All entries by this author

Individual apologies to everyone who complained

Sep 7th, 2011 10:31 am | By

Jesus is a strange guy. I’m always noticing it. On the one hand he’s God – the God, you know, the one who is omnipotent and omniscient and has a mind without a body – and on the other hand he’s so fragile that an ad for a cell phone hurts his feelings.

Wouldn’t you think he could handle it? Wouldn’t you think he would see the bigger picture and just not worry all that much about jokey cell phone ads?

I would; you probably would; but some of his fans think the opposite. Some of his fans think he’s so touchy and vain and narcissistic that he can’t even tolerate a picture of himself winking and giving a … Read the rest

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Shafilea Ahmed’s parents charged with her murder *

Sep 7th, 2011 | Filed by

The inquest heard she was a bright and intelligent young woman who wanted to go
to university and become a lawyer.… Read the rest

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Church of Ireland in fits over gay clergy *

Sep 7th, 2011 | Filed by

The development has made the Church of Ireland the latest battleground in the Anglican debate about clergy in gay relationships.… Read the rest

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Six people hanged in Iran yesterday *

Sep 7th, 2011 | Filed by

Three of them were convicted of “sodomy.”… Read the rest

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NHS reforms: is support as strong as Cameron claims? *

Sep 7th, 2011 | Filed by

Full Fact presents some facts.… Read the rest

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Jesus phone advert banned *

Sep 7th, 2011 | Filed by

Advertising Standards Authority said Phones 4U ad was “disrespectful” to “the Christian faith” and must not be used again. Company apologized to everyone everywhere.… Read the rest

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Out

Sep 7th, 2011 8:28 am | By

Out of the closet at last.

… Read the rest

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A whole future spread out before me

Sep 6th, 2011 5:52 pm | By

There are a lot of them – which is good, because it means some escape, but bad, because it means this is happening to a lot of people. There’s Sierra at Non-prophet Message. She is amusing on the subject of Jezebel and makeup and faking it.

 Shaping your eyebrows can go a long way towards that neat, meticulous, hyperfeminine look that screams, “I read my Bible so much, my eyebrows shape themselves!”

When she finally went to school – which was a community college – she discovered that she had a brain.

I turned in my final math exam with the lightest heart I’d felt since I was a little child, since before I’d ever heard of the

… Read the rest

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Being a Skeptic in Africa

Sep 6th, 2011 | By Leo Igwe

I was not born a skeptic. I grew up to find out that I am one. What makes it most interesting is that I was born in a country and continent where most people are not inclined to skepticism, where doubting, questioning and challenging recieved wisdom is frowned on by most people. Mine is a society where most people are inclined to blind belief, to uncritical acceptance of doctrines and dogmas.

I was born 41 years ago in a remote village, Mbaise, in South Eastern Nigeria. I was born into a religious home and to parents who were born animists but were pressured to embrace Christianity. My father told me that he embraced Christianity in order to get formal education. … Read the rest

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Breaking a daughter

Sep 6th, 2011 3:36 pm | By

One way crazy religion is crazy is in putting massive pressure on people to distort their own natures and aptitudes and wants. The fancy name for this sadistic habit is “dying to self.” A “broken daughter” tells us what it feels like.

Some people don’t seem to bother that much, but it’s always been hard for me to be as selfless as I was expected to be. You see, I’m a very private, calm, introvert kind of person. Though I grew up in a big family, I always liked being alone. I’m not much of a team player, I prefer doing things all by myself. I didn’t hate having a big family where there was always somebody, quite the

… Read the rest

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Broken Daughter on “dying to self” *

Sep 6th, 2011 | Filed by

” I grew angrier and angrier with the God who hated me so much for wanting a few minutes of peace and silence.”… Read the rest

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Titles

Sep 6th, 2011 12:31 pm | By

PZ wants help finding the right adjective for the title of his book…but I don’t think it can be done. I think The _______ Atheist is a boring title no matter what ________ turns out to be. I think this because I tried to think of something interesting and then I read other people’s attempts and there’s just no spark, no matter what. This tells me that the formula is a dud – at least, it’s a dud if they (the publishers) want a buyer-thrilling title, which of course they do.

The Something Atheist. I just don’t think there’s a word that can make that sound exciting.

Unless they go absurdist or something. The Ruritanian Atheist. The Pioneer … Read the rest

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Fully shit

Sep 6th, 2011 12:04 pm | By

The Vatican and equivocation…it’s always been a dab hand at it. Michael Nugent points out another example.

The most significant sentence in the Vatican’s response to the Irish Government about the Cloyne Report comes on the second-last page, just before the concluding remarks. It says: “From the foregoing considerations, it should be clear that the Holy See expects the Irish Bishops to cooperate with the civil authorities, to implement fully the norms of canon law and to ensure the full and impartial application of the child safety norms of the Church in Ireland.”

This sounds reasonable on the face of it. But it conceals a vital distinction that the Catholic Church has already used to mislead people in Ireland

… Read the rest

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The Skeptic’s Dictionary Newsletter *

Sep 6th, 2011 | Filed by

Quack of the month award to Michael Longo for his “pages of truth,” his “centering tree chair,” and especially his neo-Hegelian page of truth art charts.… Read the rest

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Molly Ivins can’t say that about Rick Perry, can she? *

Sep 6th, 2011 | Filed by

“Now he’s trying to disguise the fact that the schools are in free-fall by proposing that we teach creationism in biology classes.”… Read the rest

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Scientology attacks The New Yorker *

Sep 6th, 2011 | Filed by

“Everybody had forgotten about the New Yorker piece, but now they’ve brought it all up again for everyone to think about.”… Read the rest

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It is time you resigned as chairman of the universe

Sep 5th, 2011 4:44 pm | By

Here’s a pretty item from Michael Pearl -

A woman wrote to him about her devastation at a miscarriage.

Even now I have nightmares every night. I dream that my baby is crying and when I go to take care of him, I can’t find him. I look everywhere but I can’t find my baby. I have even woken up my husband asking him to help me find our baby. I have dreamed that my baby was beautiful and healthy. I would wake up deciding how my baby and I are going to spend the day and I realize that there is no baby.

He set her straight.

Your anger is based on the assumption that you know better than

… Read the rest

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Cameron “won’t back” Dorries’s plan *

Sep 5th, 2011 | Filed by

Dorries says he’ll change his mind.… Read the rest

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More new 9/11 conspiracy books *

Sep 5th, 2011 | Filed by

David Griffin, a professor of theology, has written nine books purporting to prove that the September 11 attacks were “masterminded from inside the American state apparatus.”… Read the rest

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9/11 conspiracy theories debunked *

Sep 5th, 2011 | Filed by

One by one.… Read the rest

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