Archive for July, 2007

Another way to sucker money from stupid people: Growing demand for the ritual of exorcism

16 July 2007 by Stardust

We should add another category titled “insanity”.

Exorcism report by ABC’S 20/20, May ‘07

According to 20/20, exorcism is still practiced daily in almost all parts of the world. From research I have done, it is no longer exclusively practiced by the Catholic church, but the number of exorcists and exorcisms is growing amongst protestant churches, as well. If these reports are true, then we are headed on a rapid decline back toward another era of the dark ages.

Many in the Catholic church seriously believe in demon possession and the ritual of exorcism. (See this video by The Jesuits concerning exorcism.) However, I think a big part of why exorcism is becoming so popular,particularly with protestants, is that people are looking for drama in their dull, boring lives, and crooks and con men have found another way to bilk money from the stupid, superstitious, gullible, or those who are just plain looking for some attention. (Like “Self-styled Exorcist Bob Larson takes his dog and pony show on the road to bilk people out of money.”)

Just a couple days ago, a story was reported about an Edgewater, Florida city councilwoman and her husband who are under investigation for performing an exorcism on their 18-year-old daughter after she got into a yelling match with her twin sister. Her father told police he was trying to anoint his daughter with olive oil to “cast the demons out of her.”

FULL STORY: Florida Politician Performs Exorcism On ‘Possessed’ Daughter

Investigators said the couple admitted they tried to exorcise the demons out of their daughter by pouring olive oil on her while they held her hands behind her back on June 27.

“I don’t think any person should have to endure what occurred that night,” said Edgewater Police Detective Heather Brady.

Detectives said it all started when the 18-year-old got into a yelling match with her twin sister.

Her father told police he was trying to anoint his daughter with olive oil to “cast the demons out of her.”

Neighbors were surprised by the allegations. “Everybody’s got their own beliefs. That’s definitely not mine. It’s a little far fetched I would think,” said neighbor Lou Marcoccio.

Detective Brady said police believe this wasn’t the first time this happened. “This is bizarre, but this apparently was a normal occurrence.”

This time police found the teen’s clothes torn off in the struggle and she had bruises on her arm and knees.

At first she was taken into police custody for a psychological evaluation, but she was released almost immediately.

The teen is now staying at a safe house. “Investigation has revealed she attempted to get away. She didn’t want that to occur, and she received injuries during that, ” said Detective Brady.

The State Attorney’s Office said this is still an active investigation and has not said whether they’ll pursue charges.

Copyright 2007 by WSBTV.com.

LINK: Why is it that atheists are never “possessed”?
(The woman in this video cracks me up.)

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Voodoo politics

15 July 2007 by vastleft

jamarican-flag

Unlike Jamaican rum, the proof for numerology is zero:

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller made a very big deal of playing on the number 7 in her July 8 announcement of August 27 as the date for Jamaica’s next general elections, called by her, Jamaica’s seventh prime minister. By launching out into the deep of biblical numerology, the PM was treading into dangerous waters…

Of course, we Americans know better than to have silly mumbo-jumbo in our politics.

We just have two slates of major-party candidates with religious advisors and gushing claims of “faith.” ‘Cause we’re so much more sophisticated.

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Allegories Gone Wild – The Arm Of Gord Smites Mightily The Feeble Of Mind…

15 July 2007 by KA

csawarriors

The dark underbelly of the ‘holy bible’ contains numerous warts, boils, and cancerous tumors, inflicted by that loathsome grimoire of madness.

The CSA is one shining example of how racism, religion, and lack of education turns ordinary people into the walking wounded.

Leadership

“The founder of the CSA was a polygamist, James Ellison, who was jailed for a period of time, along with his ‘high priest’ Kerry Noble in federal prison. Robert G. Millar became one of his spiritual advisers, who was the founder of Elohim City. He was also mentored by Richard Butler of the Aryan Nations and Robert Miles, founder of The Mountain Church in Cohoctah, Michigan. Both extreme right leaders taught and practiced the sect of Christian Identity, a religion the FBI yet has on its watch list as an ‘extremist religion’. Ellison had very close ties to the KKK and the Northern Idaho group, Aryan Nations, in Hayden, Idaho, led by Richard Butler *. Miles had a very active prison ministry and newsletter, relating mostly to the violent white Aryan groups, of which there are many, most notably, the Aryan Brotherhood. The image here is neo-Nazi racists. After Ellison was released from prison, he moved to Elohim City, where he married Millar’s granddaughter.”

It’s ‘All In The Family’ meets Charlie Manson. More info on these charming folks:

Purpose

“The CSA was an organization that believed doomsday was imminent, and the 250-acre compound that was set up in Elijah became a community for its members. There they trained their members in paramilitary operations. The group strongly believed in white supremacy, and held a particularly strong sense of anti-Semitism. Like the other prominent extreme right groups, they referred to the United States Government as ZOG, for Zionist Occupied Government. Contrary to the ambitions of The Order, they professed that the United States government would dissolve from its own corruption. The military leader of the group, who used the name Randall Rader during his stay at CSA, left the group in a rift with Ellison and joined a newly forming group in Idaho called “The Order”. It was The Order that declared war on the United States government in a 21 page declaration. Virtually all of the members of that group have been imprisoned on felony charges ranging from robbery to murder. Its founder, Robert Jay Matthews, died in a fiery shoot-out on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound off the coast of Seattle. Matthews signature poem was:

“Lay down your bibles and pick up a gun

It’s time to deal in lead.

We are the armies of the damned

The soldiers of the already dead!”

Oh, wow, these wackadoos got it all. Racism, conspiracy theorists, anti-Semitism, anti-government, survivalist ethics…I may run out of fingers and toes to count how crazy these assholes are.

Unwilling to sit on their hands and wait for the apocalypse, they decided to take matters into their own hands:

Operations

“After it was set up, the CSA began targeting local and federal agents, including the sheriff who participated in the later siege on the organization’s compound and the U.S. Attorney, Asa Hutchinson, who would negotiate a peaceful conclusion to the siege and later prosecute CSA members. CSA assassins would monitor the homes of their targets and actually practice mock assassinations of the targets with scoped rifles and practiced attacks in a mock “Combat City”. The perimeter of the CSA compound had 100, 200, and 300 yard indicator plates nailed to trees to allow the defenders to adjust their sights accordingly to engage attackers. The central rallying point in the event of attack was a concrete bunk house that housed the communications radios next to the 95 foot tower, which itself, was constructed for defense. The perimeter of the compound had built-in bunkers for one to three men and each was numbered as a post and assigned to individuals as an ‘area of responsibility’.”

Disturbed is too mild an adjective for these clowns, I think.

Snip:

Possible ties to the Oklahoma City Bombing

“There are several claims that the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City Bombing was tied to the ‘New Day’ teachings of Elohim City. No proof, however, has ever been established. Elohim City was assembled for the purpose of gathering ‘prophets of the New Day’. Robert Millar envisioned himself to be the ‘Shepard of Shepards’ traveling to numerous alternate societies, many of whom were and remain, communes. His ambition as a charismatic Christian leader, was to unite these ‘underground’ organizations. He appeared several times at the Padanaram Settlement, in southern Indiana, but contrary to reports, members of the Padanaram Settlement did not concur with the radical calling of either Millar or Ellison who made two appearances there. ‘The Valley’ was and remains known more as a cultural hub for artists and philosophers and until roughly 2003, operated the largest deciduous hardwood sawmill in five states. Timothy McVeigh was tied to several radical religious organizations, however, McVeigh was not yet exposed to the charismatic messages of these groups in his early teen youth and was just joining the Army when the CSA compound was sieged and broken up. Also, the Oklahoma City Bombing occurred very close to the 10-year anniversary of the siege of the CSA compound. But the most plausible link is that Richard Wayne Snell, who was executed on the day of the bombing, had planned a similar attack on the Murrah building in 1983 after becoming upset with the IRS. Not only that, but Snell was heard taunting jailers that something drastic would happen on the day of his execution. It is plausible that McVeigh may have been mentored by Snell since Snell frequented gun shows, a CSA practice until shortly before Snell made active contact with the group he is documented to have been a part of. Of itself, that is understandable since he hid out there between pawn shop robberies. He did not, however, reside on the property. CSA considered him to be a ‘Patron’. Shortly after McVeigh was released from the Army he became very active at gun shows. “

End Snip.

There’s more here via the ADL – it’s a veritable cornucopia of craziness.

This then, is yet another symptom of how religion ruins people. It poisons the mind, and saturates it with delusion. The aftermath of self-loathing generated by some anachronistic Bronze Age tome that teaches its followers that humanity is naught but evil children, always worthy of punishment (and more to come, if draconian rules are not kept), and that the ‘maturer’ of said evil children are the arbitrators of worthiness.

And of course, the argument from the other side is, as always, “They’re not with us!”

The sooner it’s gone, the better off our species will be.

This is the Apostate, signing off.

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Laugh for the weekend

14 July 2007 by Stardust

This was sent in by regular commenter JJR. I agree with JJR…Sean would have loved this.

Tribute to Kent Hovind

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Fahrenheit 451

13 July 2007 by Naomi

Farneheit_451#2I’m using the conventional wisdom on Ray Bradbury’s 1953 iconic novella: book burning is censorship. However, he maintained that his meme was television destroyed interest in reading literature

Enter Laura Lopez. Mom urges West Palm Beach school board to ban 80 books

Eighty books in high school library stacks are corrupting students with tales of abortion, homosexuality and atheism. That’s according to a West Palm Beach mother who has appealed to the school board to remove the books from the shelves of Dreyfoos and Royal Palm Beach high schools.

Laura Lopez has been fighting since September to ban these books that she says “promote sin and lies.”

Committees at both schools have already shot down her request. So has Superintendent Art Johnson. On Wednesday, she will ask the full school board to intervene.

Palm Beach County School District staff can’t recall any book challenges reaching the school board in at least seven years.

Lopez admits she hasn’t read a single one of the objectionable books cover-to-cover.

In her appeal, she quotes scripture and blames the Columbine school shootings, drugs, bullies, teenage pregnancy and other ills on what she considers the removal of God from schools. [...]

What a deranged fundie! The rest is a text-book case of fundamentalist obsession with abortion, homosexuality and atheism – the three most dangerous things in the world!

Fast forward to the end:

Lopez said she doesn’t know what her chances are before the school board.

Even within her own home, reaction is split.

“My oldest son doesn’t believe in God,” she said. “I guess he kind of thinks I’m stupid.”

What was your first clue, Laura?

If she wasn’t a fundie, she might appreciate the irony. But Ms. Lopez is on “a mission from Gord” and she will steamroller anyone in her path! It seems that she’s desperate to save her younger son from travelling the same path as his older brother, the (*gasp*) atheist.

My hat is off to the level-headed school board! After all, they could have “caved in” to fundie pressure. Remember Frosty Hardison, Federal Way, WA and an “Inconvenient Truth”?

(hat/tip to C.Lewis)

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Headline: Literal Bible claims not accepted by many

12 July 2007 by Naomi

Genesis 1_25Poll debunks Creation Museum, The (Cincinnati) Enquirer/nky.com

(Here reprinted in full, without comment)

More than half of the people who agreed to answer a survey believe Answers in Genesis’ Creation Museum is “bizarre,” “Biblically inaccurate” or “scientifically unsound,” a recent poll shows.

The Campaign to Defend the Constitution, which defines itself as “an online grassroots movement dedicated to fighting the growing influence of the religious right in American society,” released the poll Thursday.

A national public opinion firm quizzed 800 likely voters across the country on religious issues, including what they thought of the museum, located in Petersburg.

“Recently a Creationism Museum opened up in Kentucky,” the poll stated. “The museum portrays dinosaurs living alongside Adam and Eve as well as dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark. Which of the following words best describes your view on this?”

The choices were: “Literal Word of God,” “Biblically accurate,” “Bizarre,” “Biblically inaccurate,” “Scientifically unsound” and “Not sure.”

Fifty-four percent [54%] of the 800 responded “bizarre,” “Biblically inaccurate” or “scientifically unsound,” while 25 percent [25%] said they were unsure and 17 percent said the museum’s views represented the “literal word of God” or were “Biblically accurate.”

The survey found that 48 percent of people who said they attend church “every week” found the idea of the museum “bizarre,” “Biblically inaccurate” or “scientifically unsound,” while 23 percent were uncertain.

Twenty-nine percent of those who attend church every week agreed with the Creation Museum’s view, answering it was “Biblically accurate” or the “literal word of God.”

Lake Research Partners of Washington, D.C., conducted the telephone poll June 18-21. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.

The Campaign to Defend the Constitution also has led campaigns to “protect” science education and promote stem-cell research.

“We see it to be a very important poll,” said Clark Stevens, co-director of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution. “The majority oppose the Creation Museum’s views.”

Attendance at the new museum has been stellar.

Museum officials said Thursday more than 40,000 visited in its first month. Answers in Genesis, the ministry that believes in the literal Bible, opened the $27 million museum May 28.

Stevens said the organization’s Web site promoted a petition against the museum because they oppose the museum’s claims that science back up their religious beliefs. Stevens said more than 25,000 have signed the petition.

Those at the Creation Museum were unconcerned about the poll’s results.

“If that poll is valid … then it just proves what we’ve been saying all along about the need for this museum,” said Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis.

Visit Defend the Constitution blog for poll details (.pdf), and to sign DefCon’s petition.

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The Antichrist Also Fleeces His Flock

11 July 2007 by Eve

antichristWho would have suspected it? Apparently Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, Miami’s self-proclaimed Antichrist, a.k.a. Second Coming of Christ, has bankrolled his personal life with donations made to his cult church, Growing in Greed Grace.

So much so that the IRS is now going to audit him.

Read all about it!

Snippets:

“…paying $144,000 a year in alimony to his first wife and buying property in his and his relatives’ names.

“…Miranda disclosed details of the previously secret financial workings of his church through sworn testimony last month in an increasingly nasty divorce from his second wife.

“The revelations from the witness stand, which experts say suggest violations of federal law, prompted a Miami-Dade Circuit judge to send a transcript to federal prosecutors this month with a letter saying he was “ethically compelled” to bring it to their attention. The U.S. attorney in Miami has confirmed opening an investigation.” [my emphasis]

Aw, poor thing; he’s being persecuted for his faith!

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Are you a UFO “believer”?

11 July 2007 by Stardust

I have cross-posted this from my Stardust blog where a lively and lengthy discussion has been going on so thought I would bring it over here and see what you all have to say about the subject. To make things even more fun, a creationist believer has joined in. He tells us we are “irrational” for considering life on other planets, however he doesn’t think his belief in a supernatural sky daddy is irrational at all.

I’m skeptical when it comes to all the stories about alien abductions and flying saucers crashing in the desert in Roswell and other places on our planet. Similar to the lack of evidence for the existence of supernatural beings, no evidence has been presented for public examination and analysis that we have been visited by aliens from other worlds. All we have to go on are the “eye-witness” accounts of “believers” and concocted images and also legends and stories passed on orally from person to person. However, I do think that life on other planets is possible, after all…we are here, and if conditions are right someplace else in the vastness of the universe, life could have formed in more places that we will never know about. We’ve sent rovers to Mars. Explorers to other planets. OUR alien “probes”. It is possible that other mortal beings are looking at us from some other far-off planet…”seeking out new life”, boldly going where none of their beings have gone before. (I borrowed that from Star Trek…tee hee hee.)

LINK: THOUSANDS COMMEMORATE THE 1947 UFO ‘CRASH’ IN ROSWELL

By MARK EVANS, Associated Press Writer

ROSWELL, N.M. – If you truly believe a UFO and its crew of bug-eyed aliens came crashing down here 60 years ago, rest assured: You’re not alone. At least 35,000 people have descended on Roswell this weekend for the 2007 Amazing Roswell UFO Festival to commemorate a purported flying saucer crash on a nearby ranch in July 1947. Participants have filled hotel rooms and nearly doubled the southeastern New Mexico town’s population for a few days.

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