I don’t have enough time to write a decent commentary on this, but thought it needed to be posted. You can read the article and discuss amongst yourselves.

Chancellor Falwell Is Trying To Turn Tax-Exempt Liberty University Into A Partisan Political Machine – And Dominate Lynchburg Elections. Will The IRS Step In?

Will the IRS step in? They damn well better!

(Hat tip to Andrew Brown at the Guardian)

A gay witch hunt in Uganda

Why are the English archbishops silent over Uganda’s grotesque anti-homosexuality bill?

A bill currently before the Ugandan parliament (pdf) proposes seven year prison sentences for discussing homosexuality; life imprisonment for homosexual acts; and death for a second offence. Sober observers believe it will be passed. The Anglican church in Uganda appears to support it, and the Church of England in this country is absolutely silent. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Winchester solemnly denounce violence in the Congo, where they have no influence at all, but on Uganda they maintain a resolute post-colonial silence.

The position of the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is more complicated, and his silence more eloquent. He is himself Ugandan by birth. One of his younger half-brothers, pastor Robert Kayanja, is a highly successful pentecostal preacher in Kampala, running a church called the Rubaga Miracle Centre. Such people are highly rewarded, and the business is extremely competitive. A rival preacher, the gloriously named Solomon Male of the The Arising Church was accused this spring of kidnapping Kayanga’s assistant and torturing him for five days to get him to confess that his boss was gay and partial to young men.

So…churches are big business in Uganda? Somehow this is no surprise. That these backwards assholes are discriminating based on sexual preference? It takes religion to do that. So, just who started this nonsense in the first place? Why, surprise! It was a Christian Fundamentalist group:

A United States fundamentalist group is at the heart of Uganda’s anti-gay law. Originally known as The Fellowship, an international organization founded in 1935, today it is known as ‘The Family’, described by Jeff Sharlet in his book The Family: Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, who investigates the political power of ‘The Family’, a secretive fundamentalist Christian association. ‘The Family’, under the reclusive leadership of Douglas Coe, is described by prominent evangelical Christians as one of the most, or the most, politically well-connected fundamentalist organizations in the United States.

Ugandan lawmaker and alleged member of the ‘The Family’, David Bahati sponsored Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, also known as the "Bahati Bill".

That these maniacs have in-roads to our government is scary enough. But that they can prevail on foreign governments to discriminate against their own citizenry? That’s just bugfuck crazy.

And America’s favorite ferret minister, the inestimable Rick Warren, while not at the heart of this, is still a voice in the chaos (but not one of reason):

The Ugandan parliament is currently considering an “Anti-Homosexuality Bill,” under which any person “convicted of gay sex is liable to life imprisonment.” If that person is HIV positive or has sex with a minor or a person with a disability, he or she would be guilty of “aggravated homosexuality” and face the death penalty. The bill also proposes up to three years of imprisonment for anyone who “fails to report within 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are.” The bill would even “apply to Ugandans who commit homosexual offences, but who live overseas.” There are approximately 500,000 gay men and women living in Uganda.

Half a million? Get ready for the next big genocide, folks.

Pastor Rick Warren — whom President Obama controversially chose to deliver the invocation at his inauguration — is now refusing to condemn Bahati’s bill, which has been endorsed by Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa. Ssempa has been welcomed by Warren’s family and made appearances at his church. Newsweek reports that although Warren has distanced himself from Ssempa’s views, he won’t come out against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill:

The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator. However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations in anybody else’s business.

There, fixed that one for you, you weasel.

Really, the politicians of this country need to realize that civil rights are more important than the votes of some crazy ass fairy-begging fuck who can’t get a normal job and hears non-verbal instructions from the ether.

Till the next post, then.

When I went to Professor Myers’ talk at De Anza College back in January, I met a few new people. One of them was an impossibly handsome young man (tall dark and a strong likelihood that women threw themselves at him when he walked down the street – I exaggerate not, folks), who brought up the film Marjoe (several times) as he was the son of Marjoe Gortner. He recommended it, so I put it on my Netflix queue when I finally remembered it.

It was really some kind of eye-opener. Gortner describes how he was coached in signals as a little boy (3 to 4 years old), and how, if he messed them up, mommy dearest would suffocate him with a pillow or hold his head underwater (she couldn’t leave a mark now, could she?). He toured with his parents until he was fourteen (when the novelty wore off), never seeing the millions his parents culled from his showmanship. Having few other options (child evangelist doesn’t look good on a resume, I bet), he spent some of his adulthood defrauding people using the embedded skills he’d been trained in. He suffered from a crisis of conscience, and took a film crew and filmed his last hurrah, exposing the revivalist evangelistos as the hucksters they truly are.

Gortner shares a multitude of techniques designed to lull the masses and get them to part with their hard-earned money. One part charisma, one part machine gun verbiage, and ten parts gullibility will make some serious bank.

(Special note: said film was never aired in the Southern US, for fear of the reaction of the bible belt.)

One of the items that truly stuck out, was the diversity of the crowds that would attend. Young, old, black, Hispanic and white, it was truly a melting pot. Old people afraid of death, with no one to press against their flesh, young people still struggling with identity formation, it’s easy to see the appeal. One relatively toothless fellow began bellowing ‘in tongues’ during one revivalist meeting. Easy answers, cheap entertainment. One fellow came up, old, thick glasses, a goiter on his bald head, and again, easy to see the appeal. One is promised not only eternal life, but ‘unconditional’ love (there really is no such thing), and really, who else would accept someone who obviously doesn’t fit  into the culture as a ‘beautiful person’ but an imaginary friend who is always accepting of all one’s faults and foibles?

I highly recommend it, that is on the proviso that you don’t suffer from high blood pressure. It’s insightful, it breaks down the techniques used by the snake oil salesmen that peddle that old black magic, and while it was made back in the early 70’s, it still has some relevance today.

Till the next post, then.

Pursuant to a thread at Pharyngula, a particular book was mentioned. So Googling it up, I found this wonderful bit of folderol:

By now you’ve probably heard about that infamous movie so many people are talking about called EXPELLED, starring Ben Stein. No? OK, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you should. This film played for a limited engagement in theatres across the USA in 2008 (but don’t go rushing out to buy the video until you’ve visited the offers from our partners at the "Order Online" tab above). If you missed the movie (or just want to read up on what others are saying about it) you can check out another movie trailer here, and read some reviews and commentary about it here.

‘Limited engagement’ actually translates to ‘invitation only’ across a limited amount of showings, and I’m sure we’re all up on this non-issue that Stein tried to stoke a non-fire in the intellectual underbrush.

So why am I even mentioning this movie? Because the book Slaughter of the Dissidents (SOD) picks up where the movie "Expelled" leaves off. If you thought Expelled was mind-blowing, then this book will educate you even further about this important issue of repression of freedom and discrimination currently playing in academia today, along with many case studies of expelled scientists and educators (some of the SOD case studies also focus on some of the "Expelles" introduced in the movie).

I thought it was mind-blowing that Stein imagined he even had a controversy, let alone a point.

"Expelled" has taken many Americans by surprise. Suddenly, a growing number of people are wondering: what is this discrimination against Darwin skeptics all about? What do you mean we kick people out of academia just for asking questions about evolution! Is this really true? And just how bad is it really.

Like all empty incendiary rhetoric, it’s really not all that bad. Nobody’s been ‘slaughtered’, either physically or metaphorically. It’s simply scare-mongering, is what it is.

Well, in a word, the treatment of Darwin skeptics in our culture (scientists, educators, and students) is very poor. Many of them endure incredible humilation and eventual loss of their jobs. But even worse, being a Darwin skeptic for many of these people is a complete career-ender. Of course, there are many who try to argue against such claims, as you can see by visiting sites like "Expelled Exposed." We plan to provide some rebuttals to those arguments at some point in the future. But for now… SOD will serve as a starting point.

You won’t believe some of the reasons many educators have lost their jobs, and how they often get blackballed from academia, or why some students failed to get an otherwise earned degree. This pernicious form of discrimination is not only widespread in the U.S. but is also nauseating to most Americans. SOD goes into great detail about how and why it occurs, and provides you with scores of actual case studies. As you read this book you’ll discover that one of the most precious things we own is at risk, right here in America. What is that?

In a word,

FREEDOM

The price you pay for going against the scientific consensus (and especially on a topic that has been proven up and down and sideways to Muskogee) is…well, ridicule is something you’ll have to endure, especially when you don the martyr’s cap and cry ‘poor me!’ when you propound twaddle.

Freedom to disagree about some aspects of evolution without losing your job or being denied an earned degree. Freedom to tell people you dare to question any aspect of evolution on scientific grounds – without referencing any religious text.

Either the author doesn’t understand the definition of ‘aspect’, which is:

1. appearance to the eye or mind; look: the physical aspect of the country, 2. nature; quality; character: the superficial aspect of the situation, 3. a way in which a thing may be viewed or regarded; interpretation; view: both aspects of a decision. 4. part; feature; phase: That is the aspect of the problem that interests me most. 5. facial expression; countenance: He wore an aspect of gloom. Hers was an aspect of happy optimism. 6. bearing; air; mien: warlike in aspect. (6 will do for now), or he’s being deliberately misleading about the ‘any aspect’ phrasing. Either one wouldn’t be a surprise.

And also the freedom to let others know what you personally believe outside of science without having such an utterance turn into a rabid witch hunt.

That’s utter nonsense, otherwise notables such as Ken Miller and Francis Collins would be pilloried in accordance with this ‘logic’.

Do you know it has reached the point in America where, on this subject at least, if you are an educator and you opine that you have reservations about any aspect of evolution based on scientific evidence, you are often immediately labeled as "religious" (whether you really are or not), and you are (often) immediately determined to be ‘unfit’ to teach science or get a science degree?

Unmitigated crap. Maybe a biology degree, but this ‘any aspect’ accusation is ridiculous.

And speaking of religion, it looks like we live in an era where freedom OF religion has been twisted to mean freedom FROM religion. Some groups supporting this type of discrimination proclaim that "Freedom depends on free thinkers," unless, of course, you happen to be ‘religious’.

I don’t think I need to go any further with this. Of course, you can’t have freedom OF religion unless you have freedom FROM religion. This isn’t ‘discrimination’ – this is fact. It’s an equal playing field now – and this is the standard argument from martyrdom, except that we are all now familiar with the lies the Christians tell us, the lies they believe and will fight for, against all odds and evidence.

In addition, I might add that this execratory bit of work has an introduction by none other than “Dr.” D. James Kennedy. For those of you unfamiliar with this particular fuckwit, he was that same idiot who made the repugnant ‘documentary’ titled Darwin’s Deadly Legacy, which has been debunked and repudiated (but is still for sale!). Also, a hardcore theonomist.

One can only hope that this disorder we term religion will wilt away, that the human race can move onwards to greener pastures.

Till the next post, then.

Other international aid organizations are rushing food, water and medicine to Haiti’s earthquake victims. A moronic United States religious group is sending Bibles — solar powered ones. Since many poor can’t read, now they are going to try to deliver the delusion electronically.

Solar-powered Bibles sent to Haiti

But these aren’t just any Bibles; they’re solar-powered audible Bibles that can broadcast the holy scriptures in Haitian Creole to 300 people at a time.

The Faith Comes By Hearing organisation says its Bible, called the Proclaimer, delivers “digital quality” and is designed for “poor and illiterate people”.

Faith (delusion) comes by hearing delusional people give a fluffy puffy fantasy message that some invisible sky daddy is going to take care of things, especially when disaster strikes and the poor have nowhere to turn and are vulnerable to people taking advantage of the situation. This god never comes on his own, the god message only comes from sly idiots who want to get as many to board the Jesus train as they can.

It says 600 of the devices are already on their way to Haiti.

The Albuquerque-based organisation says it is responding to the Haitian crisis by “providing faith, hope and love through God’s word in audio”.

How about some real food, water, blankets and helping to build shelters, hospitals, clinics, etc?

The audio Bible can bring the “hope and comfort that comes from knowing God has not forgotten them through this tragedy,” a statement on its website says.

But this god does not bring them their homes back, does not bring back their dead parents, children, friends and family. This god does not bring the money they need to pay for what was lost. No god came to prevent this disaster in the first place. No god ever comes. When will people stop and realize there is no god to help and humans depend on the help of other humans alone.

“The Proclaimer is self-powered and can play the Bible in the jungle, desert or … even on the moon!”

Tens of thousands of Port-au-Prince residents are living outdoors

“The Proclaimer”???? So their god needs electronics made by humans now to make himself be known via audio of a human reading a book that was written by humans. And them living outdoors makes it easier for the fundies to force their message on people in their time of despair and need.

How utterly despicable! I have no words strong enough to illustrate how disgusting this is. This is taking advantage of people in the face of their loss. There should be laws against these kinds of con artists.

Dobson Unretires: Religious Right Honcho Plans New Radio Show

James Dobson retired back in April, but that didn’t last very long. And though he is ending his radio show in February, he is simply starting up another one.

Now Dobson has announced that instead of puttering around the house and playing golf, he is teaming up with his son, Ryan, to do a daily radio show called “James Dobson on the Family.” Some retirement!

Dobson announced on Facebook that he will end the Focus on the Family broadcasts in February and will start broadcasting with Ryan the following month. The Associated Press reported, “He says his new show, which will air in March, will cover many of the same topics, including marriage, child-rearing and national issues.”

In other words, we’ll get the same extremism but on a different channel.

The reason? Rob Boston gives a possible answer:

My guess is that Dobson, who is really unhappy with the political situation right now, never intended to stop popping off about it. After all, gay people can get married in Iowa, abortion is still legal, some people continue to believe in evolution and not everyone is a right-wing, dogmatic fundamentalist Christian. There’s lots of work to do!

Which means that there is still a lot of watchdogging of these nutjobs for us to do. It never ends.

It’s been awhile since there have been any news stories concerning culinary iconography. Seems though that there aren’t any suckers ready to spend money for these holy spuds. Could it be because people are wising up? Nah, people revere these sort of things a lot less when the economy is crappy.

Crosses in potatoes appear to online sellers

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Move over, Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese. Step aside, Fish Stick Jesus. Online bidders may now buy two potatoes containing likenesses of crosses in their centers. One was found by an Iowa family and the other by a police detective in Ohio.

Jim Gross of Marion, Iowa, says his wife was peeling their potato on New Year’s Eve when she found the cross shape. The spud is on sale for eBay, with bids starting at $2.

Dennis Bort of Brunswick, Ohio, says he found the cross shape in his potato on Christmas Day.

Bort listed his spud for $1,000. He hasn’t found any bidders yet.

In the past, collectors have paid big bucks for items deemed to have been blessed by the appearance of a religious symbol, including $28,000 for a partially eaten grilled cheese sandwich with the likeness of the Virgin Mary.

Every year it’s the same old crap with some Christian groups crying persecution because many of us choose to celebrate the winter season in different ways which are not anything to do with Christianity. Some get their panties in a knot when others want to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”, when we don’t want religious displays on public property and government buildings. Christians boo-hoo that atheists and secular humanists are trying to take their Jesus away along with one of their supposedly holiest holidays when we succeed in upholding separation of church and state. But in actuality, for the most part, how holy is Christmas?

A growing number of Christians are upset with the materialistic side of Christmas that is promoted by corporate America. But is it really the fault of the corporations that people have grown to be so materialistic? The fault really lies with the comsumer and those who bury themselves in debt year after year in order to buy their little Christian offspring and other family members and friends all the trinkets and baubles they can squeeze from their credit limits.

A person doesn’t need to be a Christian to be sick of the materialism and greed that this season brings. And this commercial side of Christmas is not a new thing. Kids have eagerly waited for Santa Claus to bring them gifts for centuries. But as the years have passed, the commercialism has grown more and more out of control. The “reason for the season” has evolved into spending marathons. The religious aspect of the holiday is less and less important to more and more folks as the years go by, and the holy is being replaced with the material.

On one hand, for the atheists this is good news. Christianity is fading fast and at the doing of the Christians themselves. We just have to sit back and watch it all happen. We will get the blame, of course while no god comes to stop the greed and madness. Few Christians want to stop buying the toys, and all the goodies for their children, family and friends.

Christian Group Launches New Attack on Christmas Commercialism

. . .to a growing group of Christians, this focus on the commercial aspect of Christmas is itself the greatest threat to one of Christianity’s holiest days. “It’s the shopping, the going into debt, the worrying that if I don’t spend enough money, someone will think I don’t love them,” says Portland pastor Rick McKinley.

Where does this idea actually come from, though? Don’t church leaders themselves teach this idea that the more money you give their imaginary friend the more good that will come their way in return? On one hand they teach that “money is the root of all evil”, but at the same time they preach “send God your money” and “remember to tithe as the Bible instructs us to do”. Send by check, money order and credit card. They don’t care where the money comes from. God needs it. The focus in churches usually is about money. God does not provide. The “Almighty Dollar” does.

Don’t blame us atheists, god believers. Blame yourselves and your money-centered religion. Money makes the world go round, and your churches cannot operate without it. You have to have the big buildings, the fancy pews, and all that goes into your social clubs you call churches while there are people in the world starving and living in poverty. You just look the other way and “pray” to relieve your guilt. It is no surprise that money and material things have become more important to you than your religious beliefs. Praise the almighty dollar from whom everything flows.

The Religious Right has spent decades casting secular culture as the enemy. And yet instead of critiquing the values of the consumer marketplace, many conservative Christians have embraced it as the battleground they seek to reclaim.