Kosher Bullshit: Jews Offended by Usage of "Swine Flu"

Religion is a funny, lob-sided issue: Religious sensitivities often demand the kind of respect only the worst of tyrants and despots would find the cheek to demand the masses, and if someone's religious sensitivities are offended, the religious fool is apt to accuse the anti-religious "perpetrator" of being a heinous persecutor of his aggrieved religion. Give the livid religious fool a gun, and you can bet your last dollar that he will not hesitate to shoot the alleged offender to death.

In recent weeks, swine flu fear has gripped the world; governments are scrambling their resources to curtail and contain the latest infectious disease, a strain of flu which has been dubbed "swine flu".

Instead of working hard to get rid of the dreaded virus, some religious morons have banded together to get rid of the word "swine" from the flu instead: The usage of the word swine, it seems, has offended some nutty right wing fundamentalist Jews, and they are advocating that the word "swine" should be dropped in view of Jewish kosher (diet) laws.

Yup, yet another pork-hating race is scrambling to erase the filthy swines from human consciousness. Bumper.

Israel Deems Swine Flu "Kosher" After All

JERUSALEM, (AFP) - - Swine flu hasn't skipped the Jewish state. And despite some attempts, neither has its non-kosher name.

Deputy health minister, Yakov Litzman, a member of an ultra-religious party, said earlier this week that the name "swine flu" should not be used as it contains the name of the animal banned by Judaism. Instead he said the authorities should call the virus sweeping the globe "Mexican flu."

That, however, did not sit well with either Mexico's ambassador to Israel nor the Jewish state's envoy to Mexico.

Mexico's ambassador Frederico Salas and the Israeli envoy to Mexico Yosef Livne both lodged official complaints at the foreign ministry on Tuesday protesting at the new term.

"The ambassador (Salas) said he was offended when the deputy health minister called it the Mexican flu," a foreign ministry official told AFP.

"Israel has no intention of giving the flu any new names. It was nothing more than a slip of the tongue," the official said.

Eating of pork is prohibited by Judaism, the religion practised by the majority of Israelis. Islam, adhered to by most of Israel's Arab minority, likewise bans consumption of pork.

Political Fracas Over Pork, As Folks Are Dropping Dead & Getting Sick

As more folks are getting sick and dying from the swine flu, religious morons bicker on the sidelines, hoping to get a piece of the limelight and screaming unctuously to the world that their fucking religion is indeed more important than a potentially deadly flu virus.

Respect the Kosher laws, gentlemen, and stop calling it swine flu. But calling it Mexico flu is fine, you know, Mexicans are less dignified and respectable than some old Abrahamic religion!

Hypocrisy aside, this is the kind of sectarian thinking which, when fostered and bred to the extreme, exhibits just the kind of moronic and lethal response from folks, and when exhibited by government leaders who should be concentrating on saving lives than engaging in verbal tit-for-tat, really makes us wonder why people still believe in such archaic nonsense in the same place.

"The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry." -Richard Dawkins

The "Thank Gawd for Shit" Campaign: Jebus Unleashing Swine Flu Vengeance?

Some time back, I have initiated a "Thank Gawd for Shit" Campaign: Yes, Christians love to thank Gawd for the good stuff, but when shit happens, they simply forget to thank Gawd for the shit he has wrought forth, hence, the aforementioned campaign.

Jebus Hates Pork!!!

Jebus Hates Porky!!!

In recent days, swine flu panic has swept from Mexico to the United States, and the latest news is that Europe and Asia have also been struck by this malevolent disease. Considering that Jebus never had any liking for the business of pig farming (Jebus, after all, cast demons into pigs, causing those cute little swines to commit needless suicide. Fucking waste of bacon.....), maybe, just maybe, we might want to thank Jebus for the latest round of deadly swine flu???

US declares emergency as Mexico flu death toll rises

Increasing Death Toll

MEXICO CITY, (AFP) - - World health officials stepped up the battle against swine flu after Mexico upped the probable death toll from the epidemic to 103 and the United States declared a public emergency.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the number of both suspected and confirmed fatalities from swine flu has reached 103, and the number of those hospitalized due to the epidemic stood at about 400.

The previous probable death toll, announced Saturday, was 81 confirmed and suspected swine flu deaths.

The number of cases under observation in Mexico has reached 1,614, up from 1,324, Cordova said on national television.

Panic grew across the Latin American nation as citizens heeded government warnings to avoid contact with each other.

The United States will screen visitors arriving from infected areas, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Sunday, as 20 cases were confirmed in five states.

Suspected Cases in Europe, Middle East and Asia; Pandemonium Spreads

Suspected cases were also investigated in Europe, the Middle East and Asia , and six new infections were confirmed in Canada.

As thousands of panicked Mexicans wore surgical masks on the streets, President Felipe Calderon called for calm, urging citizens to work with authorities to contain the virus.

Mexico City was deserted Sunday after its 20 million residents were ordered to avoid crowds, and a soccer game at 105,000-seat Aztec stadium was played with no fans.

Thank Gawd for Contaminating Our Pork

Thanking Gawd for shit is no small task; we at Atheist Haven will go further than most of those pusillanimous Christians by thanking God for the most heinous shit that the Divine Father can ever heap at our forlorn, sorry human race.



So here goes: Thank you Lord, for the Swine Flu.

Thank Gawd for Shit!!!

Shit Factor: 6/10. A pretty low score, for the moment. The scores will be more or less settled after we have the raw data coming in, which will reveal to the true extent of human casualties.

Human Rights at Last: Hiliary Clinton Defends Pro-Sex Education, Pro-Abortion Stance of Obama Administration

One of my deepest grievances with Christian and Religious fundamentalists in general are their obstinate, asinine and conservative views which, more often than not, run contrary against human rights and human emancipation in general.

Take the Bush Administration, for instance: The Bush morons simply would not support the rights of humans to medically safe abortions and educationally sound sex education, instead relying heavily and solely on archaic, outdated religious recommended methods which are well proven to fail: Teaching children that abstinence from sex is the only option available, and that abortion is murder.

The end result of religious meddling is plain to see: Abortion rates and teen pregnancies increase in countries and US states which have the highest concentration of religious-centered sex education centers, and high mortality rates in countries where women cannot have abortion in legal hospitals, hence driving desperate women to have their abortions carried out by unlicensed doctors.

Thank Zeus then, that the fucking Bushies are gone, and that the Obama Administration has thoroughly reversed these crazy religious policies which really have no place in modern politics.

Clinton defends abortion right worldwide

Clinton, in Defense of Women's Reproductive Rights

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, testifying in Congress, defended the right to abortion worldwide and the Obama administration's decision to finance family planning overseas.

Hillary's Stance on Abortion

Clinton stood her ground against Christopher Smith, a Republican lawmaker from New Jersey who strongly opposes abortion.

Smith, speaking during Clinton's first hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee since she became top diplomat, asked if President Barack Obama's team sought to influence African and South American countries on abortion.

"Congressman, I deeply respect your passionate concern and views which you have championed and advocated for over the course of your public career," Clinton told him.

"We, obviously, have a profound disagreement," the chief US diplomat said.

"When I think about the suffering that I have seen of women around the world, I've been in hospitals in Brazil where half the women were enthusiastically and joyfully greeting new babies and the other half were fighting for their lives against botched abortions," said Clinton.

"I've been in African countries where 12 and 13-year-old girls are bearing children. I have been in Asian countries where the denial of family planning consigns women to lives of oppression and hardship," she added.

"It is my strongly held view that you are entitled to advocate and everyone who agrees with you should be free to do so anywhere in the world, and so are we," she said.

"We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health and reproductive health includes access to abortion, that I believe should be safe, legal and rare," Clinton added.

The Answer to Bringing Down Abortion Rates: Family Planning & Medical Care

"I've spent a lot of my time trying to bring down the rate of abortions and it has been my experience that good family planning and good medical care brings down the rate of abortion," the secretary of state said.

"Keeping women and men in ignorance and denied the access to services actually increases the rate of abortion."

All Those Evil Commies: The Persecution of Communist Cuba

Communism: A filthy word commonly associated with tyranny, anti-religious movements, and ultimately, something to be feared and unctuously derided as a scourge of the modern world?

In the post world era, the Cold War hung over the heads of a fearful world, dominated by the politics and the mad-cap ethics of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) weapons and a protracted antagonistic stance between democratic nations led by the United States, and the supposedly rogue Communist nations led by Communist Russia.

In such wars of attrition, irony plays a huge part in such conflicts: Vietnam became the staging ground between the North and the South, as was North Korea, each side armed to the teeth with weapons from the United States and Russia respectively. It is as if, both superpowers were fighting a proxy war via feeder nations, in a bid to avoid direct confrontation.

And it is in view of the cold war that Cuba, of all communist nations, stands alone and unique in today's politics: As the closest communist neighbor to the democratic bastion of the US of A, she has rode the rough storms of a cold war era, suffered from numerous sanctions, threats and embargoes, and the fact that she has stayed largely intact as a communist nation is testimony of her resolve against a superpower dominated by anti-communist rhetoric fueled by the religious right.

Anton Kozlik gives an excellent account of this appalling state of affairs in the beleaguered Caribbean nation, and how Obama's bold step to unravel the evils of a misled American public is the first step towards a healthier state of affairs for both sides:

“US America takes a step towards becoming a moral nation!”
President Obama takes a bold step

The recent relaxation of some of the sanctions US America imposed on Cuba over the last 50 years is a welcome step by President Obama.

The move has done much to improve US America's tattered claims of being a moral nation. It was a long time coming since China and Russia had been enjoying trade, travel and commerce with US America for years.

Cuba: Lack of Natural Resources

Cuba was at a serious disadvantage because it didn't represent a major market or supplier like the other communist countries. Also, Cuba did not have oil reserves.

More than 50 years ago, thousands and thousands of rich and immoral citizens of US America enjoyed living it up in Cuba. They could do things there that wouldn't be approved back home in the USA where many of them enjoyed a respected presence in its religious communities.

The Hypocritical Religious Right

Castro: Cuba's Whipping Boy for Uncle Sam

I would like to point out that this could be another case where the religious kept turning their heads when people from their congregations did dirty deeds. Those bad deeds apparently didn't count because they were out of sight .

They had paid for that right to have their fun by supporting Batista and greasing the necessary palms. Between the two of them, US America and Batista, they made life pretty horrible for Cuba's peasants. Those same peasants found no respite or remedy from their church. It seems the church had also been bought off – at least to the point that they weren't going to make waves with the existing powers.

The North American press and priests paid lip service to Castro's fight by appearing to champion his cause. There were even minor celebrations when he took Havana. The pesky US American's beat a hasty retreat.

It is possible that US America merely felt this would be a change in leaders and they would continue to enjoy their debauchery once again by just paying off the new “landlord”.

It didn't turn out that way.

And, when threatened with sanctions, Fidel turned to Russia and that dreaded political thing called communism. The Catholic Church excommunicated Castro.

And the fun began.

Like playground bullies who had their toys taken away, US America proceeded to make it a living hell for anybody inhabiting their old playground. It placed an embargo on trading with Cuba – at least one that it could claim to the rest of the world.

Enforcing an Embargo & Trading via the Back Door

In spite of this embargo, US America found ways to keep the recently nationalized oil and sugar refineries operating. For example, regular private flights from Canada supplied Cuba through Canadian subsidiaries of US corporations with equipment, parts, and US service personnel. Trips to Cuba did not show up on passports. The idea was to keep things operating until Castro was overthrown and US America could resume its ownership and control. The practice was abandoned when it was apparent that US America would not be reclaiming its control over Cuba.

Demonizing Communist Cuba

What happened during the next thirty years would be considered political and economic skirmishes with US America claiming righteousness by battling “communism”. Who did what to who and how is really not the point. Cuba was the enemy, it was communist, and it was only 90-miles from US America.

Also, Cuba was smaller than Russia and China – and it certainly didn't have oil.

It also embarrassed US America by providing troops and medical aid to other nations who also had issues with US American support of questionable regimes. And while it enjoyed support from the USSR, its universal health care was headed to being one of the best in the world.

Incidentally, Cuba was able to secure its oil supply from Argentina by exporting hundreds of its medical professionals to help with Argentina's struggles – also with US America.

Survival of the Fittest: No God Involved

I believe President Obama relaxing US America's sanctions will help Cuba regain its position as an important member of the North American community.

Cuba has also shown shown that it can survive and strive . . . without gods!

The Folly of Miracles: Dialogue Between a Lizard and an Ignorant Kitten

(Miracles. Much as we loathe them, people love to believe in miracles: The idea that the dead can somehow reanimate back to life, despite the implausibility of such phenomena, and stories of patients who recovered on a wing and a prayer never fail to reverberate and circulate itself, exaggeration and magical thinking working hand in hand to ensure that the stories grow bigger and more fanciful as it is passed down by word-of-mouth. The boundaries of the human imagination simply knows no bounds; one wonders, however, if animals do engage in fancy thinking too? We shall find out, in a moment. )

Scene

(Introduction: Tim, the common house-lizard, makes a foray in a spic-and-span home of a human household, hoping to gorge itself with some human food remains from its human host. Like most creatures living with homo sapiens, the common house lizard adjusts its lifestyle to suit its environment. Living in a household obsessed with cleanliness means that food is hard to come by; Flies, mosquitoes and other pests are flickering phenomena in this household, which means Tim has to rely mainly on leftovers which occasionally fall off to the floor from the human child, who, despite of his relatively old age of 5 is a clumsy little eater.

That being the case, Tim has to be punctual, almost on the dot, at lunch time; he eyes the little boy, who, as on cue, flicks off a morsel of veggies onto the scrubbed floor. Tim eyes at the food crumb hungrily, then makes a mad dash for it, not realizing that Thomas the kitten was also eying the ginger house lizard with glee.....)

(Thomas the Kitten pounces on Tim the Lizard, purrs with delight)

Thomas: Gotcha, you stinking, slithery creature!

Tim (Struggling from Kittie's grasp): Let......let me go!!!

Thomas (Claws Out, rather to disembowel Tim): Give me a reason not to, you filthy animal!

Tim (Pleading): Oh, my dear Lord, have pity on me! I share this huge apartment with you; everyday you dine heartily, with fish and milk for breakfast, kitty food for lunch, and fat cheese cakes for dinner. Oh lucky you, kitty, while I, the scrawny lizard, have to contend with morsels and crumbs of discarded food. Mosquitoes, flies, they hardly ever make it within the confines of our walls! I am but a measly beggar to you, and you, my lord, have no intention of devouring me, so why kill me?

Thomas (Pondering): Indeed, you don't taste nice. But still, I am a bored kitten.....

Tim: Oh my lord, hear me out. If you would only see the feats of my brilliant ingenuity.....

Thomas (Sniggers): Oh you stupid lizard. The only delight you can ever bring unto my boring soul is your dead rotting carcass, which I will play for a little while before it is being found by my master, who will then dump away your corpse into the rubbish chute.

Tim (Forlorn Face): Sigh. If you kill me, you will not be able to witness the greatest miracle on the planet.

Thomas (Curious): Oh really? What kind of miracles? Choking on moth balls? (Chuckles)

Tim (Smiling): Even better!!! Look at this luxurious tail of mine. Now, tear it off my body.

Thomas (Laughs): Oh yes, you are really going to die a torturous death.

Tim: No, I won't, I assure you. Not only will I grow back a new tail in a couple of weeks time, the broken tail will reanimate itself. This is one miracle I bet you have never witnessed, ever!

Thomas (Raised Eyebrow): You are lying to get your ass off the hook.

Tim: Try it.

Thomas: Alright. Wish granted!

(Thomas unsheathes his claws, and proceeds to disconnect Tim's tail from his body. To his surprise, the tail continues to wriggle for a good few mins, before laying limp by the side of the wall.)

Thomas: This is ingenious! You seem fine without that tail of yours! And...and........that cut tail seem to have a life of its own!

Tim (Beaming with Pride): That, my kitty friend, is what I call a miracle. And a few weeks from now, I will have a new tail back.

Thomas: So, what's the secret behind this trick? My dad lost part of his tail and it wasn't quite the same as before.

Tim: I have faith.

Thomas: Faith? What's that? Is it delicious?

Tim (Laughs): No, you can't eat faith, it isn't cat food. It is a form of belief in a deity. If you believe in him, anything is possible.

Thomas (Pondering): Sounds cool, but how do I go about acquiring this faith?

Tim: Well, if it would exchange my life, I honestly don't see why I can't teach you our ways.

Thomas: Alright, then, my lizard fiend. If your little trick works, I might consider not butchering you. You will live, for the time being. Come, let's talk.

(For the next few days, Tim the Lizard attempts to con Thomas the cat, the latter hounding the former in search of the true exegetical secrets of a supposedly ancient serpentine religion that grants all lizards, snakes and other creeping things the ability to regenerate their tails.

Thomas listens to the religious drivel, filled with awe and fascination. After two weeks, Thomas the Cat, convinced by a conniving lizard that he has at last acquired the necessary requisites of his new found faith, chops of his own tail with his very own claws.

But alas, cats do not regenerate their tails, and Thomas the Kitten suffers the ignominy of a death precipitated by ignorance and magical thinking. As he bleeds slowly to death, his final thoughts are the sagely advice of his father's: Never believe in the flowery deceits of lizards and other creepy things........)

The End

The Hilarity of Bullshit: A Christian in Wonderland

One of the chief reasons why I left Christianity, and eventually gave up on the frivolity of religion altogether is the problem of sectarianism: More often than not, religion expounds on the type of unctuous self-promotion that propagates the "me-against-them" attitude, encouraging its god-effacing god into embracing an entrenched mentality which drives the mind into severe bouts of psychotic spasms.

As followers of this blog should know, Daniel the homophobic Christian has earned my ire and infamy with his silly, off-the-cuff bigotry, and in our latest series of verbal swipes, Daniel once again convinces me why a siege mentality employed by religion is the surest way down the path to mental breakdown:

1. Hating God, Hating God's Law?

On his blog, I posted the following comments about Daniel's slimy, shady character, which I did type from the bottom of my heart:

"And it is because of people like you I quit Christianity altogether. I simply cannot fathom myself becoming one of you, full of self righteousness, bigotry and utter stupidity.

And thanks for reminding myself how lucky I am NOT TO BE A CHRISTIAN."

Daniel Responded:

"No, it is because you hate God and His Law. You as a creature detest the fact that you have to answer to your Creator after your death, and just like Stalin, you shake your fist and scream to the heavens and tell God: I REJECT YOU AS MY CREATOR AND LORD. Despite God's gracious gifts to you, you spit on His goodness, insult Him to His face, and would kill Him if you could do so. "

More often than not, I am sure that atheists like myself have often emphasized on one particular premise: There most likely is no God. There is no evidence to proof that a deity ever existed in the past, and chances are, none will turn up in the foreseeable future, unless, of course, you consider gay-looking, cosmopolitan, sensitive new age men to be saviors of the supernatural variety (You know, like.....Jebus???).

Granted, no one can ever prove a negative, and God, or Gods might actually exist, even if the odds are infinitesimally small. Assuming God does exist, he probably won't give a shit about the mundane affairs of mere mortals, and such a God, or even a colony of God heads (like the pantheons of Greek Gods on Mount Olympus), would hardly be worth an iota of attention from us, considering the randomness and callous nature of Earth and its earthly mechanisms, such as Mother Nature, devastating earthquakes, and so on and so forth. In short, a deistic deity who cares naught for our wants and needs.

A god who doesn't exist or a god who doesn't give a shit isn't deserving of our praise nor our outrage; Being an atheist, I am pretty much confident that the absence of evidence pointing towards a supernatural deity is a valid reason for us to discredit such a anthropomorphic entity. Since there isn't a God in the first place, how the heck are we supposed to hate God? To put it in a better perspective, where should we direct our vitriol, perceived hatred, and the damn spit at? A spittoon, maybe?

2. Of Ostriches and the Great Vast Dessert

Me & the Big Fat Ostrich.......Bloody Hell!!!!

In line with this train of thought, Daniel directs his arguments in his own exegetical, religious mode: The truth, it seems, lies in the ostrich with its head stuck in the sand, butt sticking out so that Jebus can enjoy a bird's eye view of the ostriches big, fat, succulent ass!

"Never mind that the very fact that you can continue to exist for one more second is because of His grace. Depraved sinners suppressing the knowledge of God within their hearts, rebelling against Him with all of their might, and hoping desperate that if they will silence the messengers totally, God will disappear from the scene. Worse than ostriches putting their heads in the sand, such people will try all means to silence the message, yet they can never silence their conscience, which constantly accuse them of their evil and hatred of the One who gave them life in the first place."

Oh yes, Daniel alludes me to the damn fat ostrich (Now I feel a little aggrieved and insulted....tsk tsk), along with other usual Jebus diatribes: I am a bloody sinner who happens to deny God, and of all things I own my one second of existence to his graciousness.

Such words of veneration will be fine and dainty unless, of course, it applies to everyone: Right now at this very moment, billions of people are going hungry, and many of them are going to sleep tonight on nothing else but empty stomachs and empty dreams. Sure, these poor bastards owe their one second of existence to a deity who doesn't seem to be bothered to provide them with even a decent drop of clean, drinking water. Makes me feel all welled up in emotion and love for this deity who doesn't really seem to give a damn for the welfare of the poor and the down-trodden!

3. The Beast Gnashes His Teeth!!!


And guess what's my next move? Clever Daniel with all his clairvoyance says it all, on my behalf:
"[You can just about hear the gnashing of teeth now]"

Ouch. I wonder why I should be gnashing my teeth.......ouch, the cramp in my thighs maybe? Wait wait.......my penis is on fire........must be the hot chick I saw on my way off work......

Seriously, reading such incredulous comments do make my day. After a hard day's work, nothing drives me off my nuts than a good gnashing of my own teeth.

4. Jebus is Coming Back on A Spaceship! Repent or Burn, ye Earthlings!!!!

"Beam me Up Lordy!!!" Jebus and the Amazing Flying E.T........

And finally, Daniel proclaims salvation: Indeed, Christians have been predicting the arrival of the Messiah for almost two millennial!

But alas, Jebus really needs to engage a good mechanic; otherwise, folks like Daniel are going to be sorely disappointed.......

"However, we have hope: that God will regenerate His own, and will change the hearts of those He has prepared for salvation, such that all of God's people who hear the Gospel will repent and turn from their evil to life in Christ. Nothing can stop the power of the Holy Spirit in changing the hearts of those He will, not even the rebellious heart of callous atheists. God calls all men to come and repent. Why will you die? Why follow the path of destruction? Recognize your sin, turn to Christ so that you may live."

Daniel in Wonderland: Living in a Imaginary World of Minefields and Delusions


Like a convoluted version of "Alice in Wonderland", Daniel believes in magic thinking: God, above all else, loves him, will redeem him of his "sins", and save him from the dreariness and the sufferings of his mundane existence.

And it is with a sense of trepidation that accompanies me when I wonder what would happen to me if I had persisted in believing in epistemological bullshit of this kind: Will I become a religious zombie, the same sort of idiots who would not hesitate to lampoon folks whose creeds do not align with mine? Or the hypocritical creep, who would not hesitate to impose my religious beliefs on others who want no part in the ways of a Jebus-loving cult?

One thing I do know for sure: Like Alice in Wonderland, Daniel lives in his own, imaginary world, a world plagued by his own inner demons. And I am so damn glad that I am not a Christian, or worst yet, a Christian fundamentalist with one finger up my own damn arse.

Man: The Religious Animal???

-"Man is a Religious Animal. Man is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste."

Mark Twain

Easter Sunday: Beware the Voyeur Jebus

Its the time of the year again: Easter Sunday never ceases to remind us of the death and resurrection of Jebus for our damn sins (It all began with a talking snake trying to sweet-talk two innocent homo sapiens into eating some fruit from a forbidden tree.....).

As an atheist myself, I have no qualms about celebrating Good Friday & Easter, or any other religious holiday, so long as it is a legitimate excuse for sloth and vindicate myself to laze on what will otherwise be just another working Friday.

Good Food and Good Wine = Cannibalism Plus Vampirism?

As for the Christians, they will be heading out to their churches with their families and church friends, most of them oblivious to the fact that Easter was actually stolen from the pagans (The Greek Goddess, Eostre, is attributed to the celebration of Easter). The idea, of course, is to eat the body of Jebus and drink his blood, both represented by a dough and wine, since both mundane items are supposedly "transubstantiated" into gory version of Jebus's slab of meat and blood. Eucharist sure is fun to begin with!!!

Ouch.........

Church celebrations aside, some folks in Philippines will be whipping themselves up into a sadomasochistic frenzy, and if you do not fancy yourself being whipped by another pious mate into bloody ribbons, you might want to stay in the confines and comforts of your home, sipping a fine glass of Bloody Mary and eating a slice of bread without sharing the Eucharist with your compatriots in Church (Who knows what fine asses those priestly hands might have been touching....).

Jebus is Watching......Porn???

In sum, enjoy thy holidays, and keep yourself in high spirits. Just be wary about doing your nefarious deeds in the privacy of your own homes.....Jebus might be watching. You know, it is his day out, so, he might be a little more voyeuristic than his usual self. And you know what he likes (Hint: Watch out for the hot gay porn in your neighborhood video store.....its flying off the shelf at twice the rate on Easter......)!

Happy Holidays!

Beast FCD

Fan Mail, II: My Problem With Miracles, & Why Religious Folks Don't Get It

Fan Mail



Of late, I have been receiving a flurry of comments with my post on the Lighthouse Evangelism (LE) Church, which I have written because of its rather tall, preposterous tales about riding folks of their respective diseases; I have also written at length the dangers of believing in such miracles and being suckled into the delusion that you actually do not need professional, medical help to cure your bodily ailments.

Below are some of the comments I feel are worth mentioning, and I shall try to elucidate and perhaps clarify some of the points these Christians have felt imperative to highlight to me; Both of them address themselves as "Lighters", in reference to Lighthouse Evangelism, although it does remind me more of a device I frequently use to light up my cigar........

1. "People Do Get Healed!"

Magical Thinking can be a wholesome and fun affair: When we watch Criss Angels walking across a swimming pool on water, or David Blaine attempting to perform a levitation stunt, we watch with awe and amazement at their "magic", while at the same time acknowledging the fact that these are but complicated versions of sleight of hand and illusions meant to entertain the masses, and are not meant as propaganda tools to advance any form of religion.

Some religious organizations, however, exploit the idea of supernatural phenomenon and claim them to be true, and I contend that miracle healing belong to a class of subterfuge which exploits the gullibility of religious folks, and I made no bones in sounding this point across in my LE post.

Lighter responds to my post:

"Being a Lighter (member of Lighthouse) myself, I must say that your post contains a lot of words against Lighthouse. At every week's miracle service on Saturdays, many people are healed, and it can be proved if you go there once and witness it all. Each week's Lighters' Link also puts in print the number of cases there are of people being healed by God. There is a whole list on the Lighthouse website of the people who have been healed by the wonderful touch of God. Please don't dismiss this as a 100% failure thing; many people have been touched and moved the accept God into their hearts in the Miracle Service."

As a secular humanist, I would like to take this opportunity to elucidate my point: I'd be elated if, and I do mean a big "IF", miracles do work: Who doesn't want to be cured on a wing and a prayer? No more nasty medications, no more painful vaccination jabs, no more painful and nauseating chemotherapy; life will be one absolute bliss!

Why wouldn't the Church, with its healing prowess, engage in proper Science to study their amazing phenomenon, so that humanity can harness some good, or a whole lot of good, out of these miracle sessions hosted by this church???

But alas, Lighter does not hold much regard for Science:

2. "Science isn't Everything!"

"Why is everything related to Science? Why must everything be explained with Science? It's not like Science created this world. It's not like everything revolves around Science. What makes you think that Science is all 100% correct and believable? There are things which Science can't explain. Miracles are definitely one of them. Don't just try to debunk miracles like that."

Ah yes, the shortcomings of Science. Indeed, Science is not a perfect tool for humanity, in terms of discovering the world and a seemingly boundless, endless universe.

But Science is our best tool in validating existing phenomena, and it is particularly effective in sieving out fact from fiction. While it is true that Science makes mistakes, it is very much a self-correcting tool in the sense that scientists carry out consistent, continuous research to ensure that what is being studied is closest to the truth. Science is therefore an honorable pursuit for the truth, and while corrupted scientists do exist, corrupted or falsified data are sieved out and discredited by other scientists quite readily, minus the bloodshed religious sects tend to mete out against one another over trivial differences over mere doctrine.

If Christians like Lighter insist that miracles do exist at Lighthouse Evangelism, Science would be the Church's elixir of sorts; folks will start flooding into the Church seeking for a cure, hospitals will lose business and close down, and everyone will be happier, healthier and more inclined to harbor faith and religion in their bosoms. So what exactly is stopping them?

3. "This is an Anti-Christian Post!!!!"

Besides discrediting Science in general, Lighter alludes to my perceived anti-Christian stance:

"And by the way, you're not educating. You are merely publishing an anti-Christian post. "

I do not deny the fact that more often than not, I have a morbid disdain for religion; while it has been an absolutely brilliant political tool for mobilizing entire nations into going to war with other tribes not aligned with the host's religious beliefs, religion is increasingly becoming less relevant in an increasingly less sectarian and rational world. That being the case, religion is more akin to a cancer in societies, who would have been much better off without their religious yolk.

That said, I do not, and am not, against Christians. Belief is, after all, an individual right, and I have nothing against Christians in general. In fact, I am so tolerant towards Christians that I can actually empathize with Christians who knock on my door in a bid to convert my erstwhile soul. I have reservations, however, with regards to the level of tolerance some Christians can exhibit towards folks whose creeds do not align with theirs.

I am against chicanery, in whatever shape and form: Like Fengshui, extraordinary claims do require extraordinary evidence. If, for example, I claim fairies exist, then it is my onus to prove it to you that fairies exist, and it is the same situation with miracles. If these folks from Lighthouse Evangelism have no basis of proof to validate their claims, then their activities, along with their unctuous claims, are no better or worst than the medicine man who sells snake oil to the unwary consumer.

Besides, blind faith of this sort is dangerous: Folks who believe that God can heal them of their ailments and adamantly refuse to seek medical help are going to end up with more trouble than they can ever bargain for.

4. "Tithing isn't Compulsory!"

"Your point about old people being cheated of their money is actually quite invalid, because in LE, we never force people to tithe/ give offering. People come at their own will and do what they want to; they aren't forced to do anything. They don't have to ask for healing if they don't want to. "

Herein lies a fallacy: Contrary to his claim, cheats invariably do not coerce people into handing over property; rather, the use of a glib tongue or flimflam are standard psychological tools deployed to induce people to part with their earthly goods.

Churches use a variety of well-proven techniques to induce the cash into their pockets: A place in heaven would be standard fare, or some earthly rewards using the time honored tradition of "the more you give the more you get from God" are excellent sales techniques in ensuring that church coffers never run empty.

While I am not implying that the Church itself is cheating folks out of their hard-earned cash on purpose, the idea that people can be cured in a Church-sanctioned "miracle" session sounds too far-fetched for the rational mind, and it takes a huge dosage of faith, clouded thinking and desperation to believe in such deluded nonsense.

A Miracle? Prove It!

If folks such as Lighter wish to be treated seriously, they might need to persuade their head honcho to perhaps engage more earnestly with scientists, and perhaps have their "miracles" validated for all and sundry.

While I appreciate fan mail, I am very much perturbed by folks who hold such dangerous beliefs: If one doesn't think critically, all manner of hucksters are going to exploit this form of "open-mindedness", i.e belief without evidence and take them for a ride.

While I have no doubt that miracle services of the LE sort are fun and alleviating to the unwary, a staunch belief in miracles and God does one little or no good in the quest for convalesce: If you are sick, seek the advice of a doctor, not the priest or the shaman.




-"Heroin also makes people feel better, but I wouldn't recommend using heroin. " James Randi

THE TALKING-SNAKE SRTIKES AGAIN TODAY IN VERMONT!

As a kid, one of the first things I noticed about all the stories in the bible was: there wasn’t a single happy one in there. And the people who toted around this awful book; didn’t seem to be all that happy ether. They believed: their way of living, was the only true way in which to live. And that all others; should only be living like them as well. I believed, this was the main reason for their unhappiness. And the fact that they spent most of their time scrutinizing, and judging others. And because of the contemptible way in which, they viewed everyone else (It’s hard to live a contented life; when someone has so-much contempt for the way everyone else lives theirs).

Unfortunately, most of these miserably people, feel no admiration, for those, who are just living, their own little blissful lives. And are just doing the things; which they feel, are right for them.

Today, when Vermont State legislators overrode Governor James Douglas' veto of a proposed law, which requires the state to act as if, same-sex-couples-arrangements are equivalent to marriage. Christians almost immediately began making a comparison, of them, too the talking-snake, in the bible. Concerned Women for America's President, Wendy Wright, said:

"Vermont was the first state to create civil unions, an arrangement allowing same-sex couples all the government-bestowed benefits of marriage. But as pro-family leaders warned, and despite claims by homosexual activists, this debate is not about benefits. That was merely the wedge to demand more, to require that everyone in society accept what cannot -- by nature -- be, that marriage can be something other than one man and one woman.

"Marriage is the unique relationship between a man and a woman who together provide children with the benefits of the two sexes, male and female. A marriage cannot be complete without both sexes. While government officials may change definitions, they cannot change nature. The first human relationship was between one man and one woman, and it became the foundation of all society. Vermont legislators' futile attempt to replace God by vainly redefining marriage eerily follows how that first man and woman acted on the first temptation -- and the root of all temptations -- to act as if they were gods. That one decision by Adam and Eve to believe that they could 'be like God' separated them from God, destroyed the peace that they had experienced, and ushered in what some would call 'unintended consequences' of pain and destruction.

"The decision by Vermont legislators to attempt to redefine marriage creates an urgency for other states and officials to protect marriage."

These people may in fact base their lives around that awful book that they read. But, these type of asinine-sectarian agreements; don’t have a real place in a free and secular society. Not everyone chooses marriage for the same reasons, (and the fact is: there are many married couples today in our society; which have absolutely no plans of having their own children, and raising a family).

I believe hateful statements, like the one of Wendy Wright’s. Mostly come from unhappy, miserably and angered, antagonistic-people. Who never seem to understand; when they only lead by this type of example. Most of us will never follow their, “true” way of living.

But I think in this case, there’s only one true question we need to ask: what would the talking-snake, really do?

(Lanyards available soon)

Equal Rights In Iowa, Finally: Gays and Lesbians Get To Wed

"I hereby pronounce you......Husband and Husband!!!"

As often and as far as I have remembered since I have heard of gay pride, my stance towards gay marriage has often been of one mantra: Give everyone the same privilege and rights, as well as the same legal responsibilities.

As far as marriage is concerned, I think it is pretty much litigious crap, and I don't expect everyone to share my erstwhile views. Differences in opinion, however, does not mean that I am against marriage in general: Some people like cabbage, others like spinach. I am not in a position to convert anyone to my own libertine ideals, and unlike religious fundamentalists I am educated and rational enough to understand that everyone aspires to different ideals, and so long as it is within the legal confines of secular law, there is absolutely no reason for me to lampoon gay marriage, or any other form of marriage beyond my own personal skepticism.

Unfortunately, for religious folks, they are not so magnanimous: Like Daniel Chew and his homophobic gang of pious folks, they do think that gays are, by biblical standards, immoral and some would liken them to an abomination. Thinking that only straight people have a divine right to the institution of marriage, they are quite adamant to the idea that marriage is exclusively a one-man-one-woman preposition.

So, imagine the chagrin of Christians in Iowa when the law finally passed a bill legalizing gay marriages!

Excerpts from Yahoo:

Gay Marriages Expected to Begin in Iowa on April 24

1. Gay Marriage Finally Approved!

DES MOINES, Iowa – Gay marriage, seemingly the providence of the nation's two coasts, is just weeks away from penetrating the heartland and it appears there is nothing social conservatives can do immediately to stop it.

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a lower-court ruling that rejected a state law restricting marriage to a union between a man and woman. Now gays and lesbians may exchange vows as soon as April 24 following the landmark decision.

The county attorney who defended the law said he would not seek a rehearing. The only recourse for opponents appeared to be a constitutional amendment, which couldn't get on the ballot until 2012 at the earliest.

2. Christians Mourn Victory for Gay & Lesbian Marriage

Some folks won't be too happy..........

"I would say the mood is one of mourning right now in a lot of ways," said a dejected Bryan English, spokesman for the Iowa Family Policy Center, a conservative group that opposes same-sex marriage.

3. Gays Cheer Victory: Equality at Last!

In Iowa, hundreds cheered, waved rainbow flags and shed tears of joy at rallies in seven cities Friday evening. "Corn-fed and Ready to Wed!" read one man's sign at a gathering at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

In downtown Des Moines, about 300 people gathered beneath rainbow flags to celebrate including Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie.

"We finally have equality in Iowa," said Harold Delaria, of Des Moines, who attended the rally and has two gay children. "It's kind of the last wall of legalized discrimination and it's coming tumbling down."

The Rev. Diane McLanahan of Trinity United Methodist Church in Des Moines acknowledged that many people of faith won't agree with the ruling. With that in mind, she said the court has reached a decision that "pretty much insists that this will not be a debate about religious rights but a matter of equality and fairness."

4. Supreme Court: Gay Marriages A Constitutional Right

In its ruling, the Supreme Court upheld an August 2007 decision by a judge who found that a state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of equal protection.

The Right to Marry Extends to All and Sundry

Unlike religious morons like Daniel who chimes on and on about the perceived ills of liberalism and with it, gay marriage, everyone should be entitled the right to marry as per secular marriages decree.

Invoking religion as a moral basis to restrict or ban gay marriages is an unfair and unjust decision, simply because there is no legal basis for the courts to do so. And the Iowa courts certainly did the right thing they have been asked to do.

As for the Christians.....I am already hearing chants of "Persecution, Persecution!" ringing incessantly in my ears!



-"No government has the right to tell its citizens when or whom to love. The only queer people are those who don't love anybody. "
Rita Mae Brown, speech, 28 August 1982