OVO

Trevor Blake: Christianity in the News [LINK-ZUM]

To celebrate my one-thousandth post about Christianity, a round-up of Christianity in the news.

Killer dad said he had to 'get the demons' out 27-year-old grocery store worker who police say punched and kicked his 2-year-old son to death on a country road calmly told motorists who stopped at the scene that he had to "get the demons" out of the boy.

Boy 'skinned and eaten' by his cannibal cult family Boy 'skinned and eaten' by his cannibal cult family after being held captive in a cellar.

Autopsy: Easy treatment for teen who died in failed 'faith healing' A 16-year-old member of a faith healing church died of uremic heart failure caused by a stricture in his urinary tract.

Dozens blinded in India looking for Virgin Mary At least 50 people have lost their sight after staring at the sun hoping to see an image of the Virgin Mary.

"This is why I carry, even in church." Man kills two, injures 7 others, in church shooting. Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church had "just put out a sign this week which says it welcomes gays."

Man Watching Steeple Ceremony Killed When Crane Collapses One of dozens of churchgoers watching a steeple being mounted on top of a newly constructed building in southwest Oklahoma City was killed when a crane collapsed on top of his vehicle.

Cult Leader Says Lying Naked With Girls Is Religious Healing Practice In Ranton, New Mexico last Friday, Wayne Bent was indicted for inappropriately touching three minor girls while "lying naked" with them.

Catholic school principal caught in public gay threesome The principal of a New York Catholic school was arrested Sunday after being caught naked with two other men on a vacant property.

Registrar Who Won't Serve Gays Because of Religious Beliefs has Illegitimate Child Ladele is a single mother to a child born out of wedlock. So Ladele is so Christian that she can't possibly marry same-sex couples, but not so religious as to remain chaste until married.

Sex abuse scandal flares as pope prepares for celebrations Broken Rites, a support group for victims of church-related sexual abuse, says that 107 Catholic priests and religious brothers have been sentenced in Australian courts on sex charges.

Escaping the Amish The biggest negatives? -The rape, incest and other sexual abuse that run rampant in the community.

Pastor convicted in Ponzi scheme Robert Jennings, 58, of Perris, and Henry Jones, 53, formerly of Marina del Rey, were convicted on mail fraud, wire fraud and securities fraud charges

All of these articles were gathered by one person in his spare time over a short period of time using only English-language news sources. It is not unreasonable to suggest that there are many more articles to be found. Why does God sometimes allow / cause the death of those who worship Him? Why worship God if the reward is blindness or death? Is God good? What sort of moral authority do Christians have when they selectively ignore the dictates they would put on others? The abusive clergy listed here are mostly Protestant and appear to have acted in isolation. It is the Roman Catholic Church that has systematically protected abusive clergy from legal action under the guise of diplomatic immunity for decades. My means to lessen the number of those abused is to tear away the veil the abusers most successfully hide behind - religion. My means to lessen the number of those who make self-destructive choices based on fearful superstitions is to reason against and ridicule the root superstition - religion.

Labels: christianity, religion

Trevor Blake: The Reign of Terror [LINK-ZUM]

Wikipedia: "On 14 July [1789], the insurgents set their eyes on the large weapons and ammunition cache inside the Bastille fortress, which also served as a symbol of tyranny by the monarchy. After several hours of combat, the prison fell that afternoon." So began the French Revolution, which included The Reign of Terror.

Wikipedia: "The victims of the Reign of Terror totaled approximately 40,000. Among people who were condemned by the revolutionary tribunals, about [...] 6 percent [were] clergy [...] the clergy of the Roman Catholic church suffered proportionately the greatest loss. Another anti-clerical uprising was made possible by the installment of the Revolutionary Calendar on 24 October. Against Robespierre's concepts of Deism and Virtue, Hebert's (and Chaumette's) atheist movement initiated a religious campaign in order to dechristianize society. The program of dechristianisation waged against Catholicism, and eventually against all forms of Christianity, included the deportation of clergy and the condemnation of many of them to death, the closing of churches, the institution of revolutionary and civic cults, the large scale destruction of religious monuments, the outlawing of public and private worship and religious education, forced marriages of the clergy and forced abjurement of their priesthood. The enactment of a law on 21 October 1793 made all suspected priests and all persons who harbored them liable to death on sight."

Critics of atheism will often claim Hitler was an atheist and thus atheism is wicked. Hitler was a Christian [1] [2] and so it is not atheism that must answer for what he did. Sometimes they will claim Stalin was an atheist and thus atheism is wicked. Stalin was an atheist but he committed his wickedness for socialism, not atheism. Strangely, I have never read a critic of atheism claim that the Reign of Terror was an atheist occurrence. It's true, and proof that atheism be used to wicked ends. What can be done to lessen the chance of that happening?

Labels: atheist, christianity, socialism

Randi Kaye: Atheist soldier sues Army for 'unconstitutional' discrimination [LINK-ZUM]

[Army Spc. Jeremy] Hall said he met some atheists who suggested he read the Bible again. After doing so, he said he had so many unanswered questions that he decided to become an atheist. His sudden lack of faith, he said, cost him his military career and put his life at risk. Hall said his life was threatened by other troops and the military assigned a full-time bodyguard to protect him out of fear for his safety. [...] Two years ago on Thanksgiving Day, after refusing to pray at his table, Hall said he was told to go sit somewhere else. In another incident, when he was nearly killed during an attack on his Humvee, he said another soldier asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus now?" [...] He also said he missed out on promotions because he is an atheist. "I was told because I can't put my personal beliefs aside and pray with troops I wouldn't make a good leader," Hall said.

[Article continues at link. I have a strong personal interest in soldier cults such as Sol Invictus, the Mithraic mysteries and (most recently and especially) the Tatenokai. But it should go without saying that what I am interested in and knowledgeable about are not necessarily what I consider good. I am dead against a Christian military in the United States (or anywhere else). Atheists should not need bodyguards. The military has much more important uses for its men and materials than providing bodyguards for atheists. Any religious discrimination in the military should be dealt with swiftly and harshly, including discrimination against the non-superstitious. And to the soldier who says surviving an attack is proof of Jesus I ask why Jesus caused / allowed that attack to occur in the first place. If Jesus can use Muslims practicing Islam to serve His purposes then there is no particular reason to value being a Christian over being a Muslim as they are working toward the same end. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, fight, islam, theocracy

Gary D. Robertson: NC Catholics seek to expand policy advocacy [LINK-ZUM]

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Roman Catholic Church unveiled efforts Wednesday to expand its influence in state government through a new advocacy organization that hopes to tap into North Carolina's growing Catholic population. [...] The group will survey candidates for federal and legislative offices on issues including the death penalty, abortion and same-sex marriage. Results will be presented through a Web site and diocesan publications.

[Bishop Peter Jugis of the Diocese of Charlotte] read a statement Wednesday signed by him and Burbidge supporting a bill that would allow a statewide referendum to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage in North Carolina. Nearly 70 of 120 House members have sponsored a bill that would limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman. "We will place our considerable resources regarding this institution at the disposal of all those interested in supporting this proposed bill," the statement read. [...] Evangelical Christian groups that have been working on faith-related issues for years at the General Assembly are excited about seeing increased Catholic involvement because they agree on faith and morality, despite doctrinal differences. "I think it's a great day for North Carolina that Catholics have gotten into this fight," said the Rev. Mark Creech, a Baptist minister with the Christian Action League of North Carolina.

[Article continues at link. Unstated in the article is the blindingly obvious fact that the Diocese of Charlotte has publicly renounced its claim to non-profit status by engaging in politics. Then again, if there's room at the trough then pigs will not hesitate to feed. Belly up, Bishop Jugis. Rev. Creech welcomes you. Keeping same-sex couples from enjoying the rights and responsibilities of marriage is important - far more important than doing something about the abuse, inappropriate touching, contributions to child delinquency, anal rape, oral rape, threats to children and the use of the confessional to silence clergy abuse victims happening in your very own diocese. You clearly have the high moral ground, as do the leaders of the Christian Action League. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity

Richard Meyhew and Curt Brown: Court sides with church on its ban of autistic teen [LINK-ZUM]

An autistic 13-year-old boy from central Minnesota won't be going back to his family's church anytime soon. Upholding a May 13 restraining order that barred the teen from the church, Todd County District Judge Sally Ireland Robertson has ruled that 6-foot-2, 225-pound Adam Race engaged in "repeated harassment" and was perceived as a threat by those attending services at the Church of St. Joseph in the town of Bertha. Robertson said that even though Adam "did not specifically intend to harass anyone," his conduct at church services was "objectively unreasonable" and included "repeated, disruptive or distracting acts, sounds, and gestures."

[Article continues at link. As anyone who reads the Bible knows, the Church of St. Joseph was only doing what Christians are supposed to do in banning Mr. Race. God punishes the wicked with madness. God commanded that anyone with any blemish not be allowed to attend worship. Jesus Christ orders us to keep Mr. Race out of church. If God wanted Mr. Race to know eternal salvation, He would not have made him autistic. Instead, Mr. Race was made by God for the purpose of experiencing eternal suffering in Hell. God decided long ago who was going to be going to Heaven and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Sounds cruel? That's what Christianity says. What do you say? - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, krankheit

Economist's View: Women's Rights, What's in it for Men? [LINK-ZUM]

Our theory suggests that the historical advance of women's rights in the West wasn't due to a sudden enlightenment of mankind after millennia of patriarchy. Rather, it was driven by old-fashioned self-interest deriving from men's concern about their daughters' welfare and their descendants' education. [...] If our theory is correct, it implies that men in today's developing countries can be given a stake in women's rights. Ultimately, inducing developing countries to improve women's rights on their own accord may be a more promising strategy than trying to impose gender equality from the outside.

[Those wicked values of the West - pluralism, secularism and capitalism - are what the world needs much more than the religion of peace or any other superstition. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: atheist, christianity, islam, money, sex

Lisa Sandberg: Court reverses judgment against church in exorcisms [LINK-ZUM]

A North Texas Pentecostal church should not be held liable for emotional trauma a former parishioner suffered as a youth when church members physically restrained and touched her during two exorcism attempts in 1996, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. [Laura] Schubert was 17 at the time when fellow parishioners at the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God Church in Colleyville, in an attempt to rid her of evil spirits, held her down and "laid hands" on her body as she struggled to break free. [...] In her original suit against the church, Laura Schubert said she suffered lasting emotional trauma in 1996 when, on two separate occasions in one week, church members held her down and "laid hands" on her while she cried, kicked, clenched her fists, gritted her teeth and made guttural noises. She said the ordeal left her deeply depressed and suicidal and needing psychiatric help. She dropped out of high school.

[...] "The key point of this ruling is that we don't have a right to have our standards of reasonableness foisted upon some other religion," Dallas attorney David Pruessner said. "None of our religious beliefs can be examined when they are emotionally disturbing to other people."

[Article continues at link. So there you have it. See a teenage girl you want to 'lay hands' on? Maybe hold her down against her will while she struggles to escape? And do it a few times, you and your buddies? Just do it in the name of religion and down Texas way you won't even have to pay the legal fees. Any loathesome behavior can be excused when committed in the name of an invisible monster that lives in the sky. If you falsely imprison and abuse a teenage girl in the name of an invisible monster that lives in the sky then no one has a right to have their standards of reasonableness foisted on the act. No superstition can be examined when it is emotionally disturbing to other people - not in Texas, anyhow. Can you think of any activity other than superstition that exempts one from the rule of law so thoroughly? When was the last time - if ever - that you read a similar story about those can't-be-moral atheists? - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, theocracy

Virginia Bridges: Judge dismisses woman's religious drug-use argument [LINK-ZUM]

For years Brenda Williams Shoop struggled in a journey to get closer to God, she told a judge Thursday. And then she found a textbook that discussed a marijuana side effect, and later discovered a church that classifies the illegal drug as a key ingredient to a sacrament essential to becoming a Christian, she said. "It opens up someone's mind and helps apply (Christian) missions," Shoop said of marijuana's effects. [...] The Shoops were charged with drug trafficking in December 2006 after authorities found about 28 marijuana plants growing in their backyard, according to Baldwin County Sheriff's Office Lt. Neil Holcombe. [...]

Brenda Shoop said Thursday that she grew up in a Southern Baptist church. In recent years, she has struggled to find the spiritual fulfillment she has been looking for while exploring other denominations. Her religious belief and understanding, however, hit a turning point in nursing school when she read about marijuana's disassociation side effect, she said. That side effect, she said, helped her get closer to God as it quieted all the voices in her head and helped her "rise above the mundane and see that you are part of a bigger picture."

The Shoops argued that since their arrest they have started a ministry in their Robertsdale home and serve as missionaries for Universal Orthodox Church, which is based in Atlanta. The Christian denomination believes marijuana has biblical origins and was a key ingredient in holy anointing oil of Moses and the christening oil of Jesus Christ, according to testimony and court documents.

[Article continues at link. My preference would be for the government to get out of both the religion business and the drug business. Let competent adults believe whatever they want, providing they do not harm others who may not share that belief. Sometimes what they will believe will be in error, but the freedom to be in error cannot be divorced from the freedom to innovate (which sometimes results in error). Let competent adults entertain themselves as they want, providing they do not harm others who may not wish to be so entertained. Sometimes the way they will entertain themselves will be counterproductive, but the freedom to be counterproductive cannot be divorced from the freedom to own (which sometimes results in wasted resources). My preference would be for an end to theocracy and prohibition. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, prohibition, theocracy

Craig Gustafson: San Diego County workers may be excused from gay weddings [LINK-ZUM]

San Diego County plans to comply with a state Supreme Court ruling that allows same-sex marriages but will not force employees to perform the ceremonies if they cite religious or moral objections. County Assessor-Recorder-Clerk Greg Smith, whose office issues marriage licenses, said he has informed the roughly 115 employees deputized to conduct ceremonies to tell him if they object to same-sex marriages. Smith said he needs to know if he'll have to juggle employees around or train more to handle what could be thousands of gay couples arriving at his office after the court's ruling takes effect next month. [...] County Counsel John Sansone has advised Smith to wait until the state gives direction before issuing licenses. He said the county will comply with the court ruling, it's just a matter of when it can start. Sansone also said employees cannot simply object to performing same-sex ceremonies. They must give a legitimate religious or moral reason for refusing, he said.

[Article continues at link. The state of Oregon has banned, offered, and rescinded same-sex marriage licenses. I have spoken with opponents of same-sex marriage as they campaigned. When I asked them what legal rights available only to married couples they want same-sex couples not to have, they have been either at a complete loss or state clearly that they do not want to deny any of those rights to same-sex couples. A few more questions reveal their genuine concern. They believe that their place of worship will be legally required to conduct same-sex marriages. No place of worship has ever been required to conduct any marriages. Clergy are free to decide who they will or will not conduct a wedding ceremony for. Legal recognition of same-sex marriage will not change this fact. As has always been the case, there is a difference between weddings (what happens among friends and family) and marriage (a legal contract sanctioned with the State). Should legal recognition of same-sex marriage occur, clergy will remain free to refuse to conduct their weddings. Getting that through the head of those who oppose legal recognition of same-sex marriage would likely cause their efforts to evaporate. The compliment to the freedom clergy have in being free to decide who they will wed is that the State is not free in the same way. The rule of law applies to all. State workers should not be free to refuse to issue marriage licenses. If they object to doing so strongly enough, they are free to find a new job. I cannot imagine what criteria County Counsel Sansone will use to determine what "a legitimate religious or moral reason for refusing" might be. County Counsel Sansone perhaps might benefit from reading the Constitution of the United States of America in which it is clearly stated that the State is not fit to establish religion, not fit to judge which religions are legitimate or not. Should State employees be free to refuse to issue marriage licenses for religious or moral reasons, you can be sure it won't stop with same-sex marriages. State workers would then be free to refuse to issue marriage licenses for multi-ethnic marriages, as commanded by Numbers 12:1. State workers would then be free to refuse to issue fishing licenses for clams, oysters, crabs, lobsters, and shrimp, as commanded by Leviticus 11:10-12. State workers would then be free to refuse to issue teaching licenses to women at some schools, as commanded by 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. There's a very good reason why the United States government was advised from the very start to keep out of the religion business. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, sex, theocracy

Luke Broadwater and Stephen Janis: Records say cult killed baby because he was a 'demon' [LINK-ZUM]

Cult members concluded Javon Thompson was a "demon" after the baby wouldn't say "amen" at mealtime and starved him to death, witnesses told homicide detectives, according to records obtained by The Examiner. "The child was abused because Javon was noncompliant with the existing rules of the 'cult,'" the records state. "The child was also viewed as a "demon.'" [...] A witness told homicide detectives Javon was "beaten, physically abused [and] deprived of food and water, which led to the child's death," according to Khadan-Newton and records obtained by The Examiner. Khadan-Newton said investigators told her cult members grew angry after Javon would not say "amen" at mealtime, even though the baby was just learning to say basic words. [...] After his death, Javon was placed on a mattress, on which cult members said God would resurrect him from the dead, documents state. Cult members then took the child in a suitcase to Philadelphia, where they stored Javon's dead body in a shed of an acquaintance, police said.

[Article continues at link. I'd like to know more about what the Examiner calls the cult. People should be discouraged from childhood onward from joining or forming such organizations so that the frequency of terrible occurrences such as this can be lessened. The Examiner doesn't give us any details on the cult, and so we will have to piece it together for ourselves from what they do tell us. This cult says prayers, prayers which end in the word amen. They believe in God and they believe in demons. The cult believes that God can resurrect people after they die. That sure sounds like Christianity to me. Why might The Examiner fail to identify 'the cult' for what it is? - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity

Gemma O'Doherty: "Why I'd let my daughter die before allowing her to have a blood transfusion" [LINK-ZUM]

Rebecca Whelan adores her 13-month-old baby daughter Reese - but she would let her die before giving permission for her to have a blood transfusion. "One day when she's older she might look at me and ask 'would you have done that to me?' I would have to tell her yes. If she chooses not to take up my beliefs and is upset with me for that, it would be very sad - but I have to stand by my faith." [...]

"In our religion, we have very clear standards about blood, which God asks us to abstain from using. In Scripture, blood is described as a very sacred thing that should not be shared. Even if I was told by doctors that my refusal to take it would result in death, it would still not be an option for me. I would stick to that belief even if they told me Reese's life was in jeopardy." [...]

"To us, it is about nothing more than being loyal to God. It is not an emotional decision. If the crunch came and my child ended up dying because she needed a blood transfusion, at least I would feel I had done everything according to my faith. I am also reassured that I would see her again."

[Article continues at link. If I were to have a child, then give an interview in the newspaper that I was willing to cause them to die through neglect as part of my service to Battlecat, I am quite sure that the law and society would be against me. Battlecat is an imaginary being. Only religion makes child sacrifice socially acceptable. But not just any religion. I couldn't get away with causing my child to die through neglect as part of my service to Geb the Great Cackler. Geb is a real God, just like all the other real Gods. But no one worships Geb any more. To get away with child sacrifice I would have to cause them to die through neglect as part of my service to a contemporary superstition. That gods aren't real doesn't matter. That today's gods are just as imaginary as the thousands and thousands of yesterday's gods doesn't matter. But heavens above, if I cause a child to die through neglect as part of my service to a contemporary imaginary invisible monster that lives in the sky - that's a private affair. It just barely matters that the lovely young mother shown above doesn't even have her own superstition right. Sometimes the Jehovah's Witnesses forbid blood transfusions (Watchtower 1961 Sept 15; 1964 Feb 15) and sometimes they don't (Watchtower 1964 Nov 15; 2000 June 15). Why would this woman pick the superstition that kills her child over the superstition that lets her child live? Maybe because her religion demands child sacrifice (Genesis 22:2; Exodus 22:29-30; Leviticus 27:28-29; Numbers 31:25-29; Deuteronomy 28:53-62; Judges 11:29-40; 2 Samuel 21:1,8-9, 14; 1 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 23:20; Ezekiel 20:25-26; Mark 5:18-19; Luke 16:17). Maybe because religion softens minds and hardens hearts. As always, I advocate a reasoned critique of religion seasoned with scorn and contempt as the most peaceful and effective means to help children survive their religious parents. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, watchtower

Laurie Goodstein: Vatican Hints at Changes in Church Laws on Abuse [LINK-ZUM]

The New York Times reports: "After three days in which Pope Benedict XVI has persistently addressed the scandal of child sexual abuse by priests, a top Vatican official said on Friday that the church was considering changes to the canon laws that govern how it handles such cases. The official, Cardinal William J. Levada, would not specify which canons were under reconsideration."

Perhaps the canon law under consideration here is the Crimine Solicitaciones [google] [BBC] [OVO]. The Crimine Solicitaciones was initiated by Pope John XXIII in 1962 and confirmed as canon law by Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) in 2001. The Crimine Solicitaciones orders children abused by clergy to be quiet about it under threat of excommunication. The Crimine Solicitaciones also orders abusive clergy to be moved to a new parish. The Crimine Solicitaciones is why it appears that the Roman Catholic Church has operated a child abuse ring. At times, when abusive clergy have been caught, they have escaped prosecution due to diplomatic immunity (as representatives of Holy See of Vatican City, a sovereign nation). The reason it appears as such is because it is true.

Perhaps it is the Crimine Solicitaciones that is under consideration for review. If so, that would be beneficial to exposing and breaking this child abuse ring. And it would call into question the moral infallibility of the Pope. I support both of these possibilities.

Labels: christianity, theocracy

Victor L. Simpson: Pope says he is 'deeply ashamed' of clergy abuse scandal [LINK-ZUM]

Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday he was "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and will work to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood, addressing the toughest issue facing the American church as he began his first papal trip to the United States. Benedict spoke in English on a special Alitalia flight from Rome to Washington, answering questions submitted by reporters in advance.

"It is a great suffering for the Church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict said. "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children. I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the pope said.

Benedict pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Catholic Church. "We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."

[Article continues at link. As recently as 2001, Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) said that the Crimine Solicitaciones was still in effect. What is the Crimine Solicitaciones? It is a document ordered by Pope John XXIII in 1961 and sent to every Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. On direct orders of the Pope, clergy who abused children were to be moved to a new parish and the crime was to be kept secret. Should any victim speak out against clergy, they were to be threatened with excommunication. And when victims have spoken out against clergy, clergy have been excused from prosecution due to diplomatic immunity (as representatives of the Vatican Holy See, a sovereign nation). If you want to know why abusive clergy were protected from prosecution for decades, you have no further to look. Pope Benedict has the means to start healing this wound. Healing won't come only through blaming the individual abusive clergy, as damnable as they are. Healing will come through admitting that The Most Holy Father has actively been sheltering abusive clergy from prosecution. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, theocracy

Malcolm Moore: Pope will pray for terrorists at Ground Zero [LINK-ZUM]

The Pope will pray for the redemption of Islamic terrorists when he visits the site of the September 11 attacks in New York next week. The pontiff will call for terrorists to convert to Christianity, saying: "Turn to Your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance".

The prayer is likely to further incense the Muslim world, which has already attacked the Pope for publicly converting Magdi Allam, a journalist and one of Italy's most high-profile Muslims, at Easter.

[Article continues at link. I don't whisper magic spells to an invisible monster that lives in the sky. But for lack of a better word, my prayer at the site of the World Trade Center would be for all of humanity to abandon religion. And as pointed out at JihadWatch, Muslim apologists will have to juggle the contradictory claims that the Pope has insulted Muslims yet the 9/11 hijackers weren't really Muslims because Islam is the Religion of Peace. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: 9/11, christianity, islam

Trevor Blake: The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in the News [LINK-ZUM]

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, better known as the Jehovah's Witnesses, are in the news...

Jehovah's Witnesses elders refusing to testify in Murrieta molestation case: "two of the elders who oversee the Windsong Valley Congregation in Wildomar say that defendant Gilbert Simental's statements are confidential and they do not want to testify."
Mother in blood transfusion row wanted Coca Cola and tomatoes: "The woman at the centre of the Jehovah's Witness blood transfusion case told the High Court she believed Coca Cola and tomatoes should have been given to her when she refused the transfusion."
Fighting the curse of the face-eating tumour: "Unwilling to accept a blood transfusion, Jose Mestre has allowed the bloody tumour that first appeared on his lip in adolescence to obliterate almost all of his face."
Church elder is jailed: "Michael Porter, a Jehovah's Witness, preyed on 13 boys - including an 18-month-old baby."
Jehovah's Witness elder gets three years for sexual exploitation.
Jehovah's Witnesses Abuse Crisis in France: "A new documentary exposes how Jehovah's Witness children in France are exposed to pedophiles by the worldwide policies of the religion."
Watchtower Court Documents: "Approximately 5,000 pages of court documents have been amassed from twelve court record depositories in four states."
Sadistic foster mother's 19-year reign of terror: "Eunice Spry, 62, routinely beat, abused and starved the youngsters in her care over a 19 year period. The devout Jehovah's Witness forced sticks down their throats and made them eat their own vomit and rat excrement."

More links on the Watchtower society, particularly their origins and beliefs, to be found here.

Labels: christianity, watchtower

Trevor Blake: Christianity in the News [LINK-ZUM]

The following is a summary of Christianity in the news...

Minister Accused Of Wanting To 'Play Doctor' With 15-Year-Old Girl Fired: Investigators said music minister Jack Aldrich from First United Methodist Church in Winter Park made contact with an undercover officer posing as an underage girl.
The Frederick News-Post Online: An ordained minister has been arrested on charges of sex offense and child abuse of a female church choir member in Gaithersburg who was 14 at the time.
Pastor jailed for using evil spirits to force unprotected sex on woman: pastor who impregnated a woman he terrorized into a sexual relationship by threatening curses was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison.
Pastor gets 4 years for sex assault on woman: Toronto pastor sexually assaulted and deliberately impregnated a parishioner, threatening her with evil spirits unless she yielded to his demands.
NWAnews.com: Minister Keith Daniel Kiger, 31, of 94 U. S. 71 South in Winslow, faces a felony charge of first-degree sexual assault.
The Longmont Times-Call: Minister Peter Kim, 40, pleaded guilty to violating bail bond conditions, sexual exploitation of a child and attempted sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of trust.
Priest pleads guilty to charges from sex sting: Father Michael Royce Penland, 46, pleaded guilty to soliciting crimes against nature and was ordered to pay court costs and stay away from Haywood County recreation property.
They sought help, but got exorcism and the Bible: A secretive ministry has been deceiving troubled young women into signing over months of their lives to a program that offers Bible studies and exorcisms to treat mental illness.
50 people looking for solar image of Mary lose sight: At least 50 people in Kottayam district have reportedly lost their vision after gazing at the sun looking for an image of Virgin Mary.
Ex-foster father guilty of molesting 2 boys: A jury found [Minister] Jaysen W. Bell of Union Township guilty of sexual battery and three charges of sexual imposition.
Internet sex sting snares Conneautville minister: The Rev. Steven Richard McGuigan, 39, of 905 Washington St., Conneautville.
Pastor accused of child rape ruled with an iron hand: Pastor Harper was charged with multiple counts of child rape stretching back at least to 1994.

All of these articles were gathered by one person in his spare time over a single month using only English-language news sources. It is not unreasonable to suggest that there are many more articles to be found. The abusive clergy listed here are mostly Protestant and appear to have acted in isolation. It is the Roman Catholic Church that has systematically protected abusive clergy from legal action under the guise of diplomatic immunity for decades. My means to lessen the number of those abused is to tear away the veil the abusers most successfully hide behind - religion. My means to lessen the number of those who make self-destructive choices based on fearful superstitions is to reason against and ridicule the root superstition - religion.

Labels: christianity

Klintron: Tragic story of the malign effects of religious ignorance [LINK-ZUM]

Believe it or not, I'm not much of one for atheist evangelism (for lack of a better word). I'm just not that concerned with changing other people's personal beliefs (but of course I'm always willing to offer my opinions, and always trying to promote accurate information). I think there's a case to be made for religion as mental illness idea (and have pushed that idea myself), but when it really comes down to it most religious people (at least in the US) are mostly harmless. My friend and colleague Trevor Blake often points to a correlation between religious belief and committing violent acts. To paraphrase him, you never hear about atheists burning down Christian stores for sex, but you frequently hear about Christians burning down sex stores for Jesus. However, correlation and causation are not the same thing. We can learn from this that religion is not a necessary or sufficient source for morality, but little else.

So my main concern, with regards to religion, is theocracy: when one group's superstitions become law. So I've stopped taking much note when an individual Buddhist priest is found guilty of molesting a woman, or someone commits a murder in the name of their religion. There are laws against these sorts of things, and I'm not sure someone commits these sorts of acts because they’re religious, or if their attraction to religion stems from the same source as their attraction to rape and violence. In other words, I'm not sure religion is a symptom or a disease. I'm more concerned with sovereign nations that organize child-rape syndicates and the institutional oppression and murder of women and homosexuals in countries like Saudi Arabia.

Sometimes it's not so cut and dry, though. One kicker is parents and their children. I was raised Christian, and I think I turned out ok. I could have done without the paranoia inspired by the notion of an invisible monster watching everything I did, but I don't hold it against my parents. So I'm generally inclined to believe that parents should be free to teach their kids whatever sort of nonsense they want, and that if the kids are smart they'll grow out of it eventually.

But what happens when parents take it too far? Recently, an 11 year old girl died of a treatable form of diabetes because her parents choose to pray instead of seek medical help (via Pharyngula). This obviously crosses the line between believing something crazy and behaving in a malicious way. What is the response of the local police?

The girl has three siblings, ranging in age from 13 to 16, the police chief said. "They are still in the home," he said. "There is no reason to remove them. There is no abuse or signs of abuse that we can see." The girl's death remains under investigation and the findings will be forwarded to the district attorney to review for possible charges, the chief said.

At least the case is being investigated, but how can the police chief say there is no abuse? I know people who have had their kids taken away from them temporarily for far less. Sadly, this is not without precedent. Trevor wrote last year about parents who withhold medical treatment for religious reasons. None of the parents of children who died preventable deaths were charged with a crime.

This is not a case of religious freedom, or of individual belief. It's theocracy. If the parents had let their children die for any reason other than religion, they would be charged with crimes and their other children would be taken into state care.

Labels: buddhism, christianity, islam, libertarian, theocracy

Trevor Blake: Sins of the Pastor, Revisited. [LINK-ZUM]

We have previously noted that there is at present some discussion on how much Senator Barack Obama is responsible for the words of one of his former clergy leaders. There was no such discussion in the past on how much President George H. W. Bush was responsible for the actions of one of his former clergy leaders. Additional details have developed.

Hillary Clinton has said "I think given all we have heard and seen, [Rev. Jeremiah Wright] would not have been my pastor" and "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend." However, the pastor of the church she wants to attend has said it is a "grave injustice" criticize Wright based on "two or three sound bites," and spoke against the "use a few of [Wright's] quotes to polarize."

Rev. Wright has the support of some homosexuals. Political correctness makes for the strangest of bedfellows.

Whether it is an attempt to tap into political correctness or Christianity, the Clinton campaign is failing to motivate me to vote for her.

Labels: christianity, theocracy

Keith Lockitch: The Easter Masquerade [LINK-ZUM]

In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII established our modern calendar and fixed the rules determining the date of Easter. This year Easter falls on March 23, but from year to year it can shift by as much as a month on the Gregorian calendar. Finding Easter's date for a given year requires a surprising degree of scientific acumen. The last things one might expect to see in, say, the Book of Common Prayer are tables of numbers and rules for mathematical calculations - but there they are, nevertheless.

At first glance, this seems to exemplify a kind of harmony between religion and science, a peaceful concord between faith and reason. Indeed, a variety of public figures - from prominent scientists to the Pope - have promoted the view that science and religion are not adversaries but complementary and mutually supporting fields. "Truth cannot contradict truth," they declare, implying that the truths discovered by reasoning from sensory evidence cannot clash with the "truths" of religious dogma. A closer look, however, reveals the long history of the hostility of faith towards reason - which continues to this day. Violent clashes between the two are not only possible but unavoidable, and the notion that religion can coexist on friendly terms with science and reason is false. [...]

At first Copernicus's work was warmly accepted by Church officials - but only because they didn't take it seriously. Sixteenth century common sense held that the Sun orbits the Earth, which is motionless at the center of the universe. More important, Church scholars held that the true structure of the world is established not by science but by official interpretation of Scripture. Hence, they regarded the motion of the Earth as nothing more than a convenient mathematical assumption - an idea justified solely by its utility in making astronomical predictions. Thinking they could evade a clash between reason and revelation, they denied the reality of the Earth's motion but used the Copernican theory nonetheless.

This contradiction became inescapable decades after the Gregorian reform when Galileo removed the objections from common sense by explaining the physics of the moving Earth. But the objections from faith proved more intractable. Galileo's outspoken defense of the Earth's motion as a serious physical idea forced Church leaders to take a stand - and when they got off the fence, they came down firmly against science. That the Church persecuted Galileo for defending Copernican theory is well-known. Less frequently acknowledged is the utter hypocrisy of that act: the Church persecuted Galileo for defending the very ideas on which its Easter reform depended.

[Article continues at link.]

Labels: christianity, science

Ashbel S. Green: Appeals court dismisses sex abuse suit [LINK-ZUM]

The Portland Archdiocese won a rare legal victory Wednesday when the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against two priests accused of sexually abusing a boy in the 1950s. The suit named the Rev. Clement Frank and the Rev. Louis Charvet, Mount Angel Abbey priests who are now dead.

The plaintiff claimed that after he fell down while roller-skating in Mount Angel in the early 1950s Frank happened to walk up, took him to a church and sexually assaulted him. The Court of Appeals ruled that the church cannot be held responsible because Frank did not use his position as a priest to gain access to the boy.

[Article continues at link. The plaintiff was abused by a priest in a church, but because 'helping boys who fall off bicycles' is not specifically named as a duty of the clergy, this is considered an off-the-clock rape and the Roman Catholic Church is not responsible. Fair enough. Let's remove the Catholic's tax exempt status for all those activities not specifically named as a duty of the clergy. And for heaven's sake, don't bring up the fact that the Roman Catholic Church hid child abusers for decades on direct orders of the Pope. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, theocracy

David Willey: Fewer confessions and new sins [LINK-ZUM]

The Vatican has brought up to date the traditional seven deadly sins by adding seven modern mortal sins it claims are becoming prevalent in what it calls an era of "unstoppable globalisation". Those newly risking eternal punishment include drug pushers, the obscenely wealthy, and scientists who manipulate human genes. [...] In an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Archbishop Girotti said he thought the most dangerous areas for committing new types of sins lay in the fields of bio-ethics and ecology. He also named abortion and paedophilia as two of the greatest sins of our times. The archbishop brushed off cases of sexual violence against minors committed by priests as "exaggerations by the mass media aimed at discrediting the Church".

[Article continues at link. Now would be a perfect time for the Vatican to avoid eternal punishment and divest itself of its billions. And in the course of discrediting those mass media exaggerations about clergy sexual abuse of minors, the Vatican can admit that it knowingly hid them for decades as the official policy of the Roman Catholic Church. Admit it, then demonstrate that they have changed their ways. But in the real world the Vatican will hold on to its wealth, it will never confess to its role in sponsoring generations of child abuse, and (last but far from least) sin does not exist. - Trevor Blake.]

Labels: christianity

Trevor Blake: My Tax Dollars At Work [LINK-ZUM]

Wired Magazine reports: "As an expert witness in the defense of an Abu Ghraib guard who was court-martialed, psychologist Philip Zimbardo had access to many of the images of abuse that were taken by the guards themselves. For a presentation at the TED conference in Monterey, California, Zimbardo assembled some of these pictures into a short video. Wired.com obtained the video from Zimbardo's talk, and is publishing some of the stills from that video here. Many of the images are explicit and gruesome, depicting nudity, degradation, simulated sex acts and guards posing with decaying corpses. Viewer discretion is advised."

Recently I paid my taxes. This is part of what I got in exchange, I guess.

Access to information does not, in itself, change things. The truth is not un-ignorable. The Bible has been full of contradictions and absurdities for thousands of years, easily seen by anyone who looks, but Christianity lingers on. The bald fact that the Bush administration is tyrannical, illegal and fascist is easily seen by anyone who looks. But it lingers on. What might change things?

Labels: christianity, fascism

Trevor Blake: Marriage [LINK-ZUM]

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: " The LDS Church has joined with several California religious groups to file a friend-of-the-court brief in defense of Proposition 22, a law passed in 1999 that defined marriage as between a man and a woman."

The Church of Jesus Christ, Later-Day Saints (The Mormons) has tried for decades to play down the most obviously strange or cruel or foolish aspects of their superstition and build up a new reputation of being just like any other cult in town. The above is another example of this public image campaign. While the Mormons will forever be associated with polygamy, they are now also advocating traditional limit-one-per-customer marriage.

I do not think the increased number of men and women who want same-sex marriages has ever or will ever constitute a threat to marriage. What has caused harm to this institution (disclosure: I have presided over several marriages and will do so again next month) are easy access to divorce, easy access to safe and effective birth control and less social opprobrium for having children out of wedlock. Easier access to divorce and birth control were good changes, and if the institution of marriage suffered for them then individual human beings prospered for them. Having children out of wedlock seems to generally co-occur with poverty and crime, but of course any generalized claim breaks down for individual human beings.

The cause of changes to the institution of marriage are clear. Bt many would prefer to keep what has caused harm to marriage, shifting the blame for that harm to homosexuals and simultaneously keeping homosexuals from the rights and responsibilities found in marriage. Superstition is, of course, to be found in nearly every example of this hypocrisy.

Several times I have asked religionists what legal rights they specifically do not want same-sex couples to have. They have never been able to answer that question. Every legal right of marriage (inheritance, making medical decisions, etc.) that I mention to them, they think same-sex couples should have. Over time I realized that what they are imagining about same-sex marriage is that the sheriff will show up at their church and force their pastor to conduct a homo wedding at gunpoint. I think if we disabuse them of that fantasy then progress can be made. Disabusing the superstitious of fantasies (or, at least, mean spirited and stupid fantasies) is part of what OVO is all about.

Labels: christianity, mormon, ovo, religion, theocracy

AP: Flock forgives minister who confesses to 1994 slaying [LINK-ZUM]

The youth minister [Calvin Wayne Inman] who confessed to a 1994 killing is being widely forgiven by members of his former congregation, who say they admire his courage in finally surrendering to police. [...] During Sunday's service at the 800-member Elim Church, congregants praised the recently ordained Inman as a born-again role model taking responsibility for his sin. "He's a hero, really," said Kelley Graham, 24. "I don't know how many people would do what he did. The Bible says you just need to confess to God. Calvin took an extra step."

Inman went to authorities on February 5 and admitted that he stabbed Iqbal Ahmed, 64, nearly 14 years ago in suburban Pasadena. [...] "The debt he's paying to our society is teaching our young people to do the right thing," said Cheryl Ellis, a member of the church's youth staff. "To lock him away someplace and say he owes it to society is robbing the next generation of a mentor."

[Article continues at link. Reverend Inman's actions as a youth and an adult speak for themselves. The ethical gymnastics of his flock, however, are difficult to take in. These people seem to believe that murder is acceptable as long as one whispers a magic spell to an invisible monster that lives in the sky afterwards. That a human-authored book of mean-spirited ghost stories from a foreign country 2,000 years ago trumps human-authored law of this country today. That it's good to pay your debts to society, unless it's not good because you have to not pay your debts to society so you can teach young people to pay their debts to society. Religion is the moral and mental fog that makes any act acceptable to adherents. It is deserving of reasoned criticism and a good measure of scorn and ridicule. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity

Associated Press: Minister calls for death prayers over IRS complaint [LINK-ZUM]

A California minister who used church stationery and an Internet radio program to endorse former Gov. Mike Huckabee for president is asking his followers to pray for the deaths of those who filed a complaint against him with the Internal Revenue Service. The Rev. Wiley S. Drake of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., called for "imprecatory prayer" targeting Barry Lynn, Joe Conn and Jeremy Leaming of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "The prayer does call for serious, serious punishment on people. But I didn't call for that, God did," said Mr. Drake, who completed a term in June as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. [...]

On his Internet show, in a news release on ChristianNewsWire and in an e-mail to Americans United, Mr. Drake called on others to pray that the Americans United officials be punished. He gave as examples of imprecatory prayer: "Persecute them. Let them be put to shame and perish. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg."

Americans United, a nonpartisan group based in Washington, D.C., asked the IRS on Tuesday to investigate whether Mr. Drake violated federal law by endorsing the Republican candidate on church stationery Saturday and on his Internet program Monday.

[Article continues at link. What the Christian world has to answer for is the fact that Rev. Drake is not twisting the Good Book to bad ends. He is doing exactly what the Bible says he should do. There is no getting around the fact that the Bible commands Christians to kill non-Christians. Rev. Drake is the real Christian here, and those who don't take up the sword as Jesus Christ Himself commanded (not once but twice) are the imposters. Ask yourself, or a Christian close to you, how an infallible God who authored/inspired an infallible Bible can be ignored when His divine commandments are at odds with secular morals such as 'do not kill.' The answer is an important one. The answer is that Christianity is largely secular and retains only the trappings of the superstition it came from. Islam is the main practitioner of old time religion in the modern world. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, islam

Bill Billeter: Religious symbols to be removed from chapel [LINK-ZUM]

The Beckley Veterans Affairs Medical Center has taken steps to remove faith-specific symbols from its chapel, said Debbie Voloski, the hospital's public affairs director. Similar actions are being taken at VA hospitals nationwide as the VA attempts to enforce its own policy enacted in July 1953 that states, "Chapels will be appointed and maintained as places for meditation and prayer for members of any faith group or denomination." The policy also states that "the labeling of chapel buildings or the erection of chapels for the exclusive use of a particular faith group is contrary to policy."

Voloski explained that VA chapels must remain neutral when not hosting the services of a particular denomination. For example, following a Baptist service on Sunday morning, Bibles and other Christian symbols must be removed from sight. Voloski said, "Veterans of all faiths will feel comfortable reflecting, meditating and praying in the chapel."

[Article continues at link. This is a confused step in the right direction. Meeting the needs of the various superstitions does require neutral ground. But neutral ground is exactly the opposite of 'sacred' ground, and sacred ground is the whole point of having a chapel in the first place. What makes the most sense, what serves everyone fairly, is to get the United States military out of the superstition business. If people have a need to worship, let them do it on their own time in their own way. No tax dollars need be involved. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, theocracy

Joey Bunch: New Life cuts last ties with Haggard [LINK-ZUM]

The relationship between Ted Haggard the Colorado Springs mega-church he founded is over, according to a statement from New Life Church this evening. Haggard was fired from the church in November 2006 after he admitted to "sexual immorality," presumably the allegations made by a gay Denver escort who said Haggard paid him for sex over a three-years. [...] New Life has been at odds with its former pastor since he left. [...] In August, Haggard told a Colorado Springs television station that he would be joining the counseling staff of The Dream Center, a drug-addiction halfway house affiliated with Phoenix First Assembly. The job, however, never materialized, officials with the Phoenix church said after Haggard's proclamation. Haggard also irritated New Life leaders by requesting donations to support him and his family while he got a degree in counseling at the University of Phoenix. The donations were to be collected by Families with a Mission, a Monument non-profit run by Paul Huberly, a twice-convicted registered sex offender.

[Article continues at link. Past post about New Life, in which another attempt to suppress homosexuality failed. Or did it? - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity

Ian Demsky: McNeil Island prison chaplain struggles with new multiple-faith rule [LINK-ZUM]

Tom Suss loves his job. A chaplain at McNeil Island prison, he's been with the state Department of Corrections for more than 15 years. "It's really a privilege to work there," the 63-year-old Catholic priest said in a recent interview. "When there's the opportunity to facilitate someone's realization of living differently, of making better choices, there's just no better high than that."

But Suss took a voluntary leave of absence at the beginning of the year because a new Corrections Department policy allowing inmates to profess multiple religions has put his faith into conflict with his duties as a state employee. He can take up to six weeks off and after that he's not sure what's going to happen. Though his bosses and peers speak highly of his work, he feels he might have to leave his profession behind.

"I'm thinking my days as a state chaplain might be finished," he said. At issue is whether in the state's efforts to protect inmates' freedom to worship, Suss should have to compromise his own religious convictions.

Article continues at link. Thanks as always to the excellent Religion Clause blog for the initial link . Prison chaplains are employees of the State. Their wages, insurance, mileage compensation, etc. are paid for by tax dollars. Is this not a case of the establishment of religion by the State? Can any other corrections employee - janitors, therapists, guards, secretaries - refuse to serve a prisoner based on their perceived religion?

There is no legal definition of religion. The benefit of this lack of a legal definition of religion is that it is made clear the State has no religious function. The State does not approve who is an is not clergy, who is and is not a member of any particular religion, and so on. These matters are left up to individuals. This also leaves the choice of being non-religious, even anti-religious, up to individuals.

The cost of this lack of a legal definition of religion is that at times religious individuals will overstep their domain of choice and attempt to make religious choices for others. Should an adult be able to decide the medical options available to their adult neighbor based on their religion? What if the medical option is abortion or euthanasia? Should an adult be able to decide the medical options available to their child based on their religion? The State is a poor judge in such matters, and that is why many of these choices are left up to individual states in the US and not decided at the Federal level.

In the case of prisoners, who cannot elect to move to a new state in the US if the state they are in does not accommodate their religion, the State has two choices. The first choice is to accommodate every expression of every religion by every prisoner. Prison clergy trained in every religion in human history must be available to anyone who summons them at any time, along with all the appropriate physical materials necessary to practice their religion. The second choice is to continue to consider religion a matter of individual choice, as is the case outside of prison, and not a service the State is obliged to provide.

Most religions include some influence from other religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all contain elements of earlier religions as well as shared elements. It is not the business of the State to define what is allowed within a single religion, and single religions contain elements of other religions. Just the same, it is not the business of the State to limit an individual to a single religion throughout their lifetime or concurrently.

Those who wish to offer religious services to prisoners should fund such services themselves. Prisoners should accept that the loss of some aspects of their religion are part of what is lost by being in prison. Prison clergy (if such a job should exist at all) must be prepared and willing to accommodate any religious expression from prisoners. The State should refrain from establishing religion. - Trevor Blake

Labels: christianity, magick, religion, theocracy

BBC: US network faces $1m nudity fine [LINK-ZUM]

US television network ABC may have to pay a fine of $1.4m (707,000 UK Pounds) for airing an episode of NYPD Blue which depicted female nudity. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the 2003 show had "multiple, close-up views" of a woman's buttocks before the US watershed. The FCC deems "sexual or excretory activities" shown in an "offensive" way before 2200 as indecent.

[Article continues at link. Here is the scene in question (video). What really happened in the less-than-40-seconds which the FCC fined? A woman took off her bath robe and stepped into a shower. The actress in question was not forced to do this and was likely paid handsomely, as was everyone on the set. No one, anywhere, was forced to watch that episode of that television show. No one, anywhere, was harmed in any way by watching that episode of that television show. Truth be told, most people do take of their clothes before stepping into the shower. This was not a sexual act nor was it an excretory activity. I can imagine some people being surprised, or embarrased, or confused by what they saw. But if their discomfort eats away at them for more than a short while, they have problems unrelated to this episode of this television show. One of them is watching television, and there's an easy answer for that problem. Preventing people from being surprised, embarrassed or confused is not the role of government. Neither is preventing people from being naked as part of their job, or in expression of their political views. The actress in question also appears nude in a protest against the use of animal fur in fashion. Should the government fine someone for that as well? A much more damning solution was available to the prudes who brought about this fine in the form of a boycott against advertisers of the television show. In that solution, everyone remains free to make the choices they want yet they are also accountable for them. We don't need the government to tell us what is bad on television. The answer is 'most of it.' Television is called a medium because it's seldom well done, as Ernie Kovacs said. But bad art isn't a crime, it's just bad art. What a shame that mainstream media companies are being punished for brief scenes of non-sexual nudity while not being shaken to their foundations for their uncritical support of George W. Bush's war of conquest and Jesus in the Middle East. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, fascism, sex, television, theocracy

Alexander Cockburn: I am an intellectual blasphemer [LINK-ZUM]

In magazine articles and essays I have described in fairly considerable detail, with input from the scientist Martin Hertzberg, that you can account for the current warming by a number of well-known factors - to do with the elliptical course of the Earth in its relationship to the sun, the axis of the Earth in the current period, and possibly the influence of solar flares. There have been similar warming cycles in the past, such as the medieval warming period, when the warming levels were considerably higher than they are now.

Yet from left to right, the warming that is occurring today is taken as being man-made, and many have made it into the central plank of their political campaigns. For reasons I find very hard to fathom, the environmental left movement has bought very heavily into the fantasy about anthropogenic global warming and the fantasy that humans can prevent or turn back the warming cycle.

[Article continues at link. I have a suggestion as to why large groups of people are supporting the athropogenic global warming theory, but it is one I read long ago by an author I sadly cannot remember and credit. Ask yourself where the largest environmental movements are, and where the most radical / violent environmentalists are. The answer is, roughly, the USA, Canada, England and Germany. All of these countries are, among other things, largely Protestant countries. Compare the environmental movement in these Protestant countries with the environmental movements in largely Catholic countries, such as Italy or Mexico. Compare it also with the environmental movements in Islamic countries. It seems that Christianity co-occurs with environmentalism more than with Islam, and more with Protestant Christianity than Catholicism. Protestant Christianity is heavy with stories of the original purity of humanity and our harmony with the Earth, but through our wickedness in taking on the powers of God we have brought about great suffering and destruction - including the any-day-now destruction of the entire Earth. Compare this to environmentalism, which is heavy with stories of the original purity of humanity and our harmony with the Earth, but through our wickedness in taking on the powers of God we have brought about great suffering and destruction - including the any-day-now destruction of the entire Earth. Environmentalism is in part an echo of Protestant Christianity, which was relegated to ceremonial reverence as the West adopted secular values. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: B12, christianity, islam, science

Trevor Blake: Christianity in the News [LINK-ZUM]

Ex-pastor found guilty of abusing girl: "Rev. William Procanick's guilty verdict of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl suggested nobody should mistake his actions for a harmless backrub."
Religious fanatic guilty of torturing his sons; Wife also convicted:"The evangelical preacher put safety pins through his sons' lips, sliced their mouths with scalpel blades and squeezed the older boy's tongue with sharp pincers. A jury heard he used a bucket to catch the blood dripping from their mouths... "
Former Mo. Mayor Taped Begging for Mercy: "Allen Kauffman told the AP he has resigned as mayor of Collins and pastor of the town's Temple Lot Church. Kauffman allegedly asked the girl [13 year old] for sex and for nude pictures and... "
Pastor abused trust, jury told: "A Toronto pastor who had sex with two women he was claiming to rid of evil spirits abused his position of trust and is guilty of sexual assault, a prosecutor says."
Priest arrested on perjury charges in alleged mob case: "Rev. Joseph Scia was arrested on perjury charges, accused of lying about his relationship with a mobster in testimony investigating a casino owner's possible ties to organized crime."
Bishop of Tenerife blames child abuse on the children: "Bishop Bernardo Alvarez said there are youngsters who want to be abused, and he compared that abuse to homosexuality, describing them both as prejudicial to society."
Augusta Youth Pastor Charged With Performing Sex Acts On Teenager: "A youth pastor at Bible Way Church has been charged with performing sex acts on a 14-year old girl three separate times. Investigators say 36-year-old Falcon Davis worked at church for 2 years."
Police say former youth pastor killed wife's friend then himself: "Police identified the gunman as Michael Beckworth, 30, and his victim as Joe Lee, 31."

[Which of these actions did God prevent? The answer is none. Which of these actions did God, the author of everything, cause? The answer is all. Why would anyone consider a God that prevented none of these actions and caused all of these actions to be worthy of worship? The answer is I do not know. Here, instead, is the truth: there is no God, there never was a God, there can be no God. It is a misleading argument to blame only 'fanatic' Christians and 'ex' Christians and 'former' Christians for bad moral choices when, in fact, they are doing what their God commands all Christians to do: lie, rape, steal, kill. Christianity does not prevent bad moral choices, nor does it engender good moral choices. Christianity is not a good superstition sometimes bent toward bad ends, but a bad superstition often bent toward good ends. Morality is a secular responsibility, long kidnapped by superstition, ready to be freed. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity

Richard Owen: Pope calls for continuous prayer to rid priesthood of paedophilia [LINK-ZUM]

Pope Benedict XVI has instructed Roman Catholics to pray "in perpetuity" to cleanse the Church of paedophile clergy. All dioceses, parishes, monasteries, convents and seminaries will be expected to organise continuous daily prayers to express penitence and to purify the clergy. Vatican officials said that every parish or institution should designate a person or group each day to conduct continuous prayers for the Church to rid itself of the scandal of sexual abuse by clergy. Alternatively, churches in the same diocese could share the duty. Prayer would take place in one parish for 24 hours, then move to another. Vatican watchers said that there was no known precedent for global prayer on a specific issue of this kind. There are about one billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

[Article continues at link. I commend Pope Benedict for trying to cleanse the Church of paedophile clergy. However, I have a suggestion for a more effective way of doing so. Denounce the Crimine Solicitaciones. The Crimine Solicitaciones states that clergy accused of child abuse should be moved to another parish and that the crime should be kept secret. The Crimine Solicitaciones was approved by Pope John XXIII on 16 March 1962. It was addressed to "all patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and other diocesan ordinaries." That is, it was sent to the majority of Roman Catholic leaders around the world. The Crimine Solicitaciones is still the official policy of the Roman Catholic Church, as confirmed as recently as 2001 by former Cardinal Jozeph Ratzinger. Cardinal Ratzinger is now known as His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and Vatican City. Denouncing the Crimine Solicitaciones would do something in the real world to cleanse the Church of paedophile clergy. Prayer, as always, will do nothing. Sadly, Pope Benedict is trapped by papal infallibility in moral matters. To denounce the Crimine Solicitaciones would be admitting that he and a previous Pope were in moral error, which was declared impossible by the First Vatican Council of 1870. Perhaps this is why the Pope is advocating prayer rather than action. The Pope is willing to sacrifice children to paedophile priests in order to preserve his magical link to an invisible monster that lives in the sky. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity

Christine Clarridge: Phony psychic sentenced for bilking woman of savings [LINK-ZUM]

A phony psychic who fled prosecution in Seattle and ended up on a wanted-fugitive list in Canada was sentenced Friday to 1 1/2 years in prison nearly nine years after tricking a lovesick woman into turning over her life savings to win back her boyfriend.

[Article continues at link... but the first sentence alone fills me with questions. If 79-year-old Sophie Evon was a 'phony psychic,' does that mean there are non-phony psychics? What law did Sophie Evon break in accepting money to cast magic spells? Is that law being equally applied to the leaders of every Christian church, Jewish temple, Muslim mosque, and every other spook house in town? The mainstream superstitions also accept money to cast magic spells. Sometimes the spells are supposed to work 'after death,' but sometimes they are supposed to work right here and right now. These are the kinds of court cases that the megachurches should be pouring their millions into winning, because if the state can decide that one brand of hokus-pokus is a crime, the state can decide another brand of hokus-pokus is also a crime. Theirs may be next. And while all my sympathies lie with the victim, who seems to have learned her lesson the hard way, I think the state has no business sanctioning superstitions. If people want to throw their money into the magic hat, that's their concern. When the state makes some superstitions illegal and allows others to remain legal, it establishes a state religion. The foundation documents of this country rightly forbid this. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, islam, judaism, magick, theocracy

Shawn F. Peters: Abusing Children in the Name of God [LINK-ZUM]

A hemophilic boy in Pennsylvania bleeds to death over a period of two days from a small cut on his foot. An Indiana girl dies after a malignant tumor sprouts from her skull and grows so enormous that it's nearly the size of her head. A boy in Massachusetts succumbs to a bowel obstruction. (His cries of pain are so loud that neighbors are forced to shut their windows to block out the sound.) None of these children benefit from the readily-available medical treatments that might save their lives, or at least mitigate their suffering. Because the tenets of their parents' religious faiths mandate it, their ailments are treated by prayer rather than medical science. The results are tragic.

It is difficult to determine precisely how many children in the United States lose their lives every year as the result of the phenomenon that has come to be known as religion-based medical neglect. A landmark study published in the journal Pediatrics uncovered more than 150 reported fatalities over a 10-year period - a tally that one of the study's authors later said represented only "the tip of the iceberg" of a surprisingly pervasive problem. Assessing whether forms of religion-related child abuse pose a greater risk to children than more widely publicized threats, such as ritual satanic abuse, a wide-ranging study funded by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect concluded that "there are more children actually being abused in the name of God than in the name of Satan."

Since the late nineteenth century, hundreds of such instances of abuse have resulted in tangled criminal litigation. The parents charged in these cases - many of them Christian Scientists or members of small Christian churches that ground their doctrines in narrowly literal interpretations of the Bible - often have argued that the First Amendment safeguards their decision to adhere to their faiths' religious traditions and treat their ailing children solely by spiritual means. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have balked at the notion that constitutional protections for religious liberty provide an absolute bar to state regulation of religious conduct, particularly when that behavior puts the safety of children at risk. Their task often has been complicated, however, by murky state manslaughter and abuse statutes that appear to provide exemptions for religious healing practices.

[Article continues at link. Congratulations to the author for addressing this topic. I do have a few corrections and amplifications to make, though. I am in agreement that 150 child sacrifices (let's call it by it's proper name) is a low estimate, as I can identify eighty at a single Church. Christian Scientists and the like do not have a narrowly literal interpretation of the Bible; they have the Bible, and what the Bible says to do is exactly what they do. What separates these Churches from other Churches is that in this regard they are less secular and more religious, just as some Churches are more secular and less religious about homosexuality although the Bible clearly states that homosexuals are to be killed by Christian hands. Modern Christianity is largely secular and most Christians know how to be Christians on Sundays or holidays and physicists, educators, or just decent people the rest of the time. Islam has yet to catch the secular bug. State laws do not appear to provide exemptions for religious healing practices [ie child sacrifice to an invisible monster that lives in the sky], they do provide exemptions for religious healing practices. As strongly worded as this article is, it doesn't deliver both barrels to a monster deserving to be put down forever. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, theocracy