Radical Atheist

A U.S. Marine in Iraq has been removed from duty amid complaints that he was handing out coins with Bible verses at an American checkpoint, the military said Thursday.

A military spokesman said Iraqis in Falluja complained that the Marine was giving the coins, which were printed in Arabic, to people at an entry control point in Falluja.

U.S. military regulations prohibit religious proselytizing.

“This has our full attention,” said Col. James L. Welsh, chief of staff of Multi-National Force, West. “We deeply value our relationship with the local citizens and share their concerns over this serious incident.”

At least one of the coins is stamped with the words “Where will you spend eternity?” according to a report published Thursday by McClatchy Newspapers.

The other side of the coin reportedly contains a verse from John 3:16 that reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Several Falluja residents said they were given the coins over a two-day period and complained that U.S. troops, whom they consider foreign occupiers, were acting as Christian missionaries.

“Regulations prohibit members of the coalition force from proselytizing any religion, faith or practices,” said Col. Bill Buckner, a coalition spokesman. “Our troops are trained on those guidelines before they deploy.”

A military statement said “appropriate action” will be taken if the reports are substantiated.

The reports stoked religious concerns in Iraq just weeks after Iraqi police discovered that a U.S. soldier had used the Quran, Islam’s holy book, for target practice.  (Source)

It would appear that one way or another the war in Iraq is destined to become a holy war.  First Bush suggested that his incursion into Iraq was a result of consultations with his god.  Now our soldiers are disrespecting the religion of the land they occupy as well as pushing their own.  By injecting religion into this conflict these soldiers are making a bad situation worse.

I don’t generally object to disrespecting religions.  But in a war zone expressions of religious belief can lead to greater conflict or muddy the motivations for the fighting.  If we as Americans allow Bush or a couple of none-too-bright soldiers to turn the conflict in the Middle East into a religious war, we are heading down a path that history teaches us never ends well for anyone.

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If you think the title is an oxymoron, keep reading:

Fascination with animals permeates childhood. Yet, with biology books oozing evolutionary propaganda and conjecture, an animal enthusiast’s faith in the Bible is in danger of erosion. So how can a Christian child maintain and grow their faith if they want to study animals? The answer is the latest book in Jeannie Fulbright’s creation science series, Exploring Creation with Zoology III, which covers the land animals created on the sixth day.

Released in March 2008, Christian book stores are already selling out of this well researched, scientifically profound book, which is the fifth book in Fulbright’s creation science sequence. Covering all the land creatures from parasites to primates, Exploring Creation with Zoology III presents scientifically sound teaching, along with evidence for deliberate design, a biblical model for origins and explanations that expose the absurdity of evolutionary leaps of logic. All this is accessible to a child, with Fulbright’s engaging writing style, full color photos and entertaining experiments and projects. Many children and parents alike will appreciate the chapter dedicated to dinosaurs. Not only will they learn the scientific classifications of the dinosaur kinds and become virtual experts in the field, families will discover data that supports the dinosaurs’ recent history on planet earth.

“The animals God created are beyond fascinating. Children need a resource with which they can study them in-depth, one which does not compromise their faith or sow seeds of doubt,” Fulbright communicated at a recent conference in Georgia. (Source)

It’s hard to know where to start dissecting this example of horrid ignorance.

“Yet, with biology books oozing evolutionary propaganda and conjecture, an animal enthusiast’s faith in the Bible is in danger of erosion.” Nice use of terms that make an emotional rather than intellectual objection to evolution, but unfortunately it lays bare the lack your lack of understanding about the theory. If children’s faith is in jeopardy from being exposed to knowledge rather than mythology, good. Blind faith can only fill the gaps in our knowledge. Gawd forbid any child should be allowed to think for themselves.

“So how can a Christian child maintain and grow their faith if they want to study animals?” So how can we be sure our brainwashing isn’t undone by exposure to real scientific research?

“The answer is the latest book in Jeannie Fulbright’s creation science series, Exploring Creation with Zoology III, which covers the land animals created on the sixth day.” The answer is compelling children to read baseless speculation disguised as fact.

“…this well researched, scientifically profound book…” What can I say but, bullshit. The only reference book used by this author was the Bible.

“Covering all the land creatures from parasites to primates” Not humans, though, because we all know humans aren’t animals, they’re god’s favorite little playthings.

“…Exploring Creation with Zoology III presents scientifically sound teaching, along with evidence for deliberate design, a biblical model for origins and explanations that expose the absurdity of evolutionary leaps of logic.” Of course we can’t explain design, since there’s no absolute standard for what compromises design. And just trust us that evolutionary theory is absurd. Don’t risk your faith by trying to actually study it yourself.

“All this is accessible to a child, with Fulbright’s engaging writing style, full color photos and entertaining experiments and projects.” Because even creationists realize that propaganda works best if it’s presented in a friendly, entertaining fashion. The pretty pictures distract a child from asking uncomfortable questions.

“Many children and parents alike will appreciate the chapter dedicated to dinosaurs. Not only will they learn the scientific classifications of the dinosaur kinds and become virtual experts in the field, families will discover data that supports the dinosaurs’ recent history on planet earth.” I sure hope she explains that god buried all those fossils where he did just to fool the paleontologists because that god, he’s got a real sense of humor.

“Children need a resource with which they can study them in-depth, one which does not compromise their faith or sow seeds of doubt” We sure hope you’re home schooling your kids as well, because every Christian knows that education is like loamy soil and water to those seeds of doubt.

This book and the review are both so transparently ignorant. They reflect the fear creationists feel of the future, of our increasing knowledge about the workings and processes of nature. They know as well as we do that for every little bit of verifiable knowledge mankind uncovers, the need to invent gods to explain those things we don’t understand (or want to admit to ourselves because reality is so uncertain) is reduced.

Eventually there will be so little left to credit to the gods that all religious belief will become no more important to us than any other outdated superstition. Raise your hand if you still avoid stepping on sidewalk cracks, or worry about spilled salt. Every day another old, tired superstition falls by the wayside, usually without ever being well understood. Most superstitions began as a means of protecting oneself from the revenge of angry gods. Some had more mundane origins. But very few people have ever studied the origins of superstitions, fables and myths. Most of us quit believing in the efficacy of tossing the salt over our shoulder or avoiding the cracks because we understood, at a nearly unconscious level, that there was no cause-and-effect at play here. How in the world could stepping on a crack cause your mother to break her back? It’s patently nonsensical. A creationist would be hard-pressed to find causality where there so evidently is none.

In a world dedicated to sanity and reasonableness any parent who either allowed, encouraged or required their child to read and believe that book would be…wait, it isn’t necessary to even conjecture. In that kind of world, that book would be perceived rightly as satire.

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““Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination,” explained Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC’s secretary general. He did not mention the possibility that at least some of this “defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination,” if it exists at all, comes as a backlash to the 10,000-plus jihad terror attacks since 9/11, justified by their perpetrators by reference to the Qur’an and Islamic law.”

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Show off your faith and listen to MP3 files with this 2 GB USB “Cross Style” MP3 player.

You don’t have to be religious to appreciate this stylish Cross Style MP3 player. It features 2 GB of memory and a USB interface for quick and easy data transfers, plus it looks cool too!

This stylish cross also features a built-in microphone so you can record your voice or even record the sermon! It supports MP3/WMA/WMV/ASP and WAV files and features a 1-inch dot matrix color LCD with an easy to use menu! Order today!

It looks cool?  It looks silly.  A “must have” gadget for those who can’t stand to not broadcast their philosophical dogma even when listening to music.  It must have a setting that only allows for the recording of wholesome Christian tunes.  No Pat Condell podcasts on this baby.

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As long as god refuses to personally appear in person during Super Bowl each year, god will be shown to be false and atheism true. The day god appears at half time, then theism will be valid.

Oh, someone says god doesn’t work that way? That I obviously don’t know very much about god and how he does things? That god is obvious if one looks to find him?

Precisely. That concept works both ways.

I can understand not grasping evolutionary theory in its entirety, but the basics are out there in language anyone can grasp.

I strive everyday not to let what I believe supersede what I know. What I believe fills the gaps in what I know. What I know is always of higher value than what I believe.

So I can’t understand people who will ignore adding to what they know just because it takes away from the what they believe category. Who wants to continue to believe if one has the chance to know? Wonder is great, but why wonder when you can know. It doesn’t matter that knowledge isn’t complete or absolute. Belief is there to plugs the holes.
Human advancement is only possible if decreasing the number of holes is more highly regarded than worrying about what will happen to the nonsense we used to fill the holes. It doesn’t matter, we’re done with it now. It’s no longer relevant. Creationism and ID are the stuff we plug the holes with. Every year mankind advances, there are fewer and fewer holes.

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While the rest of the country is making an effort to overcome homophobia, it appears the geeks in Redmond haven’t gotten the word.

Earlier this week, a rather disturbing story surfaced on The Consumerist. Xbox Live community member Ryan Grant discovered his gamertag had been flagged by community members as being offensive; as a result, he was informed that he had to change his tag from “theGAYERgamer” to something more acceptable.

According to a letter Grant sent to The Consumerist: “…when i tried to sign into my xbox live account ‘thegayergamer’ I was told that it had to be changed. I figured that it was just from people reporting it as an offensive name being that the greater Xbox live community isn’t exactly welcome to gay people, i spend a lot of time muting people on Halo3. I assumed that once i called Microsoft they would straighten things out. I talked to a supervisor there, Roxy, who told me that she didn’t personally find the fact that my gamer tag had gay in the name offensive, but that the greater Xbox community did, so I would have to change it.”

It’s a little surreal to read about this, partially because it occurred in the same week that California’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, but also because it wasn’t that long ago when Major Nelson made a point of condemning homophobic behavior on Xbox Live. Not only that, but Microsoft’s response doesn’t really seem to hold water: online communities are certainly allowed to report things they deem offensive, but it’s the moderators who have the final say about what’s appropriate and what’s not. Of course, this isn’t the first time that members of Xbox Live have demonstrated a lack of tolerance towards openly gay members of the service.  (Source)

Gays have finally started speaking out in society to let others know that they will no longer accept 2nd class citizen status.  Now is the time to start doing the same online.  Are you a gay blogger, gamer, webmaster, forum moderator?  Announce yourself, let people know that sexual preference, especially on the web, is not something to be discriminated against.  It’s nonsensical, it’s offensive and it’s no longer going to be accepted.

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The California Supreme Court has overturned a gay marriage ban in a ruling that would make the nation’s largest state the second one to allow gay and lesbian weddings.

The justices’ 4-3 decision Thursday says domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage. Chief Justice Ron George wrote the opinion.

The city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples and gay rights groups sued in March 2004 after the court halted San Francisco’s monthlong same-sex wedding march.

The case before the court involved a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter-approved law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

With the ruling, California could become the second state after Massachusetts where gay and lesbian residents can marry.

“What happens in California, either way, will have a huge impact around the nation. It will set the tone,” said Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the gay rights group Equality California.

California already offers same-sex couples who register as domestic partners the same legal rights and responsibilities as married spouses, including the right to divorce and to sue for child support. It’s therefore unclear what additional relief state lawmakers could offer short of marriage if the court renders the existing ban unconstitutional.

Finally, some good news from a Supreme Court.  Perhaps religious morality can be kept in check with logic and reason after all.

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While that would make a good joke (a Boy Scout, the holy spirit and a naked man walk into a bar…) that’s not the intention of this post. Rather this is a comment on the Scouting statue in D.C.

(Source)

From the Flickr site…

The bronze statue consists of three figures: a Boy Scout, a woman and a man. Each figure symbolizes the idea of the great and noble forces that are an inspiring background of each Scout as he goes about the business of becoming a man and a citizen.

The male figure symbolizes physical, mental and moral fitness, love of country, good citizenship, loyalty, honor, courage and clean living. He carries a helmet, a symbol of masculine attire and a live oak branch, a symbol of peace and of strength.

The female figure symbolizes enlightenment with the light of faith, love of God, high ideals, liberty, justice, freedom, democracy and love of fellow man; symbolizing the spiritual qualities of good citizenship. She holds high the eternal flame of God’s Holy Spirit.

The figure of the Boy Scout represents the hopes of all past, present and future scouts around the world and the hopes of every home, church and school that all that is great and noble in the Nation’s past and present will continue to live in them and through them in many generations to come.

There will be those who focus on the presence of a naked man on a memorial to an organization that’s had its share of pedophilia problems. That’s worth a chuckle or two, and should make the troops who donated for the construction of this statue wonder just what they have immortalized.

But what caught my eye was this, “She holds high the eternal flame of God’s Holy Spirit“. The Boy Scouts have long maintained that their organization is open to any young boy who professes a belief in a higher power or god, and that all believers are welcome within its ranks.

But by including the imagery of the flame of the holy spirit, it would appear the Scouts are giving preference to the Protestants, maybe even the Pentecostals. Would a Muslim child have any interest in the holy spirit or the member of any faith which denies a triumvirate godhead? Can a Catholic child and a Pentecostal one agree on the metaphysical meaning of the holy spirit? The Lutherans used to forbid its members from joining the Scouts. Not every group that identifies itself as Christian accepts the Scout’s beliefs.

Too many of these quasi-religious groups pretend to be all-inclusive (at least toward those professing a belief in gods) when it suits their needs but occasionally reveal their core exclusivity, often without intending to. I’m not sure if those who commissioned the statue realized just what they were admitting to, but transparency hasn’t been celebrated by institutions like this. One almost suspects a form of Freudian slip at play here. Scouting has displayed its true values, naked men and Protestantism.

Do you think this statue is inappropriate for the Scouts? Do you think their inclusion of a primarily Protestant symbol is disrespectful to their members who may not embrace that concept and yet identify themselves as Christian? Should we even care what groups like this do with their own money?

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Xong has posted a very astute review of the recently released Evangelical Manifesto on his blog, Obtuse Word.

The recent Evangelical Manifesto is all about politics and fear. Despite claiming to depoliticize the religion the document actually plays on Christianity’s fear of atheism in the US in order to manipulate American politics. The Manifesto, written by Os Guinness, portrays two opposing possibilities for religious discourse in American society, the “naked public square” and the “civil public square.” Guinness presents the two possible choices for the future of America, one being the right path, the other disastrous for America. He warns of dangers of the “naked” public square, which according to the Evangelical Manifesto, is completely devoid of religion or spirituality in public life. In contrast the document promotes a so-called “civil” public square, which would allow for expression of religion and spirituality in the public domain.

Read more…

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Edward N. Luttwak, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the author of “Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace”, writing an opinion piece for the New York Times, raises an issue that I haven’t heard mentioned yet.  It’s an issue that could have serious repercussions in our dealings with the Middle East should he win the election.  While I don’t support the notion that our nation should change in any way simply to placate those who threaten us with violence, I do acknowledge that terrorists in the Middle East might find it too easy to exploit and capitalize on this particular situation.

…One danger of such charisma, however, is that it can evoke unrealistic hopes of what a candidate could actually accomplish in office regardless of his own personal abilities. Case in point is the oft-made claim that an Obama presidency would be welcomed by the Muslim world.

This idea often goes hand in hand with the altogether more plausible argument that Mr. Obama’s election would raise America’s esteem in Africa — indeed, he already arouses much enthusiasm in his father’s native Kenya and to a degree elsewhere on the continent.

But it is a mistake to conflate his African identity with his Muslim heritage. Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith.

As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant.

Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him.

His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive).

With few exceptions, the jurists of all Sunni and Shiite schools prescribe execution for all adults who leave the faith not under duress; the recommended punishment is beheading at the hands of a cleric, although in recent years there have been both stonings and hangings. (Some may point to cases in which lesser punishments were ordered — as with some Egyptian intellectuals who have been punished for writings that were construed as apostasy — but those were really instances of supposed heresy, not explicitly declared apostasy as in Senator Obama’s case.)

It is true that the criminal codes in most Muslim countries do not mandate execution for apostasy (although a law doing exactly that is pending before Iran’s Parliament and in two Malaysian states). But as a practical matter, in very few Islamic countries do the governments have sufficient authority to resist demands for the punishment of apostates at the hands of religious authorities.

For example, in Iran in 1994 the intervention of Pope John Paul II and others won a Christian convert a last-minute reprieve, but the man was abducted and killed shortly after his release. Likewise, in 2006 in Afghanistan, a Christian convert had to be declared insane to prevent his execution, and he was still forced to flee to Italy.

Because no government is likely to allow the prosecution of a President Obama — not even those of Iran and Saudi Arabia, the only two countries where Islamic religious courts dominate over secular law — another provision of Muslim law is perhaps more relevant: it prohibits punishment for any Muslim who kills any apostate, and effectively prohibits interference with such a killing.

At the very least, that would complicate the security planning of state visits by President Obama to Muslim countries, because the very act of protecting him would be sinful for Islamic security guards. More broadly, most citizens of the Islamic world would be horrified by the fact of Senator Obama’s conversion to Christianity once it became widely known — as it would, no doubt, should he win the White House. This would compromise the ability of governments in Muslim nations to cooperate with the United States in the fight against terrorism, as well as American efforts to export democracy and human rights abroad…

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