Debaptism – making it official

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In the US, The Freedom from Religion foundation offers a “Debaptism Certificate”. The picture is too small to see, so to help you out, the text reads …

I, having been subjected to a Christian baptism before reaching an age of consent, or having submitted to baptism before embracing freethought and reason, hereby officially renounce that primitive rite and the Church that imposed it. I categorically reject the creeds, dogmas, and superstitions of my former religion, particularly the pernicious doctrines of ‘Original Sin’ and damnation.
“I further denounce as an affront and defamation to humanity the false and demeaning belief that any baby is born with ‘Original Sin’ and must be cleansed of it by baptism. From this day forward, I wish to be excluded from any claims of religious affiliation or membership based on baptismal records.

Why would you take this step? Well, perhaps one good reason is to remove yourself from the statistics that are used by the churches to demand more privileges, and perhaps also to break the formal connection with institutions that are counterproductive to peace, harmony and common sense. Another thought is to simply “come out” within your community, or to initiate a public debate. Evangelical noises are getting louder and louder, so its a way to push back and take a stand.

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Creationism, Holocaust Denial and The ID Crowd

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Guest Post
Creeping Creationism or Galloping Intolerance at the Edinburgh Science Festival?

Creationism, Holocaust Denial and The ID Crowd

by Keith Gilmour

On Wednesday 20th April, I spoke at an event organised, by the Humanist Society of Scotland, for the Edinburgh International Science Festival. The topic was “The Threat of Creeping Creationism in Scottish Schools.” This took place in the University of Edinburgh’s Informatics Forum.

As a secondary school RME/RMPS teacher, I began my contribution with a summary of my school’s RME/RMPS curriculum before going on to highlight some of the unsolicited ID and creationist literature (books, DVDs, etc) that have been sent out to our school. Some had been addressed to the Head Teacher, some to the Science department, and some to my own.

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Magical ley lines – debunked

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ley linesAre you familiar with the concept of a ley lines?

These are apparently special magical lines that run between ancient archaeological sites or monuments. If like me, you grew up devouring all the mystical books doing the rounds such as “Chariot of the Gods” by Erich Von Daniken, or “The Third Eye” by Lobsang T Rampa, then you will have no doubt come across the claim at some point. In fact, I’d be astonished if you had not heard of them, the idea has more or less embedded itself as a cultural meme these days.

Where did the Ley Lines idea originally come from?

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Sai Baba

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The Times of India reports that  Sai Baba, one of India’s most famous Godmen, died last Sunday.

Now, to put this in context, he was listed by the Watkins Review as one of the 100 most spiritually influential people in the world (yea, I’m also bothered by that meaningless word “spiritually”, but worry not, the review itself does not mean very much, its just a bookshop review). OK, lets try a few more numbers. There is a claim that he had about around 6 million adherents, and his organization, the Sathya Sai Organisation, reports that there are an estimated 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba Centers in 114 countries worldwide. I’ll not quibble about these numbers, not because I think they are right, (I suspect not), but rather … I simply don’t care to quibble about such numbers. The fact that I don’t dispute is that he had quite a following, and apparently that included presidents and prime ministers from India and beyond.

OK, so lets put our skeptical hats on and take a quick tour.

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Quoting Hitchens

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I have two items for you today, both specific to Christopher Hitchens.

The first is the letter that he has written. He was scheduled to appear at a conference of atheists during the weekend, but sadly had to cancel due to his illness, so he wrote them a letter instead. Now remember, this is a man that has a true gift with the written word, so while his voice might indeed have been absent, his thoughts and words have now instead been spread far a wide via this open letter, perhaps far further than initially planned, here are some extracts to tempt you to read it all …

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Proof that Zombies really do exist

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Did you know that there is proof that zombies really exist, and that there are millions of people all around the planet who truly believe that the evidence is irrefutable? Indeed yes, its all documented in the bible. In Mathew’s fictitious account of a Jewish Messiah, it reads as follows … And, behold, the veil … Read more