January 7, 2012

The Evangelical Brain Trust

The central question of the culture wars that have raged since the 1970s is not whether abortion is murder or gay marriage a civil right, but whether the Enlightenment was a good thing. Many evangelical Americans think the answer is no, according to “The Anointed,” a field guide to the evangelical experts you haven’t heard of — but should.

Many evangelicals, Randall J. Stephens and Karl W. Giberson say, get their information on dinosaurs and fossils from Ken Ham, an Australian with a bachelor’s degree from the Queensland Institute of Technology. Ham believes human reason should confirm the Bible rather than reinterpret it, and teaches that God created the world a few thousand years ago. His ministry, “Answers in Genesis,” includes a radio program broadcast over more than 1,000 stations, a magazine with a circulation of 70,000 and the ­multimillion-dollar Creation Museum in Kentucky. While other evangelicals — for example Francis Collins, the born-again Christian who runs the National Institutes of Health — offer more nuanced perspectives on science’s relationship to the Bible, Ham commands a far larger audience.

When it comes to history, many evangelicals reject the world-class historians in their own fold — such scholars as Mark Noll and George Marsden, who advocate a balanced account of Christianity’s role in early America — in favor of the amateur David Barton’s evangelical makeover of Washington and Madison.

--snip--

“The Anointed” condemns the current state of evangelical intellectual life, but Stephens and Giberson avoid monolithic stereotypes. They are careful to note that evangelicals disagree wildly among themselves about almost everything. Their interview subjects range from a home-schooled Baptist who has never had a non-Christian friend to academics trained in the Ivy League. Still, a reader of “The Anointed” is likely to conclude that the average evangelical hates the academic establishment almost as much as he loves Jesus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/books/review/the-anointed-evangelical-truth-in-a-secular-age-by-randall-j-stephens-and-karl-w-giberson-book-review.html?_r=2

January 7, 2012

Scientists Prove That All Religious Books Are Man-Made Nonsense

The following post is a link from a news article. I neither endorse nor condemn this article. I present it as a topic for discussion, nothing more.

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The scientists headed by Doctor Julius Sanreso, welcomed the research findings and said that it would be in the interests of those who believe in such nonsense as organised religion or creationism to accept the fact that religious books were written by men as a control system.

"Just think for one second, if 'God' or a 'messenger of God' had written that particular religious book/bible, how come the writings only occur within a very limited period in human history? Also, consider the fact, that a human writing on a piece of paper, or a few pieces of paper, is not the word of 'God'. If they were really written by a universal God or entity, the books would not be limited to some pre-medievel costume drama but would encompass all universality and science. God would presumably be universal and timeless as well as all-knowing, as is the universe, therefore these man-written books and scriptures, are just that, man-written nonsense used to control men and women thousands of years ago. Why would 'God' write anything anyway? One must consider the fact that, even now, there are religious zealots and ordinary people still entrenched in a control belief system that is so far removed from reality that it borders on madness. There is no rational or scientific way that organised religions can have a modicum of truth or factual reality because of the very reason that these books are entombed in the time that they were written. These books should therefore simply be viewed as limited parables and historical fiction and as a lesson in how millions of people can be easily controlled."

--snip--

The problem for the world's political leaders, is that slowly, humans who were controlled for so many years by fictitious writings, may suddenly lose their controlled 'faith'. This could be quite dangerous, because it would mean that these people would suddenly wake up and realise that they have been fooled for so long by being communally hypnotised.

"We must ensure that the people who have been fooled for so long by fictitious belief systems utilised to control humans do not get too angry when they realise that what they believe in is nonsense written by humans. This could be dangerous for society, so we must either let them carry on believing their fiction or try to somehow support them when they realise the truth," Dr Sanreso said.

The research paper will be published in its entirety in 2015.

http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/index.php?news=3102

January 7, 2012

2012 Presidential Candidate Scorecard

In 2012, voters will make a decision that will have a profound effect on our country: who will lead America through the year 2016. During a time when secular values are under constant attack by many religious leaders and political candidates, the Secular Coalition for America presents the 2012 Presidential Candidate Scorecard. This card reviews each of the major candidates in both the Democratic and Republican parties and examines their views on issues that are important to the nearly 50 million secular and nontheistic Americans who will help choose our president this upcoming November. (Full version at the link)



http://secular.org/content/2012-presidental-candidate-scorecard


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This highlights just how bad for non-believing Americans, as well as liberal believers, any Republican President would be.

January 6, 2012

What. The. Fuck?

SO I posted an OP in R&T that was story from a Christian blog a few minutes ago. It was not MY blog, it was not MY opinion, and yet it was just hidden by a jury.

This system is broken. There needs to be an appeal process. This system allows the majority to oppress the minority, the VERY thing that liberals and progressives are supposed to be AGAINST.


Here is a link to the blog. Enjoy some good christian values.

http://christiansforamoralamerica.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-deal-with-atheist-and-homosexual.html

January 6, 2012

Coffee with jesus

January 6, 2012

Tennessee Bill Would Give Anti-Bullying Laws A ‘Religious And Political Beliefs’ Loophole

A proposed bill in Tennessee would create a loophole in the state’s anti-bullying laws to protect those expressing religious, philosophical or political beliefs, which one proponent says would ensure that people can still express their “views on homosexuality.”

The proposed bill would amend the state’s current anti-bullying laws to specify that the anti-bully policy should “not be construed or interpreted to infringe upon the First Amendment rights of students and shall not prohibit their expression of religious, philosophical, or political views” as long as there’s no physical threat or threat to another student’s property.

David Fowler, a former Republican state Senator and current Christian activist, is pushing for the legislature to take up the bill in the new year after it stalled before the end of the last session. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Fowler sent out a newsletter for his group the Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) in December that said he wants “to make sure [the law] protects the religious liberty and free speech rights of students who want to express their views on homosexuality.”


http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/tn_bill_would_give_anti-bullying_laws_a_religious.php

January 5, 2012

Sweden recognises new file-sharing religion Kopimism

The Swedish government agency Kammarkollegiet finally registered the Church of Kopimism as a religious organisation shortly before Christmas, the group said.

"We had to apply three times," said Gustav Nipe, chairman of the organisation.

The church, which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V (shortcuts for copy and paste) as sacred symbols, does not directly promote illegal file sharing, focusing instead on the open distribution of knowledge to all.

It was founded by 19-year-old philosophy student and leader Isak Gerson. He hopes that file-sharing will now be given religious protection.

"For the Church of Kopimism, information is holy and copying is a sacrament. Information holds a value, in itself and in what it contains and the value multiplies through copying. Therefore copying is central for the organisation and its members," he said in a statement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16424659

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If you think that YOUR beliefs are due respect, then you had better not mock this religion, or else you are a bigot.

Right?

January 5, 2012

We are ALL atheists, some just a little bit more than others...

So stop being a hater. You ARE an atheist when it comes to the god(s) you don't believe in (and there are thousands of them).

January 3, 2012

OWS at the Rose Parade and religions role in it.

While National coverage seemed pretty intent on not showing the OWS at the Rose Parade, there are several stories circulating on teh internets about it. None of them even mention religion at all, except for one... a person who was live tweeting and he had this to say about religions presence at the OWS Rose Parade;

12:43 PM Militant Christians or followers of Fred Phelps are on hand to disrupt Occupy the Rose Parade’s effort to march at the end of the Rose Parade.

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/



And thats it. I can find nothing else about religion playing a role in the OWS protest at the Parade. Anyone else hear anything?