our abortion-mill archipelago i repeat: what. the. fuck. that churns with Nazi-like efficiency, hey, you godwin'd your own article! it occurs to me that perhaps the leftists are right -- just not for the reasons they think. we're wrong even when we're right. It's not sins of our past that haunt us but those of our present, and maybe the euthanizing of Western civilization is, after all, our comeuppance. at this point, if everyone like you dies, i'm okay with western civilization dying off tomorrow.

It's Not Just Christians that Get Wacky About Marriage

israel, marriage, muslim, druze, christian,
I've written a lot about Christians in the US that feel a need to butt into other peoples' marriages.* Today, I discovered that Christians haven't cornered the market on marriage wackiness. The Israelis have, in fact, taken marriage wackiness** to a place US Christians never even dreamed of.

You see, even though 70% of Israel's Jews identify as secular, marriage between Jews is entirely in the hands of the ultraorthodox Rabinnate, who can, and do, decide who can marry and who cannot. If the Rabinnate decides that you aren't quite Jewish enough for them, or that you're marrying someone who isn't Jewish enough, you can't get married inside your own country. You have to travel to some other country to get married, which is what happens in 1 in 5 marriages in Israel. (Your marriage will be recognized once you reenter Israel.)

Israel has passed control of all matters relating to personal status – births, marriages and divorces, and deaths – to rabbis belonging to the strictest stream of Judaism, Orthodoxy.

...

Official figures show that as many as 350,000 Jews are classified by the rabbinate as having “no religion”, and are therefore unable to marry in Israel. Their only option is to wed abroad – the marriage is then recognised on their return.

...

Mr Kornfeld said the rabbis’ grip on marriage has continued even though nearly 70 per cent of Israeli Jews defined themselves as secular. Even among the religious, some regard themselves as belonging to the more moderate Reform and Conservative streams of Judaism.

...

Israel’s Muslim, Christian and Druze citizens – comprising nearly a fifth of the population – have their own separate religious authorities who are given exclusive oversight of weddings.

There's no mention of what happens to atheists, agnostics and the other "others" that must live in Israel (we're everywhere), but I'm guessing the nonreligious in Israel don't generally make a lot of noise about it. There are no provisions at all for interfaith marriages.

I'm trying to imagine this, and I really can't. I think that any religious involvement in government recognized legal statuses is inappropriate at best and should be abolished. Marriage in the US should follow the model of some European countries: all officially recognized marriages are secular, performed by a Justice of the Peace. The religious can then go have a second, religious ceremony, but that ceremony has no legal meaning. This entirely separates church and state, which is a good thing.

Israel has gone entirely in the opposite direction, ceding control of a legal ceremony to religious groups, to the point where those not pleasing to said religious group must leave the country to obtain the legal advantages of marriage. What happens to those unable to afford a trip to Europe to get married? Well, you need only look at the experiences of gay couples in the US to see that. It's not pretty.

I thought the US had ceded a little too much democracy to the Christian majority, but the supposed democracy of Israel has us beat by a mile. It's not good for anyone.



*You can search by gay marriage if you haven't read my thoughts on the subject, but for the lazy, shorter me: none of your business who gets married or how they run their marriage.

**Attending the World is a proPalestinian blog, but I did find numerous confirmations of their description of Israel's marriage laws from neutral parties.

The Only Thing Worse Than Islamics(sic) Is

islam, muslim, christian, prelutsky, conservative, liberal, obama, clinton

Liberals. Duh.

According to Burt Prelutsky anyway. (If you put a keffiyeh on Mr. Prelutsky, tell me you don't get Yasser Arafat.)

I suspect that because George Bush and Condoleezza Rice were so respectful of Muslims other than bombing them. and encouraging US soldiers to pass out bibles. oh, and sending over the Christian Crusaders otherwise known as Blackwater. why aren't Middle Easterners all sending us thank you cards? they're so rude!, constantly telling us that theirs is a religion of peace, some otherwise sensible Americans actually began to believe it. Now we have a president who not only kowtows to a Saudi prince bowing: wrong even when it's right, apparently, but carries on as if Israeli homes are more threatening than Iranian nukes. to peace in Israel, yes. especially considering the Iranian nukes are currently nonexistent.

What is wrong with our leaders? Are they worried that they won’t be invited to those cool Ramadan parties? yes, i'm sure that's it. in fact, not being invited to cool Ramadan parties probably explains a lot of Mr. Prelutsky's rage. The Islamics uh, muslims? have been actively at war with us for 30 years and generally at war with western civilization for well over a thousand years for a good portion of that millenium, the Crusades were going on. at which time the Muslims were defending themselves from western agression. embarassing history fail. , and still we pay lip service to these people in a way we never did with Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan or the Soviet Union. i'm fairly certain you can't pay lip service to a person . . . oh, i get it. Is it because the Muslims commit sadism and murder in the name of religion and not country? because the holocaust would have been okay if only Hitler had invoked Jesus? what? If anything, I would think that would make their evil acts all the more contemptible.

Still, I would contend that Hezbollah and Al Qaeda are not as dangerous as America’s liberals. i almost feel complimented. i'm more dangerous than people who slam commercial airplanes into office buildings. go me! The Islamic terrorists can only kill so many people didn't you imply they had nuclear bombs a paragraph ago? you could conceivably kill absolutely everyone with enough of those., but those on the Left are doing everything in their power to eviscerate America. blood! there will be . . . Cap and Trade can destroy our industrial might; Obama’s trillion dollar stimulus programs combined with his delusional health care plan death panels! euthanasia! forced abortions! will not only bankrupt our nation, but lead inevitably to a rate of inflation that will impress even Jimmy Carter and peanut farmers are not easily impressed; and the budget cuts directed at our military and our missile defense system will make us increasingly vulnerable to our various enemies. hey, he tied it all in with the nukes. nice save.

The problem is that liberals are not only nuts, but inconsistent. They very much want to send our military to Africa to stop the savagery in the Sudan, but didn’t want to see it employed against the equally barbaric Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot or Ho Chi Minh. ho chi minh is still . . . no, he's dead. for 40 years now. pol pot's been dead for 11. wtf? Funny how you never hear them insist that we have no business in Darfur because Sudan didn’t attack us on 9/11 or point out that we have no compelling interest in sub-Sahara Africa. too bad you guys don't have oil. cause we'd be all over that! But that’s to be expected when people get their information from Bill Maher and Jon Stewart and their talking points from the likes of Bono and the Dixie Chicks. those kids and their atheists and their Daily Show and their rock n roll! Get off my lawn!!

Speaking of liberals, the irony is that so many of them who never believed God even existed Obama won with more than 50% of the vote. less than 5% of USians are atheists. Does Mr. Prelutsky think that atheists comprised more than 50% of voters? (never mind that most atheists did believe in god at some point in their lives) are now convinced that He is alive and well and going out on date nights with Michelle. that whole "messiah" thing was dreamed up by the right, asshat.

Getting back to Muslims, there are people who would insist that we should distinguish between those who cut off the heads of their innocent victims and those who, rumor has it, just want to live and let live. Well, I keep trying, heaven knows, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. well then, why should i bother to distinguish between right wing extremists and peaceful conservatives, Mr. Prelutsky? Gitmo for you! I hear waterboarding is just like the rides at Disney.

. . .*

Now I understand that any country that keeps electing people like Bill Clinton, Barney Frank, Barbara Boxer and Barack Obama, the killer B’s as it were, "killer B's"? Whom have they killed? you'd think that would be all over the news. doesn’t have terribly high standards okay, electing Bush proves that, but I see him on that list, but assuming we have any at all, will someone please explain why we’re allowing these degenerates into the country? you mean, people like Clinton, Frank, Boxer, and Obama, who were all born here? that's . . . confusing.

*What I didn't address was the story of an 8 year old rape victim. Supposedly, she was then abandoned by her father because of the shame she brought the family, but I'm having trouble corroborating that last bit on anything other than wingnut sites. Even if it were true, one such story proves nothing, and I'm not helping Mr. Prelutsky pimp a rape victim to prove a point.

Redefining Logical

profanity, obscenity, curse words, jesus, atheism, atheist, muslim, islam, mahdi, shi'a
Chris Geiser, at Food for the Soul, has redefined "logical", proving the existence of god, Jesus and hell via profanity.

Yes, profanity.

(note: Mr. Geiser does not feel the need to waste time dividing his posts into paragraphs. I do.)

I just saw a trailer to a movie called Drag Me to Hell. It looks really scary. A while ago I visited the movie's website and it is rather eye opening. It has one of the better website flame graphics I've seen, but I'm not sure I would call it "eye opening". Maybe it's the way all the text isn't jammed into one tiny space that Mr. Geiser finds eye opening.

When secular people atheists! go to see that movie and have heard to the? whole gospel preached to them before wow, who's letting that happen? i mean, the whole gospel. yeah, it's long., I am sure they will probably think about what they heard from the faithful believer who told them the good news. no, no we won't. we don't stop to think about these things while enjoying harmless entertainment. hello, just a movie!

Hell sure seems like it is the real deal. uh, it does? have you been there? wouldn't that be a better post than this one? And it is because it is logical and biblical. hell isn't really biblical, nor is it particularly logical. though thanks for the chuckle. I think that if God, Jesus, or Hell didn't exist, people wouldn't be using God or Jesus Christ's name as curse words when they are mad or scared nor say "What the H-ll" when they are made made what? made scared? what? or scared, either. allow me to explain the nature of profanity to you, Mr. Geiser. it's cultural. the entire purpose of profanity is to be offensive and shocking. in a nation of christians, profanity invoking christian themes will be popular. atheists use those words because everyone else does. this does not reflect any belief in god, jesus or hell. what do you think "fuck!" is all about anyway?

let me put it to you another way: if people found blinking as shocking and crass as mentioning defecation in public, then "oh, blink!" would be the sort of thing you say when you drop a heavy box on your foot.

Nobody uses Allah, Buddha or Mother Nature as curse words. i dunno about that. different cultures do consider different things offensive. actually, i looked up Arabic profanity and got a very amusing list of insults and obscenities. most of them would be equally insulting to an english speaker, but some of them are distinctly different in flavor. Rooh fi siteen alf dahya, for example, apparently means get lost in 60,000 disasters. i guess 50,000 disasters isn't quite enough, but 70,000 is excessive. I know people don't say ,"Mary mother of G-d" as a curse word anymore but they did when? as far back as my grandmother that was an expression of surprise and fear, not an insult or an attempt to be offensive...and why did they, if the whole story of Jesus coming to earth through the virgin Mary wasn't true? i'd just like to say "duh."

I would like to note something else. Muslims, or at least Shi'a Muslims, do believe in Jesus, just not as god. They believe Jesus was born of a virgin, was an important prophet, ascended bodily into heaven and will return at the end of days, some time after al Mahdi. Yet they never invoke Jesus as a profanity, thus disproving Mr. Geiser's theory that we profane what we believe in.

No one thinks of those things when they aren't born again because they are blind and must be gently told that they are wearing someone else's eye-glasses. what? what does that even mean? am i blind or merely wearing the wrong prescription? and how would i not notice that i had someone else's glasses on? trust me, wearing the wrong prescription is immediately obvious. Condemnation awaits them John 3:18, not only from their own doing but because Satan has a play in it too. damn satan, always fucking things up. Satan's work can be destroyed through the light of the gospel in a dark place. so, not in the rather overly lit room i am in right now? guess i'm screwed. Revelation 21:8. John 3:16.

Why, Yes, We Were Involved In a Crusade

atheism, atheist, crusades, religion, christian, christianity, muslim, separation, states,
Ever wonder why atheists get so very screechy about separation of church and state? I know, if you're a certain type of christian, you think separation of church and state is stupid and useless. You think we're a christian nation, and we should act like one.

The above picture is not of a church mailer. It is a picture of a report given to George W. Bush regarding the war in Iraq. It's basically proof that the United States was waging not a war, but a Crusade.

What exactly do we say to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis that died, were injured, or lost a loved one? I don't think "oops" is going to cover this one. I'm also not sure we're ever living this one down.

Next time, let's listen to the atheists, m'kay?

Functional Atheists Are Not Atheists

atheism, atheist, makarios, muslim, hindu, shinto, pagan, agnostic, deism, fail, christianity, bible, god,
I may have figured out why there are so many current and former atheists in a country where less than 5% of people are atheists.

Makarios' latest is on the evil of Oprah, which I just don't have time for, but the following is illuminative:

while there are relatively few professing atheists in the world (those who declare there is no God), there may be a billion or more what I call Functional Atheists - those who live as though God, as He is described in the Bible, does not exist.

Functional atheists, or practical atheists as they're called by some, believe that God’s desires for us are no more relevant for our lives than those of the guy next door.

First of all, these are not atheists. Atheists lack a belief in any and all gods, just the same way Makarios lacks a belief in Thor or Zeus or the tiny pink unicorns in my basement. (They're lovely.) What he is describing is agnostics, deists or unaffiliateds. They represent about 10% of the US. Makarios can call them atheists, but they're not atheists. I can call my dog a cat, it's still a dog.

Secondly, Muslims, Hindus, Shintoists, pagans, etc. could be described as living as though the god of the bible does not exist, by which I think Makarios means "not being the exact same sort of christians as me." Muslims, Hindus, Shintoists, pagans, etc. are demonstrably not atheists: they all believe in god(s).

So, Makarios can redefine agnostics, deists, unaffiliateds, Muslims, Hindus, Shintoists, pagans and my couch as atheists, until he arrives at the billions and billions number, but that does not change the fact that none of these people are atheists.

Redefinition fail.

Funny What You Learn When You Do Actual Research

muslim, uk, germany, citizenship, demographic, winter
We've heard it time and time again since 911: Muslims move into a country like the UK or Germany and never assimilate. They form their own little muslim communities which essentially become separate muslim countries within the host country.

That's not true.

A report by the Gallup and Coexist foundation found that Muslims are actually identify more with their adopted country than the other residents. They also have more confidence in the judicial system, financial institutions and the honesty of elections.

The report by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation says 77% of British Muslims identified with the UK, compared with 50% of the general public.

. . .

In Germany, 40% of Muslims identified with the country against 32% of the wider public.

Maybe the demographic winter won't be such a bad thing after all.

Sin is an alien that has no true rights.

religion, christian, christianity, atheism, atheist, democracy, theocracy, bible, god, jesus, judaism, muslim, pagan, heathen, crazy,
Sorry, Robert Lee at the Society for the Practical Establishment and Perpetuation of the TEN COMMANDMENTS has raised the bar for crazy with Things you should know*.

It sounds absolutely absurd for supreme court judges to vote on an issue. Either they are judges or voters. True judges judge, not vote. that is so awesome, it might be a Poe.

Never think you have the wrong book even if you pick up the Bible by mistake! well, if i want to find a phone number, i most certainly do have the wrong book.

What good is the poem,
What good is the rhythm and rhyme?
As long as they do not convey God's truths,
They are not worth a dime.

The industrial revolution in America helped greatly to destroy moral values in America. The factory system was developed not as a result of need, but from greed. Home employment employed everyone. But the factory, having destroyed home employment, cannot employ everyone. Thus unemployment was created by the industrial revolution. that's right, there was never, ever unemployment ever, in the world, prior to factories. because every single person was a farmer at all times. and soldiers never came home from war to find that there wasn't a job for them.

Who are heathens to comment on whether God exists or not; they don't know whether their own selves exist or not, or whether the life they live is truly real. um, yeah.

Every citizen of America has found cause to argue against democracy one way or the other, because it is not right for anyone. that would just be you. i'm fine with democracy.

I don't attend funerals. I've never attended one during my adult life. Whenever I am convinced that a person truly went to heaven, then you will see me at his funeral. that's right, nobody Mr. Lee has ever known, not a family member, nor a friend, has ever gone to heaven. heaven must be a very lonely place indeed.

One cannot have thoughts of a true GOD without actually thinking of the true God, because there is no true God other than the true God. In other words, one cannot imagine a true God without actually thinking of the true God. There are no imaginations of the true God apart from actually thinking of the true God. The true God is not a God of the imagination. and the award for circular reasoning par excelence goes to . . .

Those who would endeavor to properly straighten out the american society will have to forget about attending college or seminary and forget about a "degree", because once you have obtained a "degree," you will have become thoroughly incompetent and impotent to do anything truly worthwhile for america. ignorance isn't bliss, it's competance and erections!

Solomon quite obviously is not the one making judicial decisions in america. for quite a variety of reasons.

Middle-class blacks are foolishly frustrated that they still are, to some degree, prevented from serving satan as do whites. They will not be satisfied until they have the freedom to serve him equally. did i mention Mr. Lee is a racist?

Blacks have never understood how blessed it is to be outcasts in the american society. a really big racist.

It's LEGAL for boxers to break one anothers' noses, blacken one anothers' eyes, knock out teeth and try to give one another a final concussion which may result in death; but it's ILLEGAL to cock or dog fight. because humans have the mental capacity to choose this action, but birds and dogs do not.

Better is a dictator who rules every aspect of the lives of the people with true justice and righteousness, than a democracy wherein the people indulge in the evil and idolatrous freedom they desire. i wonder who Mr. Lee has in mind for the dictatorship?

All major news media in America is the main medium by which satan and his demons speak to the American public. The senators and congressmen are also the medium by which the people make their desires known unto satan, and one means by which satan answers their prayers. demons, demons, everywhere . . .

Demons cause more than one type of expression on the faces of the people whom they possess: There is the glassy-eyed look and stare of the epileptic; the feminine look in the male homosexual; the masculine look in the lesbian; the look of education and sophistication; the look of innocence and truth in the liar, etc... did I also mention Mr. Lee hates gays, epileptics and liberal elites?

Reading the Atlanta Journal and Constitution is seeing the world through the eyes of homosexuals.

America is the leading anti-Christian, anti-God, anti-Jesus Christ nation on earth. right ahead of Iran, well known for their love of jesus.

The musical "Beauty and the Beast" made by atheist homosexual heathens at Walt Disney is designed to subtly create tolerance in the foolish american society for BESTIALITY ! Mr. Lee isn't fond of Disney, either.


Has a person ever made you so angry you wished he was dead? Then why can't you feel and express that same fervency of anger towards true criminals such as atheists, pedophiles, homosexuals, murders, rapists and etc? It is likely that the people who made you so angry did not commit death worthy crimes in the society; but the people we have name have. What you should wish for these people is that the government put them to death. atheist=gay=pedophile=murder=rapist.

There is a time and season for every purpose under heaven. There was a time for blacks to fight for civil rights, but now it is time for them to fight against it as it pertains to gays. Mr. Lee isn't quite as racist as he is homophobic.

The corporeal Jews are looking for a "messiah" but they don't know where he will come from (John 7:27). Since the true Messiah, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, came from heaven, but the Jews did not and do not believe in Him, and since Jesus is the only true Messiah, meaning that no other Messiah will come from heaven, then the messiah the heathen corporeal "jews" are looking for can only originate on cursed earth or descend out of hell. It is therefore plain to see who their messiah is. He is none other than the old serpent. is there a bigotry Mr. Lee does not embrace?

Every society will have groups that can be identified with prevailing social patterns and institutions. In america, such are the atheists and other pagans. But there are others who oppose and defy america's atheistic and pagan establishment. Yes, america has its critics and enemies. But the ever enduring group and most important are the few who are true Christians - rightly so. True Christians understand the heathenism of the american establishment and thus is unconvinced it is the best of all possible worlds. True Christians have serious reservations about america's morality and political philosophy. Don't worry my pagan readers, Mr. Lee didn't forget about you!

Americ! America! Please listen! Please do not let the likes of Ozzie Osburn get the victory and capitolize off you! Apparently, we were fighting Ozzy and I missed it!

I'm just going to stop here:

demo cracy ----- demo N cracy ----- DEMONCRACY. Now you know the origin of democracy. It is none other than SATANOCRACY

*found under the heading "Supporting Documents"!!1!!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Choices

fundamentalism, religion, religious, christian, modesty, muslim, atheism, atheist,

In reading about modesty, I learned something. Well, I learned two things. As is clearly demonstrated above, I am not modest*. I also learned something else. As much as I love having choices**, other people clearly do not.

Choices are scary.

Religion can save you from them.

Not sure what to eat? Religion's got you covered. Not sure what to wear? Oh yeah, religion really has you covered there. Not sure what to movies to watch, what music to listen to, what books to read? Religion has an approved list. Not sure what to do with your time? Religion has an itinerary. Not sure when, or how many, children to have? There's religion for that, too. Sexual desire got you down? Not sure if that particular fantasy makes you a freak? Religion will tell you who, when and how to fuck.

Not sure what to think? Religion has your opinions for you right here.

So tell me, other than the promise of a better tomorrow, what's the difference between fundamentalism and slavery?

*I consider the WonderBra to be the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century.

** I buy tea three flavors at a time just so every time I make tea, I have a choice as to flavor. Choice is the bestest thing every.

Defining Lust

atheism, atheist, religion, religious, jesus, bible, christian, christianity, muslim, hell, judaism, jewish, orthodox, burqa, modesty, lust
Quasar, over at the SMRT board, has possibly explained a fundy (and I'm speaking of Christian, Jewish and Muslim fundys here) viewpoint that has long confused me- lust.

Fundys make a big deal about sexual attraction, and it's never made sense to me. (Growing up Catholic, you learn a lot about the evils of birth control, but nobody makes a big deal about clothing or lust in general.)

We all know about the burqa and the head scarf, and if you live where I live, you've seen how Orthodox Jewish women dress. Christian fundys aren't generally quite that extreme, but they do make a fuss about modesty.

Quasar's explanation:

Now that I've got you interested with the title... how broad is the definition of lust, and how does this apply to sexually repressed fundies?

For me there are three distinct levels, and I only define the third as 'lust.'

1. The first is simply in passing: I notice a girl, and may not even consiously think about her, but my mind recognises that she has attractive features and I could tell others that she was attractive if they asked.

2. The second is more like 'admiration.' This is simply a platonic admiration of the other persons aesthetics: consiously registering their beauty. An example might be when your eyes fix on someone as they go by. Happens to me a lot.

3. The third is what I call lust, and involves actual sexual attraction. This emotion is extremely rare, and takes a lot to evoke, in me at least.

Now, I'm beginning to think that fundies may have a much broader definition of lust. Consider those who force women to wear head-scarfs to prevent lust from being evoked.It seems to me that they consider even the first definition, simple recognition of attractiveness, to be lust. Something Ray once did (Hi Maragon!) and the general behaviour of fundy christians, leads me to believe that they consider the second definition as lust. Or is it possible that the sexual repression both groups enforce causes them to experience the third definition of lust far more frequently than myself? Or a combination of the two? Chime in! What do you think?

While I find it entirely possible that people who are repressed about sex might end up thinking about it even more (Pink Elephants! I dare you not to think of them!), I think it may well be true that simply noticing a member of the opposite sex, or recognizing their relative attractiveness is what qualifies as lust to fundys.

This is an extremely odd viewpoint because, as another SMRT member noted, one could achieve 1 or 2 with a dog, a horse, a painting or a piece of furniture. Simply acknowledging the beauty in a person is not lust.

To view acknowledging beauty as sin is just mindblowing to me. "God made the world a beautiful place- don't enjoy it or you'll burn forever!" has to be the most depressing theology I've ever heard of.

Now on to 3, real lust. I fail to see what exactly is wrong with lust. For one thing, lust is a desire to act, not an action. For another, we're biologically programmed to lust. Perpetuation of the species and all that. I know, I know, Jesus did say that desire and action are one and the same. Lusting is the same as fucking. Anger is the same as murder.

What a peculiar viewpoint. For one thing, who can control their thoughts? Just writing this is sending me into a really detailed fantasy involving [censored] and it is HOT! What were we . . . oh, yeah, controlling your thoughts. Not possible. I suspect that any religion that puts you in the position of thought sinning is really aiming at a particularly insidious form of control. "You can't control your thoughts, pervert? Better get some Jesus before your burn! Oh, what, Jesus isn't enough to stop you from thinking sinful things? Better start attending church and reading the bible and tithing- otherwise it's the outer darkness for you!"

Thoughts are normal. Noticing another person's beauty is normal. Appreciating another person's beauty is normal. Lustful thoughts are normal. (This fantasy I am having- not so much.) Homosexual thoughts in an otherwise hetero person? Also normal. Getting worked up about it? Not normal, not healthy and not necessary.

We may need a few more bus ads.

Facepalm time, Part 2

atheism, atheist, atheophobia, muslim, islam, christian, christianity, stupid,
Sorry about the empty post, I need to remember not to accidentally hit "enter" while in blogger.

Today we revisit our friend Yusuf Khan, over at the examiner. Mr. Khan has, in five posts, picked apart atheism with "simple" arguments. (I hate it when people insult themselves for me. Takes all the fun out of it.)

I will now review part 2 and part 3 of Mr. Khan's delightful examination.

Welcome back, everyone.

As was said earlier, the non-religion of nonbelievers (a.k.a. "Atheism" stop that!) suspiciously finds its non-belief being aggressively proselytized in the 'Religion and Spirituality' section of most libraries and online media outlets.

I will restate my original dismissal of this bit of silliness: why does it matter what section of the newspaper articles about atheism (it is improper to capitalize atheism, btw) appear in? I can't think of a paper that has a philosophy section, so religion and spirituality probably is the next best fit. Business wouldn't work.

If we started putting articles about Islam in the sports section, does Islam become soccer? Of course not. Putting articles about atheism in the religion and spirituality section does not make atheism a religion.

Shouldn't they be categorized in the 'Philosophy' section instead? what paper has a philosophy section? Basically the genuine followers of genuine religions are too nice to tell them to go away. but not you, Mr. Khan. or Ray Comfort. Or Mr. Holmgren. Yeah, you're all so nice. So they stay, as unwelcome guests. yeah, we're pretty much used to that. i'm beyond being pissed that fundys don't want me around. in fact, i'd be a little worried if they did want me around.

For the most part being Atheist is not good enough. for what? you? it's quite enough for me. They have to drag you away from belief as well. not true at all. if you consider my not believing what you believe an attempt to "drag you away" from Islam, that's your problem. it says a lot more about the state of your faith than anything else. now, if you mean my unwillingness to submit to your spiritual superiority, then yes, i suppose you're right. Nothing less will do. i don't care what you believe. worship allah, worship odin, worship my socks for all i care, just leave me out of it. (if you do decide to worship my socks, i'll let you have them. otherwise, it gets awkward.) This of course, takes us to our discussion point for today: the Atheist desire for acceptance in mainstream society. why shouldn't i be accepted in the mainstream of society? discrimination is NOT a good thing.

Myth: Atheism should be considered a mainstream way of life. This is because Buddhism is a form of Atheism. i've never, NEVER, heard this argument. atheism should be considered a mainstream way of life because it is. billions of people worldwide are atheists, including about 40% of Buddhists, but even nonBuddhist atheists shouldn't be regarded as freaks.

Fact: Documented quotes from Buddha mention a Supreme Being on at least one occasion, which is an obvious affirmation. this is just painful. about 40% of buddhists are atheists, and about 60% are theists (here, here, and here) because buddhism is divided in the same way that christianity is divided, judaism is divided and islam is divided. and, while i can find many quotes from the buddha that propound and atheistic worldview, i couldn't find the quote that Mr. Khan refers to. (Mr. Khan has a little trouble proving what he says.) In essence, Buddhism as it stands today neither denies God nor is God-centric. Thus it can hardly be claimed that Buddhism is an Atheist religion. nobody claims that. we do acknowledge, however, that a large portion of buddhists qualify as atheists in that they do not believe in a god or supreme being. In other words, the lack of acknowledgment of the existence of an entity does not necessarily constitute disbelief in it.

my advice, Mr. Khan? don't try the semantics again. you're not good at it. either the buddha acknowledged god, or he didn't. either a certain portion of buddhists are atheists, or they are not. this sort of parsing proves nothing.
Take if you will the following example.

Islam acknowledges as valid all of the Prophets who appeared between Adam and Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon them all. how egalitarian! (ooh, and it leaves our Joseph Smith. Take that, Mormons!) However the Qur'an only mentions a little over twenty of them by name. possibly Muhammad was not familiar with all the prophets the world over? Now just because the others are not mentioned by name, can anyone say other Prophets from God are not a part of Islam? Obviously not. where is this going?

Therefore the analogy of Buddhism cannot be manipulated to normalize Atheism.
Buddhism is a world religion. A=B therefore C=P? Sorry, I'm calling fail on that one.

Atheism? You figure it out. I'm still guessing. I have figured it out, being an atheist and all. Might be more helpful to ask me than this asshat.

Today's post is a little history lesson. this should be fun.
But before we begin I would like to take this opportunity to make it crystal-clear that I don't have an express agenda against individuals. It's the ideology I take exception to - just as Atheists take exception to monotheism. Fair enough? no, not fair enough. i don't take exception to monotheism, polytheism, monolatrism, or any other godism. Just stop trying to shove it down my throat already!

Having said that, let's proceed.

A basic review of Atheist tendencies reveals that they oppose the authority of God. what? i can't oppose the authority of a nonexistent entity. i can oppose your supposed "god given" authority, but that's a different thing. God is seen by them as 'controlling' or 'oppressive'. not god, religion. religion is controlling and oppressive. As a result of this, contemporary Atheist attacks are directed against God-centric religions, primarily Christianity. what other sorts of religions are there? (okay, buddhism, but I don't thinkg that's what he's referring to.)

On occasion Atheists will also make disparaging attacks against Islam. oh noes!
Curiously enough, ancient mythologies and pagan creeds are never attacked by Atheists. because i never have pagans calling me stupid or defiant, and i have never EVER had a pagan hand me a tract or interrupt my dinner to proselytize. which is a shame, cause that'd be cool. what would pagan tracts look like? But it remains Christianity that usually receives the brunt of their furor. Here's why. because most open atheists live in countries that are overwhelmingly christian. i sure wouldn't do this openly atheist blogging in Yemen or Saudi Arabia. I like not being beheaded.

The Medieval era in most of Europe was filled with great excesses committed in the name of religion. Witch-hunts, persecution of scientists (e.g. Galileo), even the cruel killing of cats that happened to be black in color were all the product of a twisted interpretation of Christianity. there had better be a mention of all the atrocities Islam has created. FGM anyone?

Forced conversions of non-Christians during the infamous Spanish Inquisition also gave politically established Christendom a bad name. and your point is?

Naturally those who arrived in the New World from Europe, though Christians themselves, expressly pledged to separate Religion and State. sigh. i suggest actually reading about US history if you want to talk about it.

Myth: Established religion is cruel and oppressive. it certainly can be, and has been.

Fact: The above conclusion is derived from a singular bitter experience: medieval Europe. oh right. the only example of established religion being cruel and oppressive is medieval european christianity. right.

Have Atheists taken the time to study other faith-based societies and empires? some of us, yes.

Where do we see forced conversions of Catholics during 850 years of Muslim Spain? Do we come across documented instances of witch hunts and prolonged persecutions of religious minorities in Ottoman Turkey? did we see atrocities at the hands of muslims? yes.

The fact is all Atheist accusations of religious atrocities are based on only one historical reference: medieval Europe. not a fact.

Expand your horizons. anyone got a used irony meter for sale? mine just exploded.

The remarkable progress in science and technology that was sparked in Asia, North Africa, and Eastern Europe was a direct product of Islam, not a pre-Islamic phenomenon. i can't speak to this.

This historical testimony serves as clear-cut evidence that the presence of monotheism in a society in no way hinders scientific progress. also not a fact. In fact the above example taken from Muslim history proves that in fact it fosters education and encourages development.

Don't agree? Proof please. already gave you that.

It's Facepalm Time Again

examiner, atheism, atheist, muslim, islam, asshat, religion, stupid,
Yeah, it's that time again. I'm not exactly certain what goes on at examiner.com, though not always thoughtful examination, apparently. (If you saw the hash Ray Comfort made of his examiner articles, you knew that already.)

Today I examine the Islamic Examiner's latest endeavor:

Simple Arguments Against Atheism- Part 1, by Yusuf Khan.

And yes, they are simple.

Atheism is a belief system marketed today as the 'choice' of rationalists and intellectuals worldwide. it's totally a choice. generally not made by the overly religious, though there may indeed be irrational stupid atheists. i've never met them, but i've not met every atheist in the world, either. But does Atheism even make sense? this from someone who clearly thinks Islam makes sense.

No sooner had I written this introduction in a video presentation that I was struck by a barrage of 'offended' atheists. so there was a whole crowd of atheists surrounding you as you wrote it? where were you writing it? live on pharyngula?

"Hey! Atheism is not a religion!"
"Atheism is not a belief system, it's unbelief!"
Umm..okay. atheism is not a religion. it is obviously not a religion.

Let's examine this, shall we?

religion

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

clearly not. atheism doesn't speak to the cause or purpose of the universe, and atheists don't believe in superhuman agency(ies). we engage in no devotional or ritual observances, nor do we subscribe to some atheistic moral code.

2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

clearly not. getting atheists to agree on anything other than we don't believe in god is like herding cats. heck, we can't agree on a symbol or a nonsymbol symbol.

3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

again, we only share the one belief, and we don't have practices, so clearly not.

Have it your way. damn right i will- no tomatoes!

Because if that's the case then I don't know why Atheist propaganda it's not atheist thought, or atheist viewpoints, it's "propaganda". way to frame the argument, yusuf. is always found in the Religion section of most publications, including this one.

And that's the facepalm.

This is his "logical argument": if an article is in the Religion section of the publication, the subject matter must automatically be a religion. Therefore, if I put articles about Islam in the sports section, Islam is soccer. If I put birth announcements with the obituaries, the babies all die.

That's not even close to logic.

It's a little like Political articles in the Style & Fashion section of Examiner.com. But's that okay, I'll play along. It'll be fun. maybe for you, probably not for the rest of us.

So let's begin. What follows is a series of simple, logical arguments against Atheism. again, probably not.

First of all, what is Atheism? No one seems confused on the definition of their disbelief other than our Atheist friends themselves. in which case, the confusion is real and valid. by the way, how many different types of Islam are there, Yusuf? You guys seem a little confused, too.

On the surface the definition of Atheism seems to be the denial of the existence of an all-Powerful, Supreme Creator. or a lack of belief in, if you're me. i don't deny, i just don't believe. yes, i know, subtlety is dead, but i'm still trying.

However comma delving a little deeper into the quotes made by many Atheists which atheists and what quotes? confirms that a number of them do not deny the existence of God at all. Instead they seem to affirm His existence but they defy His Authority. again, how can i even address this if he won't show me the quotes? this is ridiculous.

So get your act together guys. It'll help you as well as everyone else out..a lot. it would help me if you give me the damn quotes, asshat.

Stay tuned for more: logical arguments, debunked myths. And thanks for stopping by. "more" implies there were logical arguments and debunked myths in the first place.

"examine" my ass!

Lessons From the Bible

bible, god, jesus, jews, muslim, bible, rape, slavery, christian, christianity, morality, immoral, asshat,
I like to check out the profiles of Ray Comfort's cheerleaders. Oddly, many of them have no viewable profile at all, or profiles with no information. Those with blogs are frequently the source of much amusement.

The Lord's Beautiful Things, not so much.

Prepare the Way for the Lord

In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3 What's interesting about this isn't the meaning of the quote, it's the translation. That is the New International Version, which is anethema to Christian fundamentalists, who all cling to the King James Version of the bible, for reasons I have never been able to make heads or tails of. (It's not like the texts were originally written in English. Oh, and Jesus was not a blue-eyed blonde.)

Dictionary.com says that a desert is-any area in which few forms of life can exist because of lack of water, permanent frost, or absence of soil.-any place lacking in something-of, pertaining to, or like a desert; desolate; barren. thanks for that. that really cleared nothing up for me.

We are in the desert right now. i suppose if we're in nevada, arizona, utah, parts of texas or california, but i'm not. i'm in pennsylvania. not a desert. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave!, but we are not really free it's true, but it's not like i wanted to go on a shooting spree. well, not that much.. The majority of us are walking around following trends, fashions, and behaviors because we think we should freely choosing to do so, in fact. People boast how in America you are free to do whatever you want except for stealing, raping, murdering, shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre, think and act how you want yes, you are free to think whatever you want. some people should take less advantage of that, but whatever, and wear what you want, but they are wrong.

How many times do you pick up a magazine and Say, "oooh, I want that!" , "I HAVE to have it"? in a given day? a week? what? besides, saying you really want something isn't wrong or inherently bad. i just, yeah, i dunno. Whether its is Glamor Magazine hey now, I read Glamour, it's not that bad., or Popular Mechanics, evil technology! people are always out to sell you something. welcome to the US. And not just sell you something, but tell you something as well. where is this going?

Fashion magazines tell young girls that they are not pretty if they don't wear the latest fashions actually, i thought fashion magazines told girls they're not pretty if they don't weigh less than me, but whatever. they're in the business of selling stuff, what do you expect? my niece figured out the lack of truth/reality in advertising by the time she was 6., the radio tells young men that it's okay to demean women and call them all sorts of nasty words ah, rap. not my favorite form of expression, but i don't think we can blame all society ills on a bunch of quasimusicians., and NOTHING in our general society talks about God.

Stop right there, asshat. Nothing? NOTHING? Take a dollar bill out of your wallet and tell me all about the total lack of god in general society. Need to swear to something in Court? you'll need a bible, or you'll need to out yourself as nonchristian. say the pledge of allegiance. written without "under god", but there it is today.

honestly.

The Bible tells you just as easily how to dress really? i did see a few passages on how the Aaronic High Priests were to dress (like a cross between a gay pride parade and any given day at the Vatican), but not a whole lot on the rest of us. unless we count not mixing fibers in our fabrics., how to talk ???,

how to treat women

i would be terrified to live in a world where the bible was the basis for how women are treated. Rape is an acceptable practice in the bible.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NLT If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her.

Can you imagine being forceably married to your rapist? This is good and moral? On what planet?

To take this even further, if the woman is prevented from alerting others to her rape (usually what rapists do. It's not much use to rape a woman who is screaming her head off and alerting potential defenders.), she is to be murdered for being a rape victim.

Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife.

This is the great morality that Christians have and I do not? Keep it! I don't want it.

and human beings in general.

Oh, really? Apparently, Christians view slavery as a perfectly acceptable way to treat humans.

Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way.

Beating your slaves to death is okay, as long as they don't die right away.

Exodus 21:20-21 NAB When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.

Just so nobody says, "Well, that's the old testament, Jesus changed everything, no, he didn't.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)

Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. (1 Timothy 6:1-2 NLT)

But no one looks to God to tell them what to do because it's not "popular". Maybe because it would be entirely immoral to actually do so. Being a Christian is not popular. yeah, christians are only more than 75% of the US. Have you noticed how if you talk about how great God is, you will get a whole bunch of wohoos um, what? from Catholics, Jewish, Christian and Muslim alike (Muslims worship the same God as us, just a different name)? But if you DARE to mention Jesus, everyone will go silent, 'cept for Christians of course. maybe because jews and muslims don't view jesus as god? asshat. It is if our world is backwards. it's so insane that jews and muslims don't worship jesus! Everyone rewards and accepts the perverse following fashion trends! and questions and looks down upon the righteous, and wholesome. rape and slavery! Our nation has become like a barren wasteland. unless you're in Pennsylvania, in which case the crucuses (croci?) are blooming! It is a desert in need of the Living Water. the living water of brutal immorality!

Give Peace a Bullet to the Brain

Honestly. At what point does a person look at the world around them and say, "You know what? Just not enough violence and hatred and killing out there. I should speak out against anything that seeks to put an end to it, or at least slow things down. That's not what Jesus would have wanted."

Apparently when they become a Christian fundamentalist.

From the raptureready message boards, we get this gem:

A Christian, Muslim and Jew pray for peace among nations
From Worldwide Faith News wfn@igc.org
Date Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:39:41 -0800
A Christian, Muslim and Jew pray for peace among nations
New York, January 12, 2009 --

Leaders of three faiths that trace their origins back to a common ancestor -- the Patriarch Abraham -- joined their hearts and pens today to form a common prayer for peace between Israel, Gaza and among all nations.Rabbi Steve Gutow of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon of the National Council of Churches USA, and Dr. Sayeed Sayid of the Islamic Society of North America, acknowledged having "different views" as to how to end the confrontation between Israel and Gaza, said they looked "to the power that is greater than any of us can even contemplate" to ask for peace in the Middle East.

I don't think that will accomplish anything for a variety of reasons, but it's nice to see people trying. Or not.

Gabby (under the fig tree) replies: That prayer won't reach the ceiling since it is not prayed in the name of Jesus Christ. stupid jews and muslims, thinking god listens to them. as an atheist, i think you're all a pack of godbotherers, but whatever, go ahead and think you're special.

lynGraphics doesn't understand, I dunno, science, dna, and incest apparently: besides.... we ALL have one common ancestor!

Beagler proves that religion makes one stupid: I get so tired of people equating allah the demonic moon god to Jehovah the creator of the universe and author of my salvation. yeah, i know, philology from a chick tract. look, one more time and then i'm done, "allah" is the arabic word for "god" in exactly the same way "perro" is the spanish word for "dog". they mean exactly the same thing. arabic-speaking christians pray to "allah". are we done yet?

final trumpet is a little angry that a christian would dare to pray with those from other faiths. how dare they! That prayer will not reach the ceiling anyway since it is against he scriptures. Since when is a Christian supposed to be praying in agreement with those that deny Christ and those that worship a false god?

what the hell is the matter with people, anyway? do these asshats think more prejudice and bigotry and violence is the answer to our problems? every now and then i wish there was a god, so that asshats like these would have to answer for this sort of thing.