Clipmarks | AtlLiberal's clips

God Did It

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:25:23 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Just as we often react negatively towards religious driven policy in the Muslim world we ignore the blatant religious pandering in the USA. It has become pro forma to invoke God's blessing on the US after all speeches. Little thought is given to the substantial segment of the population who doesn't subscribe to this viewpoint. A cynic might think all the public posturing is being done solely for votes. And they may not be too far off the mark.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Democrats' Religious Pandering Doesn't Impress

Recent efforts by Democrats to pander to religion and religious believers is offensive and immoral, but could it possibly be defended on the grounds that it at least works? In politics that which works tend to survive no matter how offensive or immoral it is, so this isn't an irrelevant question. Unfortunately for the apologists for pandering — and fortunately for the rest of us — all the efforts thus far appear to have been in vain.

Using religion as a surrogate for substantive political discussion is precisely what's going on when people start bringing religion into political debates

When a person says that God "wills" some policy, the only options left are to deny that it's what God really wills or to declare one's opposition to God.

I think this is often deliberate because invoking God is a handy way of avoiding the hard job of substantively defending a political agenda.

Tags: politic, religion, hypocrisy, christian

McCain's VP Choice a Marginal Creationist

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:45:41 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: To be fair, it doesn't appear that McCain's pick for VP is a dyed-in-the-wool creationist but she still believes in the absurd notion that biblical creationism has a ligitimate place in the science classroom. Her ridiculous "teach the controversy" stance is of course the back door ploy by religious fanatics to gain a toehold in public classrooms. I don't see them siding with Native American's to teach their particular creation myth.

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Intelligent Design and the Alaska Governor's Race

The volatile issue of teaching creation science in public schools popped up in the Alaska governor's race this week when Republican Sarah Palin said she thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state's public classrooms.
Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night's televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, 'Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.'

Asked for her personal views on evolution, Palin said, "I believe we have a creator."

She would not say whether her belief also allowed her to accept the theory of evolution as fact.

"I'm not going to pretend I know how all this came to be," she said.

Tags: creationism, science, biology, religion, evolution

A Bit of Rationalism

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:37:59 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: It's always positive to point out what is myth and what is reality. Often they are confused, especially by people who depend so much on myth. The attached clip offers a bit of sunshine to brighten up those dark corners of peoples brains.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Myth:

Atheists are angry at God because they think He should have done something for them in their pasts.

Response:
The idea that atheists are angry in general is itself already quite popular, but the myth that atheists are angry specifically at God for not having done what they want may be more popular. This combines the idea that atheists are angry, that they are prideful enough to think that they know better than God, and that they are rebelling against what God wants for the world. Atheists are thus attacked from a variety of convenient directions, except for the fact that the claim is all wrong.

The most obvious reason why everyone should recognize that this myth is false is the simple fact that you can't be angry at God unless you believe that God exists. This means that anyone who is angry at God must be a theist, not an atheist — an atheist is a person who doesn't believe in any gods at all. Atheists therefore cannot be angry at any gods.

Tags: atheism, religion, logic, rational

Fear and Loathing in the Republican Party

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:54:45 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: A new low, even for Republicans. Not content with associating Obama with Hitler, now he's being portrayed as the Antichrist! And sadly, enough brain dead fundamentalists are around to make this an issue.

Clip Source: www.time.com

An Antichrist Obama in McCain Ad?

It's not easy to make the infamous Willie Horton ad from the 1988 presidential campaign seem benign. But suggesting that Barack Obama is the Antichrist might just do it.

The ad was the creation of Fred Davis, one of McCain's top media gurus as well as a close friend of former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed and the nephew of conservative Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe.

As the ad begins, the words "It should be known that in 2008 the world shall be blessed. They will call him The One"

Tags: politics, obama, mccain, fundamentalists, religion, antichrist

A Sad Story

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:27:28 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Religious delusions kill again. Another small child sacrificed for dogma.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Religious Group Starves Toddler for Not Saying "Amen"

Ramkissoon and four others identified by police as members of a cult called 1 Mind Ministries are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Javon Thompson. Members did not seek medical care for Javon when he stopped breathing, and the boy died in his mother's arms, according to court documents that described police interviews with a confidential informant and two children. He would have been about 19 months old when police say adults stopped feeding him in December 2006. ...Another unnamed informant told police that after Javon died, Antoinette left the boy's body in a room for more than a week, claiming "God was going to raise Javon from the dead," the documents show.

It might sound absurd to say that God would raise this child from the dead, but it's no more absurd than believing that Jesus rose from the dead.

Tags: religion, cult, enablers, demon, theology

Science Battles Ignorance

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:14:16 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: By ignorance I mean literally ignoring reality and substituting myth and superstition. The solution is simple. If the students insist on replacing reality with dogma on science tests let them be graded accordingly.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash

In February, the Florida Department of Education modified its standards to explicitly require, for the first time, the state’s public schools to teach evolution, calling it “the organizing principle of life science.”

But in a nation where evangelical Protestantism and other religious traditions stress a literal reading of the biblical description of God’s individually creating each species, students often arrive at school fearing that evolution, and perhaps science itself, is hostile to their faith.

Tags: school, evolution, biology, florida

Over the Top

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:04:28 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: When I first saw this piece I was sure it was a parody, possibly from The Onion. But no! This guy seems to be for real. He's associated with the Creation Science Association of Mid-America and this was published in the CSA News. Hmmm, I wonder if their secessionists too?

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Krazy Kansas Kook wants to eliminate all biologists

After declaring evolutionists incompetent, unproductive, dangerous, at war with Christianity, and to have demanded the elimination of Christians (what powers of projection he has!), Willis finally explains what must be done with us.

Labor camps.

Require them to wear placards around their neck, or perhaps large medallions which prominently announce "Warning: Evolutionist!

Since evolutionists are liars and most do not really believe evolution we could employ truth serum or water-boarding to obtain confessions of evolution rejection.

An Evolutionist Colony in Antarctica could be a promising option.

Kansas ~~breeds~~ attracts the most amazing kooks. (I have been informed that quite a few of the looniest creationists in Kansas come from elsewhere.)

Tags: creationism, science, evolution

Christian Recruiters

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:29:50 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I couldn't help but picture this "harvest" as the missionaries lop off peoples critical thinking with their dogmatic blades.

Clip Source: www.kwtx.com

Foreign Missionaries Defy Ban During Olympics

(August 22, 2008)--Christian groups including Southern Baptists that ignored a Chinese ban on foreign missionaries say their underground evangelism during the Olympic games was a success.

Drawn to a nation of 1.3 billion people under atheist rule, the groups prepared for years for what the Southern Baptists once called "a spiritual harvest unlike any other."

Missionary Mark Taylor of Awaken Generation says 115 people from 12 countries gathered in Thailand for orientation before scattering throughout China.

The Southern Baptist Convention and Youth With A Mission carried out larger efforts.

Tags: religion, proselytizing, christian

Strange Rites

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:58:49 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: From an outside perspective, this truly is a bizarre ritual that is reminiscent of old B-movies of virgins being thrown into volcanoes to appease the gods. I would bet that most believers don't share this viewpoint.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Cannibalism: I'd Like My God Medium Rare, Please. With a Nice Chianti.

Even suggesting a connection between cannibalism and Christian mass may sound extreme to believers, but just as the crucifixion of Jesus has a lot in common with older religious practices of human sacrifice, so too does the idea of transubstantiation — wine and bread becoming the blood and body of Jesus — have a lot in common with older religious practices of cannibalism. Crucifixion and mass are easier to understand if one understands the religious background of human sacrifice and cannibalism.

The concept of sacrificing something important to the gods or spirits was common in religions around the world.

For the Aztecs, consuming human flesh was a type of communion, establishing a sacred relationship between humans and gods. Because the people who were ritually sacrificed were "impersonators" of the gods, the Aztecs saw themselves as not consuming another human being, but as consuming a god.

Tags: ritual, dogma, mass

Hypocrite in Charge

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:25:31 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I seriously suspect this man is insane. He lied about the Iraq mess, cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis plus our own service men and women, bankrupt his nation and stained American prestige at home and abroad. If anyone does not have the right to accuse anyone else of "bullying and intimidation" it's this man.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Bush To Russia: Stop The "Bullying And Intimidation"

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday accused Russia of "bullying and intimidation" in its harsh military treatment of Georgia, saying the people in the former Soviet republic have chosen freedom and "we will not cast them aside."

Bush ratcheted up his rhetoric against Moscow as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pursued a diplomatic solution to the week-old crisis.

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century," the president said. "Only Russia can decide whether it will now put itself back on the path of responsible nations or continue to pursue a policy that promises only confrontation and isolation.

Tags: bush, hypocrite, war, russia

"Onward Christian Soldiers..."

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:31:13 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Once again, the Christian Nationalist will collectively get their panties in a wad upon hearing about this. And in light of McCain's recent endorsement of Petraeus as one of three influential people in his life, this adds controversy for McCain that he certainly doesn't need. After all, he's perfectly capable of coming up with enough controversy all by himself.

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

Controversy over Petraeus blurb on chaplain's book about Christianity

Gen. David Petraeus is under fire for the blurb a military chaplain has been using since last year to promote a book about Christianity in the military.

On the back cover of Under Orders: A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel, the incoming Centcom commander is quoted saying that Army chaplain William McCoy's paperback "should be in every rucksack for those moments when Soldiers need spiritual energy." (The version on Amazon has been modified, but you can still see the original back cover via Barnes & Noble.)

"General Petraeus has, by his own hand, become a quintessential poster child of this fundamentalist Christian religious predation, via his unadulterated and shocking public endorsement of a book touting both Christian supremacy and exceptionalism," Michael Weinstein, the group's founder, says.

Tags: petraeus, religion, nationalism, privilege, christian

Adopting Desert Nomad's Science

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:27:17 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Christians who cling to the outdated belief that being gay is a sin are following the pre-scientific notions and social customs that were relevant 2000 years ago but are outdated and wrong today. Partly they adhere to these archaic beliefs because it gives them biblical authority to feel superior (if they are straight) and backs up their notion of persecution when others speak out against their homophobia.

Clip Source: www.rrstar.com

Christians should speak out freely against homosexuality

Speaking out against same-sex unions can result in a variety of consequences for anyone who dares to do so in the workplace, consequences which can include being required to attend special re-education workshops on “diversity” that teach that people must put values or religious beliefs aside to observe a “higher” value of tolerance.

So conservatives find themselves in a very precarious position regarding the issue of same-sex relationships. The issue is no longer just a political or a social issue; it’s a very personal one.

How do we tell them what we believe the Bible has to say about homosexuality? The same Bible that lumps homosexuality in with a variety of other sins is the same Bible that provides the answer to that question.

As Christians, we have an obligation to others, and that is to be mirrors, mirrors that reflect Christ’s love and also his truth.

Tags: religion, christianity, homosexuality

Catholic Patriarchy

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:14:17 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: If your reaction to this clip is a blase "who cares" then the odds predict that you have a penis. It's remarkable that after centuries this outmoded way of thinking still holds sway. And what's even more remarkable is that women are sometimes responsible in not more forcefully opposing this outdated dogma.

Clip Source: www.concordatwatch.eu

Women need secularism

These proverbs from Slovakia show the other side of "family values". This is the name of a whole system of control which can prevent a woman from leaving an abusive marriage and further cement her in place by burdening her with unplanned children. The control imposed by the Vatican disproportionately affects women. That's because the hierarchy of obedience which goes from the pope to the parish priest doesn't stop there: it continues on, from the head of the household down to his wife.

Women must be kept at home and bearing children for the Church. Ordaining them as priests would give them dangerous authority. On 29 May 2008 the Vatican issued a decree "Regarding the crime of attempting sacred ordination of a woman". This is such a grave offence that it incurs automatic excommunication, on a par with heresy, schism, and laying violent hands on the Pope.

Tags: dogma, women, religion

Hands Off Mohammed!!!

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:36:06 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Fear seems to have censored the publishing of a book about Mohammed. As the author of the piece points out:

"It is condescending to treat Muslims like excitable children who cannot cope with the probing, mocking treatment we hand out to Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. It is perfectly consistent to protect Muslims from bigotry while challenging the bigotries and absurdities within their holy texts."

Doesn't seem like too much to ask.

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

An author named Sherry Jones has written a book, called The Jewel of Medina, that will never see the light of day because it novelizes the life and times, with particular focus on the marital details, of the prophet Mohammed.

The Jewel of Medina was bought by Random House and primed to be a best-seller - before a University of Texas teacher saw proofs and declared it "a national security issue". Random House had visions of a re-run of the Rushdie or the Danish cartoons affairs. Sherry Jones's publisher has pulped the book. It's gone.

Hari goes on to criticize the kid gloves with which Islamic issues are dealt the world round, contrasting it to the relative ease with which people question the tenets of Christianity and other more 'docile' world religions. Although his East End perspective may not allow him to fully appreciate the rebounding resistence to criticism sought by Christians in America, his general conclusions are spot on:

Tags: islam, religion, criticism

Just Say No!

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:16:18 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Some branches of the religious tree seem more obsessed than others. All you fundagentitals out there, are you listening?

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Chastity is Better Later than Now, Better for Others than for Oneself

In a sense, chastity could be treated as an indicator of just how obsessed a religion is with sex. The more a religion emphasizes chastity, the more they are effectively talking about and referencing sexuality. It's not just the religion that's obsessed with sex, but the adherents as well. After all, if the people themselves weren't constantly going "too far" in sexual behavior, religious leaders wouldn't have to constantly keep telling them to stop. You can't have chastity without sex.

We can see similar dynamics in other aspects of Christianity, though they tend to be connected to sex. Christians who are most vociferous in their denunciations of homosexuality seem to be obsessed with gay sex — and too often, it turns out they happen to be gay as well, but just in denial.

Tags: religion, sex, abstinence