Test...again

This is a test of the emergency atheist system.

Er, of the Intense Debate comment system.

Much Ado About Crackers

The preternatural, superfluous world of the Catholic fraternity has, for the better part of two millennial, been extremely territorial and savage with regards to preserving and propagating their outrageous beliefs. From imposing imaginary crimes against a imagined cosmic Godfather, such as the usurp crime (and accompanying punishments) of blasphemy, to the adulation of the Old Testament's fiery God's alter-ego, Jebus, approximately a billion Catholics take their religion and their elaborate ceremonies seriously, sometimes a tad too seriously for their own good.

Jebus, being the centre of this chicanery, is deemed somewhat as a sacrificial lamb: As a deity, Jebus, as we are told, sacrificed his life by getting his ass nailed on the cross. A elaborate tale of treachery by the Pharisees (Jewish priests) & his subsequent crucification gave rise to two uniquely separate enterprises:

1. Anti-Semitism, which, of course, reached unprecedented heights during World War II: Thanks to the general hatred against Jews because of their supposedly treacherous involvement in Jebus's execution (Now, think about the irony of ironies: Wouldn't the Jews have done the sinners a huge favor by facilitating the death of this God-Son, who really would have died anyway with or without the Jews, assuming he was really the purported deity in question), the Jews were racially discriminated, abused and condemned by generations upon generations of Christians and subsequently the Muslims who came to dominate the "Holy Land", Jerusalem. The death of 6 million Jews, precipitated by Hitler's "Final Solution" against the accursed Jews, highlights this extraordinary racial hatred, abetted and exploited to the full by Christian-inspired drivel of the Catholic & Christian fraternity.

2. The Eucharist: A Tale Of Cannibalism and Vampirism

Catholicism, like most monotheistic religions, thrives on blood-spill galore: Hell, if you can't spill real blood and practice cannibalism, fake it!

-While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
Matthew 26:26-28

Horrors upon horrors: As if the idea of crucification is not enough to dampen one's appetite, Jebus wants to remind his followers of this morbid representation of vampirism and cannibalism every time the pious eats his bread and drinks his Bloody Mary!

The Catholics, with all their pompous ceremonies and frightfully morbid imagination, brings the doctrine a step further: With the elaborate conception of the Eucharist, the Catholic Church conducts a ceremony to turn bread into real human flesh, and wine into real blood! All in the name of Jebus!!!

".........by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation" (Session XIII, chapter IV; cf. canon II).

Imagine the torture God has to go through every other Sunday, as his beloved followers feast and dine on his battered and blood-drained body. It is as if the idea of crucification, which is a supposedly one-time event, has been multiplied to such a point that the torture has become ad finitum.

Sorry Infidels: God-Murder is Reserved for the Pious Folks of Jebus!

The Catholic Church, it seems, guards this idea of God murder-cum-cannibalism-cum-vampirism very seriously: Hence we witness the barbarity and insanity of religion at its epic best (or worst, depending on how you view it). By practicing extreme, polarizing polemics, the Lord of the Flies is both loved and tortured at the same time. Both traits, it seems, hardly ever go hand in hand, unless one is illustrating the rather erotic and painful world of sado-masochism.

Because of the sacred nature of this barbaric ceremony, Catholics, it seems, guard their ceremonious "bread" jealously: A piece of cracker, in place of the consecrated bread, becomes a subject of controversy as infidels have chipped in with their fare share of God-cannibalism ethics.

In response to the hooha over the alleged "desecration of a Jebus cracker by a university undergraduate, PZ Myers, a biology professor who is also the owner of the popular science blog, Pharyngula, decided to drive a nail into one holy cracker.........and the response was more than overwhelming, to say the least.

From The Catholic League website:

MYERS DESECRATES THE EUCHARIST

July 24, 2008

University of Minnesota professor Paul Z. Myers made good on his pledge to desecrate the Eucharist today. According to his statement on the subject, “I pierced it [the Host] with a rusty nail (I hope Jesus’s tetanus shots are up to date). And then I simply threw it in the trash.”

Saying he did not want to “single out just the cracker,” Myers also tore pages from the Koran along with a few pages from Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion and nailed them to the Host. He then said, “They are just paper. Nothing must be held sacred. (His emphasis.) Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded as follows:

“A formal complaint against Myers has already been made. What he did—in both word and deed—constitutes a bias incident, as defined by the University of Minnesota. The policy says that ‘Expressions of disrespectful bias, hate, harassment or hostility against an individual, group or their property because of the individual or group’s actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion…can be forms of discrimination. Expressions vary, and can be in the form of language, words, signs, symbols, threats, or actions that could potentially cause alarm, anger, fear, or resentment in others…even when presented as a joke.’

“The University must now take action and apply the appropriate sanction. We are contacting the president, Board of Regents and the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office at the school, as well as Minnesota’s governor and both houses of the state legislature; the Catholic community in Minnesota is also being contacted. Moreover, we are also contacting Muslim groups nationwide.

“It is important for Catholics to know that the University of Minnesota will not tolerate the deliberate destruction of the Eucharist by one of its faculty. Just as African Americans would not tolerate the burning of a cross, and Jews would not tolerate the display of swastikas, Catholics will not tolerate the desecration of the Eucharist.”

Seems like a real lynching and witch hunt is in order: As usual, Bill Donohue, the shrill, Pope-loving asshole of his equally imbecilical league of riffraffs and religious mafia, spares no effort in deriding, chiding and bullying a biology professor into silence.

So seriously heinous were the actions of cracker desecration by PZ Myers,that it led to cries of fury, outrage and unspeakable abuses against what seems to be a relatively harmless act.

Well, considering what PZ Myers just did....destroying the supposed body of Jebus rather than committing cannibalism every other Sunday, I dare say Myers treated that innocuous cracker with more decency than any other Catholic on the planet!

But alas, Bill, like most Catholics, prefer to keep the fun all to themselves. Such spoilsports indeed!

In their jealous bid to keep the God murder all unto themselves, Christians have taken this golden opportunity to demonstrate their great love for mankind, by first condemning Myers for his cracker-abusing dramatics.

Calls for his termination from his existing job aside, Myers has received huge quantities of "love letters" from Jebus folks, ranging from murderous threats to "Ya going to hell infidel!", so much so that his mailbox has been flooded by incessant junkmail from the aggrieved, pious folks (& so are the comments on his blog post with regards to this "earth shattering episode, link here):

Here's one exemplary letter, from a certain "Jacob Ford" who seems to be obsessed with male tits.......

if you will believe in God when you are watching your man tits burn in hell you fat bastard.
Clearly you're mad at God for making you such a fatass who has the intelligence of a 14 year old.
Why don't you try debating a grownup Christian intellectual so we can all laugh at what an idiot you are and how you are a third rate professor at a second rate school who has to be an anti-religious bigot to sell his boring bloated juvenile books.
...I suppose you're already in hell sitting around pecking away at your computer becoming an ever fatter bastard and separating yourself further from happiness. I'm gonna pray that God forgives you!
I wanna thank you actually...I believe in Jesus Christ completely for the first time because he suffered humiliation in all his magnanimity at the hands of one of his lowest creatures! Enjoy your pathetic lonely life...find God if you want to be happy before you die!
Seriously though you and the other 6% of the world who believe in nothing are having such an affect on the world! I mean since the Enlightenment and the first hateful atheists so much bad has happened to the Holy Church...she is the largest unified institution in the world (I will remind you that the Muslims are not unified) and has more money than Warren Buffet...
You make forty, maybe fifty thousand a year...probably can't get a date with a decent woman and kill yourself with unnecessary stress about other people's beliefs...I think it's cute how obsessed with us you are titty boy!!!

For all his vitriol and ramblings, he is at least right about one thing: The Church is definitely far richer than Warren Buffet. While the socialists and the communists can wax lyrical about the shady and corrupted world of unbridled capitalism, the Church, with its nefarious dealings and collusions with tyrants and despots (think Hitler, Napoleon), have amassed outrageous amounts of wealth no thanks to ceaseless and remorseless persecutions and murders in the name of God.

Rational Thinking 911: Crackers are Not Human Flesh

This episode is a timely reminder for secular, rational-thinking folks like myself, who actually wouldn't give any particular attention to discarded crackers, much less a nail-driven one (as I am quite sure the Christians on the other side will concur, unless of course the cracker has been "trans-substantiated" and deemed "fleshy" unto the Lord!).

Consecrated or no, what Myers did (& mind you he did so to prove a point) was never a demonstration of hate speech, as so vehemently accused by that fat bastard of the Catholic League: What Myers has done is to demonstrate and perhaps elucidate the absurdity of faith-based, erroneous beliefs, as well exercising his freaking God damned right to free speech in a rational and non-provocative manner.

The next time some Catholic or Christian tells you that Christianity is a religion of love, in sharp contrast with the jihad loving Muslims, try piercing a cracker in front of him, and watch with bemusement as he or she goes bananas over the rights of the cracker.

-"I count religion but a childish toy,
And hold there is no sin but ignorance. "

Christopher Marlowe

Divine Bullshit: Prayers Saves Lives (But Don't Forget to Call on the Doc)

Its a strange reality, or rather, a conundrum that befuddles most folks, religious folks and atheists alike: Our human bodies, frail as they all, fall prey to all kinds of sicknesses and ailments. Slipped discs, inflammed knees (From which I suffered immensely, prior to my op), influenzas from microbes smaller than the breadth of your hair, and an assortment of other shitty, distasteful ailments, our bodies are the mechanical equivalent of a volkswagon: It breaks down from time to time, depending on your age (like old cars, old folks tend to suffer from the rigors of old age and wear and tear), your physical and mental condition, and other earthly, mundane factors.

The difference, it seems, is how faith-based homo sapiens and infidels view sickness. It becomes, for the most devout, a kind of punishment, a sign from the heavens if you will, which has been inflicted upon us as a malevolent result of our transgressions against the heavenly deity or deities, and it is with regards to this transgression, otherwise known as "Sin", that we deserve to be punished. Hence, the logic goes, prayers to invisible Cosmic Fathers are dished out as the faithful drop to their knees, gives God a good, old fashioned fellatio, and begs the invisible master for a cure to end suffering.

Most rational people, including religious folks who are not too steeped into their faith based bullshit, tend to adhere to common sense: That hospitals, clinics, and other medical institutions are there simply to cater to the specific ailments of patients, and doctors are consulted because medical science is where cures and treatments can be procured, not churches and religious teachers.



Nonetheless, the tendency to seek divine intervention is there, according to the latest survey.

Belief in Divine Intervention

According to a recent survey (link here), 57% Americans believe in divine intervention in the medical establishment; i.e that God will intervene in cases of extreme stress or trauma that endangers the lives of the faithful.



From a human standpoint, it is sometimes not too difficult to fathom where such beliefs are coming from: Besides a cultural diet of religious indoctrination, there are times, especially in stressful situations, whereby our brains do not necessarily adhere to any form of reality, prefering to suspend reason in the deluded hope that somehow, or somewhere, a deity or supernatural entity will plug us out of our predicament or misery.



Consider the following:



[Pat Loder, a Milford, Michigan, woman whose two young children were killed in a 1991 car crash, said she clung to a belief that God would intervene when things looked hopeless.
"When you're a parent and you're standing over the body of your child who you think is dying ... you have to have that" belief, Loder said.]



The fact that Loder had prayed fervently for a miracle to happen (The excuse that she didn't have enough faith, as some stupid Christians are wont to give when told that prayers are unanswered, can hardly be applied here, since those grievously hurt are her kids) obviously did not turn into reality, and I would venture to say that, such a no-show from the supposed all seeing and all-powerful deity must have dealt a blow to her faith:



[She said her beliefs about divine intervention have changed.
"I have become more of a realist," she said. "I know that none of us are immune from anything."]



The Divine Plan?



Tis a strange philosophical conundrum: If God has a Divine Plan for each individual human being, as proselytized and trumpetted by Christians and other theists, wouldn't the prayer for divine intervention be a direct contradiction to God's divine plan?



After all, if it is God's wish for that person to die, certainly any clamor for him or her to live would drastically alter God's divine plans......how then, does the Christian or theist justify this inexplicable conundrum? & if the deity in question had wanted to intervene, would the mere matter of prayers make an ounce of difference?



Difficult philosophical questions indeed, but perhaps the simplest answers to questions with regards to life and death lie elsewhere.



Death Is Inevitable



As humans, it is suffice to say that we are born mortals, mere travellers on this blob of green-blue planet for a blink of a second compared to all 4.5 billion years of Earth's sagely existence. We die, and even with the best of medical efforts, not everyone can be save from the brink of death. & if statistics are anything to go by, praying will not hedge you a safe bet from disaster or death.



While some may seek solace in seeking divine interventions, the unpleasant truth is that death will descend upon us sometime in our lives, and hoping or praying for divine interventions would simply make the loss more painful, especially to the ones who are still alive, having their false hopes dashed as they see their loved ones slip away to oblivion.





"Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. " -Benjamin Franklin

The Trinitarian Tale: Of Commies, Olympics and Religious Knuckleheads

Its the time of the leap year again: Every four years, one lucky nation gets a chance to host the once-in-every four-years event, otherwise known as the Olympics(provided, of course, the nation doesn't bankrupt itself first!).


A disenchanted monk, fed up at not being able to represent Tibet in the Olympics Boxing Match, Lets his fists do the talking.

Amidst the bro-ha-ha of the Michael Phelps, the American Basketball "Redeem Team" (NBA standards have fallen quite a fair bit since the Jordan Era) and other ridiculously muscled athletes, the Communist Party in China seems to revel in stealing the international limelight, albeit with hiccups: An American coach has been stabbed, bombs have been thrown and bantered about like candy bars by our all-affable, teddy bear loving Muhammadians and jihadists, and who can forget the Tibetans, who, prior to the Olympics, were all jumping and aching for an October Revolution in Tibet, so that they can once again turn the clock and send the Mongolian populaces straight back into archaic, Vatican style theocratic rule?

Ah yes, everyone loves the Olympics: From the average Joe on the street who simply loves to watch some NBA punk dunk the ball into the basket, to the run-in-the-mill extremist, everyone has something to take away from the international event, and now, it seems, the Christian evangelists want a piece of their damn cake and maybe, just maybe, eat the whole damn cake themselves!

China confiscates Bibles from American Christians

By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press WriterSun Aug 17, 10:17 AM ET

Chinese customs officials confiscated more than 300 Bibles on Sunday from four American Christians who arrived in a southwestern city with plans to distribute them, the group's leader said.

The Bibles were taken from the group's checked luggage after they landed at the airport in the city of Kunming, said Pat Klein, head of Vision Beyond Borders. The group, based in Sheridan, Wyoming, distributes Bibles and Christian teaching materials around the world to "strengthen the persecuted church," according to its Web site.

Ah....The persecuted Church. It is a quaint little idea. When Christians and their missionary compatriots encounter resistance of any sort, be it the Renaissance, the Communists, or the pagans, they usually counteract with either one of two responses:

1. Play the "abused housewife" role: Like bawling little babies, these Christians will make use of their supposed plight in not being able to reach out to the masses, and usually turn it into a PR windfall. Sympathy votes are garnered, outright international condemnation for the alleged abuse or torture of a bunch of harmless, Bible-inspired sheep (more like wolves in sheep's clothing!) and ultimately winning more converts to their erstwhile cause.

2. Alternatively, a better option, provided, of course, they are well supported by powerful allies, is to engage the help of an armed militia against hapless tribes people, who, decked with leaves and armed with little else other than spears and peacock feathers, can hardly be expected to muster any form of meaningful resistance against their religious oppressors.

POWER PLAYS

The Aztecs: Long-forgotten Victims of Christian Genocide

From the Inquisitors of Spain in Mexico (who, besides forcibly converting the masses into Christianity and burning those who stubbornly refuse to submit to Jebus, looted, pillaged and finally destroyed the once-thriving civilization which we know today as the Aztecs), to the notorious witch hunts, Christian missionaries, colluding with local militias who are all but emboldened by these supposedly harmless servants of God, have proven time and again that given the right opportunity and timing, they could enforce the wrath of their deities in ways more draconian than even the worst tyrants and despots the world can ever muster.

In today's context, the Communist Party is, quite definitely, the stronger adversary: The missionary, therefore, has to toe the line when spreading their crap load of Jebus horseshit. After all, the Communists have always been leery of religions and their ills: They were, after all, supporters of capitalists rogues, riffraffs and other undesirables, and were considered to be devious tools of tyranny and oppression.

"I heard that there's freedom of religion in China, so why is there a problem for us to bring Bibles?" Klein said. "We had over 300 copies and customs took all of them from us."

My Answer: Given their long standing grievances against religion, and the additional pressure of the Olympics, it wouldn't be unfathomable or illogical, from a reasonable point of view, to expect China to tighten their defenses against any form of potential disturbances that might jeopardize their spot in the limelight.

But alas, Christians, being Christians, are apt not to follow any train of logic: Of all the places and time to proselytize their biblical drivel, they insist on making a mountain out of the damn molehill. Wouldn't expect less from a bunch of dim-witted morons, who actually didn't realize that China doesn't really need more bibles from their generous American hosts:

The move comes as China hosts the Olympics in Beijing, where false media reports last year claimed Bibles would be banned from the games. The state-run China Daily reported last month that 10,000 bilingual copies of the Bible would be distributed in the Olympic Village, which houses athletes and media.

Bibles are printed under the supervision of the Communist government. The officially atheistic country only allows them to be used in government-sanctioned churches and in some big hotels catering to foreigners.

Yup, China does print bibles, for Jebus's sake! Of course, Christians can go gripe about Christians in China being persecuted (Well, get over it, Jebus fans, at least they didn't nail them to the cross.....Crucification is not S.O.P in the evil, communist Republic of China!), the validity of communist-inspired bibles (frankly, it makes no difference how the commies dish out their holy babbles: Trash, after all, will be trash!), about a curb in freedom of expression and free speech, which is something I, and perhaps my liberal friends and colleagues, would vehemently disagree.

But keep in mind that China is a nation of 1.3 billion folks: Any attempts to drastically alter the balance of power (a prime example being the spectacular breakup of the Russian empire after the fall of Communism) will result in unspeakable hardships and economic spill over that can perhaps be described as cataclysmic.

While Klein and his bible friends can moan about the loss of their precious bibles, dozens of other groups, ranging from the Falungong to the pain-in-the-ass Lama, have received far frostier treatments from the Commies. At least, from this count, they can't claim exclusivity in their quest for the ultimate "Sole Abused Housewife" tag.

& finally, to cap this dreary episode from the Beijing Olympics, there is but an ounce of truth in this sordid, wholly drummed-up episode of a tear-jerking, missionary-inspired story:

"We don't want to go without taking those books. It cost us a lot of money to bring them here," Klein said. "They're saying that it's illegal to bring the Bibles in and that if we wanted to, we had to apply ahead of time for permission."

"The Love of Money is the Root of all Evil." -St Paul