100 Percent Certain!

I’m right, cos I’m right, which I knew all along
I am certain—one hundred percent!
There is zero percent of a chance I am wrong
And I’m certain I said what I meant.

There’s no reason for me to be changing my mind
Like that Dawkins, all wriggly and squirmy
No reason to look at the evidence, either—
I know it will only confirm me.

I’m pointing at Dawkins with utter delight
While his atheist followers grieve,
Cos I’m certain the way we decide who is right
Is how strongly believers believe!

Fun stuff, after the jump: [Read more…]

Not Bugs–Features

So in my travels here and there around the internet, I ran across “Five Problems with Atheism“, written by a “Spiritual Traveller”. Seems a nice enough person, just pointing out some ways to perhaps heal the rift between believers and atheists, by pointing out some things atheists get wrong:

[T]here are some fundamental problems with atheism. I’m not nailing these five thesis to the door of a church, because there isn’t one. That isn’t the problem. There are problems with atheism a wider view could possibly bridge, or at least decrease the polarity between atheists and non-atheists. These persuasions are intended to reach across the aisle of a doorless structure.

Again, I see he has the best of intentions. But the way I see it, what he sees as problems, I see as misunderstandings on his part. Understandable mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless. I’m sure he did not intend to insult atheists, and I write in the same sense of open communication, with no malice aimed at the Spiritual Traveller. continues… [Read more…]

Pastor: “Stop Supporting Buffoonery In The Pulpit”

“The problem is”, the pastor said,
“We’re hip-deep in buffoons;
The public sees the ministry
As perverts, thugs, and goons.
To save ourselves, we’ve got to lose
The losers and the loons.”

He’s right, of course; the Christian church
Has standards to maintain;
The scandals and buffoonery
Take effort to explain
But once you take the crazies out…
Will anyone remain?

Context, after yon jumpage: [Read more…]

Religion, Politics, and Strange Bedfellows

No, wait–it’s actually good news this time!

I’m used to religious groups disagreeing with one another. I get really nervous when they start agreeing, cos it usually means an attempt at consolidating political power. And there’s nothing that gets a quarrelsome group to unite like a common enemy. And if you’re talking about uniting religious groups, who’s left to band against? So, yeah, it makes me nervous when 14 different religious organizations all sign on to one statement. (continues…) [Read more…]

Cranston Cliff-Notes

What with the decision not to appeal, and now some articles reporting on the scholarship Jessica will be getting (the brainchild of The Friendly Atheist, and proudly supported by Freethought Blogs), a whole new crop of people are hearing about the Cranston Banner for, apparently, the first time. Or if they have known about it, they haven’t learned much, because they are using the same ignorant arguments they have from the beginning.

And they are continuing to threaten. I read a fresh comment today specifying that someone should knock some of Jessica’s teeth out. So, yeah, this has been a fixture of Cranston commentary since at least October. But in the minds of some, who are more concerned with her soul than her safety, there are sadder things about the Banner case… like Jessica’s atheism.

Why couldn’t she just look the other way? After all, only six words out of the whole banner are objectionable! Besides, since atheists don’t believe in God, they shouldn’t be offended by any mention of Him! And it’s not fair to shove atheism down our throats! Hey, when she wins, all that money will say “In God We Trust” on it!

Though some Cranston Christians supported her, for the most part it was “Praise the Lord and start the persecution“. Christians were, it seems, a highly oppressed majority. It was clearly Jessica’s fault that the school had been violating the constitution, and with God on their side, they would surely win the appeal!

Her own representative called Jessica an “evil little thing”. Local businesses refused to deliver her flowers.

The Christian mob wanted their own religion to have a special, favored status, and to be able to punish Jessica for her atheism. On the other side of the world, we saw what that looks like. And we saw that it can happen to Christians when they are in the minority. The only way to be certain that you will not be mistreated when you are in the minority, is to keep those laws safe when you are in the majority. It’s a matter of mutual respect, and of maintaining that wall.

It’s a lesson Cranston is learning the hard way. And one which, as evidenced by their comments, some people are not learning at all.

(and I have learned that I had no idea how much I had written on this one thing!)

Cash Cow Spotted In New Hampshire

NH Lawmakers Consider Rolling Back Gay Marriage

It’s too tragic to be funny,
But by following the money
We can see the motivation for the movement to repeal
See, despite the sponsors’ spinning
They don’t really think they’re winning
And that’s really not the reason they’ve been showing so much zeal

All their proper protestations
Are designed to cull donations
From the homophobic bigots who’ve been keeping us amused
And whose wallets and whose purses
Offer dollars up with curses
And who never seem to notice that they’re mostly being used

And a liberal agenda
Needs supporters who can spend a
Lot of money, so the issue is plus for them as well—
Every time some bishop hollers
The reaction raises dollars
So the left has every reason to just let the bigots yell

Don’t expect it to be ending—
Not since politics means spending
And the money flows when angry mobs hurl epithets and names
In the fight for same-sex spouses
It’s a plague a’ both your houses
When it comes to rights and freedoms, then enough with playing games!

Rant follows: [Read more…]