Liberty University, founded by the notorious nogoodnik, Jerry Falwell, is NOT a real university, says Bill Maher. Bill is absolutely right! Liberty is the opposite of a real university. In a real university, students are not spoon-fed religious/political crap but are given information and taught to think things through for themselves. At Liberty, students are taught, not to think, but to believe! Liberty is a propaganda machine!
And that's too bad, because if Liberty's diplomas are accepted as valid, that cheapens diplomas from real universities.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The evil that men do...in the name of righteousness...
...is almost beyond comprehension. The Republican Party and its backers are now officially relegated to the sewers of political history!
GOP Super Pac planning dastardly attack on President Barack Obama!
Which leads the average person to wonder what can possibly be done to counter the avarice of these profiteers who have sunk to the bottom of the pond, lower than scum, to obtain their goals and increase their riches?
Please read this article from The New York Times.
GOP Super Pac planning dastardly attack on President Barack Obama!
Please read this article from The New York Times.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Bible-believing Christians, homosexuality and slavery
Furthermore, Bible-believing Christians must believe what God says in the Bible about homosexuality and homosexuals and homosexual behavior and to buttress his arguments, he quoted from both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament.
Certainly, one can find passages in the both of those mythical treatises which would imply that the Hebrew Yahweh and the later Christian version of Yahweh doth find homosexuals and their behavior a reason to get any deity worth his or her salt royally pissed.
And if one wishes to believe this nonsense, written by ancient persons who were wrapped in the ignorance of their times, that's fine. Well, it's really not fine, for it leads to all kinds of hateful superstitions and religious superstitions usually lead to action that is despicable and ultimately lethal . In fact, I've heard fundamentalist christianists pray to their god that he smite those who disbelieve with his mighty hand and send them to eternal hellfire for their comeuppance.
When push comes to shove for some of these folks, their god turns out to be just as blood-thirsty as the worst of other pagan gods!
My point, however, is this: As a learned bishop (Lutheran) once told me, the Bible is a very dangerous book and every evil cause on the face of the earth has been defended on the basis of the Bible. The attitude of many fundy christianists proves his point.
You can find justification for almost every one of your most cherished mythologies and traditions in the Bible if you look hard enough and have a creative enough mind to "accurately decipher" the scriptural language.
All Bible-believers, especially the fundies, pick and choose the passages they wish to "believe" and ignore whatever does not fit into their sadomasochistic theological schemes. Thus, they seek out biblical passages to buttress their fundamentalist perversions.
But they ignore other commands/prohibitions of the deity because these are no longer considered of value in the current culture. So, we don't hear anyone (that I know of) who pulls out the biblical exhortation to stone one's children to death for not obeying the Sabbath (which, my christianist friends should realize, is not the 1st day of the week but the 7th!).
Nor do present day fundies support slavery (well, maybe they do, but I haven't heard of any). Yet, slavery was a valued institution in the legends of the Patriarchs and also in the 2nd century of the Common Era, and beyond. It is said that the venerable Apostle Paul was a supporter of slavery as one might gather from the quotation posted above.
So, how does the christianist decide one biblical passage has validity for all time and another has used up its validity?
The phrase, "Bible-believing Christians," is an oxymoron. A fundy, like every other person, believes only what he/she wants to believe. And that's OK, because the Bible is so contradictory and filled with so much nonsense, that to do otherwise would drive one crazy.
Aha, there it is!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Deepak Chopra on why he will vote for President Obama
In a recent article for The Huffington Post, Deepak Chopra (with whom I have some serious religious differences) explains his belief that while Mitt Romney has "emerged from the contentious primary season in a damaged state," he may benefit from the trap in which President Obama finds himself.
The trap has to do with the lies of the Republicans who will say and do anything to bring Obama down. Chopra spells out the situation this way:
"Acting as the only adult in the room should have gradually shaken some sense into his critics. Obama doesn't name call of falsify the facts. He exhibits tremendous intelligence, flexibility and a cool head in a crisis. Most economists would say that his policies saved the economy from a meltdown, and at this point, even with a sluggish growth rate of 2.2% (still three times higher than the growth projected for Germany), the country has done better under Obama than it could possibly have under John McCain."
Chopra then lays out some major Republican lies which tend to resonate with frustrated and angry voters... such as -
* Obama's economic policies failed. Not so. The party of "no" effectively blocked almost all of his initiatives.
* TARP was a failure. Not so. Most of the TARP money has been paid back, and Detroit was brought back from the grave, etc.
* Obamacare is no good. Not so. What has already begun under Obamacare has been a huge blessing for millions of people and is very popular.
There's much more. It's good stuff. Read it all here.
Jon Stewart-The Daily Show and the Battle for the War on Women
Don't every apologize, Jon, to those 16th-century Catholic ignoramuses!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Ruminations on Marriage, Gays, and God's Rules
This is a guest post by my good friend, Bob Poris.
I think the next amendment to the Constitution of the US and of each state should be a real defense of marriage. All divorce should be banned and adultery should be punished by stoning, (not the same as getting stoned). Then what God has joined together, no man or women can separate in any way. Then nothing gays can do will affect marriage. I would assume all religious people would like that as it follows what they tell us is God’s will.
Not being schooled in religious rules, I wonder if Adam and Eve were married and how they became parents? Did they formalize any rules given them by their Creator so that future generations could follow them? How did they know how to create a new life if both were alone in the world and both virgins? Since both derived from the same body originally, weren’t they related genetically? When did they determine what the rules were as to marriage, incest, procreation, sex and when did they learn which sexual practices were acceptable to God, the Father?
I was married almost three years when my wife became pregnant and I begged her not to tell her father as I did not think he would approve of us having sex. He was not only a tough guy, he was a prude. Imagine what went through Adam's and Eve’s minds when they did not have ministers and priests around monitoring their morals. Even if they had written rules, where did they keep stone tablets with the rules, as they had no pockets and fig leafs were pretty small and didn’t cover much.
Neither history nor the biblical book of Leviticus have much to say as to how all the rules were made and enforced starting with Adam and Eve. They did not have the arguments over contraception then, so that was not an issue.
I have lots of other questions but think it best to start at the simplest level first. In later years humans had to contend with clothing, pockets, sex as we know it now, but without pornography or portable pictures, all sorts of rules and laws in an age when brides were very young and abstinence was the rule.
If anyone out there is privy to these things I would appreciate them sharing their vast knowledge with me.
Thank you.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Mormons ain't Christians - Ev'rybody knows that! From the Daily Show
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Mormon, Mo' Problems | ||||
| ||||
The GOP is made up of morons, and some Mormons. A few self-described Republican "leaders" are pious Baptist preachers who live in a world unrelated to reality and who believe the most god-awful stuff (like the world was created in 6 days by a god up in the sky; a god who got really pissed at his creation in a very short time, so killed every living thing on earth in a vengeful moment (except for two of each kind, or was it seven of each kind?), and then a few thousand years later had his son born of a virgin after he impregnated her himself disguised as a holy spirit (which reeks of incest if you ask me) and then insists, like all ancient gods, that his son [who was also himself in disguise] had to be sacrificed to satisfy his blood lust and everyone must believe this or when they die this "loving" god will send to them to a hell where they will burn in eternal torment), yet have the gall to decry Mr. Romney's Mormonism, which is also full of god-awful and ridiculous beliefs!
More importantly, one wonders if these clowns have ever heard of the "no religious test for political office" clause in our Constitution?
I think Mormonism is idiotic. I cannot understand how any rational human being can be a Mormon. But then, I feel the same way about Roman Catholicism and fundamentalist religion of whatever stripe.
I dislike Romney intensely, believing him to be a liar and a fraud and without an ethical or moral base who will say and do anything to achieve the presidency. But I don't give a damn about his religion so long as it does not impact the oath of office that the president takes to, above all else, uphold the Constitution of the United States!
The religious kooks that appear in this video, including Billy Graham's son, are fanatics who would shove the Constitution under the bus in order to force their religious beliefs on the people of the United States. That becomes very clear as they swish and sway and say that, while Mr. Romney is a Mormon, and thus not a Christian (which is really bad), Mr. Obama, being a lover of abortion, is a worse person than Romney. Or, as Mr. Stewart points out, "They hate Obama more than they love Jesus!"
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Keep your religion out of my life!
[The following was borrowed from Dan Barker's new book, The Good Atheist.]
"More wars have been fought in the name of religion than any other cause. More people have been persecuted, reputations ruined, and fortunes plundered and murders committed in the name of religion than any other enterprise. And more everyday bigotry and prejudice is founded on what a person follows than any other factor ... Forget believing in God. How about thinking for yourself on any subject! Bottom line---I don't care what you believe, or what church you attend, or how religion-oriented your private life it. Keep it out of my government. Keep it out of my laws. Keep it out of my bedroom. And keep it out of the war rooms at the Pentagon!"
--Harvey Fierstein
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Ten Signs You Are a Christian Fundie
Here are the top ten signs you might be a Christian Fundamentalist:
10. You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but become outraged when someone denies the existence of your god.
9. You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from lesser life-forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim we were created from dirt.
8. You laugh at polytheists, but have no problem believing in a trinitarian (three gods in one) god.
7. Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how your G-d, Yahweh/Jehovah, slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua," including women and children, and even trees.
6. You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and at Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that a "holy spirit" impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man/god who was soon crucified only to come back to life and ascend into the sky.
5. You are willing to spend your life looking for small loop-holes in the scientifically-established age of the earth (4.55 billion years) but find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by pre-historic tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that the earth was only a couple of generations old.
4. You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival Christians sects - will spend eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet you consider your religion to be the most "tolerant" and "loving".
3. While modern science, history, geology, biology and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" is all the evidence you need to prove the truth of Christianity.
2. You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer "works." And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE rate was simply the will of god.
1. You actually know a lot less than many Jews, Muslims, atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and "church" history, but still call yourself a Christian.
Monday, March 26, 2012
A Graphic Demonstration as to what's wrong with FAUX (FOX News)
Most folks reading this blog recognize that FAUX (FOX) News is an ultra-rightwing propaganda machine that has as its mission the health and well-being of the Republican Party and the corporate elites who are actually in control of the United States.
Most folks reading this blog will also agree that FAUX News has little concern for truth and goes out of its way to slant the "news" to further its mission.
A friend sent me this picture which dramatizes very graphically what's wrong with FAUX News and why FAUX News should not be considered a real news source but rather as the mouthpiece for the Republican Party, the corporatists and the Christianists!
Disclaimer: I have not checked the authenticity of this picture, but from what I've seen of FAUX News, it's quite accurate as to the methods of their reporting!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Man Bites Dog or Christians help Atheist
It's the old man bites dog thing all over again, this bunch of Christians helping an atheist. Who would think such a thing could happen? Especially in Texas?The irony is that a headline like "Texas Christians Raise Money To Pay Medical Bills for Atheist Protestor Patrick Greene," should be so commonplace that it wouldn't raise an eyebrow. Isn't that the kind of things Christians are supposed to do routinely and without question. Didn't their Jesus of the Gospels say "Love your enemies"?
The reality is that such a headline is newsworthy because Christians are usually spewing hatred and bile at those they see a threat to their faith and their god. I read a lot of Christian Right material and I'm constantly amazed at the vile rhetoric and the lying that is commonplace.
The storyline here is that Patrick Greene from Henderson County, Texas, may go blind in one eye because of a detached retina. He had to retire and is looking at a huge pile of medical bills. Greene is also an active atheist and has tried to have religious symbols barred from government property - one in particular being a nativity scene. At one point he filed suit to achieve his goals but had to drop the suit due to his lack of finances.
Some Christians heard about his condition and wrote Greene a check for $400 to help with his living expenses.
These Christians said they did it because that's what "real" Christians are supposed to do.
They are right but sadly, they are a minority amongst the Christian tribe!
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