Today's Quote

The difference between a cult and a religion is that the latter is old. Like, stepping into a pile of dogshit makes you curse, but stepping into a pile of dinosaur shit makes you famous. Despite both being crap. 

— Opportunist.

Seems Odd Somehow

And now - greetings from catholic.org

Purgatory is necessary so that souls can be cleansed and perfected before they enter into heaven. There is scriptural basis for this belief. The primary reference is in 2 Maccabees, 12:26 and 12:32. "Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out... Thus made atonement for the dead that they might be free from sin."

Yeah - I don't get it either. Seems like you gotta be either forgiven or not forgiven. What's with this Self Service thing?  God does a shitty job; can't get that blessing all the way done? Sounds like god's a bait-n-switch used-car huckster who just teases you in and then drops the hammer on you. Thanks anyway. I think I'll stick to not believing any of that shit.

Good artwork tho' - I'll give you that much, god-knobbers.

The Rarity Of It All

So many things had to happen at just the right time in just the right order - it gets easier to understand how people would invent the Argument From Ignorance Fallacy (God did it because we can't think of any other explanation)

It's also pretty easy to see how the religious (ie: political) systems that grew out of that ignorance got to be the monstrous problem they've been for so long.

Today's Quote

“If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.”

― Penn Jillette, God, No! Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales

Today's Today

On February 17, 1600, Fr Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for heresy.  According to a letter from the time, he made "a threatening gesture" towards his judges and said, "Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it".

People with balls (using that word in the figurative sense) are the ones who move this whole thing forward - in big and little ways.

Giordano Bruno

... was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician, poet, and astrologer.[3] He is celebrated for his cosmological theories, which went even further than the then novel Copernican model. He proposed that the stars were just distant suns surrounded by their own exoplanets and raised the possibility that these planets could even foster life of their own (a philosophical position known as cosmic pluralism). He also insisted that the universe is in fact infinite and could have no celestial body at its "center".

Beginning in 1593, Bruno was tried for heresy by the Roman Inquisition on charges including denial of several core Catholic doctrines (including Eternal Damnation, the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary, and Transubstantiation). Bruno's pantheism was also a matter of grave concern.[4] The Inquisition found him guilty, and in 1600 he was burned at the stake in Rome's Campo de' Fiori. After his death he gained considerable fame, being particularly celebrated by 19th- and early 20th-century commentators who regarded him as a martyr for science,[5] although historians have debated the extent to which his heresy trial was a response to his astronomical views or to other aspects of his philosophy and theology.[6][7][8][9][10] Bruno's case is still considered a landmark in the history of free thought and the emerging sciences.[11][12][13]

In addition to cosmology, Bruno also wrote extensively on the art of memory, a loosely organized group of mnemonic techniques and principles. Historian Frances Yates argues that Bruno was deeply influenced by Arab astrology (particularly the philosophy of Averroes[14]), Neoplatonism, Renaissance Hermeticism, and legends surrounding the Egyptian god Thoth.[15] Other studies of Bruno have focused on his qualitative approach to mathematics and his application of the spatial concepts of geometry to language.[16]

Today's Tweet

“With guns you can kill terrorists—with education you can kill terrorism.” @Malala Yousafzai@MalalaFund pic.twitter.com/rmzIEviIGJ

— Bryan Dawson (@BryanDawsonUSA) September 21, 2016

Careful With That 'Rithmetic

Truth + God = Life

--and so--

Life - God = Truth

hat tip = Twitter pal @athyvaya

Prematurely Mainstream

A coupla other Fugelsang concepts that stand out for me:

sometimes atheists are the best Christians

-and-

separation of Church and Faith 

John Fugelsang:

The Rubin Report

John Fugelsang - Facebook

Today's Today

So it's Beltane.  I'm not really at all concerned about anybody's religious holidays.  One superstition is as silly as the next.  But these old Pagan rituals at least seem like a lot more fun.

Be It Resolved

I've always had a tough time getting straight with some of the minutiae of Church-State Separation.

There's no doubt in my mind about making sure religious dogma is kept out of the law - that the law can only be about what's provably true, and so the magical mystery bunkum has to be put aside. I'm good on all that.

So, kinda cutting to the chase, my last item is taxation. I've been reluctant to advocate in favor of taxing churches because it seemed like an opening for Government to meddle where government doesn't belong.  But I've come to view that thinking as more of a rationalization. It's politically expedient, but mostly commercially prudent for churches to try to "protect" themselves from "government meddling"; it's not really a question of Separation so much as it's a question of a business interest lobbying for exemptions.

A church is a business. We have a reasonable expectation for every person and every business to pay a share of the taxes necessary to maintain a functioning society. If you enjoy the benefits of police and fire protection, and roads and snow plows, and all the other goodies, then you need to throw a few bucks in the hat for it.  Not to be too obvious, church guys, but it's not a lot different than somebody sitting thru the service and getting the "benefits" of your sermonizing, and then not kicking in when you pass the collection plate.

So why not churches?  We require all the other Mumbo-Jumbo Peddlers to pay and to be appropriately regulated.  The palm reader pays taxes. Crystal Gazers pay taxes. The Reiki Master pays taxes. Etc.

When we decide this "religious" organization is exempt from the law, but that one isn't - and we base the decision on the organization's "religious beliefs" - it just seems like we're doing exactly what the 1st amendment says we're not supposed to do.

We should stop doing that.

Oddly Not Godly

The Sedlec Ossuary located in the suburbs of the medieval town of Kutná Hora in Czech Republic is one of the most unusual chapels. Decorated with more than 40.000 human skeletons, the medieval gothic church is also known as the Church of Bones.

Not to be overly generalize-y, but you're not gonna convince me that most of this churchy shit isn't really just a death cult rebranded.

Logic Error

Thinking it's pretty amazing that we can know this with such certainty and precision.  Yay nerds - not kidding - Fucking Yay Nerds.  

It gets real easy to imagine how eager the (eg) Mayan rubes would be to confer power on the guys who could predict a solar eclipse 8 or 9 hundred years ago and who would then claim it to be their ability to discern what was on the minds of their gods.

Then I think about people today still making claims they can channel a god thru all kinds of magical mystical bullshit, and who then presume to tell us what their god wants the law to be.

I get that the Magic, the Woo, the whatever; it's about power and politics.  It always comes down to that transactional thing where I disconnect part of my living thinking brain in trade for the warm fuzzy feeling of safety within the shelter of the herd, or the arms of a protector, or whatever I get in return for my willingness to self-infantalize - and I'm right back to thinking religion really is a mental illness.

About That Son Of God Thing

I'm not bashing Christmas - I flat-out love me some Christmas, so don't get me wrong, but:

John 3:16 - "For god so loved the world He gave his only begotten son..."

Why "son"?  Why couldn't it have been his only begotten daughter?   If we're talking about an all-powerful, all-purpose, all-in-one Ron Popeil kinda god here, we have to assume "he" could choose.  So why a son?

That right there anchors the Jesus story firmly in the culture and the mindset of the people of the 1st century CE.  There's nothing particularly timeless about it at all - and there's nothing divine about it either.  People were telling a story, and the people of that time placed a far greater value on a boy child than they did on a girl child.  So if they wanna make it a really big deal, then of course, the kid's gotta be a boy.

But, Mike - these were semi-primitive people who didn't understand a lot, so god had to speak to them in ways they could understand and blah blah blah.

Bullshit.  The story says Jesus walked on water.  He fed the multitudes with a few loaves and fishes.  He changed water to wine.  He touched a leper and cured him.  He touched a blind guy and made him see again.  He brought Lazarus back to life after he was fucking dead.  He was called 'rabbi' - teacher.  They said, "Oh Lord, show us the way".  Jesus did all that; Jesus was all that, but somehow a quick lesson on "don't be a mysogynistic dick" - that was just too much?  That's what blows their minds and makes the whole thing unbelievable?

I'm just saying there's something kinda sketchy about the whole Christ Child thing.

But hey - Merry Fuckin' Christmas anyway, knuckleheads. Hope it's a great day for everybody.

Today's Coming Out

I got out from under the god thing a long time ago - or more accurately, I started pushing back against it as a teenager in the late 60s. It still took me a very long time to come to the realization that I am actually atheistic - I guess I just got an earlier start than most.  

Anyway, it's always seemed to me that it should be relatively simple for anybody else to break away as well, but when I put aside my own ego and I stop and listen to the stories people tell of what it's taken for them to get free, I have to count myself lucky to have been afforded the space to make my own decisions.

From John Pavlovitz, here's the story of a guy who's starting to get it.  At the very least, he understands that way too often, religion is just another political straightjacket. 

I’ve outgrown the furrowed-browed warnings of a sky that is perpetually falling.

I’ve outgrown the snarling brimstone preaching that brokers in damnation.

I’ve outgrown the vile war rhetoric that continually demands an encroaching enemy.

I’ve outgrown the expectation that my faith is the sole property of a political party.

I’ve outgrown violent bigotry and xenophobia disguised as Biblical obedience.

I’ve outgrown God wrapped in a flag and soaked in rabid nationalism.

I’ve outgrown the incessant attacks on the Gay, Muslim, and Atheist communities.

I’ve outgrown theology as a hammer always looking for a nail.

I’ve outgrown the cramped, creaky, rusting box that God never belonged in anyway.

Most of all though, I’ve outgrown something that simply no longer feels like love, something I no longer see much of Jesus in.

If religion it is to be worth holding on to, it should be the place were the marginalized feel the most visible, where the hurting receive the most tender care, where the outsiders find the safest refuge.

It should be the place where diversity is fiercely pursued and equality loudly championed; where all of humanity finds a permanent home and where justice runs the show.

That is not what this thing is. This is FoxNews and red cup protests and persecution complexes. It’s opulent, big box megachurches and coddled, untouchable celebrity pastors. It’s pop culture boycotts and manufactured outrage. It’s just wars and justified shootings. It’s all manner of bullying and intolerance in the name of Jesus.

Feeling estrangement from these things is a good thing.

Pix and Memes and Toons and Stuff

Mrs Davis Goes To Washington

At this point, Kim Davis has managed to cut thru the information clutter, and she stands at center stage. Which is exactly where she wants to be; which is where all the hypocrites Jeebus warned against want to be.

She's becoming very famous - fame being considered by Display Window Christians to be a preferable substitute for the less-than-satisfying private exaltation promised by their deity. 

And since, by now, she's gotten much helpful advice from the bigger TheoCon Franchisers about the best ways to monetize her faith, she's about to take a nice ride on the Wingnut Welfare Train and become a comfortably wealthy woman.

Is anybody willing to bet she hasn't been spending time with a whole squad of Associate Producers from DumFux News, who're either frantically trying to get her ready for her debut with Sean and Greta, or just as frantically trying to push her off towards Bryan Fischer or Pat Robertson?

And BTW, should we not take a minute and talk about Mrs Davis Goes To Washington?

Today In Woo

(paraphrasing):

"Teaching one religion to children is called indoctrination.  Teaching all religions to children is call inoculation." --Matt Dillahunty

Here's what bugs me about the religiousness of a certain brand of TheoPolitics in USAmerica Inc right now:

Kids go off to school and they learn about Evolution, which eventually and necessarily requires them to question their religious training, especially if it's been all about Gardens and talking snakes and Jesus walking his pet velociraptor in the park etc.  Well, sometimes that leads to trouble because their parents have been so busy trying to make sure those kids are securely bubble-wrapped in dogma, they're gonna make sure the next school board meeting turns into Night Of The Living Dead.

And yes, you have the right to know what's going on in the classroom, and yes, you have the right to be heard when the curriculum decisions are made.  But let's not get off into the weeds, cuz here's the point: 

Let's say I've taught my kid that the world is a flat disc under a crystal dome, and it's being carried thru the ether on the back of giant turtle.  Then one day the kid comes home from school and he tells me his teacher has come up with this thing called "math" and he says the numbers lead him to believe the world is a sphere.  As a living thinking human possessed of a living thinking brain, do I conclude there must be something wrong with that stupid teacher and you can bet that stupid school's gonna hear from my lawyers?  Or am I honor-bound to consider that maybe there're things I don't know about - things I may find useful - and need to learn?

Science starts with a hypothesis, tests it against what's already been reasonably proven to be true, and then draws a conclusion as to what's now most likely to be true given this new information at this point in time.

Religion starts with an arbitrary conclusion, and then has to manufacture evidence (ie: make shit up) to support it.  The kicker: You don't really think it was simple coincidence that GW Bush made way too many of his disastrous policy decisions based on that model of "thinking" didya?

Ya'll knew all that already - but it bears repeating.

Openly Secular

About That Geller Lady Thing

Every time something happens like what happened in Garland TX, I'm reminded that "free speech" is a weapon as much as it is a tool.  And that goading some dumb sucker into a fight just so you can make a point (and a pile of cash) is about as craven as it gets.

I'm not suggesting the two dead 'jihadis' deserved anything but bullets in their heads once they started the shit, but let's at least admit their reaction was predictable - and predictable  to the point that we can condemn the fact that the provocation has almost nothing to do with Free Speech, and everything to do with making it justifiable (and profitable) to kill Muslims.  

Geller's little stunt produced exactly what it was intended to produce, which is Violence As Revenue Opportunity.

A good bit from The Rude Pundit:

5/06/2015

Conservatives Really Need You to Care About the Garland Thing

Honestly, conservatives, most of us on the left look at Pamela Geller's stupid ass Mohammed cartoon thing, which was attended by a handful of Fox "news" zombies and more media than it deserved, and think, "Well, if that's what you wanna do." 'Cause, see, we all knew that images of Mohammed piss off loser jihadi-wannabes who need to prove their street cred. So, oh, gee, you mean the deliberately provocative act provoked someone to violence? Well, fuck us all with a surprise stick. Shit, considering the nonsensical conspiracy theories floating around Texas right now, why not say that the two idiot gunmen were promised cash and seven minutes in paradise with Geller to come shoot up the joint in order to justify the whole goddamned effort?

But the right really, really needs us to give a shit. They need us to condemn Geller's show. Look at what Erick "Erick" Erickson of the Red State blarg had to say right after the shooting: "Over the next twenty-four hours, we can expect the media to wring its hands about 'Texas gun culture,' the unnecessary provocations of Pamela Gellar [sic], and a host of other issues. They will work very hard to suggest Muslims were somehow the victims and try to distance the story from Islam." Look at that list. One of those things has come true - about Geller being an attention whore who makes real whores think, "Fuck it. I should retire and give her the whole block" - and the rest? No one of any note has said shit about guns in this case (except maybe how the bad guys got the guns). No one has said Muslims were victims, except to say that a bunch of needy fucknuts tried their hardest to get a reaction from Muslims.

Later, Erickson says, "[T]he most telling thing to me is how quickly prominent leftists placed blame on the event organizers for holding than event instead of on a group of Muslims for deciding they can kill because they are offended." No, sweet, pudgy Christ fellater, we are all blaming the dudes with the guns. We can also say, without contradiction, that the event wouldn't have taken place if the threat of violence wasn't built into it, and that shit's reckless. By the way, aren't you the people who think that the problem with rape on college campuses isn't that rapists do it, but that sexy coeds get drunk and are easy targets?

Anyway, you know who some of the loudest voices against Geller are right now? Other conservatives who think Geller's full of shit, which, of course, made Geller screech even louder than usual. (That last link has all the cartoons from the event, and you will forever regret clicking on it.) Skeevier attention whore Donald Trump even said that Geller was "dumb."

Still, people like Rush Limbaugh blubber on about how much eeevil liberals don't give a goddamn about free speech. Meanwhile, most of us real lefties, not the fantasy flesh-eating gorgons conjured by the deranged minds of conservatives, feel about the cartoon display the same way we feel about flag burning: You have the right to do it, but you sure as shit aren't doing it to make people believe in your cause.

It's your right to fuck with people's core beliefs. And it's our right to think your point is worthless.

Things Jesus Never Said

Following the trend:

'Do not welcome strangers.' #ThingsJesusNeverSaid
— Isabel Losada (@IsabelLosada) April 4, 2015

#ThingsJesusNeverSaid "It's an act of God when kids get shot on playgrounds." @glencasada @BillHaslam #tnlege http://t.co/saAWBlZELZ
— Demanda Evers (@ActUpSpeakOut) April 4, 2015

"Blessed are the cherry-picking fundamentalists for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." #ThingsJesusNeverSaid .@JohnFugelsang
— Kenny Pick (@kenpickles) April 2, 2015

#ThingsJesusNeverSaid I will only heal you if you can prove you didn't have this illness when we first met.
— MATTY ICE (@MattyIceAZ) April 2, 2015

#ThingsJesusNeverSaid "I'd like my life to inspire a massive pompous money-grubbing global corporation that harbours child abusers"
— Will Black (@WillBlackWriter) April 2, 2015

Why are we all sitting on the same side of the table? #ThingsJesusNeverSaid pic.twitter.com/esVy9LyCC5
— Jonathan (@Haymaker710) April 2, 2015

#thingsJesusneversaid Anything in English
— David Andignac Jr (@RwdaveJr) April 2, 2015

#thingsJesusneversaid pic.twitter.com/mqEI5Xlgr8
— Celeste Smith (@celestemsw) March 15, 2015

"Bomb them, Father, for we don't know what we're doing." #ThingsJesusNeverSaid
— Andrew Wilson (@AJWTheology) February 16, 2015

When someone hits you on the cheek, shoot him #ThingsJesusNeverSaid
— chattelgirl (@chattelgirl) November 2, 2014

"Go into all the world and make republicans." #thingsjesusneversaid
— Stephen Collins (@stephenNcollins) November 8, 2013

hat tip = Addicting Info

That Pesky 1st Amendment

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