Friday Link Dump - 11/5/10

The link dump is gonna be a little light on the witty commentary this week. Not only was everything seemingly about the election, but I am sick as hell and, frankly, can barely function or care. 

Earth-Sized Planets May Be More Common Than We Thought - no shit. 

Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab

10 Extremely Weird Religions - Why not all of them? They all have the same exact level of evidence and plausibility. I always cringe when I hear a Lutheran (for example) disparaging Mormonism (for example). Does 2,000 years help or hurt your credibility? 

Essay: 10 telltale sign you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd - Hey, Conservapedia. Fuck you. 

Preaching that Anti-Evolution Propaganda

The Google Venn Diagram Generator - I am sure many of you have seen this. Make your own!

Christopher Hitchens On Suffering, Beliefs and Dying

Limbaugh: “Some people are just born to be slaves.” - Honestly, he’s not saying anything wildly untrue. However, the sentence that made the headline is insensitive given this country’s history and more importantly (and not for some PC reason) it is dangerous because if that type of thinking were to become policy it would create actual slaves. Again. 

Also, it reminds me of the first episode of Futurama and the “Fate Assignment Officers.” 

Obama Edges to the Dark Side - We’re just keeping it Fair & Balanced here...

Fox News Editorial: WikiLeaks employees should be declared “enemy combatants.” 

Hitchens vs. Ramadan: Is Islam a Religion of Peace? 

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins: The Poetry of Science. 

Glenn Beck blames godlessness for America’s problems - Well well. Depending on his mood and medication we are either an insignificant minority who do not matter or we are to blame for America’s woes. Its OK, Glenn. We’re used to being scapegoats. When one of your ignorant and delusional followers finally kills one of your "targets" we’ll see how you like it.

Suffer a Witch to Live

Akwa Ibom, Nigeria. The southern edge of West Africa. A reporter approaches two emaciated five-year-old twins and a small crowd gathers. "They are witches." Someone says. "Take them away before they kill us." Their disconnected mother looks on; arms folded, and walks away. These children are considered to be fortunate. Of the hundreds of Nigerian children branded as witches, these two were only abandoned. Sam Ikpe-Itauma, the gentleman who owns the shelter that takes in these two children has 131 in his care. The vast majority of whom have been severely beaten or maimed, in many cases by their own parents. If a child is discovered to be witch or possessed by a demon, an expensive exorcism can be performed. Some have acid thrown in their faces. Others are beaten, starved, burned, or bound with barbed wire. Some have nails driven into their heads. Some are buried alive. Some are tied to trees for several days. If the children survive this torture, they are often neglected and refused care by hospitals and schools and their families. They frequently die from their injuries or starve to death.
Nigerian Pentecostalism is unique due to the heavy emphasis on miracles. This incorporates many traditional African beliefs. It is a culture that has a long history of belief in evil spirits and black magic.Some of these atrocities are performed by parents who are simply too poor to pay for exorcisms. The price of an exorcism can be as much as 400,000 Niara ($2,640) exceeding the annual income for many Nigerian families. The reported goal is to elicit a confession, or to drive the evil out of the child. In a video of this interaction, the villagers claim not to know how to cure a child of possession. At least this is what they say to the white reporter holding a video camera. The children are blamed for any number of incidents including draughts, disease, unemployment, or unexpected deaths.
The Pentecostal movement spread to Nigeria in the 1920's having originating in Los Angeles 20 years earlier. Nigerian Pentecostalism now has 3.9 million followers, which is the 3rd largest on the globe behind Brazil with 24 million and the US with 6 million.
Early missionary work in Nigeria taught a literal view of scripture. These churches present an equation between faith and fortune. The inverse is that misfortune is due to lack of faith. In some American Pentecostal circles, it is preached that there are miracles taking place in Africa at this moment due to the incredible faith of the people. A Pentecostalism boom began in the 80's' and 90's partially related to a rising oil economy in Nigeria. This helped instigate a rise in Prosperity Gospel. With the new regime came the promise of not just healing of physical ailments, but financial reward. The charismatic leaders of such movements hold sway over immense audiences. Some all night prayer meetings boast 500,000 worshipers in attendance. One of the most recognizable, Enoch Adeboye, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG):

“In Africa, prosperity means generally having a roof over your head and food to eat,” Synan said, adding that the prosperity message is also used negatively by some to promote the idea that Christians must give financially in order to receive God’s blessings.”

---

Many of these churches have evolved into “financial empires”. The phenomenon of Pentecostal mega-churches as businesses has spread around the globe in the last two decades.
Some of the most famous pastors claim to be able to identify possessed children through a process called discernment. The witches are always small children who are incapable of protecting themselves. Very rarely do you see a child who is old enough to fight back. Many of the branded children are infants. Helen Ukpabio, a pastor who enjoys celebrity status actually produces widespread DVDs depicting possessed children being commanded by Satan to eat the flesh of their parents. Ms. Ukpabio, a mother of 2, says in her book Unveiling the Mysteries of Witchcraft.

"If a child under the age of 2 screams in the night, cries and is always feverish with deteriorating health, he or she is a servant of Satan."

Anyone who has ever met a child under two know that these are symptoms of virtually every childhood illness. When met at a rally by protesters from the group Saving Africa's Witch Children, She compares her movies to the Harry Potter series and claims that the opposition is motivated by racism.
Pastor Joe Ita is the preacher at Liberty Gospel Church founded by Ukpabio. Who denies accepting money for exorcisms said,

"To give more than you can afford is blessed."

When asked about the abuse of children he replies:

"We are the only ones who really know the secrets of witches. Parents don't come here with the intention of abandoning their children, but when a child is a witch then you have to say "what is that there? Not your child." The parents come to us when they see manifestations. But the secret is that, even if you abandon your child, the curse is still upon you, even if you kill your child the curse stays. So you have to come here to be delivered afterwards as well".
This is a textbook example of magical thinking 1. The belief that unexplained events have a causal agent. 2. The belief that an individual’s choices/thoughts/feelings have a real effect on reality. Back to the video: (link above) the people are not able to articulate what can cure a child of witchcraft. Ita goes on to describe the method by which physical ailments are the direct result of witchcraft:

“We know how they operate. A witch will put a spell on it’s mother’s bra and the mother will get breast cancer. But we cannot attribute all things to witches, they work on inclinations too, so they don’t create HIV, but it you are promiscuous then the witch will give you HIV.”

This sounds insane to American ears until it is viewed as just another logical fallacy perpetrated by a religious leader. They recognize the connection between promiscuity and HIV, but still identify a causal agent and apply supernatural forces to the consequence of a disease. Compare this to the Christian “Just World Hypothesis” or the belief in divine justice. Imagine the influence a religious leader can have on a populace that allows these logical leaps. What strikes me about this statement is the pronoun “it” used to describe the child in question. Ita removes the humanity from the child, by calling he/she a thing. He makes the claim that the child is never really cured of the witchcraft, because that increases the chance that the family will re-connect with the child.
The Bible text does make mention of witches famously in Exodus 22:18 as well as multiple references to demons and demonic possession. In this case, religion is not implicitly to blame. It is the vehicle for greed. The leaders of this movement have recognized this belief system and have devised a way to exploit it. Infighting between competing churches led to individuals claiming that their rivals are in league with Satan to gain their healing powers. This only serves to increase the number of identified witches as the churches compete for followers.
This issue has not escaped international attention. The Akwa Ibom State Gov. Godswill Akpabio has stated that the reports of child abuse due to perceived witchcraft is exaggerated. He claims that the issue at hand is poverty and lack of education. No argument there. He also says that Akwa Ibom has enacted a law that prohibits anyone from stigmatizing a child by accusing them of witchcraft. He claims that this has solved the problem. At the time of the interview, (a year after the law passed) there have been 5 arrests and no convictions. I'm going to make the assumption that there are pre-existing laws in Nigeria that forbid child torture. When asking ourselves, how these atrocities could possibly be overlooked by local authorities, I remind you of the literally thousands of worldwide accusations of sexual abuse of children at the hands of Catholic priests. Many of these cases were referred to local authorities that allowed the church to look into the allegations internally. Essentially stepping aside because the institution in question is a religious one.

As I have said, religion is not to blame for the actions of these vile people who prey on children. That does not mean that religion should not be held accountable. These people use their dogma as a shield. Any criticism of the tenets can be redirected as an attack on God. The work of the devil in the guise of an American Blogger. As long as the so-called religious moderates tolerate extremism and fundamentalism, horrors like these will continue to happen. Sure, no self respecting religious moderate would condone the murder and maiming of children. They exist within the sliding scale that allows fundamentalists to operate. If a fundamental individual has the same beliefs taken to the extreme based on a literal interpretation of scripture, they are given a pass as a member of the in-group. This allows for a type of moral relativism because the theist can acknowledge that their own beliefs are fantastic, and therefore allow/condone fanatical beliefs because they can see the parallels. In this context, cognitive dissonance is small. Most religious individuals are capable of using reason and logic for all other aspects of their lives. The faith as an aspect of magical thinking exists in spite of its improbability (in some cases, this is celebrated). The theist will use reason right up to the edges of their faith. The conversation will begin when we can examine those edges.

Donations to this cause can be made here at Stepping Stones Nigeria

Mid-Week Rant: Christopher Hitchens

Monday Morning Stupid Quotes: Ken Buck

It's Monday Tuesday Morning Stupid Quotes!

Bonus quotes for the election.  I would feel remiss if I didn't include Buck.  He's special.  

"I disagree strongly with the concept of separation of church and state. It was not written into the Constitution. While we have a Constitution that is very strong in the sense that we are not gonna have a religion that’s sanctioned by the government, it doesn’t mean that we need to have a separation between government and religion. And so that, that concerns me a great deal.

"So I think there are cultural differences, I think there, we are as strong as we, our culture, our culture gives us our strength, I guess is the best way to put that. And, and I am worried about the fact that we seem to be walking away from culture. And, and one thing that President Obama has done that I would certainly speak about is calling the Christmas tree, which has historically been called a Christmas tree in Washington DC, a holiday tree. It’s just flat wrong in my mind." - Colorado teabagger and Senate candidate  Ken Buck

“I am pro-life, and I’ll answer the next question. I don’t believe in the exceptions of rape or incest. I believe that the only exception, I guess, is life of the mother. And that is only if it’s truly life of the mother.

To me, you can’t say you’re pro-life and say — if there is, and it’s a very rare situation where one life would have to cease for the other life to exist. But in that very rare situation, we may have to take the life of the child to save the life of the mother.

In that rare situation, I am in favor of that exception. But other than that I have no exceptions in my position.”

Monday Morning Stupid Quotes - Pat Toomey

FUUUUUUCK

Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate:

"My view is: I think the data is pretty clear. There has been an increase in the surface temperature of the planet over the course of the last 100 years or so. I think it’s clear that that has happened. The extent to which that has been caused by human activity I think is not as clear. I think that is still very much disputed and has been debated". - WITF radio 10/8/10.


"I think if you look at his quotes and how he has responded to questions about this, President Obama is at best very skeptical about the idea about American exceptionalism." WHYY




"My idea of gun control is a steady aim," Toomey said, according to the York Dispatch.

Matthews: Are you on the political right?

Toomey: I'm in the center right.

Matthews: Center, well let's ask you about a couple of issues. What do you think about outlawing abortion? Arlen Specter is pro choice, where are you on that one?

Toomey: I'm pro life.

Matthews: Would you like to outlaw abortion?

Toomey: Yea, I'm pro life. I think ahhh...

Matthews: Would you outlaw abortion, would you put people in jail for performing...?

Toomey: I think that Roe v Wade was wrongly defined, wrongly decided and I think states should be free to restrict abortion and I would support legislation in Pennsylvania that would ban abortion and I would suggest that we have penalties for doctors who perform them if we were able to pass that law.

Matthews: Would you put people in jail for perfoming abortions?

Toomey: At some point doctor's performing abortions, I think would be subject to that sort of penalty.

          via CrooksandLiars




and there is this. 

Sunday Morning Hate - Bishop Alfred A. Owens Jr.

Hateful Rhetoric from Religious Leaders

"It takes a real man to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. I'm not talking about no faggot or no sissy. I mean a real man who has made up their mind ... Wait a minute! Let all the real men come on down here and take a bow. All the real men—I'm talking about the straight men.
You ain’t funny and you ain’t cranky, but you're straight. Come on down here and walk around and praise God that you are straight. Thank him that you're straight. All the straight men that's proud to be a Christian, that's proud to be a man of God. I'm proud of what God made me. Any proud men in the room?"

Biship Owens spews his bigotry from Mt. Calvary Holy Church in Washington D.C. ~Thanks Rod 2.0

Open Letter

Dear social conservatives, theocrats, corporate apologists, et, al.


The America I know and love has been progressive since it’s inception. From when the founding fathers made the clear and conscious decision to refer to its people as citizens instead of subjects, to the numerous decisions that over time have given every free adult citizen regardless of race, gender, religious affiliation, or educational background the right to be treated equally under the law, to the decisions that free speech is so fundamental that the protection of unpopular, and even outright stupid, ideas (be they godly, godless or anything in between) are allowed to be freely expressed (but remain subject to equally protected criticism by people you may not like very much) America has been a force for progress.

The American tradition ... is progressive. It was progressives that ended slavery. Progressives said women can vote. Progressives were responsible for letting two people get married regardless of race, and soon regardless of gender.

My America says you have the right to believe and say that science is an evil godless practice which is trying to destroy your faith while still reaping all the benefits of the scientific discoveries it yields like vaccines, electricity, clean air and water, and one of the highest per capita lifespans of anywhere in the world. Much of which is funded with government research grants, by the way, because research is not intrinsically profitable.

My America has a government that is allowed to collect taxes to 'provide for the common good' which includes all sorts of great stuff like roads, schools, and the previously mentioned research. It uses that money to keep our air and water clean, and to ensure that we all have the basic standard of living that allows all of us to embrace the freedoms we so cherish. And if that means that the people who profit the most from our way of life have to give back a little more to maintain that way of life ... so be it.

My America gave us jazz, blues, punk rock, George Carlin, TV, VCRs, NASA, the sexual revolution, cars, and the internet. It is not a sober community of staid and stolid statesmen; it's the greatest party that human civilization has ever thrown. Sure it also gave us the Westboro Baptist Church, prohibition, the war on drugs, and the A-bomb, but it's a 'more perfect union' not a perfect one. And that suits me fine. My America has never and will never be perfect. It makes mistakes; it's messy, sloppy, and complicated. It's a place where burning a flag can be just as patriotic as saluting one. I wouldn't have it any other way.

My America is a place where we're allowed to disagree with each other, and the government, and anyone for that matter. Which is great because my America is a dynamic, constantly changing place, where people argue, and bicker, and have different ideas about how we should be doing things. But we always, always remember that we're all one people even when, and especially if, we disagree.

If you would like to live in a conservative country which is founded on strong religious principles, where the women are modestly dressed, the children are taught scripture in schools, laws and punishments are taken directly from holy books, and the economy is largely centered around a small number of extremely profitable businesses that are owned and operated by a devout and enterprising business elite ... Try the middle east, they have several nations which fit that description perfectly.

Because, and forgive me for being so emphatic in my terminology, but you preachy motherfuckers need to come to terms with something you've been in denial about for a very long time. America isn't yours. It belongs to sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The free and the brave are the huddled, unwashed masses. And we're definitely tired and sick of you self-righteous assholes trying to 'take back' a country that you never had in the first place. So maybe, just maybe, if you don't love it, then you're the ones who should be leaving it.

My America may well be a teeming throng of iniquitous, degenerate, self-serving, godless hedonist freaks; but they're also the nicest, kindest, most loving, caring, trusting band of unruly misfits you're ever likely to meet. You may occasionally succeed in infecting us with your red-faced moral indignation, but I assure you it will always pass and we'll keep going forward, right or wrong, doing whatever it is we do no matter what you do to stop it.

You’re welcome to stay of course, but I fear your perception of this great nation is woefully inaccurate.

Friday Link Dump 10/29/10

Be careful everyone.  It is Halloween weekend and these traps are EVERYWHERE!

Rand Paul Supporter Tim Profitt Wants Victim To Apologize To Him - I think this ridiculousness may have spawned this trend on Twitter. 

An Open Letter to the Pope by Sinead O’Conner – This is a month old, but its great.  Sinead really sticks the knife in.  And twists. 

GOP Candidate Ken Buck: 'I Disagree Strongly With The Concept Of Separation Of Church And State' (VIDEO) - Welcome to the theocracy!

From Obama, the Tax Cut Nobody Heard Of - Hey Barack! You know it’s OK to brag in politics, right?  I mean just a little.  Before elections would help. 

Eight False Things The Public “Knows” Prior To Election Day - What? You mean the American public is wildly misinformed and ignorant of the facts?  How can this be with such a competent and widespread media?

The Bible Bee - OK fellow atheists.  Who can we send as a ringer? 

Has dark matter finally been seen?

Evolution: 24 myths and misconceptions

When in doubt, shout – why shaking someone’s beliefs turns them into stronger advocates – This is why we (try to) stay calm and rational. 

Baby Dies In Mass Jump To 'Flee From Devil' - Really? A baby died because of  this?  

Fox News wonders if school dinners will ‘destroy American families’ - This is getting boring.  Communist plot. Blah. Blah. Blah.  Family values.  Blah. Blah. Blah  Screw the poor.  Blah. Blah. Blah.  

Glenn Beck: Slavery "started with seemingly innocent ideas" and then "the government began to regulate things" – Yeeeaaahhh.  /backs out of room slowly

A chart of Glenn Beck’s hot topics – Unfortunately Clozapine is not one of them. 

Hell is Real – BOO! Ah, those funny theists. 

This isn’t recent and it’s kind of random, but Adam was entranced by the banner pic.  Entranced might be the wrong word…

Have a Happy Halloween everyone! 

Sam Harris Link Dump

Sam Harris has been in the news a lot recently and we had some links in the blog's shared inbox just sitting there for awhile.  I'm just tidying up the place.

"The Moral Landscape": Why science should shape morality

Sam Harris Believes in God - Terrible and misleading headline as I have stated elsewhere.  Shoddy journalism, I say.

Sam Harris on The Daily Show

Morality: 'We can send religion to the scrap heap'

Wright/Harris Debate

Sam Harris: The Moral Landscape (Videos)

Atheist Blogroll: We're on it!

Site News! 


Left Hemispheres has been added to The Atheist Blogroll! You can see the blogroll in my sidebar and the badge (with link) below and to the right of this post. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.


UPDATE: Introducing Left Hemispheres 

Mid-Week Rant: David Cross

Monday Morning Stupid Quotes - The Tea Party

''The greatest threat to America is not necessarily a recession or even another terrorist attack. The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias.''—Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), member of the Tea Party Caucus, June 4, 2009

''He has no place in any station of government and we need to realize that he is an enemy of humanity.''—Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), member of the Tea Party Caucus, on President Obama's decision to fund international family planning organizations that support legal abortion, Sept. 26, 2009

''Do you know, where does this phrase 'separation of church and state' come from? It was not in Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists. ... The exact phrase 'separation of Church and State' came out of Adolph Hitler's mouth, that's where it comes from. So the next time your liberal friends talk about the separation of Church and State, ask them why they're Nazis.''—Glen Urquhart, the Tea Party-backed Republican nominee for the Delaware House seat

''You're dealing with people who are professional race-baiters, who make a very good living off this kind of thing. They make more money off of race than any slave trader ever. It's time groups like the NAACP went to the trash heap of history where they belong with all the other vile racist groups that emerged in our history.''—Mark Williams, national spokesman for the Tea Party Express

Sunday Morning Hate - Bryan Fischer

Hateful Rhetoric from Religious Leaders

"I want to suggest that homosexual activists are not wholly innocent in these tragedies, in these horrible suicides by these students. Now realize that homosexuals cannot reproduce, so they have to recruit; it's the only way to swell their numbers. We, the sexually normal, we can be fruitful, we can multiply, we can fill the earth. Homosexuals cannot do it, they're incapable of procreation which is one of the reasons we should never sanctify those relationships with the term marriage or even domestic partnerships or civil unions."

For larger context and video check Right Wing Watch.

Friday Link Dump - 10/22/10

Relax people, The Singularity (like The Rapture) isn't actually going to happen.

We should be suspicious of this particular moon of Saturn though.

If you're going to read the Bible, why not this version?

Christopher Hitchens: Tumortown 

Recently Discovered Habitable World May Not Exist - NOOOOOOOOOOO! /unpacks

Let's Build an Interplanetary Space Station - Fine, but its not Gliese 581g. /pouts

Contradictions in the Bible - well, this is a useful and good idea. 

Human Ancestors Hunted by Prehistoric Beasts - Like this!

Let’s give the Christians what they want: let’s make America a Christian nation! - Oh, I cannot WAIT for someone to tell me this should be a Christian nation. The comment pointing out Obama would be the Head of the State Church will make their heads explode.

5 Things You Won't Believe Aren't In the Bible - 1) historical accuracy, 2) scientific accuracy, 3) acceptance of others, 4) truth, 5) decency. Oh wait, they were going somewhere else with that.

The Christian Side-Hug: “Front Hugs Be Too Sinful” - I wish I could be more artful in my words, but all I can come up with is: Fuck, this is stupid.

A Field Guide to Atheist Parasites - You had me for minute there...

Giving The Devil His Due: FRC Staffer Says Americans Who Fail To Toe The Religious Right Line Are Serving Satan

How Tea Partiers Get the Constitution Wrong

Scores of lawmakers who publicly criticized stimulus bill privately sought stimulus funding - Typical hypocrisy.

Top 10 Anti-Gay Activists Caught Being Gay - Fabulous hypocrisy!

Mid-Week Rant: Bill Hicks "Dinosaurs in the Bible"

Lack of Belief in Gods

via QualiaSoup

Monday Morning Stupid Quotes - Carl Paladino

Republican gubernational nominee for New York


"I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don't want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option -- it isn't."

"Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we'll teach people how to earn their check. We'll teach them personal hygiene ... the personal things they don't get when they come from dysfunctional homes. These are beautiful properties with basketball courts, bathroom facilities, toilet facilities. Many young people would love to get the hell out of cities. You have to teach them basic things — taking care of themselves, physical fitness. In their dysfunctional environment, they never learned these things."

"There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual. That's not how God created us."

"Don't misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. That would be a dastardly lie.

A Guide to Critical Thinking

vis KingHotPants

Sunday Morning Hate - William Lane Craig

Hateful Rhetoric from Religious Leaders.

"God ensures that no one who would believe the gospel if he heard it remains ultimately unreached. Once the gospel reaches a people, God providentially places there persons who He knew would respond to it if they heard it. He ensures that those who never hear it are only those who would not accept it if they did hear it. Hence, no one is lost because of a lack of information or due to historical and geographical accident. Anyone who wants or even would want to be saved will be saved."

William Lane Craig justifying the position that every non-Christian will get what he deserves in the lake of fire. Even if their entire life is lived without exposure to Christianity.

Friday Link Dump 10/15/10

The Zombie Network: Beware 'Free Public WiFi' - A public service message from Left Hemispheres.  Also, I really should finish reading something before destroying my staircase.  

What Columbus Already Knew - So the Catholic Church was even more willfully ignorant than previously thought.  Excellent.  

Ancient Galaxies Found In Modern Universe

Evolution Exhibits and Religion

Bill Maher interviews Richard Dawkins - Scroll down to see the video box

Glenn Beck “Giving Legitimacy to the Violent Fringe” /gasps. No!

Animals can have spiritual experience just like humans - Yes, but the true test to see if they really are spiritual is to see if they discriminate, rape and murder due to their beliefs.  Only then are they as good and advanced as us humans.  Those damn dirty apes.  

GOP’s Delaware Senate Nominee Christine O’Donnell Not a Big Fan of Evolution - Its just not even funny anymore.  How does a person like this get ONE vote for the nomination?

Religious Search Engines Yield Tailored Results - Its easy to stay religious.  Just stick your fingers in your ears and yell “LALALALALALALALALALALALA”.


via the Atheist Media Blog, Sam Harris and Michael Shermer vs. Deepok Chopra Jane Houston.