Tuesday, November 24, 2009

How are we preceived?

I just finished reading an article about how one of the characters from the cartoon show, "Family Guy" is going to reveal himself as an atheist.
It's Brian.
Brian is telling the world this coming episode that he's an atheist.
I find it interesting that for the most part, we're a distrusted lot.
Why?
I have no idea.
But one thing I do know, and I just realized this, is that we are the one thing that will UNIFY all religions.
How?
Simple.
They all hate us....
Now
That said...take a step back and think about that.
We, being atheists, have to power to unify all the worlds great, and not so great religions. I mean all their followers too.
It might be a good thing.
It might be a bad thing.
But ya gotta admit it, we're the only ones who could pull that off.
Not though war.
Not though intimidation.
Just by being ourselves.
Now... let us all GLOAT in our GLORY!

What are your thoughts on this?

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Do As We Say Or We'll Send You To Hell...... You're Local Catholic Bishop



Well it seems that some “religious” organizations still think that they can control people and rule the world.
I don’t hate to break this to them but it is the year 2009.
That poor Jewish guy that got nailed to a cross, or so we are told, died well over 2009 years ago.
He’s dead.
Deal with it.


The Catholic Church has decided that they, not the American people are going to decide the issue of abortion in the United States of America.
Let me tell you something, my ancestors came to this country a few hundred years ago when it was still a colony of the English.
Around 1776 they told the King of England, who also happened to be the head of the Church of England, and a few other Kings, Queens and religious leaders, including the “Pope” that they, or rather, “We the People….” are going to decide our own fiat.
No King. No Queen. No Pope. No Mullah. No Rabbi. No Monk. No Preacher. Nor Priest, are going to tell us what we can or cannot do.
Throughout the history of Western Civilization the Catholic Church and it’s leaders have really pulled some fast ones.
The French finally had enough of the Catholic Church during their revolution. Up to the revolution the Catholic Church controlled between 80 to 90% on the land in France.
That ended real quick like.
To this day the French have real set rules about religion and religions.
And they have reason too.


We’ve seen in the past few months that the Catholic Church has decided to use it’s members to shove their “morality” down the American people’s throat.
There are a couple of members of Congress who are working to stop that. Not many. Just two.
Here is a link to a story on what the Catholic Church is doing to certain members.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091122/ap_on_re_us/us_ri_bishop_kennedy

This one happens to be a member of the Kennedy family. Yes the man is a Catholic. And they are trying to influence this work in Congress.
Since they want to “influence” an ELECTED OFFICIAL OF THE US GOVERNMENT, what say they start paying TAXES like the rest of us.

Now let’s bump this up a bit.
What if this had been a Mullah?
Oh, you know the answer to that one. The Bible Pounders and religious crazies would be coming out of the wood work. The Talking Heads would be screaming about on their TV and radio talk shows.
Talking points would be flying.
FLYING!
They’d be calling the Mullah that tried that a “Radical” Islamic Terrorist. Heck, if he was lucky they’d just call him a “terrorist.”
There is a reason why Henry VIII and people like Martin Luther had had enough. They’d had enough of the little old men sitting on their throne in Rome.

One day, hopefully soon, these fools will realize that we now know where babies come from.
That the earth is NOT the center of the universe.
That if you masturbate you WON’T go to hell.
That the earth is NOT FLAT.
That food that grows beneath the earth is not from HELL.
And that you CANNOT LEGISLATE MORALITY.

What’s your take on this?

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

GUESS WHOSE COMING TO DINNER



The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has added Frank Schaeffer as a board member.
Interesting.
I've read his book, "Crazy for God." For what it's worth I have mixed feelings about this appointment.
But, reading his book I have mixed feelings about him and his family. They run from pure sympathy to confusion to well, hate.
Now, that all said and done, Mr. Schaeffer left the so called "Christian Coalition" and is very open about his distaste for the group.
He receive hate mail from some of his former fans.
I've been a life long atheist. I guess you could say that officially did not believe in God when I was 6. I didn't know I was an "atheist" but did later.
Back in high school during a discussion in class mentioned that I did not believe in God. A couple of people just got mad as hell at me. Why? Because I didn't believe in an invisible guy in the sky. These people were just down right PO'd.
In college I found two others who were atheists. They were two of my fraternity brothers. Those are the only two I ever met in college.
So, I can understand how it must feel for Mr. Schaeffer to receive hate mail from his former fans.
But I have had to watch how today's so called "Republican Party" came to what it is. Thanks to Mr. Schaeffer and his family.
Maybe he is paying his "penance" for what he and his family help bring about on our country.
The first time I ever heard of Mr. Schaeffer was when he was on Rachael Maddow's show this past summer when the late term abortion doctor was assassinated.
His statement of, "You don't change the village to fit the village idiot" was very profound.
Having attended the Texas Freethinkers Convention this past weekend in San Antonio, Texas, several of the speakers new of Mr. Schaeffer and his late father.
This should be interesting to see what Mr. Schaeffer brings to this organization.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Some atheist sites I belong too and thought I'd share.

Here are some other web sites I go too...thought I'd share them with you....it's not a total listing of atheist groups on line...just some

http://www.atheistnexus.org/
http://www.infidelrevolution.com/
http://www.thinkatheist.com/
http://atheistpenpals.ning.com/
http://www.gather.com/
http://www.vox.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/
http://goddamnatheist.blogspot.com/
http://www.examiner.com/
http://www.tumblr.com
http://loljesus.com/
http://www.atheist-community.org/
http://www.plurk.com/goddamnathiest/invite
http://everysaturdaymorning.wordpress.com/
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html
http://www.myspace.com/goddamnatheist
http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/

Monday, November 16, 2009

Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party


At one time I was an active member of the Republican Party, when it was still the Republican Party. Now it’s filled with crack pots, loons and religious crazies. But it wasn’t always that way. At one time the Republican Party wanted a balanced budget. As we saw under Georgie Bush #43, the United States National Debt more then doubled in under 6 years of his leadership. We also invaded a country that had nothing to do with the attacks on September 11, 2001, and did not have any Weapons of Mass Destruction. They also let Osama bin Laudin escape. That in itself should be labeled “treason.”
I came across a review of this book by Frank Schaeffer. Schaeffer is a religious man a former evangelical who became a member of the Easter Orthodox Church who turned his back on the so called “Christian Coalition.” It’s an interesting review and I’m planning to purchase the book myself.
Here is Schaeffer’s review. Enjoy.

Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party
By Max Blumenthal


Max Told The Truth About Me, My Father and My Evangelical World, September 7, 2009
By Frank Schaeffer

For me reading Max Blumenthal's Republican Gomorrah is a look into a mirror. That might be because Blumenthal extensively interviewed me and drew rather heavily on my book "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back" as a reference for his in-depth exposé of what has gone so very wrong with the Republican Party. He's on my turf so I happen to know he's telling the truth as its not been told before. But there's more.

Republican Gomorrah is the first book that actually "gets" what's happened to the Republican Party and in turn what the Republicans have done to our country. The usual Democratic Party and/or progressive "take" on the Republican Party is that it's been taken over by a far right lunatic fringe of hate and hypocrisy, combining as it does, sexual and other scandals with moralistic finger wagging. But Blumenthal explains a far deeper pathology: it isn't so much religion as the psychosis and sadomasochism of the losers now called "Republicans" that drives the party. And the "Christianity" that shapes so much "conservative" thinking now is anything but Christian. It's a series of deranged personality cults.

The Religious Right/Republicans have perfected the method of capturing people in personal crisis and turning them into far right evangelical/far right foot soldiers. This explains a great deal that otherwise, to outsiders, seems almost inexplicable--the why and wherefore of "Deathers" "Birthers" et al. Blumanthal brilliantly sums up this pathology as:

"...a culture of personal crisis lurking behind the histrionics and expressions of social resentment. This culture is the mortar that bonds leaders and followers together."

Tracing the thinking of the fathers of the Republican Party, including my dad, the late Francis Schaeffer, who I teamed up with when I was a young man to help launch the Protestant wing of the "pro-life" movement, along with other such as Rousas John Rushdoony and the philanthropist Howard Ahmanson -- who used to donate generously to my far right work -- Blumenthal explains where the current Republican Party came from. He also details who it's foundational thinkers were, and just why it's still so dangerous. (A threat proved again this summer as the gun-toting fringe derailed the health care reform debate.)

He has their number. For one thing this book -- at last! -- will forever put James Dobson where he belongs: onto the top of the list of the American national rogue's gallery of mean-spirited, even sadistic, cranks.

Blumenthal first came to my attention when he was doing his in-depth reporting on Sarah Palin. He was a guest on a TV program I was on too. There was something accomplished and in depth about the quality of his reporting on religion that I hadn't seen from other progressive sources. I've been following his work since. Blumenthal understands the philosophy, psychology and religion of Religious Right figures like Palin, Dobson, Robertson et al in a way that no other reporter (with the exception of the always amazingly perceptive Jeff Sharlet author of The Family does.

Now, having read Blumenthal's book I know why he seems to really understand the nuances of far right religion. No one else has ever investigated this subject with as much insight into the psychological sickness that is the basis of the Religious right's power to delude other people who are also needy and unstable.

In another time and place the despicable (and sometimes tragic figures) Blumenthal describes would be the leaders of, or the participants in, local lynch mobs, or the followers of the Ku Klux Klan. But today figures such as James Dobson, Pat Robertson, (the late) Jerry Falwell, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin have led a resentment-driven second American revolution, not just against Democrats and progressives but against the United States of America itself. And this group of outsiders (in every sense of that word ) now control one of our major political parties.

As I explained to Blumanthal when he interviewed me, one of the reasons I left the far right movement in the 1980s was because I perceived it becoming the bedrock of anti-Americanism. The worst things got the better we right wing activists liked it. We loved crisis. We manufactured crisis! Crisis (public or personal) would force the country to embrace our radical solution: a radical turn to Old Testament law that would put homosexuals to death, see adulterers stoned at the city gates and so forth.

There were exceptions to the hard edge, my late father Francis Schaeffer was one. And Blumenthal (in his chapter on Dad and I) describes how my father was a compassionate man who opened his ministry to all before something "snapped" after the Roe v. Wade decision when he became a leader in the pro-life movement.

But with a few exceptions (like my late father) most of the people described in Blumenthal's book have no "other side" to them. They are the sick bedrock of what, at any moment, may become a full-blown American fascism. (Sharlet has done great work on showing how these Religious Right folks have also invaded the US Military, especially the chaplaincy ranks.)

My one -- very slight -- criticism of Republican Gomorrah is that Blumenthal neglected to do something that would have bolstered his arguments and given them deeper credibility: introduce a bi t of paradox and nuance into his book. He could have made a better case for the left by frankly looking at some of the extremism on the left that has played into the hands of the cynics who control the Religious Right: for instance the way Roe v. Wade was (in the view of many liberal pro-choice advocates) a tactical mistake preempting what was already happening in states including California and New York, in terms of legalizing abortion, and thereby galvanizing the culture war as we know it. And in the same vein perhaps when it comes to the current ethics of abortion and porn Blumenthal's case would be stronger if he had pointed out that there are many progressives, who have serious moral qualms on these issues as well.

That said Blumentha's case against the Religious Right is breathtakingly damning. What these folks want -- to destroy our pluralistic democracy and replace it with theocracy -- appears so far-fetched to most Americans that unfortunately their agenda is not taken seriously. The great service Blumenthal performs is to not only enlighten those who didn't grow up in the movement (as I did, sad to say) but to offer a genuine warning as to the seriousness of what these people will unleash if not stopped, then stopped again and again--because they are here to stay. And they just happen to control the republican Party!

Why should Blumenthal's book to be taken seriously? Take it from this former "insider" he knows what he's talking about. His thesis is less about politics than about the deviant psychology that people like Dobson have cashed in on by feeding delusion, victimhood and failure as a means through which to build a political movement. What Blumenthal reveals is the heart of the most dysfunctional and truly dangerous -- not to mention armed -- darkest reaches of our country.

What should we "do"? Read the book! Then fight like hell to keep Republicans out of power come what may. And maybe (note to progressives!) be a little less critical of President Obama and a little more grateful that he's in the White House!

Once in a while a book comes along about which one can say: If you love our country read this! Republican Gomorrah is one such book. One other thing: if you know any sane Republicans that would like to save what's left of their party beg them to read this book. If you have to beg them in the name of Jesus!


So what are your thoughts on this?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WANT'S TO GOVERN AMERICA AND GOVERN YOUR BODY

I came across this news item today and thought I'd share it with you. But first.......


Let me clear the air here for anyone who just does not get my stand on this issue.
I don’t need no god damn priest or bishop sticking their nose in my personal business.
I don’t need no god damn pope sitting on a throne in Rome Italy telling me what I can or cannot do.
If I do, then I’ll become a Catholic.
What happens between me and my doctor is none of their God Damn Business so
BUTT THE HELL OUT!
This is how I feel about abortion.
1. It is a PRIVATE matter.
2. It is between a women and her doctor.
3. It’s no bodies business and that includes any man, women, child, Nun, Sister, Novice, Monk, Priest, Bishop,
Minister, Preacher, Cleric, Mulla, Iatolla, Imam, or Rabbi or any other religious “leader.”
4. It’s never been any of their “business” and never will be.
5. So, MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS.
6. No where in the Bible or Koran or any other “religious” book does it say you can stick your nose in other peoples
business and that INCLUDES THEIR PERSONAL MEDICAL ISSUES.
7. Where these religious idiot get off thinking they have the “right” to stick their noses in other people’s personal and
private affairs, I have no idea.
8. I don’t see these so called “Pro Life” clowns offering any child support AFTER the baby is born.
I don’t see them offering any financial support.
I don’t see them offering any medical support.
I don’t see them offering anything.

WHY IS THAT? Can someone please tell me? I’d like to know. Others would too.
9. They don’t want:
Birth Control
Sex Education or
Condoms

10. They don’t want their “Tax Dollars” to be spent on abortions. Well guess what,
I DON’T WANT MY TAX DOLLARS SPENT ON FAITH BASED INITIATIVES.
We’ll cut that right off at the bat. I’m sure they won’t complain at all….And I’m sure the religious leaders won’t mind giving up free money from the government.
If they don’t like it then here is what they can do:
MOVE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY WHERE IT IS EXPECTED THAT YOU SPY ON YOUR NEIGHBORS AND PRY INTO THEIR PERSONAL AND PRIVATE BUSINESS.
I might suggest the following countries:
Saudi Arabia (The most sexually repressed country in the WORLD)
Iran (Now there’s a fundamentalist country if there ever was one…)
Communist North Korea
Communist Main Land China
Communist Cuba
Vatican City (you can worship the Pope all day long..)
Any Country with a DICTATOR. They'll feel right at home.




THE INFLUENCE GAME: Bishops shape health care bill
AP Associated Press

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_overhaul_catholic_lobby


By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Associated Press Writer – 1 min ago
WASHINGTON – Catholic bishops have emerged as a formidable force in the health care overhaul fight, using their clout with millions of Catholics and working behind the scenes in Congress to get strong abortion restrictions into the House bill.
They don't spend a dime on what is legally defined as lobbying, but lawmakers and insiders recognize that the bishops' voices matter — and they move votes. Representatives for the bishops were in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Capitol suite negotiating with top officials last Friday evening as they reached final terms of the agreement. Earlier in the day, Pelosi, a Catholic and an abortion rights supporter, had been on the phone to Rome with Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Washington's former archbishop, on the subject.
It wasn't the first time a high-ranking Catholic had weighed in with a key player on writing strict abortion curbs into the health measure. Boston's Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley personally appealed to President Barack Obama about it near the church altar at the early September funeral for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. Bishops quietly called their congressmen and senators to weigh in.
"The Catholic Church used their power — their clout, if you will — to influence this issue. They had to. It's a basic teaching of the religion," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., a leading abortion foe and architect of the health measure's restrictions.
It was Stupak who told Pelosi last Friday that if she wanted a deal on the health bill, she'd be well advised to invite the bishops' staff, who were already in his office, to her table. "I said, 'Well, they're here, and they're one of the key groups you want to have on your side, so why don't we just bring them in and work this out," Stupak said.
Pelosi did, and the result was a final measure that — much to the outrage of abortion rights supporters — bars a new government-run insurance plan from covering abortions, except in cases or rape, incest or the life of the mother being in danger, and prohibits any health plan that receives federal subsidies in a new insurance marketplace from offering abortion coverage. If women wanted to purchase abortion coverage through such plans, they'd have to buy it separately, as a so-called rider on their insurance policies.
The outcome has put Obama and Democratic leaders — already struggling for consensus on the complex and politically tricky health measure — in a tough spot. Democratic abortion foes in the Senate vow they won't support health legislation that omits the strict restrictions approved by the House, while abortion rights champions say they can't possibly vote for a bill that contains them.
Obama suggested Monday that he wants to strike a balance that doesn't allow backdoor federal funding of abortions but preserves women's insurance choices. For now, however, no such middle ground has been identified, and the bishops have served their notice that they will be a player — perhaps the dominant one — in the final outcome.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the church's Washington-based advocacy organization, which is staffed by more than 350 lay people, derives its power in large part from the sheer number of Catholics in this country — 68 million — but also from the special moral and religious standing of its members. Many of them are in regular contact with lawmakers, weighing in on issues from immigration policy to benefits for low-income people.
The group distributed fliers to every parish in the nation asking people to pray for abortion restrictions and to call their congressmen and senators asking them to "fix these bills with pro-life amendments."
And in recent days, the conference staff got elbow-deep in the legislative machinations on the health measure, even having bishops intervene with Republicans — who were loath to help Democrats pass their bill — to make sure they supported the abortion provisions.
Kathy Saile of the conference said Democratic leaders were willing to listen to the group because it has been in favor of Democrats' broader push for a health overhaul.
"We stayed in the conversation until the end, because the bishops have always been adamant about the need for genuine health care reform and want to see health care reform happen," Saile said.
Another factor that undoubtedly helped: Democrats are keenly aware of the power of Catholic voters, more than 50 percent of whom embraced Obama in the 2008 election. That was a substantial swing after Catholics had eschewed the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who is Catholic.
Said Saile, "This was a lot of members of Congress listening to their constituents."
The outcome left abortion-rights supporters, who couldn't muster enough votes in the House to head off Catholic abortion foes' intervention, fuming.
The bishops "essentially got signoff. They dictated this, and it's totally inappropriate — it's blatant interference between church and state," said Eleanor Smeal of the Feminist Majority. "The women's movement and the pro-choice forces feel like they were had."
Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., a leading liberal, suggested Tuesday that the IRS should investigate the conference's tax-exempt status, given its intense lobbying on the health measure.
And Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a prominent abortion rights supporter who has gathered the signatures of more than 40 representatives who refuse to back a health bill that contains the restrictions, said the bishops had been allowed to overstep their bounds.
"No one group should get to dictate the outcome of legislation in Congress," DeGette said. "Every group should be listened to, but I don't think one group should be given veto authority over what we do."



What are your thoughts on this matter?

Monday, November 9, 2009



Bus Driver Forces Passengers to Pray

WSBTV in Atlanta reported that MARTA bus driver, Leroy Matthews, was suspended for five days after forcing passengers to pray with him.

Passenger Christopher James was trying to exit the bus, but Matthews wouldn't let him. Instead the driver asked him to join hands with him and three other passengers to pray. James was so taken aback by the request that he agreed to the four minute prayer session.

A MARTA spokesman told reporters that it was unclear what they prayed about, but that it was clear that his behavior violated MARTA policy.

Mathews, a six-year MARTA veteran, returned to work as usual. Passenger James, however, remains skeptical, "I don't want to pray to get off MARTA, you know."



http://jobs.aol.com/articles/photos/funny-business/2436532/


Now, if this is reversed and an atheist asked a passenger NOT TO PRAY........


What are your thoughts on this?