Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
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.
Yes its yet another Islamic kook. With so many having their brains scrambled on a weekly basis by bizarre beliefs, it should be no surprise to find that one will pop up on a regular basis. This weeks crazy pronouncement … well, just see it for yourself, its another jaw dropper.
Here we have an audio of Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, in which he explains in this short fatwa that any Muslim who refuses to pray has become an infidel, and therefore must be killed. It was originally published in audio format on al-Fawzan’s website some time ago, but was recently published in a video on YouTube, and was later picked up by Arabic-language news sites, such as al-Arabiya.
Time and time again we find that religious folks, who claim to hold the ultimate form of morality (an apparent direct line to a God) to be a tad lacking in basic ethics. The most common example we all often come across consists of Christian Creationists lying for Jesus and more or less making stuff up that they then claim is “proof”. When you go through it with them, it does not make one iota of a different, they might as well have stuck their fingers in the ears and babbled “la la la” while you patiently explained things. The very next day they will be back to babbling the same old rhetoric.
Is it just the Christians? Nope, not at all. Today we have an Islamic example. Andrew Gilligan writes in today’s Telegraph about an East London Mosque that had faithfully promised to ban homophobic preachers. Well yes, I’m sure you can guess where this is going … he writes …
I suspect many sites that thrive on the creation of satire must truly struggle when it comes to Islam … not because they fear the death threats, but rather because the actual claims made are so bizarre and morally outrageous, that it is almost impossible to distinguish satire and the real belief. To illustrate what … Read more
We have yet another story about Catholic abuse and an associated cover-up. The tragedy here is that this is now so common, it is almost non-news. A BBC documentary, “Abused: Breaking the Silence”, will air tonight (BBC1 at 10:35 21st June) and reveal all the sordid details. It concerns the antics of Fr Kit Cunningham, the jovial parish priest of St Ethedreda’s church and for many years unofficial padre to Fleet Street. When he was a young missionary in Africa he committed the most disgusting paedophile crimes – he sexually assaulted prep school boys at the order’s school in Soli, Tanzania
OK, a bit of fun today … tongue-in-cheek only … but still a real story.
Just off the North coast in the UK there exists a tiny little tidal island known as “Holy Island” and built upon it is the monastery of Lindisfarne. Recently it has become the centre for the revival of Celtic Christianity and so it has become a popular retreat centre, as well as holiday destination.
To get there there is a tidal causeway – hint: when the tide is high, you don’t cross. Ah but I don’t need to tell you that, its the bleeding obvious, yes? … right? … apparently not.