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Ferocious extrapolation

Oct 12th, 2011 9:37 am | By

The new bandwagon (or meme): moan a deep moan about the persecution of Christians in places like the UK and the US. A guy called (inelegantly) Tom J Wilson does a particularly maudlin version for the Huffington Pest.

The fact that British police would consider the displaying of Christian scripture an illegal offence is a concerning indication of the mentality that British society has come to adopt towards all things Christian.

For anyone who follows the British media’s reporting of American politics, the continuous attempt to run down certain American politicians on account of their faith rather than engaging with their politics has now become a rather boring familiarity.

Bush and Palin are crazed evangelical fundamentalists we are forever

… Read the rest

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Child sacrifice in Uganda *

Oct 12th, 2011 | Filed by

The mutilated bodies of children have been discovered at roadsides, the victims of an apparently growing belief in the power of human sacrifice.… Read the rest

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UK Christians suffer extrapolation *

Oct 12th, 2011 | Filed by

“It is as if there is a systematic effort to extrapolate British society from its Christian heritage.”… Read the rest

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Ireland rejects UN HRC findings on abortion legislation *

Oct 12th, 2011 | Filed by

No abortion even “when pregnancy poses a risk to the health of the pregnant woman.”… Read the rest

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The Onion on progress for women in Saudi Arabia *

Oct 11th, 2011 | Filed by

They  have been allowed to leave their homes under the guardianship of a male relative and celebrate the right to vote.… Read the rest

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More godless groups in the world

Oct 11th, 2011 11:11 am | By

Leo Igwe sent me the link to a heartening article about the global energization of atheism.

At the World Humanist Congress in Oslo in August, delegates from India,
Uganda, Nigeria, Argentina and Brazil — all countries where belief in a supreme deity or deities has a strong hold — reported mounting interest in their philosophy.

Like their counterparts in Europe and North America, they argue that morality
is based in human nature and does not need a father-figure god to back it up
with punishment in an afterlife, in which they do not believe.

“There are more godless groups in the world than ever before,” Sonja
Eggerickx, a Belgian schools inspector who is president of the International
Humanist and

… Read the rest

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Humanists, atheists drive for wider global impact *

Oct 11th, 2011 | Filed by

Switzerland, India, Uganda, Nigeria, Argentina, Brazil, Ireland, Malawi, Israel – even the US military.… Read the rest

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Terry Glavin on Afghanistan and Absurdistan *

Oct 11th, 2011 | Filed by

There’s a lot of crazy talk among pundits in the NATO capitals about how things haven’t changed for Afghan women.… Read the rest

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Apostles have been raised up by God

Oct 11th, 2011 10:06 am | By

Via Ed Brayton, Terry Gross talks to the apostle C Peter Wagner. Be afraid.

On demons

“As we talk, in Oklahoma City there is an annual meeting of a professional
society called the Apostolic — called the International Society of Deliverance
Ministers, which my wife and I founded many years ago. … This is a society of
a large number, a couple hundred, of Christian ministers who are in the ministry of deliverance. Their seven-day-a-week occupation is casting demons out of people. And they have professional expertise in this and they happen to meeting — to be meeting right now. My wife is one of them. She’s written a whole book called How to Cast Out Demons.

… Read the rest

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A foxhole atheist speaks up

Oct 11th, 2011 9:28 am | By

A-News talks to Justin Griffith, FTB colleague, Military Director of American Atheists, and the guy behind Rock Beyond Belief.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhKKLhGijuQ

 … Read the rest

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C Peter Wagner on Fresh Air *

Oct 11th, 2011 | Filed by

One of the biggest changes from traditional churches to the New Apostolic Reformation is the amount of spiritual authority delegated by the Holy Spirit to individuals.… Read the rest

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United for separation of church and state

Oct 10th, 2011 5:36 pm | By

Another reply to Wallis and Pinsky. (I like it when the objects of theist bullying fight back. Sue me.) This one is by Rob Boston of Americans United.

There are people in this country who belong to fundamentalist Christian religious groups and who believe that they have the right (and perhaps the duty) to run your life.

That is a fact. These people exist. I’ll be spending some time with them this weekend at the Family Research Council’s “Values Voter Summit.”

It’s also a fact that some folks would like to pretend that these people don’t exist, or that they are a fringe group that can be easily dismissed. Some evangelicals are embarrassed by the antics of politically active,

… Read the rest

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Scenic interlude

Oct 10th, 2011 5:13 pm | By

I took a dog friend to the beach at Golden Gardens this afternoon. It was beautiful and stormy.

… Read the rest

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Dude – Title II of the Federal Civil Rights Law of 1964

Oct 10th, 2011 5:08 pm | By

The Center for Inquiry reports:

Prejudice against atheists manifested itself again when The Wyndgate Country
Club in Rochester Hills, Michigan (outside of Detroit), cancelled an event with
scientist and author Richard Dawkins after learning of Dawkins’s views on
religion. The event had been arranged by the Center for Inquiry–Michigan (CFI), an advocacy group for secularism and science, and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.

The Wyndgate terminated the agreement after the owner saw an October 5th
interview with Dawkins on The O’Reilly Factor in which Dawkins
discussed his new book, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really
True.

In a phone call to CFI–Michigan Assistant Director Jennifer Beahan, The
Wyndgate’s representative explained that

… Read the rest

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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

… Read the rest

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

… Read the rest

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