08.30.06
Posted in General at 6:10 am by Hemant Mehta
Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist (I’m not making this up), has recently said that Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil.
Which is just sad. It’s like saying they didn’t have a choice doing what they did. They would’ve been nice guys, but the Devil just screwed it all up! Of course, that’s absurd. If anything, we need to learn how to stop those types of people from even coming into power. We can’t give them a free ride by blaming someone else for their atrocities.
Best part of the article, though:
…Pope Pius XII attempted a “long distance” exorcism of Hitler which failed to have any effect.
Father Amorth said: “It’s very rare that praying and attempting to carry out an exorcism from distance works.
“Of course you can pray for someone from a distance but in this case it would not have any effect…”
Anyway, now, I’m just pissed off. I need to stop scanning the headlines in the morning before work…
[tags]Hitler, Stalin, Father Gabriele Amorth, Vatican, exorcism[/tags]
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Posted in General at 12:03 am by Hemant Mehta
I sent in my student membership dues a while ago, and last week, I finally received my “Thanks for joining” package from American Atheists! Very exciting. What does one get when joining an atheist organization, you ask?
– A notepad with the AA logo. (To leave notes for your coworkers… before you get fired.)
– The AA Magazine. (Cover story: “The Value of Being a Pain in the Ass” which talks about how we need to stand together and complain when we hear disparaging comments about atheists being said in the media, just like the religious extremists do when… well… anyone says anything ever.)
– A certificate of membership signed by AA President Ellen Johnson. (To frame on the wall of my cubicle… in my soon-to-be non-existent workplace.)
– A membership card. (To paraphrase a good friend, “I’m now a card carrying member of the atheist party.”)
– A discount coupon for Hertz rent-a-car. (Because when I think Hertz, I think heathen.)
– A paper listing other benefits for AA members. Including $10.00 off the $50.00 suggested donation at the Velvet Curtain… which is a swingers club in Texas. (Won’t get that from Focus on the Family.)
Join the party.
[tags]American Atheists, Ellen Johnson, Hertz, Velvet Curtain, atheist[/tags]
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08.27.06
Posted in General at 7:52 pm by Hemant Mehta
This is why:
It’s Joel and Victoria Osteen! AHH!
What happened at their church? Pre-order the book to find out…
[tags]Joel Osteen, Victoria Osteen[/tags]
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08.25.06
Posted in General at 9:27 pm by Hemant Mehta
David Cross is an atheist comedian who might be best known for his work on the show Arrested Development. However, his stand-up routine includes several bits on religion. If you haven’t seen him yet, watch this clip.
More postings coming soon![tags]David Cross, Arrested Development, religion, atheism, standup, comedy, atheist, Christianity[/tags]
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08.23.06
Posted in General at 4:53 pm by Hemant Mehta
The Institute for Humanist Studies publishes an e-zine each week. This past Saturday, the website Fark.com, which provides links to entertaining and important news stories on a continual basis, linked to an article from the e-zine. That article discussed a study showing that religion was linked to bad behavior. Strangely enough, the article was first published last November.
Still, the number of hits to the Humanist Network News website along with the article author’s website skyrocketed. In the current IHS e-zine, a graph of hits to the website provided the whole story:
This is too amusing. The full story (told by the original article’s author, Martin Foreman) is here.
[tags]Humanist Network News, Institute for Humanist Studies, Martin Foreman, Fark.com, [/tags]
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08.22.06
Posted in General at 9:53 pm by Hemant Mehta
***Update (8/23/06) The author of the beliefnet.com article referred to below, Rebecca Phillips, sent me a link to a video of the Colbert mention. See it here!***
Recently, I talked about Stephen Colbert mentioning Camp Quest (the atheist summer camp) on his show. Well, last night on the Colbert Report, he mentioned another wonderful organization: the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. I couldn’t find a video link, so I copied down the transcript…
The other day, I logged onto beliefnet.com. (I always head there after sinning on the other sites). And anyway, beliefnet reported that groups like the Military Association of Atheists [sic, though his graphic was that of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers] are upset over a little saying you might have heard…
[Clip of Katie Couric saying, "Perhaps you've heard the expression, 'There are no atheists in foxholes'."]
[Clip of Bob Schieffer saying, "In wartime, there are no atheists in foxholes."]
Well, I’m upset, too. Why aren’t there atheists in our foxholes? I say we stuff our foxholes with atheists, then we bring back our Christian boys where it’s safe! Yes… We know atheists are brave. They’re not afraid to go to Hell and be tortured by Satan for all eternity… which is what’s going to happen. They’re not going to be afraid of insurgents. I say we ship ‘em out, let ‘em destroy someone else’s society for a change. And hey, we could get churches to share their membership information with the government. That way, if someone doesn’t go to to church for, let’s say, a year, they’ll get to stand outside a mosque. And as for agnostics, we’ll send them to Afghanistan. That’s a war pretty much anybody can, you know, kinda believe in.
Gotta love it.
[tags]Stephen Colbert, Colbert Report, Camp Quest, Katie Couric, Bob Schieffer, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, MAAF, atheists, foxholes, agnostics, beliefnet.com[/tags]
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Posted in General at 4:15 pm by Hemant Mehta
An 81-year-old woman who taught Sunday School for 54 years in Watertown, NY, was dismissed from her First Baptist Church position because… well, apparently they discovered she was a woman.
And as we all know, women should keep silent.
At least, that’s what the church board said to her. Their letter quoted 1 Timothy 2:12: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.”
The Reverend Timothy LaBouf is also on the Watertown City Council where the city manager is a woman as well. Will this impact her? No, LaBouf said. He added that a woman “can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility…“
So, let me get this straight. Women can do everything in the real world. But when in church, *&%# that idea.
Thankfully, the teacher, Mary Lambert, has received several other teaching offers.
What’s even more frightening is that the vote for her dismissal was unanimous. No one on that church’s board took a stand to say that rule might not apply anymore? Someone please explain.
[tags]Mary Lambert, First Baptist Church, Watertown, New York, Timothy, Sunday School, Timothy LaBouf[/tags]
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08.21.06
Posted in General at 5:43 pm by Hemant Mehta
Only in Kansas… a man saw the Virgin Mary in his George Foreman Grill drip pan. The story is here.
Which raises some interesting questions:
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08.19.06
Posted in General at 12:48 am by Hemant Mehta
The Secular Student Alliance released it’s latest electronic newsletter, which has some wonderful articles. Read it here!
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08.17.06
Posted in General at 1:48 pm by Hemant Mehta
Beliefnet.com recently put out a list called “Who’s Who Among the Godless,” talking about those atheists who are “leading the charge” on atheist issues. There are some notables missing (Dawkins?), but perhaps this list is just limited to Americans. In which case I think arguments could be made for some people who should be in this List of Ten but are not. Still, they did a good job of getting a wide range of atheists.
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