Today’s movie features one of my all-time favourite comedians: Eddie Izzard. Sometimes remembered as the “Lost Python” from Monty Python, you might recognize him from Ocean’s 13. At any rate, he’s a wildly funny comedian who often riffs on religion as part of his routines. It’s hard to pick just one bit to exhibit, so …
Monthly Archive: April 2010
Apr 29 2010
I pick on the Jews
Looking back over my previous posts, I get the impression that I come across as an Islamophobe. Many of my stories have targeted Muslim religious idiocy and talked about how intellectually bankrupt that particular religion is. This is regrettable, as my intention in this blog is to highlight the intellectual bankruptcy of all religious traditions. …
Apr 28 2010
Indonesia lobs one over the plate
I write a blog that highlights, among other things, the pervasive way in which religion detrimentally affects the lives of people all over the world. I also put a fair amount of effort into highlighting issues of free speech, which is something I feel quite strongly about. Indonesia isn’t even trying to make my job …
Apr 27 2010
Free Speech, Religion, and Liberalism
CLS over at Classically Liberal has written an incredibly well-thought-out and eloquent essay on the importance of free speech and the separation of church and state. The forefathers of modern libertarianism, the classical liberals, first campaigned for freedom of conscience. They wanted to limit the power of the state because the state was the instrument …
Apr 27 2010
IRONY!
One of my common complaints about the forces of stupid is that they seem to have no sense of irony. When, for example, Christians reference the bible to persecute gay people as unrepentant sinners, whilst simultaneously forgetting the parable about the adulteress who was saved from stoning by the admonition “let he who is without …
Apr 26 2010
Canada: the great race experiment
I’ve said previously that Canada is a unique place. However, in that post I only touched on that idea to make specific reference to a news item I found interesting. I want to expand on that statement a bit. While some people whose opinions I deeply respect disagree with my assessment on this matter, I …
Apr 23 2010
Movie Friday: Sam Harris at TED
A common defense of religious belief and practice is that without religion (and the teachings of the holy books), there would be no morality. In a historical, practical sense this is at least partially true. Morals were dictated and enforced by religious authority, and justified on religious grounds – God says not to steal, therefore …
Apr 22 2010
BOOBQUAKE!
Sometimes it’s hard not to laugh: “Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes,” Hojjat ol-eslam Kazem Sediqi, the acting Friday prayer leader in Tehran explained. I don’t know too many Iranian women, although I know a handful who are Persian. Don’t get me …
Apr 22 2010
MS Patients demand access to unproven procedure
You may have heard a few months ago that an Italian scientist discovered a promising new method of treating Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It involves inflating a balloon in veins in the neck to alleviate blockages that he (Dr. Zamboni – true story) alleges contribute to the progression of MS. Anyone who has had a family …
Apr 21 2010
Dorothy Height, civil rights leader, dies at 93
Dorothy Height, a prominent civil rights leader for both racial and gender equality has died at the age of 93 of natural causes. I thought it was appropriate to counterpoint this story with my post earlier today. There are a great many parallels between women’s struggle for civil rights and the black struggle. Both of …
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