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More from “religion makes people good” dept

Oct 10th, 2011 10:59 am | By

Haredi protesters pitch a fit about a new girls’ school – a religious school! - next to “their” neighborhood.

Senior Beit Shemesh rabbis took part in the rally, in which participants called for “maintaining the purity of the haredi neighborhoods against strangers plotting to desecrate them, backed by the evil regime.”

Got it all, dunnit –  purity, strangers, plotting, desecrate, the evil regime. You can’t get much more viciously crazy and anti-human than that.

A female journalist was assaulted by a small group of young protestors, who
cursed and spat at her as well…

According to the students’ parents, groups of radical haredim arrive at the
school from time to time and swear at the girls.

Two haredi men were

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Haredi men throw shit, call little girls “sluts” *

Oct 10th, 2011 | Filed by

In September they staged a protest against the school and the “evil regime” that approved its founding. A female journalist was assaulted and spat on by a group of men.… Read the rest



Israel: Haredi Jews “picket” girls on the way to school *

Oct 10th, 2011 | Filed by

They say their religious sense of modesty is offended by the sight of the girls and their families passing their homes on their way to school.… Read the rest



Anti-clerical party in Poland enrages conservatives *

Oct 10th, 2011 | Filed by

The Janusz Palikot Movement wants crucifixes removed from public buildings, the Church taxed, gay rights promoted and Poland’s strict abortion law relaxed.… Read the rest



Iran: actress sentenced to 90 lashes and year in prison *

Oct 10th, 2011 | Filed by

For appearing in “My Tehran for Sale,” which tells the story of a young actress whose theatre work is banned by the authorities.… Read the rest



Some on the left

Oct 10th, 2011 9:45 am | By

Another intimidation piece directed at journalists and researchers who write about dominionism, back in August. It’s in the Washington Post, which is a nice gig if you’re trying to intimidate people.

Here we go again. The Republican primaries are six months away, and already news stories are raising fears on the left about “crazy Christians.”

One piece connects Texas Gov. Rick Perry with a previously unknown Christian group called “The New Apostolic Reformation,” whose main objective is to “infiltrate government.” Another highlights whacko-sounding Christian influences on Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. A third cautions readers to be afraid, very afraid, of “dominionists.”

The stories raise real concerns about the world views of two prospective Republican nominees. But their

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Rob Boston on Wallis and Pinsky and ‘kill the messenger’ *

Oct 10th, 2011 | Filed by

Those of us who write about the Religious Right are not overreacting. Nor do we, as Wallis and Pinsky seem to think, believe that all evangelicals are theocrats.… Read the rest



Talk2Action talks back

Oct 9th, 2011 6:10 pm | By

More on Jim Wallis and Mark Pinsky, at Talk2Action, which was the object of much of their criticism/bullying.

It was bad enough when Mark I. Pinsky recently took to the op-ed page of USA Today to smear four Jewish writers who have had the temerity to write critically and well about dominionism and related matters — comparingtheir work to historic anti-Semitic smears including the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.  Then Jim Wallis chimed in last week, accusing unnamed liberal writers of engaging in thought crimes against evangelicals.  His charges were as unsubstantiated as Pinsky’s, whose essay he praised and linked to.

Some of us who figured to be among the unnamed decided it was time to speak,

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Opening the door

Oct 9th, 2011 11:35 am | By

It’s starting already.

Hundreds of people are expected to gather tonight on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard to declare themselves “without religion.” The move follows the recent District Court ruling granting author Yoram Kaniuk recognition as “without religion” by the Interior Ministry.

The meeting, to be held in the abandoned building on Rothschild Boulevard which has become an ad-hoc community center for protesters, is being organized on Facebook by Tel Aviv poet Oded Carmeli. So far, about 600 people have confirmed they will be attending.

Participants will be signing affidavits in the presence of attorneys, informing the Interior Ministry of their change of status to “without religion.”

Mazel tov!

 … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



There’s probably no bus

Oct 9th, 2011 10:47 am | By

Oxford Christians tell Dawkins where to get off.

In 2009, atheists in London paid for 200 adverts on the city’s buses, declaring: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

Now Premier Christian Radio has paid for its own version on Oxford buses, after the distinguished evolutionary biologist turned down the chance to debate with Christian philosopher William Lane  Craig when he visits the city later in the month.

The new advert reads: “There’s probably no Dawkins. Now stop worrying and enjoy Oct 25th at the Sheldonian Theatre.”

The trouble with that as a witticism is that it isn’t true. It’s as if X taunts Y by saying “You flunked out of high school!” and Y … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Christian bus ad: “There’s probably no Dawkins” *

Oct 9th, 2011 | Filed by

Sophisticated.… Read the rest



Message before suicide attack: forget secular education *

Oct 9th, 2011 | Filed by

The suicide bomber who killed more than 100 people near Somalia’s education ministry was a school dropout who said young people should wage jihad instead.… Read the rest



Hundreds of Israelis to declare themselves ‘without religion’ *

Oct 9th, 2011 | Filed by

The move follows the recent District Court ruling granting author Yoram Kaniuk recognition as “without religion” by the Interior Ministry.… Read the rest



Hitchens at Texas Freethought Convention *

Oct 9th, 2011 | Filed by

He was emphatic that though his “time” is rapidly approaching, he wouldn’t stop doing his best to shed light on the fraudulent claims made by religion.… Read the rest



Seen today in Trafalgar Square

Oct 8th, 2011 5:27 pm | By

Terry Glavin reports that Peter Tatchell went to a stoppers’ rally in Trafalgar Square today.

Attaboy Peter.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Libbruls unfair to evangelicals

Oct 8th, 2011 4:06 pm | By

Richard Bartholomew signs an open letter to Jim Wallis from writers about US religion and politics. The letter says

Dear Jim Wallis,

We are writing in response to your e-mail to the Sojourners list on September 29th, and your similar piece on The Huffington Post, in which you claim that “some liberal writers” — whom you do not name — are broad brushing evangelical Christians as “intellectually-flawed right-wing crazies with dangerous plans for the country.” You characterize unnamed writers — writers like us — as people who are “all too eager to discredit religion as part of their perennial habit and practice.” This charge is as unfair as it is unsubstantiated.

we are concerned that you have endorsed

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Ratzinger at home

Oct 8th, 2011 9:45 am | By

The pope talked to the Bundestag a couple of weeks ago, and according to the Iona Institute, his remarks went down a treat. The II says they gave him a two-minute standing ovation, as if he’d sung an aria or acted Hamlet.

(Why, one wonders? German boy made good? Big famous holy guy in gleaming white outfit? Name recognition? Why?)

His talk was the usual bullshit – the Catholic church had a great deal to do with the wonderful flawless perfect morality we have today, even though the morality we have today is quite different from the morality we had when the Catholic church had real power and didn’t hesitate to use it, and even though the pope spends … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Funeral of Wangari Maathai in Uhuru National Park *

Oct 8th, 2011 | Filed by

Thousands of mourners lined the route.… Read the rest



Kerala: Christian churches reward big families *

Oct 8th, 2011 | Filed by

Several Christian parishes in the Indian state of Kerala have begun offering incentives to couples who produce more children, officials say.… Read the rest



Dawkins suggests schools should not teach nonsense *

Oct 8th, 2011 | Filed by

Such as “the world is 6,000 years old.” Just a thought.… Read the rest