Posts by Izazael:

    Pope blames Bad Seeds for child abuse

    May 17th, 2010

    In a typical move, the pope has claimed that the bad seeds (read: thousands of child-molestors taking refuge in his rich, international faith organisation) shouldn’t eclipse the good done by the nice priests (the ones who, presumably, don’t stick their cock inside children).

    In these last months we have had to repeatedly confront news that aims to take away the joy in the church, to obscure it as a place of hope.

    Nick Cave has declined to comment.

    3 Comments "

    On a lighter note: fake science!

    May 17th, 2010

    Just for some Monday morning giggles: http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/5-examples-of-awesome-fake-science-bif

    No Comments "

    Pakistani Muslim men sodomise Christian barber

    May 3rd, 2010

    It seems that no profession is safe anymore, especially if you’re a barber in a radical Islamic community that considers hair to be sacred.

    A Christian barber in Pakistan was asked by a student to shave off the students beard, and after some refusals, the barber finally agreed. That was his first mistake.

    The student’s brother, a radical Muslim, happened to wander past and see the heinous act in progress and did what any member of the peaceful religion of Islam would do: he starting wrecking up the place and beating the barber in the head with his shoes.

    The barber was then kidnapped, locked in a room, beaten, and sodomised by eight men as punishment for getting happy with the Gillette. The local police force has so far done nothing.

    Moral of the story: cancel your next holiday to Pakistan.

    http://freethinker.co.uk/2010/04/30/barber-sodomised-for-beard-abuse/

    9 Comments "

    Alternatives to religious studies are needed

    April 12th, 2010

    Alternatives to religious studies are desperately needed for Australian school children, says Leslie Cannold in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

    I know many people (friends, co-workers, family) who have succumbed to sending their children to religious schools despite being atheists, and having to suffer the inevitable dilemma of allowing their kids to attend indoctrinating ‘religious studies’ lessons or having the young ones stuffed into a corner for 45 minutes doing nothing.

    Where are the alternatives? Why is it religious studies or nothing? Is it something that we’re expected to simply put up with if we choose a religious school for our child’s education? Leslie and a lot of Australia parents think not.

    But in the long-term Karen, and others like her, must fight. Beat on the door of the Education Minister until she amends the department’s policy that prescribes suitable alternatives being provided for kids whose parents say no to scripture.

    The full article can be found on the Sydney Morning Herald site.

    2 Comments "

    What happens when a minister decides there’s no God?

    April 12th, 2010

    Daniel Dennett speaks about his experiences delving into the mystery of faithless ministers in an interview on boston.com.

    The point is that this is a dirty little secret that many people in the church know but the general public doesn’t, and we think it’s important and we think it’s interesting.

    It really does highlight the need for a more supportive atheist community for the ex-religious to be welcomed by, and possibly more structure and ritual to help replace some of the more ’spiritual’ and ’social’ aspects of religious communities.

    1 Comment "

    Dawkins & Hitchens plan to arrest Pope Benedict XVI

    April 12th, 2010

    It’s all over the news today: plans by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens to arrest Ratzinger for crimes against humanity when he visits the UK.

    High-profile barrister and human rights campaigner Geoffrey Robertson has advised Dawkins and author Christopher Hitchens that legal action can be taken against the Pope over his alleged cover-up of sex abuse in the Catholic church.

    On the one hand, Ratzinger should be held accountable for his crimes. On the other hand, it’s not like atheists need any more reason for Catholics to hate us ;)

    Regardless, I hope they actually go through with it. It sends a very, very powerful message regarding the changing global climate and our refusal to let these crimes go unpunished just because they are perpetrated by individuals and organisation that think they’re above the law.

    You can find info on this story pretty much everywhere (just type it into Google), but as a start:

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/12/2869790.htm

    http://www.smh.com.au/world/leading-atheists-richard-dawkins-and-christopher-hitchens-seek-popes-arrest-20100412-s1av.html

    http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1038462/pope-arrest-bid-for-crimes-against-humanity

    4 Comments "

    Symphony of Science interview

    April 11th, 2010

    If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard of Symphony of Science after a drunken night with a bunch of atheists and a laptop parked permanently on YouTube.

    Symphony of Science is the creation of John Boswell, a composer who — armed with Auto-Tune and a bunch of television shows and interviews with the likes of Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan — sat down to turn some nerdy science into some passable music.

    H+ Magazine has an interview with Boswell on how and why he does it.

    1 Comment "

    13 year old Yemeni child bride dies from ruptured sex organs

    April 9th, 2010

    Yes, it really is as disturbing as the title suggests.

    The young girl lasted only five days after being wed in a traditional Yemeni ceremony called a ’swap marriage.’ Her honeymoon involved being ‘made love to’ so hard that her insides ruptured and she bled to death.

    What’s worse is that the government is trying to ban the practice, at least for girls aged younger than 17, but is facing protests by thousands of Islamic women who oppose the ban. The ban is now currently under review by politicians.

    More on the story from the BBC and the Herald Sun.

    http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/yemeni-child-bride-dies-of-bleeding-after-intercourse/story-e6frf7k6-1225851570882

    No Comments "

    The Psychology of Religion

    April 9th, 2010

    For those of you that are interested, there is a lecture available on YouTube that features Dr. John Shook (PhD, Philosophy), the vice-president for Education for the Center for Inquiry, discussing the psychology of religious belief.

    Check out the videos.

    No Comments "

    Woman killed over Easter dinner attire

    April 8th, 2010

    For all the talk about Jeebus and love and tolerance, all that I’ve seen from the religious this Easter has been intolerance, hate speech, molestation cases, fake proms, and murders.

    It’s times like these that I’m extra glad to be an atheist. Until they kill me, at least.

    A woman in the US was killed because she wore inappropriate dress to an Easter dinner. What was she wearing? A t-shirt and denim shorts. What deity wouldn’t like that?

    One of the other women, presumably the host, took offense and shot the 19 year old in the head.

    Eppert said Burgess told investigators she didn’t mean to shoot Pickens.

    No, she probably just meant to wing her. Entirely justified. Entirely… *cough*

    http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1036408/us-woman-killed-over-easter-attire

    3 Comments "