From the monthly archives:

July 2006

Common Nonsense

by Karen on July 31, 2006

in Atheism, Religion

Under the banner of ‘common sense’ this author of this article wishes to continue the assault on the state by various religions which translates as Christianity in the United States. What it is is common nonsense. The best route is to keep the two entities as far apart as possible. The odd thing is that some of these people acknowledge what has happened in the past once the lines are blurred. There must be something else afoot, eh?

Our common sense approach should allow for verbal religious expression and for the display of religious symbols and materials in public and government venues. Although all religions should have equal access and rights regarding those expressions and displays, the majority religion would obviously have a major advantage here. But so be it.

This works in reverse too. There are areas of the United States where we, the atheists, are the majority. Under the guise of “majority rule” we could replace every “In God We Trust” with “God is Dead”. If you’re a religious person how would you like to enter a government building and see that phrase above your representatives head? How about official ceromonies where you put your hand on “Origin of the Species” and repeat the phrase “So help me Darwin”?

How about money that says “In IPU We Trust” or calls for the “FSM” to “Bless America”? Busts of Neitzche all over the place? Monuments bearing the principles of Secular Humanism? Children being forced to at least witness all their classmates reciting:

[link]
“When I became convinced that the Universe is natural — that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom … For the first time, I was free … I stood erect and joyously faced all worlds. And then my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went out in love to all the heroes, the thinkers who gave their lives for the liberty of hand and brain … And then I vowed to grasp the torch that they had held, and hold it high, that light might conquer darkness still.”

But, this reverse is something pro-”common sense” persons fail to consider because it’s automatically assumed that the religious would never be victimized by their own “common sense”. And that betrays the privilege that such calls rest upon.

And as usual, the suggested compromise never requires them to give any ground. It is, in effect, a complete capitulation to their demands that they continue to stamp their gods name on everything, have their god recognized by the state and all it’s institutions and so on and so forth. Lest we be called names and face accusations of “religious persecution” for failing to see the “common sense” in not challenging them.

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Mel Gibson & The Jewish Problem

by Karen on July 30, 2006

in Religion

Mel Gibson was recently arrested for DUI and it has since come to light that he went on a tirade about Jews and accused Jews of being behind everything that is wrong with the world today. Mel, of course, has released a statement saying he said dispicable things he didn’t believe.

Uhh… yeah… right…

Gibson is traditionalist Catholic. What does that mean? Think Fundamentalist Protestant without the funny hat and smoking purse. The media likes to portray the split with these traditionalists with the Vatican as having to do with language, but that’s just part of the story. The Vatican II didn’t just change the language of the masses, but also changed how the Vatican dealt with other Christian sects and non-Christian religions.

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The Error: An embracing of the false ideas of “religious liberty” and the radical separation of Church and State. This contradicts the oldest teaching of the Church, Leo XIII’s “Testem Benevolentiae Nostra,” etc.

The Truth: While it may be prudent and beneficial to the common good to tolerate error at times, and while those in error must be treated with charity, error has no “rights.” A State whose laws are not based on natural law, whose laws don’t have the Christian understanding of the True, Good, and Beautiful at their center, and whose laws don’t have the good of the souls of its citizens/subjects at their heart is bound to lead to trouble with great eternal and temporal consequences.

The Error: The spread of a false ecumenism (movement toward unity between Christians) and incessant, fruitless interreligious dialogue (dialogue between Christians and non-Christians) that has as its goal a religious unity that doesn’t require conversion to the Catholic faith; that has served to water down the Catholic Faith in order to appease non-Catholics; and that has led to scandalous “interfaith” prayer and worship services that are based on sentiment and feelings rather than true charity which is rooted in Truth. This contradicts Sacred Scripture, Pope Pius X’s “Our Apostolic Mandate” (”Notre Charge Apostolique”), Pope Pius XI’s ”Mortalium Animos,” Pope Pius XII’s ”Humani Generis” and other documents.

The Truth: It is a dogma of the Faith that “outside the Church there is no salvation” (”extra ecclesiam nulla salus”). To gain a proper understanding of this teaching, see the relevant paragraphs on the page “Catholicism 101: A Brief Primer.”

Maybe Gibson didn’t mean he really thought the Jews are behind all the problems, but I find it hard, if not impossible, for him to regard Jews with complete respect and/or acceptance in light of his public stance as a traditionalist Catholic.

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Standing up to Theocrats

July 30, 2006

Rev. Gregory A. Boyd of Woodlands Hills Church near St. Paul, MN has repeatedly rebuffed the advances of Christian theocrats who wanted to use his church as a staging ground for things the Christian right has become well know for such as the drive to deny homosexuals equal rights and to restrict the reproductive rights [...]

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Governor Good-Hair Stumping for Faith

July 26, 2006

Our esteemed leader Governor Perry is stumping for public funding for faith groups and has made no bones about it. He wants the general public to fund the religious acts of select people:
“There are a great many who have heard a calling of service and have answered with the words of Isaiah, ‘Here am [...]

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Where’s the Sacrifice?

July 25, 2006
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The Heirophant’s Proselytizer Questionnaire

July 25, 2006

I came across this questionnaire for Christians by Patrick Mooney (aka The Heirophant) and thought I’d post it as it contains many of the still unanswered questions I have about Christianity and he graciously allows the questionnaire to be reposted.
While I am interested in what you as a Christian may have to say in response [...]

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The Heirophant’s Proselytizer Questionnaire

July 25, 2006

I came across this questionnaire for Christians by Patrick Mooney (aka The Heirophant) and thought I’d post it as it contains many of the still unanswered questions I have about Christianity and he graciously allows the questionnaire to be reposted.
While I am interested in what you as a Christian may have to say in response [...]

Read the full article →

The Heirophant’s Proselytizer Questionnaire

July 25, 2006

I came across this questionnaire for Christians by Patrick Mooney (aka The Heirophant) and thought I’d post it as it contains many of the still unanswered questions I have about Christianity and he graciously allows the questionnaire to be reposted.
While I am interested in what you as a Christian may have to say in response [...]

Read the full article →

What if it was America?

July 24, 2006

America is home to one of the oldest terrorist groups - the KKK. A combination of Christian and white supremacy, hate for the Jews is rampant amongst its members as well as other such groups that have been birthed upon these shores since the end of the second world war.
Navigate through their various websites, pamphlets, [...]

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Evolution in progess

July 24, 2006

A new research paper has identified some of the changes humans have been through over the course of our evolution according to an article in the Washington Post:

The research offers a fascinating snapshot into how the human genome has continued to change as humans adapted to new circumstances over the past 10,000 years. As [...]

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