Posts by Izazael:

    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 "

    Christian nurse loses battle to wear execution device

    April 8th, 2010

    Well, it had to happen but you can never be quite sure how far people will bend to placate the religious.

    As posted previously on The Antitheist Daily, a British nurse got into all sorts of trouble over her refusal to remove her crucifix while working in a hospital. The request to remove the necklace was based entirely on safety concerns, not on religious intolerance, but Shirley Chaplain took the matter to the employment tribunal anyway.

    John Hollow, the chairman presiding over the most recent case, said the NHS trust had acted in a “reasonable” manner in trying to reach a compromise.

    This is a case of the hospital treating all people of all religions (and non-religions) equally and even trying to find a compromise with the nurse, but any attempt to mess with a necklace with a crucified deity is met with hostility and seen as an attempt to persecute Christians. Bring out the lions!

    “This is a very bad day for Christianity,” [Shirley] added.

    Why? Because they can’t do whatever the fuck they please even if it means putting patients in danger? What a shame.

    Read the full article at the Telegraph.

    2 Comments "

    Atheist reaction to atheist-bashing Easter sermons

    April 6th, 2010

    Atheists have hit back after the wave of anti-atheist sermons that plagued the country over the Easter period.

    As expected, religious leaders had nothing better to say and no better way of demonstrating their morality than attacking and decrying atheism.

    Several church leaders have used their Easter sermons and messages to condemn the increase in atheism, with Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen describing non-belief as an “assault on God”.

    Are we surprised? Not by the lengths that the churches will go to, no.

    What I am surprised at is the reaction of moderate Christians who applaud these sermons; I’m sure we all have some friends who are still religious, and several of mine have expressed their agreement with such sermons.

    Time to get new friends?

    http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/church-using-us-as-scapegoats-for-scandals-say-atheists/story-e6frea73-1225849011153

    6 Comments "

    Finally, media truly supporting atheism

    April 6th, 2010

    After a raft of anti-atheist opinion articles and secular-bashing statements made during sermons over the Easter period, it is nice to see some media reaction to this unfounded and biased trend.

    Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen said secular life was a “recipe for loneliness” and that atheism was another act of faith. Catholic Bishop of Parramatta Anthony Fisher said godlessness was behind Nazism, Stalinism, abortion and mass murder. Cardinal George Pell said atheists did not sponsor any community services.

    A Tory Shepherd story in the Advertiser tackles the claims by the religious that atheists are a religion of immoral monsters seeking the destruction of community.

    As such, atheists are out there working for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment because it is the good and right thing to do, not because an imaginary friend told them to.

    Full story: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/atheists-are-not-a-different-species/story-fn34ojzj-1225850286146

    2 Comments "

    Logic Over Faith – Facebook and YouTube

    March 26th, 2010

    If you’ve got a few spare moments, check out the “I Choose Logic Over Faith” Facebook group.

    The group is for anyone who has made the determined decision to choose reason and logic over faith and superstition, to not let their life be ruled and defined by magic and manipulation.

    The guys who run the group also have a series of YouTube shows entitled Logic Over Faith, one of which can be found by following this mysterious link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm2MS4GNkzc

    Check ‘em out and show your support!

    1 Comment "

    Gary Ablett tells us that science is all lies

    March 26th, 2010

    I’m not even sure why this tripe made it onto the Herald Sun website, but I can take a guess.

    Gary Ablett, ex-footballer and authority on religion and science, has felt the need to write a long-winded article about the decline of Australia due to belief in science and not enough belief in Jeebus.

    He begins by stating that our world is so full of violence and horror that we need to come back to religious beliefs in order to stop it, clearly ignoring the abundance of violence and horror that is perpetuated by religious beliefs.

    Then, in a moment of blind stupidity, he starts attacking science and the factless theory of evolution:

    With testimonies like this from the author of evolution himself, I submit to you that the theory of evolution is not only lacking in facts, but has absolutely no foundation whatsoever. If it was only ever a theory, how did it find its way into our classrooms and society as fact?

    The complete, idiotic article is here.

    3 Comments "