Chris Moos updated us a couple of days ago, and I missed it until now.

I would like to inform you that UCL has banned the iERA, Hamza Tzortzis
organisation, from holding further events on campus:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0313/11032013-meeting?utm_source
=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

We are now informing all universities that Hamza Tzortzis is set to
speak at, according to his website (
http://www.hamzatzortzis.com/events-media/events/islamic-awareness-tour-
2013/ ) on the issue.

Next are:
11 Mar: Kings College London – “The Existence of God”
12 Mar: Salford University – “Muhammad: Liar, Truthful or Deluded?”
Chapman Building, 5PM.
13 Mar: Medway University – “Has Evolution Been Misunderstood?”
18 Mar: Aston University – “Atheism or Theism?”
21 Mar: Brunel University – TBA
King’s College London has not responded yet.
Salford University told us that “this event is no longer taking place at
the University tomorrow.”

Well done Salford University. Now for Aston and Brunel…

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

Wait there’s more. Abishek Phadnis found a conference a year ago called The Seeds of Change.

Lauren Booth – sister of Cherie Booth.

Then there’s the Deen Institute, with its “who we are” page.

 You’ll have to click the link to get the full effect. I’ll just say it’s not an accident that you see men first and then women. Last of all is the brazen slut with no hijab.

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

Allen Esterson alerted me to a real gem – iERA’s page “Meet our speakers”…

Classic, isn’t it?

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

CFI issued a press release on the prospects for a better future with a new pope.

Ron Lindsay’s hopes are not stratospherically high.

As with anyone taking on a position of substantial responsibility, in which decisions can affect the lives of millions, we sincerely hope for the best for Pope Francis. However, even leaving aside the fact that the institution he oversees is based on a fundamentally false understanding of reality, at this stage one cannot be too optimistic about the prospects of Francis bringing the Church into the 21st century. Indeed, even the Church’s dipping a toe into the 20th century seems unrealistic.

Like much of the Church’s hierarchy, his views stem from beliefs and myths formed in previous millennia. For example, his prior hateful statements about same-sex marriage, calling it a ‘move by the father of lies to confuse and deceive the children of God,’ indicate a mindset that gives priority to dogma over basic human compassion. His labeling of the adoption of children by gay parents as ‘discrimination against children’ shows a backward and almost flippant view of the plight of those who suffer from genuine discrimination.

We can only hope that Pope Francis proves our pessimism wrong, but all evidence suggests a continuation of a most unfortunate status quo for a deeply troubled, and troubling, institution.

A mindset that gives priority to dogma over basic human compassion – that’s it in a nutshell. It’s a bad, wrong, backward way to do things, and everybody everywhere needs to learn that.

The foundation of the dogma and the preference for dogma is “God’s law over human law.” The irony is that what they call “God’s law” is of course human law, but human law made rigid and resistant to reform and improvement by being labeled “God’s law.” They say it’s “God’s law over human law” but really it’s “dogmatic coercive unaccountable law over reformable reasons-based accountable law.”

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

Earlier this afternoon Twitter – always helpful, always tugging on the elbow – told me to follow Cunt of the Day. Huh. No, Twitter, I’m not going to do that.

The current winners.

Cunt of the Day‏@cuntoftheday

A new pope as Cunt of the Day goes to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as it pays out $10m to victims of sexual abuse. http://bit.ly/cFK35R

Cunt of the Day‏@cuntoftheday

North Korea’s tiny twat tinpot dictator Kim Jong Un is Cunt of the Day for making tiny dick threats of imminent war. http://bit.ly/cFK35R

Cunt of the Day‏@cuntoftheday

Cunt of the Day goes to officials in Fiji, condemned by the UN, who were filmed brutally torturing 2 prison escapees. http://bit.ly/cFK35R

Cunt of the Week‏@cuntoftheweek

Claiming to have murdered seven hostages, Cunt of the Week goes to Nigerian Islamist asshole terrorist outfit Ansaru. http://bit.ly/cFK35R

No, Twitter, I’m not going to follow Cunt of the Day.

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

Chris Clarke at Pharyngula quotes a comment:

As an Argentinian I can confirm your “rumours” and add that this guy was a collaborator with the military during the last coup d’etat during the 70′s : Among many things, he informed to the military that two monks that were working in a low income neighbourhood were no longer protected by the catholic church, facilitating their detention and posterior disappearance.

Mind you, to “dissapear” at that time meant to be detained by the military, held without rights or trial, possibly (and often) tortured under suspicions of being a Marxist/ “terrorist”, being completely incomunicated with your family and finally be killed and buried on an unmarked grave, or thrown form a plane into the river.

Thrown.

From a fucking plane.

Into the river. (Known as “deathflights”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_flights )

Argentina maybe not such a great choice after all, eh?

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

Ok here we go. Stewart posted the link to a piece from January 2011 in the Guardian, on what the high-ups in the Catholic church in Argentina did to help the miliatary dictatorship get away with crimes against humanity. Is the new pope there? Does a bear shit in the woods?

The extent of the church’s complicity in the dark deeds was excellently set out by Horacio Verbitsky, one of Argentina’s most notable journalists, in his book El Silencio (Silence). He recounts how the Argentinian navy with the connivance of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now the Jesuit archbishop of Buenos Aires, hid from a visiting delegation of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission the dictatorship’s political prisoners. Bergoglio was hiding them in nothing less than his holiday home in an island called El Silencio in the River Plate.  The most shaming thing for the church is that in such circumstances Bergoglio’s name was  allowed  to go forward in the ballot to chose the successor of John Paul II. What scandal would not have ensued if the first pope ever to be elected from the continent of America had been revealed as an accessory to murder and false imprisonment.

Oh.

Oops!

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

So maybe the new pope will be a little less ruthlessly murderous about condoms. Or maybe he won’t; at any rate we know he won’t be any less convinced that he gets to tell everyone what to do.

While the new pope is reportedly orthodox on matters of sexual morality, “he takes a slightly more pragmatic view on contraception, believing that it can be permissible to prevent the spread of disease,” according to a report in The Guardian.

What that might mean for groups like Catholic Relief Services, a humanitarian organization based in Baltimore that works to stem the spread of communicable diseases, isn’t clear. But the pope has an enormous power to shape the doctrine followed by millions of Catholics around the world.

“We’ll follow whatever the church says,” said John Rivera, director of communications for the organization, which works in 10 countries around the globe and has reached 300,000 people.

What an appalling thing to say. What an appalling institution the church is, to have that kind of power. How terrible it is that an institution like that is allowed to meddle in humanitarian work.

When it comes to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS, the group follows an improvised version of what is known as the ABC approach. They endorse abstinence (“A”) and being faithful (“B”), but they don’t support the “C” part of prevention — condoms.

“We’ve found that this AB approach has been effective,” said Rivera.

They might as well support staying home (“A”) and washing hands often (“B”) but not support vaccination to prevent measles.

Murderous bastards.

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

So, it’s a guy from Argentina, and he’s calling himself Francis 1.

It’s still the Catholic church though. Still the Vatican. Still a ridiculous archaic intrusive institution.

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

Atheists lack a sensus divinitatus, you see.

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

Yemisi Ilesanmi commented on Peter Tatchell’s Huffington Post article yesterday about the inadequacy of the queen’s putative “support” for LGBT rights in the Commonwealth. Her comment is a valuable short article in itself.

There is a reason many government officials especially politicians prefer the ‘other grounds’ clause to a more specific mention of sexual orientation, it gives them a leeway to squeeze out of any obligation not to discriminate, jail or kill on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Speaking as a Lawyer, Advocate and solicitor, I know from experience that  ‘Other grounds’ clause could be held to mean so many things and also held to exclude so many things by government not willing to respect the rights of others. New International human right treaties now explicitly mentioning sexual orientation, this new Commonwealth charter should not be an exception.

As someone who was part of the team that made an input into the draft Commonwealth charter, our suggestion of including sexual orientation as an explicitly mentioned ground was ignored because it made commonwealth members that want to keep discriminating and persecuting LGBTs in their countries, uncomfortable. This also means if we ever decided to use the charter as a defense of LGBT rights, we have to waste precious time proving that ‘Other grounds’ includes sexual orientation; this could have been avoided if it was explicitly mentioned.

Needless to say, in many African countries that already signed on to international treaties with the ‘Other grounds’ clause, affirming that sexual orientation is included in the ‘other grounds’ clause has been tedious for LGBT advocates. This new charter has not in any way simplified the burden borne by many LGBTs in many African Commonwealth nations.

It is good to have knowledgeable people on the case.

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

You people in and near London are in luck – you have a chance to go to a talk by Leo Igwe. Grab it!

Breaking the Taboo of Atheism in Black Communities

Monday, March 25, 2013 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM

The Hackney Picture House  

270 Mare Street, E8 1HE London, London

Leo Igwe, Nigeria’s most prominent humanist, and a human rights activist, will be giving a ground-breaking talk on ‘Breaking the Taboo of Atheism in Black Communities’ during a short visit to London to attend the NSS Secularist of the Year Award event before returning to Africa to continue his research into witchcraft.

People ‘of all hues’ who are sceptical of religion are encouraged to show their interest and support for this event as black non-believers, in London and elsewhere, start to become more confident and active in openly challenging the over-bearing presence of religion within their families and communities and its negative social, financial and educational consequences.

This talk is part of increasing efforts to encourage black non-believers to ‘come out’, to find a supportive environment when dealing with family and social reactions, to voice their opinions and be more proactive in the humanist, secularist and atheist movements. To paraphrase the African saying “It takes a village to raise a child. It takes all of us to change this religious BS”.
It is organised by London Black Atheists (http://www.meetup.com/London-Black-Atheists/ and https://twitter.com/LdnBlkAtheists) and supported by Central London Humanists (http://www.meetup.com/Central-London-Humanists/).

You are so lucky!

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

My friend Mary Ellen Foley – who blogs at M E Foley’s Anglo-American Experience Blog - shared a story with me.

So I went to a Tai Chi class today, taught by an Englishwoman who has studied Tai Chi for years, including various stints in China (one as long as 6 months), and she told some stories, including the one about how she went over there to study with a particular master and found that he didn’t like her, didn’t like women, probably didn’t like foreigners — he clearly could teach her a lot of stuff, but she wasn’t welcome and he made sure she knew it.  But she was determined to win him over, so one day she came early, picked up a bamboo broom (bundle of bamboo sticks tied together with the leaves left on at one end of the stalks), and started to sweep the leaves from the courtyard where they were going to be practicing.  The master came up, clearly unhappy with this, said something in Chinese that she didn’t understand, and took away the broom.  Hmmm.  Then here he came with a different broom, with a very short handle, and indicated that she should sweep the courtyard with that, which was a lot harder, because you had to bend over so far to do the work, but she did it.

When the translator showed up, he told her that the problem was that the long-handled broom was only for men; the short-handled one was a woman’s broom.

Wo.

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

Peter Tatchell says no, the new Commonwealth Charter is not a big victory for LGBT rights.

Not surprisingly, the Commonwealth Charter does not include any specific rejection of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This was vetoed by the homophobic majority of member states. They blocked its inclusion.

This makes the Queen’s charter signing even less of a big deal. It is certainly not the breakthrough for LGBT rights that some people are claiming.

Yemisi Ilesanmi says the same thing on her Facebook page Freedom to Love for ALL: Homosexuality is not un-African.

Members of Commonwealth nations include UK, Australia, Canada, Uganda, Nigeria (my home country), Ghana, India etc, I can assure you that the ‘Other grounds’ clause is not new to many of commonwealth member nations and they are not novice to the term ‘Sexual orientation’.

Nope, it is not about confusing them or the issue, it is also not about “They are not there yet and so we must be patient in them getting to the place where they can comfortably say Gays and lesbians and Trans etc”. It is about their refusal to accept LGBTs as persons deserving of human rights.

As a Nigerian openly Bisexual woman, I do not think in this age and day, I must cower in a corner waiting patiently for my government to accept I am a human being entitled to all inalienable fundamental human right. As it is, Nigeria lawmakers are almost sailing through to pass a law that would put me in jail for 14 years for my sexual orientation. I do not wish to be a refugee or asylum seeker; therefore I must put pressure on all ‘democratic’ organizations that my country belongs to and encourage such organizations to speak out against such blatant violations of human rights. Commonwealth is one of these organizations and its failure to condemn the blatant violations of human rights by many of its member nations is something that deserves an outcry, not praise, not patience, not media contortions, but an outright outrage.

Yes!! That’s speaking out.

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

Sometimes bullying people just doesn’t work out, even if you do it on the internet, and even if all you’re doing is posting pictures of naked girls without their permission.

The founder of a so-called “revenge porn” website has been ordered to pay $250,000 (£170,000) in damages for defamation.

Hunter Moore was found to have made false claims about the chief executive of an anti-bullying website.

Mr Moore used Twitter to falsely claim James McGibney was a paedophile who possessed child pornography.

Mr Moore’s website used to post naked images of people without their permission. He closed it in 2012.

But three days later he was at it again.

Mr Moore used his Twitter account, which has almost 150,000 followers, to make several derogatory comments about Mr McGibney.

Mr Moore encouraged others to post the claims in return for free clothing – Mr McGibney said he would be taking action against those that did so.

“‘Internet tough guys’ are also legally accountable for their actions,” Mr McGibney wrote.

“Hunter and some of his followers now realise this, along with their parents since some of his followers appear to be under the age of 18.”

The settlement amount was said to be a “conservative estimate” of reputational damage caused by Mr Moore’s comments.

The money would donated to women’s shelters across the US, Mr McGibney added.

So you’re not allowed to slander people? Even on the internet? I thought you were.

In addition to the defamation claim, Mr McGibney has launched a class action lawsuit against the site, and has invited users to come forward to share their complaints.

“We’re doing this mostly for the completely powerless, under-age women who were verbally harassed after Hunter posted their completely naked, unedited photos on his site.

“We’ll soon be launching a brand new site for IsAnyoneUp.com that not only shows the history and eventual dismantling of this disturbing website, but also brings valuable information to people who have been wronged by similar behaviour.”

Jeez, they were only having a little fun, and free speech.

One Twitter warrior had a strange reaction to the story.

Interesting libel case. I wonder if this sort of ruling would apply to accusations of “misogyny” & “active racism”?

Wut?

The relevant comparison is to accusations of “misogyny” as opposed to, say, accusations of being a smelly ugly cunt?

Yeh I don’t think so.

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

Here’s a little job for you – a tiny one: all you have to do is hit a “Like” button.

Hit the button under American Atheists to vote for them to get a booth at Netroots Nation and collect more atheists!

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