Study finds that belief in religious fundamentalism partly due to a brain impairment. Tell me something I didn't know.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness. 

Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherence to the rules of society among individuals within the group. 

Religious fundamentalism refers to an ideology that emphasizes traditional religious texts and rituals and discourages progressive thinking about religion and social issues. Fundamentalist groups generally oppose anything that questions or challenges their beliefs or way of life. For this reason, they are often aggressive towards anyone who does not share their specific set of supernatural beliefs, and towards science, as these things are seen as existential threats to their entire worldview.

Once again this is one of the those things which seems so blatantly obvious, and which we are supposed to be too polite to say out loud.

If you literally believed in leprechauns, unicorns, or zombies people would legitimately be concerned about your mental health, but if you wrap it in a religious shroud then suddenly your insistence that magical beings are all around us looking out for our well being is taken as a testament to your deep faith.

Remember how Joy Behar was forced to publicly apologize for suggesting that Mike Pence was mentally ill for saying that Jesus Christ talked to him?

Joy Behar of `The View’ apologizes for comments she made about Vice President Mike Pence and Christianityhttps://t.co/KF1sNAcoYJ

— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) March 13, 2018

Well obviously she was right.

As another deadly storm threatens our citizens creationist Ken Ham would like to take a moment to remind you that it's all your fault you unrepentant sinners.

Devastating Hurricanes-reminder we live in a fallen groaning world as a result of our sin against a Holy God-it's our fault not God's fault pic.twitter.com/JwAJWN8oQ0

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) September 6, 2017

World we live is not original world God made. God made a perfect world-we now live in a fallen world cause of sin- look forward to new earth pic.twitter.com/MUQw5eKikn

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) September 6, 2017

For those who reject God & believe evolution, all the bad things in the world are a result of the supposed continuing process of evolution

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) September 6, 2017

For the record people do not "believe" in Evolution, but rather than accept and understand the facts of science.

Facts don't require faith.

Secularists like to mock the Christian God when we see tragedy cause they don't want to acknowledge our sinful state before a Holy God

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) September 6, 2017

Acknowledge my sinful state, buddy I celebrate my sinful state.

It is so hard to believe that in the 21st Century there are still so many idiots condemned to remain trapped in such primitive thought processes and so willing to embrace superstitious nonsense instead of expanding their minds and gaining release from the prison of their fears.

(H/T to Joe My God.)

The Republican's predisposition to accept fake news, may have it origins in Fundamentalist Christianity.

Courtesy of Religion Dispatches:  

What is it about Republicans that seems to make them more credulous to fake news than Democrats? 

The answer to this question might have to do with the religious roots of today’s Republican Party in the Christian Right. Beginning with the Moral Majority, founded in 1979 by Jerry Falwell and Tim LaHaye, and continuing through church organizations such as Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, conservative Christians have helped reshape the Republican Party and its policies. Its “family values” positions on abortion, the sexual revolution, gender roles, pornography, and homosexuality have been heavily influenced by its conservative Christian theology. 

Voters have continued to “sort” themselves over the last few decades, as political liberals became less religious and political conservatives more religious. Sociologists call this the “God gap” in partisan religiosity. Conservative white evangelicals have formed a hugely important and highly motivated core group of the Republican electorate for several cycles. In 2016, Donald Trump garnered 81 percent of the white evangelical vote, higher than Mitt Romney, John McCain, and even the born-again George W. Bush.

.........

Christian fundamentalist Bible colleges and universities, publishers and bookstores, newspapers and magazines, radio and then television shows, museums and campus ministries, together formed a set of institutions that resisted elite, secular expert knowledge. Recognizing the power of expertise’s infrastructure, Christian fundamentalists created this counter-infrastructure to cultivate and curate its alternative forms of knowledge. 

This alternative knowledge—the forerunner of today’s alternative facts— took the form of creationism and an alternative Bible scholarship demonstrating the Bible’s inerrancy and traditional authorship. This alternative educational and media ecosystem of knowledge was galvanized and mobilized when the Christian Right emerged in the late 1970s to influence the Republican Party. There were two long-term consequences for our fake news world. First, theologically and politically conservative Christians learned to distrust the proclamations of the supposedly neutral media establishment, just as they had grown to suspect the methods and conclusions of elite experts like scientists or historians. And second, they learned to seek the truth from alternative sources—whether a church sermon, Christian media (newspapers, books, radio or television shows), or a classroom in a Christian college. 

The consequence is that theologically fundamentalist Christians have for years explained to themselves that what seems to be worldly wisdom and conclusions are really the results of conspiracies, biases, and misplaced human pride in academic, scientific, and journalist communities. This cognitive training to reject expert knowledge and to seek alternative, more amenable explanations has helped disarm the capacity for critical thinking and analysis.

Well this is essentially what I have been pointing out for the last twelve years. 

The acceptance of supernatural explanations for the world around us makes us more susceptible to every kind of bullshit that gets presented to us throughout our lives.

Astrology, phrenology, numerology, past lives regression, palm readings, fear of contrails, seances, "reality" TV shows about chasing freaking Bigfoot, all of it relies on the suppression of the critical thinking skills that we need to safely navigate through our lives,

And without the ability to sniff out bullshit we find ourselves living in a country led by a cross between PT Barnum and an Oompa Loompa.

So yes I do indeed have issues with religion.

And I cannot help but feel that if more of us rejected it we would be living in a much better world, with a much brighter tomorrow ahead of us.

Canadian couple turn to prayer instead of medicine for their diabetic son, who then dies. But don't worry because according to the parents he was resurrected by God.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A 15-year-old Canadian boy suffering from severe effects of insulin-dependent diabetes died because his religious parents refused to seek proper medical care, the CBC reports. 

Emil and Rodica Radita are on trial for first-degree murder after their son, Alex, died in 2013 from what prosecutors say were the effects of his parents’ refusal to seek medical care and rely on prayer and home treatment instead. 

Alex was diagnosed with diabetes as a 3 year old. The condition can be controlled by monitoring blood glucose levels and giving insulin. But his parents believed that doctors caused the condition by treating him for it and left his diabetes untreated. 

The result was that by the time Alex was 15, he weighed no more than a 4-year-old.

The boy weighed only 37 pounds at the time of his death. Which is a fact so upsetting that I just had to take a break while typing this.

As if all of this were not troubling enough, the parents of the boy also believe that he was resurrected by their God.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News:

Alex Radita, a diabetic Calgary teenager, was lying dead in his family home for up to 36 hours before his parents called 911, investigators say. 

But his parents — who are now on trial for their son’s murder — allegedly told a very different story to friends: Their boy died and was resurrected by God one day before paramedics arrived at their house, and found his emaciated body in a bed. 

That bizarre claim surfaced last week, days into the trial of Rodica and Emil Radita, who are charged with first-degree murder in the death of their 15-year-old son.

I often get people here who are upset with the fact that I refer to religion as a "superstition" or that I do not differentiate between the one that they believe in and all of the ones that they themselves "know" are bullshit.

"Stop attacking my religion, it doesn't hurt for people to have faith."

But the fact is that yes quite often it actually DOES hurt somebody.

In fact I would argue that it causes far more harm than people would like to admit, in the form of dumbing down our school systems, forcing their morality onto the communities around them, and selectively choosing certain groups of people for abuse and denial of their basic human rights.

Creationist Ken Ham takes to Twitter and preacher man-splains the Reason Rally and what Atheists actually believe.

So the Reason Rally is getting ready to start on June 4th, in Washington D.C. and people could not be more excited.

Well not all people.

The "Reason Rally" 2016 advertised as "world's largest atheist party" is really a worship service--they worship man pic.twitter.com/InBNlhIYOg

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) May 15, 2016

I really don't think "worship" is the correct word in this context.

Atheists at Reason Rally 2016 are really worshipping the god of self--they exalt reason--they're faith is they arose by natural processes

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) May 15, 2016

Okay that's a little closer, but I think the word "faith" is once again being misused.

We need to be calling atheism for what it is--a religion-an anti-God religion--a religion that exalts fallible human reason-a worship of man

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) May 15, 2016

Okay seriously, worship, faith, and religion are all words that simply do NOT apply to Atheists.

Atheist Lawrence Krauss speaking at Reason Rally 2016 says "Forget Jesus...the stars died so you can be here.."--He is worshipping the stars

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) May 15, 2016

Okay well now we're just being silly.

Atheists work hard against Christianity cause they're putting their hands over eyes & ears and shouting "I refuse to see and hear truth!"

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) May 15, 2016

Atheists believe universe & live arose by natural processes--that's their religion--it's a blind faith religion--it's an anti-God religion

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) May 15, 2016

Yeah well it kind of goes on from there. And on, and on, and on, and....well you get the point.

Essentially the problem seems to be that there are more and more people thinking for themselves, and not looking for purpose in any of the books sanctioned by any organized religion.

And that REALLY seems to agitate folks like Ken Ham who depend on people NOT thinking for themselves for their livelihood.

Gee, maybe it's time to start making an honest living Kenny.

Colorado Springs police say they are not going to release motive for the Planned Parenthood shooting. WTF?

Courtesy of Salon: 

Colorado Springs police say they will not disclose why a gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic, killing three people. 

Police say in a statement Sunday that they are sealing the warrants related to the case against 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear. They say they are not providing information on the weapon used in Friday’s shooting, a timeline of events or a motive of the suspect. 

That will continue to stoke speculation about what led to the shooting that killed a police officer and two other people. Dear is scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday afternoon.

Okay not to be too conspiratorial here but for what reason could a police department have for not releasing this kind of evidence to the media?

I mean usually by this time there have already been a number of police statements as to the motive, condition, and attitude of the defendant. Yet in this case mums the word?

Could it be due to the fact that Colorado Springs is a conservative community, and that many of its residents are deeply religious, that is keeping the police from releasing information which might indicate that Mr. Dear is a fundamentalist with opinions about abortion that were tempered in the fires of religious rhetoric?

That is certainly what the evidence is starting to suggest:

A username apparently connected to Robert Lewis Dear, who is accused of fatally shooting three people, may shed light on the dark side of a man who was a mystery to many until he allegedly opened fire in the Colorado Springs clinic. 

The user posted a series of paranoid, Biblical rants on the message boards for Cannabis.com nearly a decade ago. 

“aids , hurricanes, we are in the end times,” one post from December 2005 read. 

“accept the LORD JESUS while you can.” 

Another post weeks later declared: “A FOOL HATH SAID IN HIS HEART THERE IS NO GOD,” adding: “PROVERBS.” 

Yet another said: “god made us so he can kill who he wants...the lord giveth the lord taketh away blessed be the name of the LORD.”

It is still too early to jump to conclusions, but that is why it would be very helpful for the police to cooperate with the press and let the public know just who this guy is, and what motivated him to murder three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic.

However it is clear that anti-abortionists are already getting their talking points prepared for if, and when, it turns out this guy was motivated by their rhetoric.

Last night Nancy French, hiding within her faux Bristol Palin camouflage, had this to say about the killings:

I join with the rest of America in grieving over this senseless violence and am deeply saddened that three more souls were added to the countless others who’ve lost their lives at that location.

Which is almost verbatim what Mike Huckabee is also saying:

“There’s no excuse for killing other people, whether it’s inside ... Planned Parenthood clinics, where many millions of babies die, or whether it’s people attacking Planned Parenthood,” Huckabee said.

Of course their argument is at least somewhat more coherent than the one made by Ted Cruz: 

When a reporter reminded the Texas senator that the suspect allegedly made a comment about “baby parts” while being arrested, Cruz countered, “It’s also been reported that he was registered as an independent and a woman and transgendered leftist activist, if that’s what he is.”

WTF?

So you see even if Mr. Dear was motivated by those doctored videos, or anti-abortion rantings (Which the conservatives want to point out is NOT proven yet!), it is really no big deal because thousands of potential human beings are killed at that location all of the time. And besides that he is probably a transgendered Democrat who is voting for Hillary, so what's all the fuss?

Of course if the Colorado Springs police would disclose more information we might be able to clear all of this up. But it does not appear they are going to do that anytime soon. 

Nancy French actually attempts to take on the great Richard Dawkins while wearing the facade of Bristol Palin. This would be laughable if it were not so sad.

"Brancy who?"

Anyhow so Richard Dawkins gave an interview to an Irish media outlet during which he said the following: 

“I’m interested in the cases where religion actually moves people to do horrible things … although they themselves might not be horrible people, they might be actually very righteous people,” Dawkins said. “They believe they’re doing right.” 

That’s when he launched into an example surrounding the September 11 attacks to illustrate his point. 

“I think the 9/11 hijackers all sincerely believed that they were doing the right and proper moral, religious thing,” he continued. “They were not in themselves evil. They were following their faith — and faith is pernicious because it can do that to people. It can do that to otherwise decent people.”

Richard Dawkins is a scientist with an analytical mind and the question of how religious faith can drive people to do both incredibly selfless and incredibly terrible things is of course fascinating.

So how could anybody take issue with his attempt to understand how religion both inspires and condemns people to act in certain ways?

Well if you are Nancy French that question is easily answered, you're an idiot who views the world through the eyes of a child.

Here was French getting her granny panties in a twist over Dawkins' remarks: 

Regardless of your religious beliefs or lack thereof, it’s absolutely ludicrous to say that men who chose to train for years with the sole aim to kill as many people as possible are somehow not evil. I would say their actions are the very definition of evil. 

It is an incredibly dangerous thing to downplay the motives of the hijackers or try to normalize them. They were not normal men. They were radicalized jihadists. And, yes, their actions were evil. If their actions are not evil, then one cannot even fathom something that would actually be evil. 

This is the problem with radical atheists like Richard Dawkins. Their agenda is to attack people of all faiths. And Dawkins has to fit even something as obviously evil as the terrorist attacks on 9/11 into his own radical agenda. 

So the radical atheist ends up defending the radical jihadists, because according to his crazy ideas, they aren’t evil – they were just brainwashed.

There's more but I think this gives you the gist of French's argument, which is "I see the world as simply a struggled between the magical forces of good and evil, and if somebody challenges my childish concept of evil it undermines my entire world view. So just stop it, stop it now!"

And this speaks to the real problem with seeing the world through a primitive superstitious prism.

The same fundamentalism which inspires a person to murder and destroy in the name of their god, even at the cost of their own life, is the same sort of fundamentalism that makes it impossible for a person to see the complexities of human emotion beyond the simple unsophisticated characterizations of "good" and "evil."

The truest statement in this ridiculous rant is the following:

"If their actions are not evil, then one cannot even fathom something that would actually be evil."

EXACTLY!

And the reason for that is because while there are terrible things occurring in the world everyday, simply labeling them as "evil" demonstrates a lazy intellect that does not want to get to the real questions as to why they actually happen.

One of the first things you learn while working in the mental health field is that simple labels are rarely appropriate, and that people's actions and behaviors are often driven by complex biological, developmental, and social issues that are not apparent at fist glance.

Richard Dawkins is a man who is fascinated with learning the truth. Ipso facto he became a scientist.

Nancy French is a person who is defined by a deep faith in a primitive superstition who views the world in stark shades of black and white. Therefore she is a hack writer, attacking her intellectual superiors, while hiding behind the facade of others, in return for money grifted from idiots who fail to recognize that they have been taken advantage of by a con artist.

There is no comparison between the two.

P.S. By the way if you think the above interview upset Brancy, just wait until she gets a load of this one:  

During the exchange, Dawkins was asked if he thought religious people were “mentally ill.” 

“It’s hard to use the word ‘mentally ill’ when there are so many of them,” the Briton responded. “If they believed what they did and they were the only one they would undoubtedly be called mentally ill.”
Oh yeah, that is going to drive her, and her fundie buddies, right over the freaking bend. 

North Carolina Congressman claims that his "primary mission as a member of Congress" is to spread "the Gospel of Christ." Uh, no it's not.

Courtesy of Right Wing Watch:  

Last week, Rep. Robert Pittenger joined several of his fellow members of Congress, such as Trent Franks and Louie Gohmert, as well as Religious Right activists "Coach" Dave Daubenmire, E.W. Jackson, and others in speaking at a week-long revival meeting in Washington, D.C., called "Celebrate America," organized by televangelist and "Holy Laughter" preacher Rodney Howard-Browne. 

Pittenger told the audience that his "primary mission" as a member of Congress is to spread the Gospel of Christ and that every issue of public policy is founded on the "reality of Christ." 

"The most important message that needs to be heard in this city is the Gospel and love of Christ," Pittenger said, adding that people who hold different political views "just don't know my Savior." 

"That's my primary mission as a member of Congress," the North Carolina Republican said. "Yes, to serve my constituents, to serve my region, and my state, and my country. But we're here as emissaries for Christ." 

You know perhaps I missed a day or two during my high school government class, but I always thought that the primary purpose of a United States Congressman was to make laws, NOT to proselytize.

I totally must have slept through the lesson on members of Congress needing to preach the Gospel.

To be serious religious zealots like this guy have no place in our Congress or our Senate, and should actually be barred from ever running for office in this country in order to protect us from their irrational thought processes.

Time and time again, whether it be addressing climate change, educating our children, providing civil rights to the LGBT community, or promoting science, we see these religious nuts voting in ways that significantly effect our country in a negative manner and hold up our progress as a nation.

And that shit needs to stop!

Gee I wonder what they think about gay marriage? Actually no I don't.

My favorite part is that they are parked in a handicap spot.

Jeb Bush goes to Liberty University to pander his pants off for that sweet, sweet evangelical vote.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Jeb Bush on Saturday made a major overture to evangelical voters, seeking to reassure a skeptical voting bloc that when it comes to core beliefs about religious freedom and Christianity’s role in the world, he’s with them. 

The former Florida governor and likely presidential candidate made his pitch at a commencement address at Liberty University, a prominent symbol of evangelical Christianity in Lynchburg, Va., that has become a routine campaign stop for presidential hopefuls. Bush aimed to connect with evangelical voters — many of whom have been wary of his potential candidacy — by decrying progressives who, in his characterization, see no role for religion in public life.

“I am asked sometimes whether I would ever allow my decisions in government to be influenced by my Christian faith,” Bush said, building on a spirited defense of the First Amendment and the importance of free exercise of religion. “Whenever I hear this, I know what they want me to say. The simple and safe reply is, ‘No. Never. Of course not.’ If the game is political correctness, that’s the answer that moves you to the next round. The endpoint is a certain kind of politician we’ve all heard before – the guy whose moral convictions are so private, so deeply personal, that he even refuses to impose them on himself.” 

Holy crap! It almost sounds as if Bush has been possessed by the spirit of Ted Cruz.

But wait, there's more:  

“The stories vary, year after year, but the storyline is getting familiar: The progressive political agenda is ready for its next great leap forward, and religious people or churches are getting in the way. Our friends on the left like to view themselves as the agents of change and reform, and you and I are supposed to just get with the program.” 

And do you know why those of us on the Left view ourselves as "agents of change and reform?" 

Because we are.

And the reason that that we see Fundamentalist Christians diametrically opposed to that kind of change, or the acceptance of all people despite their sexuality, religion, or lack of religion, is because they are.

If religious people did not demand that their ability to discriminate against gay people while hiding behind their faith be protected, or attempt to indoctrinate public school children in science classes by promoting the teaching of Creationism, or freak out because a child sits during the Pledge of Allegiance rather than pay homage to their God, then I don't see too many liberals having a problem with them.

After all it is not their right to worship that we object to, it's their constant need to impose their primitive religious beliefs on all of the rest of us that chaps our ass.

You know we openly mocked Sarah Palin just the other day for going full televangelist, but now it's clear that she is simply jumping on a bandwagon already bulging with potential presidential candidates who seem poised to reanimate the social conservative values of the Moral Majority.

And this in the era of gay marriage, a dramatic decline in church attendance, and the rapid growth of non-theism.

Well as one of those political progressives that Jebbie is bitching about all I have to say is, "Sounds like a plan to me."

I completely support the Republican party going back in time and embracing the values espoused by Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggert, and Pat Robertson.  Good luck with that.

You know I have always thought this was true.

Let's face it the differences between Sharia law and the fundamentalist Christian point of view are virtually non-existent.

And though the Fundies will not say this out loud the way that Islamic countries control their women and punish non-believers give them a righteous woody.

"I'm getting sick of tired of dinosaurs being forced on our children." Update!

"Aww, it's okay. They didn't mean it."

Courtesy of The Mirror:  

Popular parenting website Mumsnet might just have witnessed its best post of all time - after a parent detailed their concerns about DINOSAURS. 

The extinct mega beasts, widely accepted to have roamed the earth 230 million years ago, were listed as a worry for mothers alongside topics including baby names, weight loss and feeding toddlers. 

Started by user, 'CADministry', the prehistoric problem thread is titled: "I'm getting sick of tired of dinosaurs being forced on our children." 

It continues: "I'm really concerned about dinosaurs, and I think something needs to be done. The science behind them is pretty flimsy, and I for one do not want my children being taught lies. 

"Did you know that nobody had even heard of dinosaurs before the 1800s, when they were invented by curio-hungry Victorians?"

The science is pretty flimsy?

They were "invented by curio-hungry Victorians?" 

And these people are allowed to procreate?

But wait, there's more.  

The eyebrow-raising post claims learning about dinosaurs - extinct for 65 million years according to experts - made a boy "bestially minded" and led to him biting three children. 

It ads: "Nothing about dinosaurs is suitable for children, from their total lack of family values through to their non-existence from any serious scientific point of view."

Yes let's not teach our children about dinosaurs because they lack "family values" and might teach children to bite each other. Good thinking.

Actually there is some good evidence to suggest that at least some dinosaurs were quite good at parenting.  

Not that it really makes any difference. After all we do not study dinosaurs to pick up parenting tips, we study them to learn more about our world and how creatures evolved.

Though it is stunningly clear that some creatures are far more evolved than others. These parents for example are obviously still several rungs down on the evolutionary ladder.

Update: It looks like the "sick and tired of dinosaurs" poster got  banned from Mumsnet.

Home schooled daughter of fundamentalist Christian parents cannot prove she is an American citizen.

Courtesy of The Friendly Atheist:  

Alecia Faith Pennington grew up in a homeschooling Christian household. As you might expect, her parents don’t like government regulations. We know that freedom can be abused, but I’ve never seen it go this far. 

Alecia’s mother Lisa, who runs a website called The Pennington Point, never obtained a birth certificate for her daughter. (She was born at home.) Furthermore, there’s no social security number for Alecia… or school records (since she never attended public school).

Because of that the young woman cannot attend school, get a driver's license, or even prove she is an American citizen. 

But hey, at least God knows she exists. Right?

Sent to my phone late last night by my daughter.

Lately my daughter and I have been spending quite a lot of time together, whihc has been great since when she leaves for a job I sometimes don't communicate with her for weeks at a time.

Anyhow lately we have been discussing movies (Our favorite topic), technology, the Occulus Rift, politics, and, most recently, atheism.

As some of you may remember I took great pains to keep pains to keep my views on religion to myself while my daughter was growing up, and her mother did just the opposite and inflicted fundamentalist Christianity on her while living in Georgia.

Anyhow fairly recently my daughter has decided, almost completely on her own, that religion sucks balls.

And as a newly outed Atheist my daughter is demonstrating a kind of pugnacious approach toward religion that has caused her to start arguments with family members, friends, and even people at work.

I am currently attempting to be supportive while also letting her know that challenging people's belief systems in some arenas can have negative effects on her relationships and employment opportunities.

Ultimately I think she will be fine as she is well liked by her peers and an absolute beast at her job.

I have to admit though, I could not be prouder of her. And what a great time to be nonreligious.

I really think this new enlightenment is going to be something spectacular.

There are deleted scenes from "Jesus Camp" that may be even creepier than the actual documentary.

So Rachael's "gifts" are conversing with imaginary beings, speaking gibberish, and seeing things that are not there.

Yeah we have a definition for that in the secular world as well, and it's called "Schizophrenia."

North Carolina public school teacher gets five days suspension for denigrating the public school system and suggesting that it turns students gay. Oh yeah, that seems fair.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A parent in North Carolina is upset that a high school biology teacher who compared public education to Nazi death camps and attacked the theory of evolution will be allowed to continue teaching. 

Krista Bennett, a parent of a senior at Fuquay-Varina High School, told the News & Observer that she’s disappointed with the Wake County Public School System’s decision not to fire Ray Fournier over an article he published in a home-schooling magazine. 

In the article, Fournier wrote that the public school system was like “a concentration camp dedicated to the spiritual death of those imprisoned behind these walls.” The biology teacher also complained about the teaching of evolution, claiming it discredited “the reliability of the Bible” and got “rid of God as Creator,” and he said public education could turn straight kids into gay kids. 

The district announced Friday that Fournier would be suspended for five days without pay.

Okay usually I am all for tenure and teachers keeping their jobs unless they engage in criminal behavior or hurt the children in some way, but this guy needs to go.


And why is he even teaching at a public school anyhow?

North Carolina has a number of private religious schools and I am sure any one of them would love to have his homophobic fundamentalist ass.

It is time to stop worrying about outside attacks from the religiously fanatical ISIS, and time to start worrying about the religious fanatics that are already here.

Courtesy of Alternet:  

The Islamic State has said, “Secular statists are destroying America,” and that “God is not finished with the U.S. yet.” When religious extremists make such proclamations we should take them at their word. Equally we should demand “moderate Muslim” voices to denounce such affronts to America’s secular values. 

The above paragraph is true except for one notable exception: the above proclamations are not attributed to Islamic extremism or the Islamic State. They’re respectively owned by the 2012 GOP nominee runner-up Rick Santorum, who provided the first quote, and potential 2016 GOP front-runner Ted Cruz, who gave the second - on day one of the 2014 Value Voters Summit. 

America, your religious extremists are already inside the “Homeland,” so what are we going to do about it? 

“Obama’s agenda is not based on the Bible,” Santorum said. “Iran is dangerous because it’s a theocracy,” warned Cruz. It doesn’t take a clinical psychologist to detect the cognitive dissonance that the combined statements display. 

Any American with even a smidgen of secular sensibility should be deeply troubled by the maniacal religious radicalization of the Republican Party’s most reliable and agitated voting bloc. While ISIS is a rag-tag bunch of tens of thousands of Sunni extremists, who get around the Arabian Desert on the back of Toyota pick-ups, the Values Voter Summit is an audition for those who wish to represent hundreds of millions of Americans, as they get around the continental U.S. in the back of Air Force One. 

We are not talking about a fringe minority of disgruntled religious extremists. We are talking about swaths of the electorate who wish to transform America’s secular democracy into a tyrannical theocracy, and if the 2000 general election taught us anything, it’s that America is but one low-turnout election away from electing a religious extremist who wishes to impose the biblical equivalent of Sharia law on gays, minorities, liberals, atheists, Muslims, academics, immigrants, and anyone else they deem undesirable.

Well great, now who is going to rock me to sleep tonight?

ISIS and Fundamentalist Christians find common ground. They both want to ban the teaching of Evolution.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast: 

ISIS and Christian fundamentalists can agree on something: Charles Darwin is bad. In Mosul, Iraql, the militants have explicitly banned teaching the theory of evolution in new school curriculums, despite the fact that it wasn't taught in Iraq previously. 

Well of course this is the one area that the militant Muslims and militant Christians would agree.

After all an understanding of science threatens the existence of both of them.

Of course that is where the agreement ends:   

The terrorists have also cut history, literature, art, music and Christianity classes from schools. Many parents have been keeping their children out of class as a form of resistance to the new academic programs.

Well actually now that I think about it the similarities really DON'T end there.

I mean sure Fundamentalist Christians would never reject the teaching of their religion in a public school, but they certainly would restrict any teaching about Islam.

And as for history, art, and music, well sure those would be retained just so long the history reflected the Bible's impact on it, the art classes featured religious imagery, and music was used to praise Jesus.

You know you take away the beheadings and genocide and we essentially have our own version of ISIS right here in the good old US of A.

Physicist on religious fundamentalists: "They are fish trapped in a pond of old water."

This is taken from an interview conducted by science journalist John Horgan, with Italian Theoretical Physicist Carlos Rovelli.

The entire interview is quite interesting, but this is the portion that really caught my eye.   

Horgan: Are science and religion compatible? 

Rovelli: Of course yes: you can be great in solving Maxwell’s equations and pray to God in the evening. But there is an unavoidable clash between science and certain religions, especially some forms of Christianity and Islam, those that pretend to be repositories of “absolute Truths.” The problem is not that scientists think they know everything. It is the opposite: scientists know that there are things we simply do not know, and naturally question those who pretend to know. Many religious people are disturbed by this, and have difficulty in coping with it. The religious person says, “I know that God has created light saying, ‘Fiat Lux.’” The scientist does not believe the story. The religious people feel threatened. And here the clash develops. But not all religions are like that. Many forms of Buddhism, for instance, have no difficulty with the continual critical attitude of science. Monotheistic religions, and in particular Islam and Christianity, are sometimes less intelligent. 

I have an idea about the source of the conflict: there is beautiful research by anthropologists in Australia which shows that religious beliefs are often considered a-temporal but in reality change continuously and adapt to new conditions, new knowledge and so on. This was discovered by comparing religious beliefs held by native Australians studied by anthropologists in the thirties and, much later, in the seventies. So, in a natural situation, religious beliefs adapt to the change in man’s culture and knowledge. The problem with Islam and Christianity is that many centuries ago somebody had the idea of writing down beliefs. So now some religious people are stuck with the culture and knowledge of centuries ago. They are fish trapped in a pond of old water.

Just let that marinate in your mind a little bit. 

And while doing that also realize that despite being written down that these religions DO indeed evolve when fresher ideas are introduced. However when the community (ie body of water) isolates itself it does indeed continue to view the archaic and outdated ideas that are written in their various religious tomes as, if you will pardon the word, the Gospel.

No wonder those who maintain power by keeping the populace superstitious and clinging to ancient beliefs, argue against education and fear the internet.

Group that is humorously critical of the bible posts troubling video and images of children at a Memphis Christian youth camp. Then things get a little out of hand.

This is from the blog  "Awkward Moments not found in your average Children's Bible:"

Earlier this week, a fan of ours shared a link to some disturbing photos and videos that were shared publicly by a counselor from a Memphis area church camp with the title “God is so good…” and comments like, “Awesome and so beautiful…” I should mention, the fan who sent us the links is friends with one of the parents involved. In short, they were completely horrified by what the friend’s child had experienced.

Because the photos and video were posted on Facebook publicly, without any privacy settings, for the world to see – we shared the direct links to the content with our Facebook fans with the simple question, “CHILD COERCION OR…?” (I should also quickly note that in order for the kids to attend the camp, their parents had to sign a photo/video release waiver so the camp could share the content online for marketing purposes.) It was certainly not the “normal” sort of post for our page (illustrations of lesser-known Bible verses), so I wasn’t sure how it would be received by our viewers. 

In short, our viewers went nuts about what they perceived to be significant emotional abuse of minors. The post went viral with hundreds of comments and hundreds of shares within just a few minutes. Suddenly, I felt bad for “Nita” – the original poster. Here she was, just sharing a some photos of videos of their normal every day church camp for other counselors and parents to share with family and friends, and… WHOOSH!

Here is the video that this post is referring to. (Sadly I cannot seem to embed it, but it plays just fine on the Liveleak page.)
 
Yeah, I bet that woke you up this morning!

And they're right, the backlash came hard and fast, and this group, which is really all about promoting their cute little illustrated bibles, found themselves under attack and those involved making some rather pathetic excuses for their actions.

"Addicted to the presence of Lord Jesus?" Well that is a fairly troubling statement.

However there were some connected to the camp who were more than a little troubled.

"My daughter was at camp when the pictures were taken last week. I am a Christian and raised Baptist. Never once did I EVER witness the likes of this! Pictures of my daughter were also posted on the woman’s page. Pictures of her crying and in very apparent emotional distress. When asked about the pictures of her, her response was that she was TOLD to pray with the other children, so she did. I asked why she was crying and she responded with, “Other kids were crying, it made me cry too.” So, please explain to be how children who are ENCOURAGED TO COPY what they are seeing other adults and children do without rhyme or reason or instruction is healthy? You cant. And when it ISN’T healthy, it becomes a form of abuse. Period. Emotional abuse has occurred that could scar these children for life."

Yeah no shit!

Look I of course have many negative feelings about religion and children, and religious indoctrination of children, but I myself attended a Bible camp as a child and was NEVER subjected to anything even remotely similar to this.

Which is good because if you think I am anti-religious now......