Monday Morning Quotes: Unknown

I wasn't going to consider using this quote since there was no one to attribute it to.  That was until I read the last sentence.

“Christianity’s grasp on black people makes it almost impossible to admit that you’re a black atheist. We have to hide our non-belief, otherwise we are excluded. And if we give voice to any objection or doubt, we’re ostracized and isolated — or just banished! So any time religion comes up, it’s simpler to just change the subject or say nothing if you can’t bring yourself to fake an ‘amen.’ …

But don’t use my name ‘cause my mother told me when she saw me reading God is Not Great that if any of her children actually believed 'that mess,’ she’d have one less child.”

From Black Women Who Use the "A" Word

Sunday Morning Hate: James Dobson

James Dobson is an ulcerated pig anus.  

On politics:

“God has called us to be His representatives in our nation and in our world. Select candidates who represent your views and work for their election.”

How does this NOT violate the 501(c)(3) regulations?

On child rearing:

"[P]ain is a marvelous purifier. . . It is not necessary to beat the child into submission; a little bit of pain goes a long way for a young child. However, the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely."

"By learning to yield to the loving authority... of his parents, a child learns to submit to other forms of authority which will confront him later in his life — his teachers, school principal, police, neighbors and employers."

On Marriage:

“My observation is that women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership.”

On sex education:

“One of the problems with sex education... is that it also strips kids - especially girls - of their modesty to have every detail of anatomy, physiology and condom usage made explicit.”

1) Abstinence-only programs are suspect. 

2) Why “especially girls”?

On homosexuals:

"[The homosexual] agenda includes teaching pro-homosexual [sic] concepts in the public schools, redefining the family to represent "any circle of people who love each other," approval of homosexual adoption, legitimizing same-sex marriage, and securing special rights for those who identify themselves as gay. Those ideas must be opposed, even though to do so is to expose oneself to the charge of being "homophobic."

“Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage. It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth.”

During an interview on ABC’s This Week:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Dr. Dobson, ...in the Daily Oklahoman, [you were] quoted saying, "Patrick Leahy is a God's people hater. I don't know if he hates God, but he hates God's people." Now, Dr. Dobson, that doesn't sound like a particularly Christian thing to say. Do you think you owe Senator Leahy an apology?

DR JAMES DOBSON: George, you think you ought to lecture me on what a Christian is all about? You know, I think -I think I'll stand by the things I have said. Patrick Leahy has been in opposition to most of the things that I believe. He is the one that took the reference to God out of the oath.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: But Dr. Dobson, excuse me for a second. You use the word hate. You said that he's a "God's people hater." How do you back that up?

DR JAMES DOBSON: Well, there's been an awful lot of hate expressed in this election. And most of it has been aimed at those who hold to conservative Christian views. He is certainly not the only one to take a position like that. But I think that that is -that's where he's coming from. He has certainly opposed most of the things that conservative Christians stand for.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apology?

DR JAMES DOBSON: No apology.

Regarding 9/11:

"Christians have made arguments on both sides of this question. I certainly believe that God is displeased with America for its pride and arrogance, for killing 40 million unborn babies, for the universality of profanity and for other forms of immorality. However, rather than trying to forge a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the terrorist attacks and America’s abandonment of biblical principles, which I think is wrong, we need to accept the truth that this nation will suffer in many ways for departing from the principles of righteousness. "The wages of sin is death," as it says in Romans 6, both for individuals and for entire cultures.

Transition to Atheism

via TheraminTrees

Why Live?

via QualiaSoup

Stephen Fry on Philosophy, Logic, Reason and God

The Faith Cake

via QualiaSoup

Friday Link Dump 2/25/11

Statement of the Attorney General on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act

The Hubris of Holism - Victor Stenger.

The Myth of Quantum Consciousness - Victor Stenger!

In addition, I have read Robert Lanza’s work and yeah...it’s shite.  

The Origins of Religion - Victor Stenger!

Gene Mutation Key To Ecuador Group's Health

Alcohol Exposure Makes Fish Anti-Social - There are “one to two of every 1,000 birth cases” in the United States each year with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder? Horrid.  

“Real” Jesus vs. Republican Jesus

Spoiler Alert! Tea Party support correlates to religious affiliation, survey finds  

NO WAY!


No, I Will Not Have Faith: A Rant

Hell no : A Tirade

Benny Hinn Sued For Adultery - “Hinn is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions, money largely scraped out of the Social Security checks of the gullible elderly and the desperately ill. He travels the world in a $36M personal Gulfstream jet in between stays at his numerous opulent mansions.”

“Tax the FUCK out of the churches” - Frank Zappa

Where Are All the Baby Stars?

Andromeda 'Puffed Up' with Old Stars

Milky Way Stuffed with 50 Billion Alien Worlds

  Dark Energy Hunt Gets a New Tracker

Gaddafi has lost it ...If you are anything other than a power hungry dictator who doesn’t care about other humans you would step down in lieu of all the violence. Dick.  

Bahrain's army deliberately kills peaceful protesters with live rounds - Viewer Discretion is Advised.  Remember this the next time some asshole yells about “TYRANNY” on Facebook from his office cubicle and says that the US government is a dictatorship.  

Not yet.

Help Nathan Fillion Buy Firefly  - I'm not a "Browncoat" but I am SciFi nerd who knows the pain of a show cancelled prematurely. #Enterprise


Response to an Apologist's Critique of New Atheism

Pope John Paul's coffin to be exhumed for faithful

Steve: “This is perverse.”  

Adam:

"To be beatified, a dead person must be declared by the Church to have prompted a miracle. The Church says a 49-year-old French nun was miraculously cured of Parkinson's disease months after John Paul's death after she and fellow nuns prayed to him.

For John Paul to become a saint, the Church must declare that a second miracle occurred after the beatification ceremony."

Something good happened after he died. It must be a miracle!  I can't wait to see what they identify as the next miracle. Maybe a woman who had an abortion will miraculously get pregnant again.

Jack: Well no matter how it works, according to any of the Christian faiths no form of birth control is 100% effective. :P

Man Tattoos Leviticus 18:22 That Forbids Homosexuality On His Arm, But Leviticus 19:28 Forbids Tattoos - Hey what do you want?  Christians don’t read their Bible.  

Pat Robertson Conducts a Faith Healing

Watch a “Real Time with Bill Maher” Audience Member Go Crazy - Truthers.  You can’t take them anywhere.  

Primitive Dinosaur Found in Antarctic Mountains

Skull Caps Used as Ice Age Cups

God says animals must suffer more - Seriously, do not watch if you get queasy at the sight of blood.  This is pretty disturbing.  

Oklahoma House panel votes down science bill

How humanity survived for 8000 years on the most extreme islands on Earth

Three Theories of Planet Formation Busted, Expert Says

Because the Internet hates you - Sorry about that.  I couldn’t resist. I offer this as an apology.  

Earth Could be 'Unrecognizable' by 2050 OR GOP Lawmaker Claims God Will Provide Natural Resources Forever and Ever - YOU DECIDE!

Amazing video shows the relative sizes of all the planets and stars - Missed a planet, but this is still very cool.

“If you ever want a good quote to put on Facebook just look go (sic) the Bible. :)” - That could get out of hand very quick.  

Starless planets may be habitable after all - Rogue planets!

The things I end up finding for this site.... - mock this.  mock it without mercy.  

Louis CK learns about the Catholic Church

Hackers warn Westboro Church: Stop now or else - So what does WBC do?  Egg ANONYMOUS on.  Oh sooo stupid.  

Just So Darwin

Not entirely accurate or up-to-date, but it is a good beginning for kids. Besides, it provides the opening for a conversation on how science is fallible and constantly changing to correct itself.


Why does the puffer fish puff?




Why does the giraffe have a long neck?

Louis CK learns about the Catholic Church

Hell No: A Tirade

I once thought that the only thing that could possible make me into a believer was the birth of a child. Then he was born and 20 minutes later my wife almost died. We waited for a few hours before finding out that she was OK.
I didn’t pray. I. Could. Not.
She asked me to "start believing in god" before they wheeled her away.
I was an atheist in a foxhole.
What is most astounding to me is the shear number of people on this earth who still believe in a sky god.
It must be at least 85% of the population. One of the theist arguments is: how can that many people be wrong?
Exactly. I can hardly fathom that myself. Are we really the enlightened minority? I used to view religious people with such awe and respect. Their piety seemed so noble. Now when somebody says grace at a dinner, I get the urge to stab my hand with a fork under the table.
I want to argue with people about it. I want to shake people by the shoulders when they proudly exclaim that logic is not necessary. I want to shout, “Who made your Watchmaker?” But I don’t because it is impolite and I despise arrogance above all else. I was having a light conversation with a co-worker about faith a few months ago. She actually put her hands over her ears and hummed when I asked her a simple question that she needed logic (not faith) to answer.
She put her fucking hands over her ears. She has several degrees: And her brain shut down when I asked her about anthropomorphism:
"Does god have a face?"
"Yes"
"Does he need one?"
"La la la la"
I will not believe something because somebody told me so when I was a child. I am not a child. I will not believe something because I would like it to be true. Or because I'm afraid it might be. My own moral code works just fine without eternal damnation. I will not see my departed loved ones when I die, but they knew that I loved them when they were here. I do not stack regrets like newspapers in my basement. If I love you, you know it. Because this incredible life is the only one I can be certain of.
My mind is the best part of me. I refuse, I refuse, I refuse to turn it off.

The Saga of Biôrn

via Pharyngula via The Animation Workshop 

Mid-Week Rant:The Real Cost Of Religious Faith

Atheist Experience 696

Jephthah (Judges 11)

via NonStampCollector via Atheist Movies

Monday Morning Quotes: Sikivu Hutchinson

“...the contradictions between American secularism and religion have produced a schizoid tension in the U.S., whereby religious fundamentalism and intolerance for secular thought have become the norm. When it’s practiced in the non-Western world, Americans routinely brand this kind of propaganda as backward and extremist.

Yet, in this, the most swaggeringly liberal humanist of all nations, ‘coming out’ as an atheist in a culture that parades religious dogma as a substitute for true morality may be the final frontier.”

“The scorched earth culture wars that characterized the Reagan-Bush and George W. Bush eras made "secular" a dirty word. Secularism was blamed for everything from abortion, teen pregnancy, divorce, pedophilia and political radicalism. In this latest iteration, secularism was once again code speech for being anti-American, un-patriotic and amoral.”

“The supposed basic moral precepts of Judeo- Christian theology -- love for one’s neighbor, tolerance, doing unto others, non-judgment, etc. -- are certainly not exclusive to religious doctrine, while the hierarchies, persecution and intolerance based on race, gender, sexuality and ideology that religious doctrine breeds effectively negate the moral preeminence that organized religion presumes.”

“How many times have predators and hardcore career criminals been given a figurative pass or viewed as above suspicion because they were churchgoing Christians doing the Lord's (dirty) work?”

Sunday Morning Hate: Rick Warren

In regard to homosexuality as natural or a human right Warren stated: “We shall not tolerate this aspect at all,

"In the hierarchy of evil ... homosexuality is not the worst sin."

Of course not, but the larger issue, and one that completely exposes your bigotry, is that it is considered a sin at all.  That assumption may be more indicative of you and your religion’s inherent bigotry than anything else you could say.  The severity of the perceived sin is irrelevant when there is no sin.  

Warren also “thinks allowing a gay couple to marry is similar to allowing "a brother and sister to be together and call that marriage." He then helpfully added that he's also "opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage." The reporter, who may have been a little surprised, asked, "Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?" "Oh, I do," Warren immediately answered. I wish the reporter had asked the next logical follow-up: If gays are like child-sex offenders, shouldn't we incarcerate them?

In reference to the criticism he has received: It’s “really a lot of hate speech.  It’s what I would call Christophobia! People who are afraid of any Christian.”

I may as well just post the whole thing.

Evolution

YouTube - Evolution



via QualiaSoup

Mr. Deity and the Science Advisor

PZ!



via Mr. Deity

Reasonably Certain

YouTube - Reasonably Certain.

A Masochistic Meat Grinder of Fox News Clips

Only watch all of this at once if you truly hate yourself. It's terrible. Be careful.

Friday Link Dump 2/18/11

Atheism: See More of the world.

2012 Watch: Don't fret over Planet X

X-Ray Vision Gives Great View of Black Holes

Watson, Humanity And The Moment That Proved It's As Fallible As Us - insert obligatory SkyNet reference.  

kaBLAM! Footage of the X-class solar flare

In Pacific discovery, traces of Nantucket and ‘Moby-Dick’ - Really neat find.  Also, it gives me an excuse to post a Mastodon song! WhaleCore!

House Republicans Cut Funding That Protects Us From Nuclear Terrorism

There's a Hole in the Sun!

Billy Ray Cyrus Scared of Atheist Sign

Mississippi May Honor Early KKK Leader On Commemorative License Plate - Do you know what Alabama’s official motto is?  It’s “Audemus jura nostra defendere.” Latin for “We Dare Defend Our Rights.” The unofficial motto is: “At least we’re not Mississippi.”

True story.  

Hidden universes revealed

For all its insanity this is technically just as plausible as anything taught on Sundays.  

Lawrence O’Donnell holds Rep. Steve King to the fire for just some of his and his party’s insane comments and beliefs.  You want to know how such an irrational person is elected to office? Just watch the video and see the constituents.  

Idaho Nullificationists Poised To Kill Medicaid In That State - What happens when ignore history?  

Stone Age Fertility Ritual Object Found

The Fundamentals of Extremism

Do a third of Russians believe the sun spins around Earth? - Yay America! Oh wait...

There's A Good Reason Why Benedict's Not An Organ Donor - Perverse.  

Logan's Sexual Assault Brings Wave Of Blaming The Victim And Other Ugliness - Want to read some racist and “blame the victim” horrible shit?  Here.  You'll need a shower afterwards.

Trilobites- a creationist antidote - I always loved trilobites. 

Teach Our Children Well - Not so sure about this.  I do not trust school boards in typical Creationist strongholds to teach comparative religion with an even hand.  Also, Dennett has a poor understanding of Libertarian.  

Science Diction: The Origin Of 'Antibiotic'

'Appalling' law lets schools expel gay students

The Goddess of Sex and Fertility and the Story of Moses - This is interesting, but it is poorly written.  Just saying....

Why Water Is The Weirdest Liquid




Science reveals the shocking, mind-warping reason why people grunt during sex - “Groaning and hyperventilation are interpreted...as a psychophysiological mechanism to deepen states of sexual trance.” I have nothing to add to that.  

Atheist responds to open letter - Well that saved me the trouble of doing it myself.  

The NASA spaceship that could take humanity into deep space…if we had the money for it - If we could only get the money from somewhere...hmmm.

After Church Sex-Abuse Scandal, Ireland’s National Identity Is Debated

Pope to be told church here 'on edge of collapse' - Excellent!

Beck: Democracy Means "Nothing"; "It Depends On Who The People Are That Are Voting" - “The Founders rejected it.  They rejected democracy...” /facepalm no longer has any meaning.  The facepalm is dead.  Long live the facepalm.  

Did Jewish Slaves Build the Pyramids? - I want you to read the article, but the short answer is no.  

In unsurprising news Ann Coulter is still a horrible, horrible human being.  I deleted the first adjective I typed since I didn’t want to use the mother of all misogynistic language.  Rest assured...the hate is strong.

Amazing video explains evolution by showing 500 people tracing a line

In Iran, modernity takes on the cult of the virgin -  “There is no difference between a real and fake hymen,”
And the march of cognitive dissonance and rationalizations continues.  

Georgia Lawmaker Equates Gays With Criminals, 'Unrepentant' Drug Dealers - When you start off your "argument" with "The Bible says..." you auto-fail.

Kern Introduces Creationist Bill So Science Teachers Can Teach "Pure Science" - Ya know, after awhile I just simply run out of witty things to say.  Get fucked, Oklahoma.