Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's Atheism/religion collection

Fatwah envy

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:36:10 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

We prefer our Jebus impotent, please

Somebody took offense again. An art museum in England is exhibiting some controversial statues, and of course some kook can't just stay away, they have to make sure no one else gets to see them.

A Christian group is taking an art centre to court, claiming it displayed an indecent statue of Jesus Christ.

The artwork was part of an exhibition at Gateshead's Baltic Centre featuring several plaster figures with erections, including ET, Mickey Mouse and Jesus.

Lawyers for Christian Emily Mapfuwa, 40, of Essex, are bringing a civil case for outraging public decency.

It seems a little unkind to demand that the poor guy be eternally flaccid, as well as tortured. And look! Fatwah envy!

Mrs Mapfuwa, of Brentwood, said Baltic would not have dared depict Mohammed in such a way.

Do not believe

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:01:55 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.lucidcafe.com

Buddha said:

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

give up what is wrong and evil;
undertake what is good;
abandon thoughts that have to do with bringing suffering to any conscious being; cultivate thoughts that are of loving kindness, that are based on caring for others' suffering, and sympathetic joy in others' happiness.

Abstain from talk that brings harm or discredit to others (such as backbiting or slander) or talk that creates hatred or disharmony between individuals and groups.

Metta Bhavana - Developing Loving Kindness

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:56:27 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.dharmachakra.com

a series of talks by Kamalashila

4. Metta Bhavana - Introduction and Basic Tools

5. Metta Bhavana - Full Lead-through

6. Metta Bhavana - Short Lead-through

Clip Source: www.dharmachakra.com

Metta Bhavana - Full Lead-through

	1.	Introduction - setting up your practice (2:33)
	2.	First stage - thinking of yourself (6:36)
	3.	Second Stage - thinking of a good friend (7:21)
	4.	Third stage - thinking of a neutral person (8:09)
	5.	Fourth stage - thinking of a difficult person or enemy (7:24)
	6.	Fifth stage - thinking of all four people; expanding to all beings everywhere (10:04)

Clip Source: www.dhammatalks.org.uk

Venerable Ajahn Sumedho

Reflecting on Metta
(14.4Mb mp3) - uploaded 07.04.2008

Banking with Jesus is a bad idea

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:40:22 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Integrity Bank in Georgia decided to build their business model on Christian principles.

Integrity's employees regularly prayed before meetings or in branch lobbies with customers, while the bank gave 10 percent of its net income to charities.
"We felt if we prayed and obeyed God's word and did what He asked, that He would help us be successful," the bank's founder, Steve Skow, told the Journal-Constitution in 2005.

Chalk this one up to another example of how religion fails and we really ought to base our decisions on reality: the bank failed. You really can't rely on that God fella, you know.

Perhaps one contributing factor was their obedience to that other Christian principle, greed.

CEO Steve Skow earned $1.8 million that year, while senior lender and executive vice president Doug Ballard earned $847,222. A typical community bank CEO, banking consultants said, earn roughly $300,000 per year.

And say…isn't there something in the Bible that prohibits lending at interest, too?

Free dog souls with conversion

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:11:39 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: I think I like these catholics.

Clip Source: www.irreligion.org

Dawkins and the 'fart of god'

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:20:45 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A rare glimpse into Richard Dawkins' inbox. His detractors really are a charming bunch

Richard Dawkins has made a few enemies in his time suggesting that cherished notions of a creator god or gods are so much brain-washing and delusion. His reward is the most amusing inbox in the world. Here he is reading us some of it during his recent series The Genius of Charles Darwin.

[Video]

Beliefs Around The World

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:05:01 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

Douglas Adams on religion and puddles

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:53:58 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: talkingincircles.net

. . . imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, ‘This is an interesting world I find myself in’an interesting hole I find myself in’fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!’ This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it’s still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything’s going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.

From a Speech given by Adams at Digital Biota 2, Cambridge, UK, 1998. Later quoted in Richard Dawkin’s Eulogy for Douglas Adams.

A secular world is a sane world - Pat Condell

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:28:33 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.patcondell.net

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.patcondell.net

Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, welcome to my website.

HERE'S MY LATEST VIDEO

Tags: atheism, religion, secularism, islam

Atheist desecrates the Eucharist and the Qur'an

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:04:09 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Oh yes, and The God Delusion

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

PZ Myers has desecrated his cracker.

And pages from the Qur’an.

And pages from The God Delusion.

(It’s all just paper regardless of what it says, he says, and he’s right.)

The cracker is the object with a nail through it.

Somehow, I think Catholicism will survive… though I’m sure the hate mail he has coming his way will say otherwise.

On a serious note, PZ makes this very important point:

Nothing must be held sacred. Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet. You are all human beings who must make your way through your life by thinking and learning, and you have the job of advancing humanities’ knowledge by winnowing out the errors of past generations and finding deeper understanding of reality. You will not find wisdom in rituals and sacraments and dogma, which build only self-satisfied ignorance, but you can find truth by looking at your world with fresh eyes and a questioning mind.

The Doom, or Last Judgement, and the Weighing of Souls

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:13:54 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.paintedchurch.org

The word ‘Doom’ in this context carries in itself no sense of disaster, or of eternal damnation; it is the ‘time of trial’, the blinking of an eye between time and eternity in which the individual soul’s fate is sealed, irrevocably

The Weighing of Souls may be included as an integral part of the Doom,

Clip Source: www.paintedchurch.org

The Doom, South Leigh, Oxfordshire (‡ Oxford), C.15 [Text below, between main pictures]

Clip Source: www.paintedchurch.org

Ashampstead, Berkshire (‡Oxford) Doom, C.13

Stylistically, this is a decidedly transitional Doom, sharing some aspects of its iconography with the the early chancel paintings at Kempley, and others with much later paintings of the subject

Clip Source: www.paintedchurch.org

Bishopsbourne, Kent (‡Canterbury) : Weighing of Souls, Mid C.14

A stern-looking St. Michael stands at the left, reduced now to head, halo and curving wings

Clip Source: www.paintedchurch.org

Pro-bullying Christians

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:00:52 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

Why would conservative Christian groups in North Carolina be against a bill that would “require more detailed school policies about bullying” at school, protecting students from abuse and school violence?

Take a wild guess.

Yep… because gay students would be protected under this bill as well.

And we can’t have that now, can we…?

Mark Creech, executive director the Christian Action League of North Carolina, warns there is a “hidden agenda” behind the bill to negate what he describes as the “strongest voices of criticism” against homosexual, bisexual, and transgender behavior in society.

“The evil of the legislation,” says Creech, “is that it elevates sexual orientation and gender identity or expression on the same levels with the enumerations of race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, physical appearance, mental, physical or sensory disability — which are all immutable or unchangeable characteristics.”

Start your own religion (and win prizes!!)

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:32:27 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

The Washington Post’s Style Invitational column has a contest this week that some of you may want to enter:

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul is flung onto a roof and just stays there.

And perhaps that's where the soul of the famously atheistic George Carlin is currently residing. If one can believe a single phrase occurring in dozens of obviously copied Internet hits, Carlin "invented the parody religion Frisbeetarianism for a newspaper contest." Unfortunately, it wasn't ours. Fortunately, it's your turn: This week: Coin a religion or belief system and tell us its basic tenet or distinguishing characteristic.

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

I’m sure Pastafarianism would apply as well.

Clip Source: www.itchstudios.com

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Winner gets the Inker, the official Style Invitational trophy. Second place receives "Brides Behaving Badly," a collection of wedding photos from what must have been the alumnae of the Tonya Harding School of Elegant Deportment and Apparel.

entries by e-mail to losers@washpost.com or by fax to 202-334-4312

A War on Science (BBC 2006)

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:11:33 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: video.google.com

[Video]

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design -BBC documentary - Part 1-6

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:46:22 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: This documentary looks at the current situation surrounding the evolution vs. creationism/intelligent design in the USA.

Clip Source: ca.youtube.com

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (1-6)

Some 150 years ago Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution which went against the belief humans and all life on earth was created by God. After years of controversy surrounding his theory evolution became accepted as the dominant scientific explanation for the creation of life and the world. However, a new challenge is launched against Darwin and his theory of evolution: intelligent design.
This documentary looks at the current situation surrounding the evolution vs. creationism/intelligent design in the USA.

[Video]

Clip Source: ca.youtube.com

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (2-6)

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (3-6)

War on Science - intelligent design - Part 4

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (5-6)

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (6-6)

Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's Atheism/religion collection

Fatwah envy

We prefer our Jebus impotent, please

Do not believe

Buddha said:

Metta Bhavana - Developing Loving Kindness

a series of talks by Kamalashila

Metta Bhavana - Full Lead-through

Venerable Ajahn Sumedho

Banking with Jesus is a bad idea

Free dog souls with conversion

Dawkins and the 'fart of god'

A rare glimpse into Richard Dawkins' inbox. His detractors really are a charming bunch

Beliefs Around The World

Douglas Adams on religion and puddles

A secular world is a sane world - Pat Condell

Atheist desecrates the Eucharist and the Qur'an

The Doom, or Last Judgement, and the Weighing of Souls

St. Michael Weighing Souls, Catherington, Hampshire (‡ Portsmouth) c.1350

Blyth, Nottinghamshire (‡Southwell) Doom, C.15

Slapton, Northants (‡Peterborough) : Weighing of Souls, Mid C.14

The Doom, South Leigh, Oxfordshire (‡ Oxford), C.15 [Text below, between main pictures]

Ashampstead, Berkshire (‡Oxford) Doom, C.13

Bishopsbourne, Kent (‡Canterbury) : Weighing of Souls, Mid C.14

Pro-bullying Christians

Start your own religion (and win prizes!!)

A War on Science (BBC 2006)

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design -BBC documentary - Part 1-6