America, Home of Delusional, Prudish, Selfish Religious Nuts.

Shutterstock.

Shutterstock.

Kali Holloway has an article at AlterNet about how America compares to the rest of the world.

…The conservative American notion that people with far better healthcare, civil rights laws and gun control “hate our freedom” is a wishful imperialist delusion. Worse, it’s not fooling anybody at this point.

That said, if all the world’s a stage, America is a prime player: a rich, loud, attention-seeking celebrity not fully deserving of its starring role, often putting in a critically reviled performance and tending toward histrionics that threaten to ruin the show for everybody else. (Also, embarrassingly, possibly the last to know that its career as top biller is in rapid decline.) To the outside onlooker, American culture—I’m consolidating an infinitely layered thing to save time and space—is contradictory and bizarre, hypocritical and self-congratulatory. Its national character is a textbook study in narcissistic tendencies coupled with crushing insecurity issues.

How to reconcile a country that fetishizes violence and is squeamish about sex; conflates Christianity and consumerism; says it loves liberty yet made human rights violations a founding principle? In conversations with non-Americans, should the topic of the U.S. come up, there are often expressions of incredulity and bewilderment about things that seem weird when you aren’t from here. Talk and think about those things enough, and they also start to seem objectively weird if you are from here, too.

That perception is held even by countries that share similarities with America. The Pew Research Center rounded up surveys from recent years that point out some of the ways American and European attitudes diverge, not infrequently widely. Obviously, there’s plenty of cultural difference among European countries, and surveys aren’t necessarily nuanced in describing how the citizens of entire countries see the world. But these polls do tell us something about the things large swaths of those countries agree on, as well as how those popular ideas tend to differ from pervasive notions and sensibilities within America.

The Full Story is Here.

Ray Comfort & The Reason Rally

1462122962New Zealand-born evangelist and creationist Ray Comfort, co-host of the “The Way of the Master” TV show, has said he will give the thousands of atheists attending the Reason Rally 2016 in Washington D.C. on June 4 $25,000 worth of Subway gift cards, alongside a copy of his book.

“Most atheists don’t know that there’s never been an atheist president, that no member of Congress is an atheist, that in some states it’s illegal for atheists to run for office, and that recent surveys show atheists in America are about as popular as rapists. It’s a fascinating read,” Comfort said of the book, titled Why Pigs Will Fly Before America Has an Atheist President.

As for the gift cards that his Living Waters ministry will also be giving out, Comfort added: “The $25,000 worth of gift cards are a little something for them to chew on (we are hoping to feed 5,000 — it’s been done before).

“This is a small token of our love for atheists, and when we run out of books and gift cards we will give them millions of dollars,” he quipped, referring to the joke million-dollar bill, based on the book.

Most atheists don’t know about the lack of atheist politicians? Most atheists are unaware of how they rate in popularity? I have a bit of news, Ray. Most atheists aren’t quite as uninformed as you are.

Twenty five thousand dollars. That’s a substantial sum, and I imagine it could go one hell of a long way to helping out families in need, there are an awful lot of children going hungry in uStates. But no, it’s going towards shoring up Comfort’s already sizeable ego, indulging his need for constant self-advertising. A cheap gift card won’t be swaying the minds and hearts of those at Reason Rally, and I’m sure Comfort is well aware of that. So, when push comes to shove, what’s a Christian to do? Why, feed their ego, of course! Much more important that feeding those who are actually hungry. Right impressive, that.

So, all you moderate, progressive Christians out there – are you going to tell Comfort he’s wrong, that his values are seriously fucked up? That wasting money in self-aggrandizement is not a “Christian” thing to do?

Source.

Sunday Facepalm: God: An Autobiography

5724583ec97a0.image

Author Jerry L. Martin’s book describes his journey from non-believer to believer to translator.

Imagine.

As if riding lightning, a bolt from the blue brings God’s voice to you one day.

Would you listen? Would you believe?

Jerry L. Martin did and does. Furthermore, he said that he collaborated with God on a book, “God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher” (Caladium, $24.95). A former agnostic, Martin journeyed from a status of non-believer to believer to translator within a transformation and result that brands as phenomenal.

“The first time God spoke to me,” Martin writes in the opening of the book, “I didn’t believe He existed.”

Martin was sitting with his future wife, Abigail Rosenthal, on a park bench in Washington, D.C. Suddenly, he heard a voice that she did not hear.

“I said, ‘who is this?’” Martin, a philosopher and former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, said during a recent interview by phone.

The voice replied casually, as if in conversation.

“‘I am God,’” Martin said. “The voice was as real and normal as talking to my wife on the telephone. She was writing in her journal. I told her about it. She didn’t say very much. The voice kept talking to me.”

[…]

Gradually and unsurprisingly, Martin’s life radically changed. Essentially, his professional life shifted from that of a philosopher to an author, a skeptic to a conduit for God.

“God wrote 80 percent of this book,” Martin said. “God said He wanted me to tell His story. God gave me the title.

So…”God”, who apparently is happy with that damn placeholder rather than its proper name, is as good as Leonard da Quirm* when it comes to naming things.

 

*Oddly enough, his creativity seems to stop when needed to give appealing names to his inventions: for example, for his machine capable of travelling submersed in a marine environment he came up with the name of “Going-Under-The-Water-Safely Device”.  Source.

Aaaaaaand, a bonus facepalm:

Tweeting with God Manual.

 

Belief in Evolution Rises

It’s a slight rise, to be sure, but any is better than none.

Gallup

PRINCETON, NJ — Four in 10 Americans, slightly fewer today than in years past, believe God created humans in their present form about 10,000 years ago. Thirty-eight percent believe God guided a process by which humans developed over millions of years from less advanced life forms, while 16%, up slightly from years past, believe humans developed over millions of years, without God’s involvement. […] A small minority of Americans hold the “secular evolution” view that humans evolved with no influence from God — but the number has risen from 9% in 1982 to 16% today. At the same time, the 40% of Americans who hold the “creationist” view that God created humans as is 10,000 years ago is the lowest in Gallup’s history of asking this question, and down from a high point of 47% in 1993 and 1999.

The influence of political affiliation is also noted:

7cif29obvuo4qpgmj_idsq

The significantly higher percentage of Republicans who choose a creationist view of human origins reflects in part the strong relationship between religion and politics in contemporary America. Republicans are significantly more likely to attend church weekly than are others, and, as noted, Americans who attend church weekly are most likely to select the creationist alternative for the origin of humans.

Full Article is Here.

Sweet Jesus!

The stories of Jesus like you’ve never seen them before.

 

Borys Tarasenko is the Edmonton artist behind a new exhibit at the Bleeding Heart Art Space. (Dave von Beiker)

Borys Tarasenko is the Edmonton artist behind a new exhibit at the Bleeding Heart Art Space. (Dave von Beiker)

The son of a parish priest, Borys Tarasenko has drawn plenty of inspiration from the Bible.

But he’s far from a typical believer.

Tarasenko is the Edmonton artist behind the Sweet Jesus exhibit at the Bleeding Heart Art Space on 118th Avenue.

His handmade drawings, outlined in rudimentary black paint, depict a series of strangely reimagined Bible stories.

In one, an apron-clad Jesus is shown barbecuing, extending his holy hand to offer his disciples a slice of grilled hot dog. A rotund bear in priestly robes stands with jaws agape waiting for the grilled godly offering.

Tarasenko says his work was inspired by the iconography of the Ukrainian Catholic church. (Dave von Beiker)

Tarasenko says his work was inspired by the iconography of the Ukrainian Catholic church. (Dave von Beiker)

Tarasenko, 27, grew up surrounded by religion and the images of Ukrainian iconography. But as he got older,  his dogma changed, and departed from Catholicism.

Now he doesn’t believe in any higher power. But religion is still a big part of his life, and he faithfully attends St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in Edmonton at least once a week.

“As this was happening I came to enjoy going to church more because I could appreciate it for what it was,” he said. “And I really loved going, because it was just culturally beautiful. So much a part of me growing up that I loved going back there.”

[…]

The exhibit includes an open invitation to colour its walls, even supplying the felt pens.

Much like the pages of a colouring book, what was once stark in black and white has gone technicolour, and the already bizarre images have become even more outlandish.

“It’s crazy. It’s bonkers,” Tarasenko said an interview with CBC Edmonton’s Radio Active. “People have been adding things I couldn’t have imagined. Speech bubbles, fish, what looks like a hot air balloon, wings on characters. Such a different way than I expected. Every time I come in it’s like opening a present.

“I wanted people to be able to add themselves to the work.”

Once black and white, the artist's images have gone technicolor as visitors to the gallery make their own additions to the work. (Dave von Beiker)

Once black and white, the artist’s images have gone technicolor as visitors to the gallery make their own additions to the work. (Dave von Beiker)

There was more oxygen then…

Stan the T. Rex at the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum (Facebook.com)

Stan the T. Rex at the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum (Facebook.com)

The Bible is a literal, factual history of the world, including Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood. Dinosaurs rode the ark with Noah. People lived 10 times longer in Biblical times because the Earth’s atmosphere had more oxygen then.

These are just a few of the wrong-headed “facts” on display at The Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum in Glendive, Montana, according to the Great Falls Tribune, which published an exposé on the creationist museum this week.

[…]

“Turtles can live 150 years. Take times 10. You have a 1,500-year-old turtle. All these things are going to be amazing when things live 10 times longer,” he said. […]

The museum’s star attraction is its skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, nicknamed Stan.

“Evolutionists look at Stan and say he’s 45 years old (when he died),” Kline said. “I look at Stan and say maybe 450 years old. That could account for the size of Stan.”

Their longer lifespans and increased oxygen intake, Kline maintains, allowed people and animals to grow to immense size.

[…]

“We’re cutting edge here,” Canen insisted. Scientists and academics who don’t believe the Bible, he said, are lazy thinkers who can’t let go of their old ideas.

“They hold onto (the idea) so long they don’t allow anything to question it,” he said. “If you can trust any historical document, you can trust the Bible.”

There isn’t enough facepalm. People who don’t believe the bible are lazy thinkers who can’t let go of old ideas? <much sputtering> How, just how can anyone say that with a straight face and mean it? That just takes willful ignorance to a new level.

This does remind me of my favourite Kent Hovind quote, because dinosaurs being vegetarian is brought up in these articles as well:

In spite of their ferocious look, many people would probably argue the T-Rex was a vegetarian. The ferocious teeth would have been great for, you know, crushing stuffed pumpkins or something, you know. I don’t know if it has ever been proven they were meat eaters. There is plenty of evidence from cracks in the enamel with chlorophyll stains in them indicating they were certainly eating plants.

Great Falls Tribune Story.  Raw Story Article.

Atheist Ugandan Orphanage

AO

The children at BiZoHa, an orphanage and school in southwest Uganda, wake up at 7 a.m. Within an hour they’re ready and dressed in their school uniforms, blue shirts with bright yellow collars and either charcoal grey pants or dresses. There are classes after that and, at 10:30, a pause for porridge, bread, and fried bananas. The day continues from there — classes, meals, play, and sleep — perfectly routine and peaceable. But in the Kasese District, a multi-ethnic region on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, this schedule, with all its reassuring regularity, is radical. There are no prayer breaks. There are no church services. BiZoHa, described by its backers as “the world’s first atheist orphanage,” is a humanist raft adrift a choppy sea of faith.

[…]

In 2009 he formed the Kasese United Humanist Association, which in turn led to formation of the Kasese Humanist Primary School. The school is really two schools located on different campuses — one, the Rukoki Campus, in Kyondo, and the other, BiZoHa, in Muhokya. Unlike Rukoki, BiZoHa works in conjunction with an orphanage.

“I’m so concerned with how there is massive indoctrination and dogmatism and a brainwashing of the minds of children in orphanages,” says Musubaho. “My goal here is offer an alternative, so that when these children grow up they are in the position to think freely, to be critical of everything. One of the reasons I was motivated to open this orphanage was to send a message to the people of Muhokya and the world that we people of non-belief also care about the well being of others, especially children.”

Full Story Here.

Dartboard Jesus Update

Rutgers

Remember Dartboard Jesus? Well those wailing “persecution!” won, naturally. Does it ever go any differently? The reasoning for removing it are transparently specious, to say the least.

The artwork was removed from the library on April 21 by campus officials following the slew of complaints.

“The artwork in question was removed from the exhibit because it did not meet Rutgers University Libraries policy, which requires art exhibitions and their pieces to be based on university events, curricular offerings and topics of interest to the university community,” Jessica Pellien, director of communications at Rutgers University Libraries, told NJ.com.

The dartboard was not the only questionable piece of art up for display in the Rutgers Art Library.

Other pieces included a condom-covered stack of coins and a milk carton featuring Anne Frank titled “Cute Kids Make Good Advertising,” NJ.com reported.

No names are attached to the art pieces and University officials did not out the artist.

So, no one is going to feel persecuted over the tower of babel? (That’s the title of the condom covered stack of coins.) For as much as the grotesque imagery of a [temporarily] dead guy onna stick looms large in all things Catholic, you’d think a dead guy on a dartboard wouldn’t be so bothersome. It’s still their dead guy, right? How easily is faith shaken. Tsk.

The full article is here.

Of course, an idiot from Fox just had to spill with pompous persecution puffery:

I’ve often wondered why the artistic class seems compelled to denigrate and desecrate the Sacred.

Remember the exhibit that featured the Mother Mary smeared in elephant dung? Or what about the crucifix submerged in a bottle of urine?

And yet, the God of the Islamic Radicals is off limits. It’s as if there is some sort of unwritten rule – thou shalt not profane the prophet.

I suspect the fear of a fatwa plays a significant role in their editorial process. And I can understand that.

Nobody wants to be blown to smithereens – event an idealistic, starving artist.

But I have another theory.

Maybe, just maybe American artists give the God of the Islamic Radicals a pass out of mutual respect. The enemy of my enemy…

One wages jihad with a sword. The other wages jihad with a paint brush.

A person gets the idea that Todd Starnes doesn’t pay much attention to what artists do at all. In fairness, paying attention to what artists (and people in general) do, including all the artistic commentary on Mohammed would be work. And it would require a working brain. The brainless commentary is here. Now I feel like I should dip my computer in bleach.

Fetal Idolatry

The Detroit chapter of the Satanic Temple (Screenshot/YouTube)

The Detroit chapter of the Satanic Temple (Screenshot/YouTube)

Anti-abortion activists were met head-on in Detroit by the city’s chapter of the Satanic Temple, who trolled them by dressing up in baby gear and decrying “fetal idolatry.”

According to the Temple’s Detroit chapter leader, Jex Blackmore, “the anti-choice movement’s obsession with, and mischaracterization of the fetus obscures medical reality and a woman’s constitutional right to choice.”

Full Story Here.

 

Evolution: not a religion

SAB

So sayeth the court.

A federal court rejected the argument from a Christian group in Kansas which said that evolution was religious “indoctrination” and should not be taught in schools.

[…]

In a statement, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said that COPE feared that scientific facts would cause “Kansas schoolchildren will be subtly manipulated into rejecting their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

“It’s a nonsensical argument, which is why courts have unanimously rejected it,” Americans United said. “COPE, it seems, isn’t interested in promoting facts; it’s interested in forcing public schools to conduct far-right religious and political indoctrination.”

Full Story Here.

Jesus Dartboard, Oh No!

Rutgers

An alleged “art display” at Rutgers University featuring a figure of Jesus Christ on a dartboard, with darts inserted where He was wounded on the Cross, is being held up as a contradiction of the school’s professed commitment to diversity.

Natalie Caruso, who describes herself as a former Rutgers student, posted a photo to a Facebook group for the Class of 2016 showing the display, which she claimed is currently hanging in the Art Library on College Ave.

…

The post quickly gained traction on social media, inspiring numerous Campus Reform readers to share their own (uniformly disapproving) reactions.

“As a Catholic this is not tolerable and very disgusting,” one reader opined, adding, “I thought Rutgers was about embracing diversity?”

“I am a potential Rutgers student but I am largely considering not even APPLYING … because of what I’ve seen on social media,” said another. “Christians on campus must be ashamed of the school they go to after seeing this.”

Full Story Here.

Ripe for Mockery

gI_92391_gI_105172_Abraham Father of Atheism

Abraham Father of Atheism: The logical course of action smart atheists should take is now in a book. There’s a video at that link, but I don’t recommend watching it as it’s very poorly done and simply self serving. On to the website!

…but unfortunately, given the fact that scientists are only 99 percent sure that there is no Creator, shutting believers up with such an answer doesn’t seem to be an effective solution to me. At the end of the day, you are a one percent gambler….

…I agree with you that Muslims, Christians, and Jews should not be considered, by any means, to be useful people, because the world would simply be better without them. However, there is a story about a person called Abraham in their scriptures. His story, believe it or not, is of great significance to you as a non-believer because it can still provide you with the opportunity to justify your disbelief. Consequently the one percent probability is realized and the so-called Big Boss does exist, you will still be a winner.

I admire you; and highly appreciate your disbelief, but you should improve how you justify it in order to free yourself from the jaws of the pliers. In this book, I will teach you how to do that in a way that doesn’t result jeopardizing any afterlife, just in case the so-called Creator does exist.

There’s a wealth of material at the site, and from what I’ve skimmed, I’d be willing to bet this person wants to be the next Chopra. As for me, I can only take so much before the 3rd cup of tea. All I have to say right now is:

BOLLOCKS!

BOLLOCKS!

Outright Sacrilege. Diabolical. Demonic.

I don’t do television these days, but even when I did, I didn’t watch SNL anymore, because I seldom found it funny. They do get it right now and then though, and the God Is A Boob Man sketch was one of those. (PZ has the video, but it is uStates-centric). Pat Boone (Do people younger than a dinosaur even know who he is?) is thoroughly riled up about it, and he’s certainly giving the skit a whole hell of a lot more power than it actually has.

Pat Boone Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic/Getty Images


Pat Boone
Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Pat Boone is calling out NBC and Saturday Night Live for allegedly being anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, cowardly, “diabolical” and even demonic for a skit over the weekend that parodied God’s Not Dead 2, the actor-singer’s latest movie.

[…]

Boone called NBC and SNL cowardly because executives and creative talent know they can pick on Christians without fear of reprisal, whereas political correctness dictates that some other groups are off-limits.

“This skit was outright sacrilege. They know if they did this to Muslims they’d have to be put into the witness protection program,” he said. “There’s nothing sacred at SNL — except maybe the words ‘Mohammad’ or ‘Allah.’ They’d never take those names in vain, but when they called God a ‘boob man,’ they took his name in vain.”

There’s just the little problem of ‘God’ being a placeholder. It’s not the actual name of your god, so maybe it’s taking a placeholder in vain, but I don’t recall that being a specific no-no.

Oh my. We’ve never heard that line of reasoning before, oh no. Full rant here.