Clipmarks | Antara's 'religion' clips

Musim father burns Christian daughter alive

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:54:17 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: what can you say?

Muslim father burns Christian daughter alive

Man slices out girl's tongue, ignites her after 'heated debate on religion'

A Saudi Arabian Muslim father cut out his daughter's tongue and lit her on fire upon learning that she had become a Christian.

The child became curious about Jesus Christ after she read Christian material online, the Gulf News reported.

Her father read of her Internet conversation, detached her tongue and burned her to death "following a heated debate on religion," according to an International Christian Concern report.

The father is employed by the muwateen, or Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The muwateen are police tasked by the government with enforcing religious purity. The man has been taken into custody, and his identity has not been released.

Tags: religion, islam, christianity, another dead girl

Too Submissive for France

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:17:03 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: Seems a little weird....

Clip Source: www.nationalpost.com

Muslim woman too submissive for French citizenship

PARIS -- France has denied citizenship to a veiled Moroccan woman on the grounds that her "radical" practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French values such as equality of the sexes, a legal ruling showed on Friday.

The case will reignite debate about how to reconcile freedom of religion, which is guaranteed by the French constitution, and other fundamental rights, which many in France feel are being challenged by the way of life of some Muslims.

Le Monde newspaper said it was the first time a Muslim applicant had been rejected for reasons to do with personal religious practice.

"She has adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes," said a ruling by the Council of State handed down last month and sent to Reuters on Friday to confirm a report in Le Monde.

Tags: religion, islam, women, france, eu, citizenship

Obama Blogger sues Bible Publishers

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:11:00 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: lol.....

Clip Source: www.worldnetdaily.com

'Gay' man sues Bible publishers

$70 million for emotional distress because homosexuality cast as sin

Bradley Fowler (RightPundits.com)

A homosexual man who has a blog on Sen. Barack Obama's campaign website is suing two major Christian publishers for violating his constitutional rights and causing emotional pain, because the Bible versions they publish refer to homosexuality as a sin.

Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, of Canton, Mich., is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing in lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Grand Rapids Press reported.

Fowler filed his claim against Grand Rapids-based Zondervan Monday, alleging its Bibles' references to homosexuality as a sin have made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of "demoralization, chaos and bewilderment," the paper said.

Tags: nutty lawsuits, homosexuality, religion, obama

New Sam Harris :)

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:57:27 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: Sam writes about the recent "belief" surverys he conducted....

Clip Source: newsweek.washingtonpost.com

According to a recent Pew survey, 21 percent of atheists in the United States believe in “God or a universal spirit,” and 8 percent are “absolutely certain” that such a Being exists. One wonders if they were also “absolutely certain” they understood the meaning of the term “atheist.” Claiming to be an atheist who believes in God is like claiming to be a happily married bachelor. Rarely does one discover nonsense in such a pristine state. Still this hasn’t stopped many people from concluding that there is a schism in the atheist community.

Tags: sam harris, atheism, religion, belief, conclusions

Debate on Messiah and Origins of Christianity

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:01:09 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: very interesting

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection

JERUSALEM — A three-foot-tall tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew that scholars believe dates from the decades just before the birth of Jesus is causing a quiet stir in biblical and archaeological circles, especially because it may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days.

If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus, since it suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time.

The tablet, probably found near the Dead Sea in Jordan according to some scholars who have studied it, is a rare example of a stone with ink writings from that era — in essence, a Dead Sea Scroll on stone.

Tags: artifacts, archaeology, religion, christianity, truth

Theodicy and the "Holiday in Hellmouth"

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:37:29 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: good read

http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/holiday-in-hellmouth/

Clip Source: www.samharris.org

For the lucky few, there is reason to hope that life will be a business of evenly rationed suffering: stern parents perhaps, a few humiliations at school, then a love affair or two gone wrong, maybe a marriage broken. Our parents will die, and farther off, ideally deferred, will come our own steady demise. Plenty of suffering for a life, certainly, but most of us subsist on the plausible expectation that fortune will draw a circle around that personal portion, and that the truly unbearable—murder, rape, dead children, torture, war—will remain outside the cordon. Norman Rush, in his novel “Mortals,” calls this “hellmouth”: “the opening up of the mouth of hell right in front of you, without warning, through no fault of your own.” Without warning, and yet always feared. Job, whom God places into hellmouth to test him, knew that paradox: “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”

Tags: sam harris, the new yorker, atheism, belief, faith, religion, theodicy

Fideism

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:37:09 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: I only learned about this "school of thought" recently Just passin on a link

Clip Source: plato.stanford.edu

Fideism

“Fideism” is the name given to that school of thought—to which Tertullian himself is frequently said to have subscribed—which answers that faith is in some sense independent of—if not outright adversarial toward—reason. In contrast to the more rationalistic tradition of natural theology, with its arguments for the existence of God, fideism holds that reason is unnecessary and inappropriate for the exercise and justification of religious belief. The term itself derives from fides, the Latin word for faith, and can be rendered literally as faith-ism. “Fideism” is thus to be understood not as a synonym for “religious belief,” but as denoting a particular philosophical account of faith's appropriate jurisdiction vis-a-vis that of reason.

2.2 The Usual Suspects

2.2.1 Pascal
2.2.2 Kierkegaard
2.2.3 James
2.2.4 Wittgenstein

Tags: faith, reason, religion, philosophy

The Devil's Delusion

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:28:00 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: More from the debates

Better to read the whole review...i could only clip a lil bit.

http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/dont-write-off-religion-just-yet/

Clip Source: www.samharris.org

Don’t write off religion just yet

THE DEVIL’S DELUSION

Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions

By David Berlinski

There is actually very little that is new in the so-called new atheism, whose claim to be based on science is as dubious today as it has ever been. A critique of the contemporary assault on religion is therefore much needed, and in The Devil’s Delusion, David Berlinski gives us a polemic that is powerful, erudite and often savagely funny. Berlinski - a mathematician and well-known critic of evolutionary theory, though not a proponent of “intelligent design” - has two targets in his sights: the conventional belief that religious thought is intrinsically superstitious and the materialist philosophy that Dawkins and his fellow “brights” - as members of the atheist community fondly describe themselves - mistakenly identify with science.

Tags: religion, debate, science, reason, www.samharris.org

Does this explain Religion?

Tue, 27 May 2008 14:28:06 GMT

clipped by: Antara

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Religion is a product of evolution, software suggests

God may work in mysterious ways, but a simple computer program may explain how religion evolved

By distilling religious belief into a genetic predisposition to pass along unverifiable information, the program predicts that religion will flourish. However, religion only takes hold if non-believers help believers out – perhaps because they are impressed by their devotion.

"If a person is willing to sacrifice for an abstract god then people feel like they are willing to sacrifice for the community," says James Dow, an evolutionary anthropologist at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, US, who wrote the program – called Evogod (download the code here).

Dow is by no means the first scientist to take a stab at explaining how religion emerged. Theories on the evolution of religion tend toward two camps. One argues that religion is a mental artefact, co-opted from brain functions that evolved for other tasks.

Tags: religion, faith, science, evolution, questions, computers

Austin Dacey surprises

Sat, 24 May 2008 18:44:30 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: One of the surprised :
the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, a Roman Catholic priest and leading neoconservative culture warrior, has welcomed Mr. Dacey’s argument.

Good read: http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/perceiving-2-fallacies-a-secularist-faults-his-fellows/

Clip Source: www.samharris.org

Perceiving 2 Fallacies, a Secularist Faults His Fellows

Austin Dacey is a philosopher by training and an active secularist not only by conviction but by profession as well: He is a representative at the United Nations for the secularist Center for Inquiry.

That he has written a book titled “The Secular Conscience” is not surprising. That his book is subtitled “Why Belief Belongs in Public Life” has lifted quite a few eyebrows — to say nothing of his claim that “secularism has lost its soul” by putting a “gag order on ethics, values and religion in public debate.”

Mr. Dacey argues that secular liberalism has come to hold that because conscience is private or personal, its moral conclusions must be subjective, and because conscience should be free from coercion, its moral conclusions must also be free from public criticism.

Tags: public discourse, put on yer thinking cap :)

Heathen Tv

Fri, 23 May 2008 00:47:05 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks:

Clip Source: heathen.tv

Tags: heathens, infidels, rabblerousers, interesting

Outrage: RIP RAND ABDEL-QADER

Thu, 15 May 2008 22:29:58 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: She (the author) says it's not about Islam but i disagree. As the murderer says himself

"I had the support of ALL my friends"....oh ya...the support of the police as well.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/faith/2008/05/honour-killing.html

Clip Source: timesonline.typepad.com

"Honour" killing - a self-important murdering pig speaks

A long, chilling interview in the Observer today with the father of a 17 year old Iraqi girl, Rand Abdel-Qader, who he choked, stamped and beat to death in Basra. Abdel-Qader Ali explains why he is unrepentant and says the police backed his actions.
'I don't regret it. I had the support of all my friends who are fathers, like me, and know what she did was unacceptable to any Muslim that honours his religion..'I don't have a daughter now, and I prefer to say that I never had one. That girl humiliated me in front of my family and friends"
Just note that last sentence. It's not about Islam (sane Muslims agree that the Qu'ran forbids such murders). It's not about Islam but it's all about him. It is uncivilized, irreligious, psychopathic nonsense. A fathers who murders his daughter because her even smiling at another man "humiliates" him personally is no better than Josef Fritzl. But read the interview. It's a window into hell.

Tags: islam, honour killings, psychos, another dead girl

Neuro-Mysticism

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:21:52 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: I love this kinda material, just fascinating...

Clip Source: www.theness.com

Writing in today’s New York Times, columnist David Brooks discusses the relationship between neuroscience and mysticism - saying that in the future the debate will center around a concept that he calls “neural Buddhism”. He says he is not taking sides, just pointing out that this is where the real debate is going to happen. Well - let the debate begin.

First I want to point out that I read David Brooks regularly because I find his style to be very rational, educated, and thoughtful. He is one of those writers who is worth reading regardless of your political ideology. I particularly enjoy those articles in which he takes a step back and looks at the current political topics of discussion in the context of broader cultural trends. That is indeed what he is attempting to do in this article. Although he is clearly well-read on this topic, I think he has misinterpreted the implications of current neuroscience.

Tags: skeptics, neurscience, mysticism, religion, faith and the future

Hagee apologizes

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:05:42 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: lol, I guess when the pressure is on...apology is easy

Clip Source: uk.reuters.com

Pastor who backed McCain apologizes for remarks

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A Texas evangelical leader who endorsed Republican presidential candidate John McCain earlier this year has apologized for anti-Catholic remarks that angered Church members and embarrassed McCain's campaign.

John Hagee, pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, wrote a letter of apology to the Catholic League on Monday for comments in which he called the Church "apostate" and likened it to the "great whore" in a passage of the Bible.

Hagee's comments, which circulated on the Internet, drew comparisons with the controversy surrounding Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama over statements by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

McCain, who accepted Hagee's endorsement before the Texas primary in March, had faced a call by Catholic League President William Donohue to repudiate the pastor, who, he said, had "a history of denigrating the Catholic religion."

Tags: religion, christianity, pastor hagee, john mccain

Pagan Prisoners get magic wands !

Tue, 13 May 2008 18:15:16 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: moonbattery.com

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Pagan prisoners: Allowed to keep twigs in cells

Prison bosses have been instructed to let pagan inmates keep twigs in their cells...to use as wands.

Officers have been told to allow prisoners to collect and decorate the twigs which they need for their rituals.

It is the latest in a series of rulings to protect convicts' rights and ensure equality among different faiths.

Followers of other faiths are allowed items such as a prayer mat to allow them to worship.

The policy regarding pagans was announced by Justice Reform Minister Maria Eagle in a parliamentary answer.

She said: "Prison service policy is to enable prisoners of different faith traditions, including paganism, to practise their religion.

"Religious artefacts are allowed for relevant faiths within the constraints of good order and discipline. The religious artefacts for pagan prisoners include a flexible twig for a wand."

Tory prisons spokesman Edward Garnier

Tags: magic wands, pagans, prisons, madness