Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
There is a claim that Christopher Langan is the smartest man in the US. However, he also claims that intelligent design and evolution are compatible … really!! … in that case, I can only suggest that he is perhaps not as smart as some consider him to be. OK, to be fair let’s clarify something – Intelligence … Read more
A religion is a belief system with rituals.
The missionary kopimistsamfundet is a religious group centered in Sweden who believe that copying and the sharing of information is the best and most beautiful that is. To have your information copied is a token of appreciation, that someone think you have done something good.* All knowledge to all
* The search for knowledge is sacred
* The circulation of knowledge is sacred
* The act of copying is sacred.
Not too long ago I blogged about a crazy Egyptian Islamic Cleric, Shaykh Abi-Ishaq al-Huwayni, who suggested that Muslims who were short of cash should go on a raid and sell any prisoners taken in the market.
As you might imagine, it caused a bit of a stir (his comments made it into the Egyptian press), so he was interviewed over the phone by a TV station and asked to explain himself. At first he appeared to back off a bit and suggested that his words had been taken out of context, but then he proceeds to put it into a 7th Century setting. What is astonishing is that his explanation is even more outrageous and utterly offensive to any normal sane human.
Here we do indeed have an individual, who is not just out of time from another century, but has had his sense of morality so utterly fucked up by religion, that he appears to be from another millennium.
Belief in faith healing is fairly common, but for most mainstream believers, prayer is generally an addition to proper medical care, not an alternative. Sadly there are some to do indeed view faith healing as the only viable approach to illness and decline all medical care. One such example is a group who call themselves the “Followers of Christ” and are based in Oregon City.
A basic human right is freedom of thought. In essence, folks can believe whatever they wish, so best of luck to them in all such endeavors. Well OK, perhaps we can ourselves exercise another freedom, that of speech, and mock such silly beliefs, however beyond all this is a far deeper concern here – what about their kids?
They don’t get to choose, but instead have this nonsense inflicted upon them, sometimes with dire consequences.
It just had to happen I guess, but the Washington Post called up Richard Dawkins and asked him for his thoughts on it all. Now least you have missed it by burying your head in the sandpit, Family Radio evangelist Harold Camping believes that he has calculated the exact date of the rapture: May 21, 2011. (yes just a few days away) While many are laughing at the suggestion, Camping’s followers are taking him seriously, bringing his message of impending doom to billboards and public spaces around the country. Richards reply is great, here is what he said …
Why is a serious newspaper like the Washington Post giving space to a raving loon? I suppose the answer must be that, unlike the average loon, this one has managed to raise enough money to launch a radio station and pay for billboards. I don’t know where he gets the money, but it would be no surprise to discover that it is contributed by gullible followers – gullible enough, we may guess, to go along with him when he will inevitably explain, on May 22nd, that there must have been some error in the calculation, the rapture is postponed to . . . and please send more money to pay for updated billboards.
Westboro Baptist Church attorney Margie Phelps said Sunday that President Barack Obama was probably a sign of the Apocalypse. She is quoted as saying … “The president is going to be king of the world before this is all said and done and he is most likely The Beast spoken of in the Revelation,” she … Read more