God made animals for testing: Malaysian minister

Malacca Chief Minister Mohamad Ali Rustam said on Monday the lab had received state approval, and animal testing was necessary to make drugs. The project is still in the planning phase.

"God created animals for the benefits of human beings. That's why he created rats and monkeys... We cannot test on human beings," he said.

"This is the way it has to be. God created monkeys, and some have to be tested."

God made animals for testing: Malaysian minister:

If there was a god, wouldn't he just have made everything safe for humans? Or made our noses so we could smell what was safe. Wait, I bet the devil did it.

This nonsense is so densely packed into people's brains that they cannot be made to think a single sensible thing.

A Black Cat in a Dark Room — Are Theologians Really Saying Anything?, Albert Mohler

A Black Cat in a Dark Room — Are Theologians Really Saying Anything?, Albert Mohler: "Sanderson doesn't even believe in the so-called 'big questions' about life and its meaning. 'My problem is these questions don't have a answer,' he asserts, 'no matter how long you think about them and however much you try to bring God into the equation.' Sanderson prefers Gertrude Stein's succinct worldview: 'The answer is: there is no answer.'"

Building religious pressures

"We already have religious incursions all through public life. Some hospitals founded by religious orders won't do abortions or vasectomies; public funding for Catholic schools was a deal under Confederation; and even our national anthem is about God in English (and more specifically about militant Christianity in French)."
Building religious pressures:

In Your Face: French attempts to outlaw the burqa strike a blow for the rights of women.

Ah, but the particular and special demand to consider the veil and the burqa as an exemption applies only to women. And it also applies only to religious practice (and, unless we foolishly pretend otherwise, only to one religious practice). This at once tells you all you need to know: Society is being asked to abandon an immemorial tradition of equality and openness in order to gratify one faith, one faith that has a very questionable record in respect of females.

Slate Article:

Doctors don't support 'ritual nicking' - The West Australian

The college for Australia's obstetricians and gynaecologists says it does not support the "ritual nicking" of young Muslim girls and anyone suspected of performing such genital mutilation should be reported to authorities.

Dr Ted Weaver, president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), said media reports suggesting the college would review its policy were the result of a misquote.

He said the issue was likely to be discussed at a meeting next month, triggered by recent announcements made by the American Academy of Pediatrics, but a policy shift was not on the agenda.

"The college does not support - does not - support female genital mutilation, full-stop," Dr Weaver told AAP on Friday.

"This ritual nicking, as it has been called, has been put forward as a way of satisfying cultural sensitivities without making a lot of difference to a woman's genitalia but we do not support that either."

Doctors don't support 'ritual nicking' - The West Australian

So, apparently, they don't support this idea.

Religion in the Classroom

SBS's Insight's "Religion in the Classroom"

Theists are squarking about the St James Ethics Course

Italian priests' secret mistresses ask pope to scrap celibacy rule | World news | The Guardian

Dozens of Italian women who have had relationships with Roman Catholic priests or lay monks have endorsed an open letter to the pope that calls for the abolition of the celibacy rule. The letter, thought by one signatory to be unprecedented, argues that a priest "needs to live with his fellow human beings, experience feelings, love and be loved".

It also pleads for understanding of those who "live out in secrecy those few moments the priest manages to grant [us] and experience on a daily basis the doubts, fears and insecurities of our men".

Italian priests' secret mistresses ask pope to scrap celibacy rule | World news | The Guardian

Another reasonable request for the Vatican to totally ignore.

Christian groups say that biblical armageddon must be taught with global warming

Christian Groups: Biblical Armageddon Must Be Taught Alongside Global Warming

Archbishop says scale of sex abuse can't be denied

The Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Mark Coleridge, has called on Catholic leaders to do everything possible to stop sexual abuse within the Church.

Archbishop Coleridge says he accepts there is a cultural problem within the Church that has led to the abuse, and an institutional pride that has prevented many from speaking out.

The Archbishop will raise the issue in his pastoral address to the community this week.

He has told Radio National that although the level of abuse in the Church is small, every incident is appalling.

Link:

Sometimes you think they're starting to get this, although they did prattle on about 'sin' (what ever the fuck that is) a lot.

Let's just get this straight. Sin, and original sin, is a blame shift. These guys fucked kids. You can call it a sin if you want. Society is beyond 'sin', they want hard punishment for guys who fuck kids, not blame shifting excuses.

Hand these kid fuckers over to the cops so that they can be put in jail for decades. That is what is needed here. No loving forgiveness of sin. That doesn't unfuck kids.

When you are done doing that, prostate yourself in front of the victims and beg them to forgive you as you pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation until every last cent you have hoarded over the centuries is gone. Then we can start to talk about whether you have made amends.

And stop blaming gay people for all of societies woes. They didn't do this horrible, dreadful, aweful thing. Your organisation did it. You are an organisation of kid fuckers!

Fuck!

'I never covered up abuse', says Archbishop Philip Wilson | The Australian

THE Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, has defended his conduct during the past 35 years in response to allegations aired on ABC TV that he was involved in a "conspiracy of silence" about sexual abuse cases involving fellow clergy in NSW.

Archbishop Wilson maintained he had not mishandled or covered up sexual abuse cases during his time in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, north of Sydney, in the late 1970s and 80s.

'I never covered up abuse', says Archbishop Philip Wilson | The Australian

Anti-gay laws in Africa are product of American religious exports, say activists

When he arrived at Kampala’s Hotel Triangle for a three-day conference, the Rev Kapya Kaoma knew that he would not like what he heard.

The clue was in the event’s title — “Exposing the truth behind homosexuality and the homosexual agenda” — and in the line-up of guest speakers arranged by Stephen Langa, head of the Ugandan-based Family Life Network (FLN), and an outspoken advocate for the criminalisation of homosexuality in Uganda.

Link:

Tax free hate

Tax free terrorism – Christian privilege hides sinister possibilities.

Senator Nick Xenophon has introduced legislation into the senate calling for a public benefits test to be applied to religious organisations wanting to take advantage of tax breaks given to churches and religious groups by virtue of the fact that they are promoting religion (deemed in the distant past to a virtuous thing in itself).

Link:

Corruption is never harmless, in the Church or state

CORRUPTION is the most serious moral scandal of our time. Why? Because corruption is a double-edged sword, a moral evil that may turn one chump's decision to bribe, extort or otherwise abuse his power for personal gain into destruction of the very systems that order our society and make this country great.

Link:

Religion is a drain on society's resources. Like corruption, it adds nothing to society, just gums up the workings of society, slows society down and wastes resources. A friend is from the Philipines. The economy is totally disabled but corruption.

Colbert Report

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/263286/february-04-2010/formidable-opponent---khalid-sheikh-mohammed-s-trial'>Formidable Opponent - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Trial>
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

YouTube - Charlie Rose: Dan Dennett - Breaking the Spell (1st part of 6)

YouTube - Charlie Rose: Dan Dennett - Breaking the Spell (Part 1 of 6): "Dan Dennett joins Bill Moyers on the Charlie Rose show to talk about his new book 'Breaking the spell: Religion as a natural phenomenon'. Dennett is the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. His other books include 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea', 'Freedom Evolves', and 'Consciousness Explained'."

Dan Dennett joins Bill Moyers on the Charlie Rose show to talk about his new book 'Breaking the spell: Religion as a natural phenomenon'. Dennett is the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. His other books include 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea', 'Freedom Evolves', and 'Consciousness Explained'.

YouTube - Dan Dennett: Can we know our own minds?

YouTube - Dan Dennett: Can we know our own minds?: ""

http://www.ted.com Philosopher Dan Dennett makes a compelling argument that not only don't we understand our own consciousness, but that half the time our brains are actively fooling us.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes -- including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

YouTube - Dan Dennett: Cute, sexy, sweet, funny

YouTube - Dan Dennett: Cute, sexy, sweet, funny

http://www.ted.com Why are babies cute? Why is cake sweet? Philosopher Dan Dennett has answers you wouldn't expect, as he shares evolution's counterintuitive reasoning on cute, sweet and sexy things. For a topping, try his introduction to a new theory by Matthew Hurley on why jokes are funny.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

YouTube - Dan Dennett: A secular, scientific rebuttal to Rick Warren

YouTube - Dan Dennett: A secular, scientific rebuttal to Rick Warren

http://www.ted.com Philosopher Dan Dennett calls for religion -- all religion -- to be taught in schools, so we can understand its nature as a natural phenomenon. Then he takes on The Purpose-Driven Life, disputing its claim that, to be moral, one must deny evolution.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes -- including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

YouTube - 'The Evolution of Confusion' by Dan Dennett, AAI 2009

YouTube - 'The Evolution of Confusion' by Dan Dennett, AAI 2009: ""

Dan Dennett talks about purposely-confusing theology and how it's used. He also describes his new project interviewing clergyman who secretly don't believe anymore, and introduces a new term: "Deepity."

Dan Dennett is the author of many excellent books, including "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" and "Darwin's Dangerous Idea". He is also featured in the video "The Four Horsemen" along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

Download Quicktime Version
Small: http://c0116791.cdn.cloudfiles.racksp...
720p HD: http://c0116791.cdn.cloudfiles.racksp...

Watch "The Four Horsemen" in HD on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DKhc1...

Filmed by
JOSH TIMONEN

Edited by
JOEL PASHBY

Campbell lived with secret for two decades: Keneally

David Campbell, who resigned last night before television footage of him visiting a gay sex club was aired, had been living a double life for more than two decades, Premier Kristina Keneally said today.

Link:

I do not care that he's bi-sexual. It is none of the public's business.
He is a product of society's homophobia. Mr Campbell has never been allowed to express something that is a part of him. This can be seen in his wording of his apology:

“I want to make it very clear that never, over the period of my public life have those personal choices impacted in any way shape or form on the decisions I’ve had to make in public life.”

Choices? He is saying that he chose to be bi-sexual. He is saying that being bi-sexual is wrong.

What he did wrong was lied to his wife. But he lied to his wife over issues on infidelity. This is a thing that people lie about. No-one is going to tell the truth over this. It is inherently a lie. If she knew about it, it would be called an open marriage.

So, it rolls forward. There are rumors that he campaigned on a 'family values' platform. Did this include an anti-gay component, as 'family values' propaganda often does?

Now he's done something wrong. He has been hiding who he is and putting others down for the very same thing. This would be cynical and hypocritical of him. However, he is still a product of society. A society which treats being gay as a bad thing, not just a thing. If society had been more accepting of the perfectly normal state of being gay none of this crap would have happened.

So, I blame theists. Their bronze age bullshit about homosexuality is played out again.

Search for leaders of doomsday cult

South Australian police are continuing their search for the leaders of an international doomsday cult after they uncovered a stockpile of weapons and explosives during raids of the group's compounds yesterday.

About 90 police searched 12 properties in Adelaide used by Agape Ministries, finding guns, fuses, detonators, detonator cords and 20,000 rounds of ammunitions - some of which were hidden in the steel frames of bed-heads.

But Superintendent Jim Jeffery of South Australian police's Commercial and Electronic Crime Branch said it was not yet known why the group was amassing weapons.

Link: SMH

Presumably this religion applied for and received tax free status. So, because I pay taxes, my money has been spent on guns. Way to go religious wingnuts!

Gay couple jailed for 14 years - with hard labour

A Malawi gay couple has been sentenced to the maximum 14 years in prison with hard labour for holding the country's first same-sex wedding, which landed them with a sodomy conviction.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested on December 28 after their symbolic wedding and accused of violating "the order of nature". They have been in jail ever since.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malawi and most other African countries.

Link:

They forgot to mention the important part: why is Southern Africa so homophobic? Religion. This is a religiously motivated hate crime, not justice.

YouTube - Symphony of Science - The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science)

List of Twitter atheists

A list of Twitter atheists:

Hitchens schools a Muslim on free speech

Monty Python Crackpot Religions LTD

YouTube - Muhammad tells it like it is

ZOMGitsCriss depicts the hell out of Mohammed on Everybody Draw Mohammed Day



An accidental depiction...

Scientology expose by daughter of Aus President - LateLine 18/05/2010

Scientology expose by the Daughter of the Australian President of the Cult of Scientology.

Tonight is exposed the horrible treatment of children inside the church. They only get away with it because they were granted a status of a "religion". If they were any other type of organisation the authorities and government would be all over them like a rash.

Lateline is the only news service I watch. It's a bullshit free zone.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c On Topic: In the News – Gay Marriage

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
On Topic: In the News - Gay Marriage
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Watch through to the end if you can. There is a person thanking her god that she isn't a slave any more so that she can vote to stop gay marriage. FUCK!

Myths about sex offenders from the Qld Department of Corrective Services.

So, according to this, obviously, most sexual crime occurs within the community. Grooming doesn't happen online.

So, Conroy's filter can't be to prevent sex crimes against kids. If Conroy was looking to stop sex crimes against kids he would be working out a way to ban houses. That's where most sex crimes against kids occur.

Ship of Fools: Gadgets for God

Ship of Fools: Gadgets for God: "Since God is punishing the nation for watching too much Who Wants to be a Millionaire, why not give Him a hand by punishing yourself? If you thought Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code made up that bit about the weird monk torturing himself with a spiky metal belt strapped to his bloody thigh, here's the real thing... click here for an alarming close-up."

Saudi Woman Beats Up Religious Cop

According to the Saudi daily Okaz, the woman then allegedly laid into the religious policeman, punching him repeatedly, and leaving him to be taken to the hospital with bruises across his body and face.

“To see resistance from a woman means a lot,” Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, a Saudi women’s rights activist told The Media Line. “People are fed up with these religious police, and now they have to pay the price for the humiliation they put people through for years and years. This is just the beginning and there will be more resistance.”

“The media and the Internet have given people a lot of power and the freedom to express their anger,” she said. “The Hai’a are like a militia, but now whenever they do something it’s all over the Internet. This gives them a horrible reputation and gives people power to react.”

Link:

Is Reason My “God” In Whom I Have “Faith?”

A Christian friend recently told me we all have faith and that reason was my “god” in whom I had faith. Reason is not a ”god” in whom one has faith. That’s just false. Reason is a set of cognitive processes that are potentially truth-conducive. That’s IT. We are all, as rational beings subject to its demands of logic, evidence, honesty, etc. That does not make it a “god” but the only authority in matters of truth we have. That’s not a matter of faith, that’s a rational inference.

Link: Camels with Hammers.

I get this a lot. I'm told that I: "believe in atheism", or "man is my god"... shit like that. I don't have "faith" in reason. Reason works. It has a history of working. Religion has a history of failure. But religion's have a neat trick. When religion fails to deliver a result it's because we didn't use it right. When religion works the god in question scores a point.

Gay marriage an 'insidious' threat to society: Pope Benedict XVI | The Australian

FATIMA: The Pope has condemned gay marriage and abortion as "among the most insidious and dangerous challenges" to society, as Portugal prepares to legalise same-sex partnerships next week.

He described abortion as a "tragedy" and said the family was based "on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman", receiving a standing ovation from church and lay social workers yesterday.

Benedict also criticised Catholics "ashamed" of their faith and too willing to "lend a hand to secularism". Ninety per cent of Portuguese define themselves as Catholic, but Portugal's society is increasingly secular, with far fewer than a third saying they attend mass regularly.

Gay marriage an 'insidious' threat to society: Pope Benedict XVI | The Australian

More buck passing from the Pope. Clean up your own act before you try telling us how to live our lives.

pope child abuse - Google News

pope child abuse - Google News

Using Google News to keep up with the Pope's inability to deal with the Catholic churches chronic child abuse culture.

'Did Jesus Exist? - Richard Carrier

YouTube - War on everything: Funny Christian Part

YouTube - War on everything: Funny Christian Part: "LMAO... I couldn't stop laughing. People are sooo being taken advantage of."

Theists say: love the sinner, hate the sin... a good comeback.

Other suggestions:
Love the faithful, but hate the faith?
Love the godly, hate the god.

From Reddit:

Nun demoted after a hospital team carried out an abortion to save a woman’s life

A CATHOLIC nun and long-time administrator at St Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix has been demoted because she had been part of a team that decided to end the pregnancy of a critically ill patient.

The decision drew a sharp rebuke from Bishop Thomas J Olmsted, head of the Phoenix Diocese, who indicated that the nun – Sister Margaret McBride, the highest-ranking member of the Sisters of Mercy at the hospital – was “automatically excommunicated” because of the action.

Link:

So it would have been OK for the pregnant woman to die? Really?
Are women really such second class citizens to the church?
The nun in question is excommunicated but the child rapist priests are promoted.
These people are too crazy to even think about. Catholicism is a mental disease.

Dawkins at Adelaide Writer's Festival

Gay marriage insidious and dangerous: Pope

Pope Benedict XVI criticised gay marriage and abortion as "insidious and dangerous threats to the common good" in a speech at Fatima as Portugal prepares to legalise same-sex unions.

The pontiff received a standing ovation from an audience of church and lay social workers when he described abortion as a "tragedy" and said the family was based "on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman".

Link:

The Pope is morally bankrupt. He is clinging to the ideas that caused the systematic abuse of thousands of children. He thinks that he needs to do more of what he did in the past and that will make it work.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

This is attributed to many. Who knows who coined it. It sums up the Pope's attitude. The Vatican insists that they have the right solutions for the world's woes despite the evidence:
. if you're gay, you have to be celibate
. celibate priest are a good idea
. gay marriage and abortion are bad for society
. child abusing priests can be prayed out of it
These nonsensical ideas have caused enough harm in the world. Why continue on with them?

"George Rekers Is Completely Heterosexual" by Roy Zimmerman

From: Pharyngula Blog

ACLU also going after Texas Board of Education over curriculum guidelines

Yesterday, I posted this item about Equality Texas’ plans to attend the Texas State Board of Education meeting to demand that the board revise its Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards to include LGBT people and more accurately the state’s diversity.

Today, I got word that the ACLU of Texas isn’t too happy with the SBOE, either, and is accusing the board of “systemic abuse of power,” and calling on the state Legislature to limit board members’ ability to “insert personal ideologies into curriculum content”

Link:

Oslo Freedom Forum

Julian Assange is a spokesman and advisory board member of WikiLeaks, a transparency website whose mission is to "open governments" and expose human rights abuses.

Wikileaks

Abuse, in the West, of enlightenment ideals, which we should all hold dear, and the corrosion of those ideals, not only impoverishes Western countries it is also used as an excuse for terrible abuses in other countries and particularly countries that follow the common law that was set up by the British Empire. For example, abuses of libel law are used to imprison some fine journalists in severe conditions based upon president in the UK.

Anti-censorship fighters are protecting the enlightenment. Anti-enlightenment fighters are lead by the religious.

Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side'

RELIGIOUS belief can cause damage to a society, contributing towards high murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide, according to research published today.

According to the study, belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems.

The study counters the view of believers that religion is necessary to provide the moral and ethical foundations of a healthy society.

Link:

Not a new article.

There are no surprises here. When you get a second chance at life, an afterlife, this life matters less. To me, this life is precious and important. I have to make the most of it cause soon enough I'll be dead. If I do something wrong I have to make amends as best I can and apologise. I don't have an all forgiving supernatural friend to let me off the hook.

Men jailed over churchyard 'homosexual' bashing death

Two men have been jailed for the manslaughter of a man who allegedly made an unwanted homosexual advance to one of them outside a Maryborough church.

Richard John Meerdink, 41, and Jason Andrew Pearce, 38, were jailed today for the manslaughter of Wayne Robert Ruks, 45, in the grounds of Maryborough's St Mary's Catholic Church in July 2008.

Link:

Well, it doesn't say that they weren't Catholics.
If this was a story about two drunk guys on the steps of a museum it would be all about how museums are full of evolution propaganda and that's why they did it. If they are allowed to lie and jump to conclusions, so am I.

Judge backs Redding atheist who balked at religious anti-drug program

Hazle was ordered to attend a 90-day, inpatient drug treatment program. He agreed to the program but even before his release told prison officials he wanted to be sent to a "treatment facility that did not contain religious components," federal court papers state.

Instead, he was assigned to the Empire Recovery Center in Redding, a 12-step program pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous and featuring a strong religious overtone, utilizing references to God and "a higher power."

Read more:

I've read an AlAnon book. It is annoyingly religious. It would be nearly impossible for me to sit through it and pretend to participate.

Slaves to Super-stition - Richard Dawkins - First of 5 - just follow your nose

God Strikes Back - Richard Dawkins

YouTube - Lars Vilks Attacked at Uppsala University

YouTube - Lars Vilks Attacked at Uppsala University

Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist who drew Mohammed as a dog, was recently told that a scheduled lecture on free speech, to be held at Jönköping Högskolan, would be canceled due to "security concerns." This, of course, is a common evasion, intended to protect the brittle sensibilities of Muslim students while supposedly standing four square behind the right of free speech.

Alas, the administrators in Jönköping had a point. During a lecture in Uppsala today Vilks was attacked by a pack of feral fundamentalists, one of whom managed to headbutt the artist and break his glasses. Police intervened and waged a short battle with the religious nutters who can be heard in the video below, captured by the newspaper UNT, shouting Allahu Akbar! The AP has a quick report, explaining that "Uppsala University spokeswoman Pernilla Bjork said Vilks was showing a provocative film with sexual content to the crowd when the attacker ran up and hit him in the face with his fists."

So, is this religion teaching people to be good?

Sick and tired of god-stuff - an open letter to theists

There is only one simple reason that I am atheist. There is ample evidence that the concept of gods is entirely man made, and additionally, made from ignorance. Most theists have difficulty with this, yet as a friend of mine says, we atheists simply believe in one less god than you Christians (or Jews, or Moslems, etc) do. I have yet to find a Christian who has difficulty agreeing with me that Zeus or Poseidon ever existed… yet they cling to the ridiculous short-circuited rationalization that their god does exist.

Sick and tired of god-stuff - an open letter to theists

RDF TV - Baloney Detection Kit - Michael Shermer

With a sea of information coming at us from all directions, how do we sift out the misinformation and bogus claims, and get to the truth? Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine lays out a "Baloney Detection Kit," ten questions we should ask when encountering a claim.

The 10 Questions:
1. How reliable is the source of the claim?
2.Does the source make similar claims?
3. Have the claims been verified by somebody else?
4. Does this fit with the way the world works?
5. Has anyone tried to disprove the claim?
6. Where does the preponderance of evidence point?
7. Is the claimant playing by the rules of science?
8. Is the claimant providing positive evidence?
9. Does the new theory account for as many phenomena as the old theory?
10. Are personal beliefs driving the claim?

TED talk:

Abbott feels heat on Jesus claim

TONY Abbott is under pressure to justify a claim to primary school students that it was considerably warmer when Jesus was alive than it is today.

The Opposition Leader urged year 5 and 6 students at Trinity Gardens Primary School in Adelaide to be sceptical about the human contribution to climate change, saying it was an open question.

Link:

So Abbott has his hypothesis: It was warmer when Jesus was alive. Where's your data on this Abbott? Were you studying climatology between marathons? Or is it written in your bible? (Hint, it can't be in your hand writing.)

Abbott is working outside of his core skills: budgie smuggling, playing opposition leader, protecting virgins and espousing bible literacy. He should leave climate science to the grown ups.

4 Horseman Discussion - Higher Quality

Islam becomes taboo topic on TV in wake of 'South Park' threats and Times Square scare Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/islam_becomes

Don't mess with Allah. That's the new, unwritten code in Hollywood following the one-two punch of Islamic extremists' threats against the creators of "South Park" and the failed bombing attempt outside the cartoon’s parent company, Viacom, in New York's Times Square, FOXNews.com reported Friday.
In the current, supercharged climate, it just isn’t worth endangering the safety of an entire production staff or network by pursuing a storyline that Muslim extremists might find offensive, media executives and writers told Fox.

Link:

Where are all the moderate Muslims denouncing these threats as against Islam? Well, come on! These people are speaking for Islam. Your silence confirms that Islam requires the killing of the South Park writers.

QI: David Mitchell on Pascal's Wager - Heaven For Atheists

Burkas should be banned as 'unAustralian', senator claims

Cory Bernardi, a Liberal from South Australia, complained that the full Islamic veil was a "repressive domination of men over women" and established "different sets and expectations in society".
Writing on his blog following an armed robbery in Sydney by a man wearing a burka and sunglasses, he said: "It is un-Australian - and it's symbolic barrier is far greater than the measure of cloth it is created from. For safety and for society, the burka needs to be banned."

Link:

The word 'unAustralian' makes my skin crawl. I agree that the burka should be banned. I'm not allowed to walk into a service station or bank with a full face helmet on for security reasons. I would not talk to a person with dark/mirrored glasses on. It's just rude.

For balance, the good things about the burka:
. they hide the bruises and missing teeth
. cross dressing is easy so Muslim men can take their underage bum boys bitches out to lunch
. with all that mystery, Muslim men can dream that they're not married to a skin-headed pit-bull with a bull's nose ring

Facebook's New Policies Make Harassment Easy

North Africa has become a testing ground for a new sort of online harassment, and ReadWriteWeb is in the middle of it. Groups of Islamists are using the proliferation of Facebook's public pages to single out users they consider ideologically unorthodox (a broad category indeed by their definition) and then using Facebook's public ban process to stop their mouths.

Link:

I had a complaint lodge against me for linking to a natural birth video in the breast feeding group. The video was removed and I was copped a warning. Facebook's going to have to do something to protect people from these trolls.

Sanal Edamaruku - An excellent skeptic in India

Sanal Edamaruku is the President of the Indian Rationalist Association (their blog)

He appeared here in youtube videos where he challenged a mystic to kill him with his 'powers' (not his Austin Powers. Nooo Baby, No.)

He has started his own blog and has tweets:

India needs rational thought. They have so much woo in their lives.

Muslims

If you want to claim that your religion is a religion of peace then you should not be silent while people spew hatred in the name of your religion. Your silence emboldens them.

South park creators show an episode of various religious characters, yet no religious groups act like cry babies or spark outcry, but when muhammad is CENSORED and shown in a bear costume, radical muslims spark outcry and call for creators of south park to be killed. If you beleive anybody that these weren't death threats, your obviously stupid and very naive. If giving out a warning message, along with a picture of Theo Van Gogh with a knife in his back and the addresses for the south park creators is not a death threat, then you need a reality check.

Bill Maher on the Superiority of Western Values

In response to multiculturalists who believe Muslim culture is "just different" and not inferior. Clip from "Victory Begins At Home", HBO Special from 2003. . .

Richard Dawkins What if scientists worked like religions?

Richard Dawkins What if scientists worked like religions?

Ask Raptor Jesus

Only those with the freshest, most succulent livers will be saved...




Worth it for the last 20 seconds.

Richard Dawkins - Absolute Morality

Theists say that we can't be moral without some supernaturally gifted morality and that the supernaturally gifted morality required is the one they profess rather than one of those false ones that other religions profess.





Q&A full episode youtube playlist: