I'm Up For Adoption

Did you hear the Good News? I might be a closeted Christian, and if you are a godless heathen, you might be too! We just need to get adopted!

Catholic League president Bill Donohue has started a campaign called "Adopt an Atheist":

Approximately 80 percent of Americans are Christian, and 96 percent celebrate Christmas. Of the 20 percent who are not Christian, non-believers make up the largest segment, though the number of self-identified atheists is tiny. David Silverman, president of American Atheists, knows this to be true, which is why he is frantically trying to inflate his base. “We want people to realize that there may be atheists in their family,” he told the New York Times, “even if those atheists don’t even know they are atheists.”

We think there is some merit in David’s idea, even if he has things backwards, as usual. Today we are launching our “Adopt An Atheist” campaign, the predicate of which is, “We want atheists to realize that there may be Christians in their community, even if those Christians don’t even know they are Christian.”

Here’s what our campaign entails. We are asking everyone to contact the American Atheist affiliate in his area, letting them know of your interest in “adopting” one of them. All it takes is an e-mail. Let them know of your sincere interest in working with them to uncover their inner self. They may be resistant at first, but eventually they may come to understand that they were Christian all along.

If we hurry, these closeted Christians can celebrate Christmas like the rest of us. As an added bonus, they will no longer be looked upon as people who “believe in nothing, stand for nothing and are good for nothing.”

So, I believe in nothing, stand for nothing and am good for nothing? Could they be any more offensive or wrong? According to them, aren't I a child of God even if I've apparently turned my back on him? So how can I be good for nothing? That's just repellent.

It's a strawman to say we believe in nothing and stand for nothing. Of course this is a blatant lie. All you have to do is ask us. Many of us are Humanists, after all, and as a Humanist I believe and stand for the well-being of all people. I also stand for caring for all life (well, 99.9% of it). I believe as thinking humans we are how the Cosmos can know itself.

I believe in the pursuit of scientific understanding and discovery, in making the world a better place, in creating a world of justice as much as we can, of encouraging and nurturing love and happiness, and reducing suffering.

What do they believe in? That the best they can do in this one precious life is to bow and scrape to an angry god who demanded murder, has no problem with misogyny, and punishes people who actually think with Eternal Damnation?

My friend suggested we encourage these misguided, delusional True Believers to adopt us. Go ahead! Most of us became atheists because we challenged our worldviews, questioned, researched and reasoned. We broke free of indoctrination already.

So, go ahead, adopt me, or better yet adopt my local group, Morgantown Atheists, because we are members of American Atheists. Who is going to have their worldview shaken up? Us or them? (disclaimer: not that you can reason with a True Believer. Reason and Faith are like oil and water, they just don't mix)

By the way, I got the image above from the article I linked to. I think it's hilarious and ironic that it's of a man holding a little boy. We are all born atheists, after all!

Unbelievable Popist Insanity

Ok, so, unfortunately this news story is not unbelievable. Last year, somehow this amazingly hateful popist insanity slipped by my radar. Just in case you live under a rock like I do, I thought it was worth sharing.

Pope Ratz said the following last December in his Christmas address:

"In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorised as something fully in conformity with man and even with children."

"It was maintained - even within the realm of Catholic theology - that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a 'better than' and a 'worse than'. Nothing is good or bad in itself."

The abuse revelations in 2010 reached "an unimaginable dimension" which brought "humiliation" on the Church.

Seriously? What world did Ratz live in? I grew up in the 70's and you know what? It was criminal to hurt a child.

How out of touch is this monster? To whine about how the church has been humiliated is reprehensible. Why not be enraged, like normal members of society, that children have been raped and have been scarred for life under his watch?!

Raping a child who is under your protection is abominable. Has it happened throughout history? Yes. Is it more prevalent? There's no evidence that it is. We simply talk about it more now, which is good. Was it ever right? No.

I'm in the Wrong Business

Every once in awhile I think about how people like me are just trying to get by when churches are raking in the dough from willing sheep. Sometimes I even tell my husband that we should do something with our statuses as official reverends. Yes, I'm actually a reverend and have been for about 13 years. I don't do anything with it though, because, as you know, I'm also a godless heathen.

While atheists are usually somewhere in the middle to upper class, we certainly aren't on par with the churches in terms of wealth and power. So sometimes I think I should see about starting my own heathen church. Imagine the good we could do while cashing in on those faith-based initiatives.

Money.co.uk wrote an article recently called The Business of Religion which I wanted to share with you.

Here are some highlights:

The Catholic Church

• Worth hundreds of billions worldwide


• 1.81 billion followers worldwide


• Notorious for Pope Ratz saying condoms actually help the spread of AIDs and for many cases of abusing innocent children.


• Fortune comes from priceless works of art. The catholic church was implicated in the disappearance of Nazi gold, discovered in a shrine in Fatima in which the church admitted to having in 2000. They also make money from tourism to the vatican.


• They are one of the largest providers of humanitarian care and relief in the world. (but it's a vehicle to spread their indoctrination and increase their numbers)

The Church of England

• Worth billions


• 25 million baptized members (but I believe babies are baptized so the number is misleading, as people don't necessarily stay in the church once they grow up)


• Fortune comes from $320 million in cash donations from congregations, $400 million in legacies, events and services and $320 million in Gift-Aid donations. They used to be the biggest landowner in Britain but they sold it off to fund a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio which earns $255 million or more a year.


• Spends their money on pensions, salaries and maintaining 16,000 ancient buildings. They have 43 cathedrals which need constant care.

Scientology

• Worth unknown but definitely in the hundreds of millions, probably in the billions


• They claim to have over 8 million followers worldwide (3.5 million in the US alone), but a 2008 survey showed just 20,000 Americans identified themselves as scientologists.


• Notorious for their ridiculous beliefs and extortionist fees for spiritual growth (plus their brutal way of dealing with people who disagree with them or speak out against them)


• Fortune comes from fees incurred when someone wants to advance in the church and get "clear". It costs over $272,ooo to reach Operating Thetan VIII which is the highest rank in the church. They are basically a fee-based operation and members are encouraged to even take out loans if they can't afford the courses.


• Some of the things they have spent their money on: $114 million to forever preserve L. Ron Hubbard's writings. A cruise ship called Freewinds was $15.2 million. They spent $6 million in an ad campaign to try to neutralize the expose' of Time magazine. $3 million in gold bullion.

Televangelism

• Combined worth somewhere around $2.4 billion


• No official figures on the number of followers. It's an American phenomenon, but televises worldwide.


• Notorious for their "prosperity gospel" which states that "Jesus blesses believers with riches". Of course you have to show your belief by sending in money. They call it "seed money". Some speak in tongues, some pretend to heal the sick.


• Fortune comes from donations, ads, selling merchandise to followers and other commercial activities.


• Televangelists don't seem to mind living the life of luxury while bilking money out of desperate poor and old people. They have multi-million dollar homes, fly in private jets, and have international 'crusades' at $3,000 a night.

Is God Love?

When I was a child, I was raised to believe that God and Jesus loved me, but that I was a terrible sinner. I was told over and over that Jesus had to die for me, and that I had to accept him into my heart and then be baptized if I wanted to avoid eternal hellfire and damnation. I was baptized three times in three different churches because I was so terrified of eternal torment.

In the past year I have talked to Christians and Catholics who have a very different experience of God than I did. If I mention the hellfire and brimstone preaching of my childhood they tell me how different it really is. They all say the same thing. God Is Love.

Last year my local atheist group (Morgantown Atheists) went to a megachurch together to experience it. While the preacher didn't say God Is Love, the message was very clear. In fact the first emcee guy even said he was there to make our experience as pleasant and comfortable as possible. There was mention of Jesus dying for our sins, and that we needed him, but no mention of hell, no mention of anything negative. It was all very wishy-washy and watered down, all very pleasant and positive.

I would guess that both kinds of churches still exist today. I'm sure southern baptist and maybe pentecostal are more about hellfire and brimstone, putting the Fear of God into people to keep them on the straight and narrow. Maybe the fundamentalist churches too, but that's a guess.

I wonder which kind of message is more prevalent today? (I know some of you Google-mad geeks can help me come up with the perfect terms to search here!) I have a feeling it's the feel-good God Is Love message. It's certainly very pleasant and seems to embrace more people and accept them. But I am definitely an outsider on this so I am not sure.

Please feel free to share your church experiences: Which churches have you been to? What was the fundamental message? God is Love? or Fear God? Or some weird twisted combo package? Or something else entirely?

But is God Love? I've read the bible more than once. The god of the old testament is most definitely an angry, jealous god. He says so himself. In fact even his name is Jealous. (Exodus 34:14)

Yet Another Experiment

Last December if you had asked me about my friends, I would have told you they were all nonbelievers of some persuasion or another. But back then I ran into a fellow blogger who is a devout Catholic. Roxane wrote about me and I felt obliged to write back. Instead of getting into a "blog war" we decided to take our conversation privately to email and have been writing each other back and forth ever since.

Now I would call her a friend. Do I understand her worldview? Does it make sense to me? No, it really doesn't. But she seems like a good person, kind and compassionate. With Roxane, I've been learning to see that there are religious people who aren't like the media stereotypes that make me apoplectic with impotent indignation.

Interestingly, in this same time period I've also come to see several family members that are also moderately religious to seriously devout in a new light. I've engaged them as well, and it has really expanded my perspective of people who are so diametrically opposed to how I view the world. It's been eye-0pening to say the least.

Last week Roxane got a crazy idea that she and I should co-write a blog. Nothing intense, just a weekly joint post. She thought I'd say no, but I surprised her and said yes immediately. So we started AtheistCatholic.com and today was our first post.

In the past couple of days I've told a few of my friends about what I'm doing. I've gotten mixed responses. Some people said I'm wasting my time. Others thought it was a good idea. First I should probably explain the goal of this new experiment. Because that is most definitely what it is. It might not work out, but I'm willing to give it a good ol' college try.

We want to share some of our discussion publicly, and have people join our conversation, mainly about our worldviews. It's not a place for debate or attacking the opposing team. It's more about coming to hopefully understand each other, and maybe even learn more about ourselves in the process. I've done that with Roxane already so I want to share that insight and hopefully get even more from the interactions we have over there.

One more thing. I am not being an accommodationist here. This isn't about compromising and bending over backward to the religious worldview. As you know, I have very strong opinions about naturalism/atheism and religion. But, this is about people getting along, being friends despite opposite viewpoints, and learning about others and ourselves.

If you're interested in joining the conversation, head over there and say hi. Just please be courteous. This is about building bridges, not isolating ourselves.

'Scientific Rigor' Regarding Exorcisms

The Telegraph wrote a couple of credulous, one-sided articles regarding exorcism recently. Apparently the interwebs makes it easy for people to find information on satanism, which is leading, of course, to more exorcisms. OMFSM, I just said the word satanism! I'm probably already possessed now! Get me a priest!

So is there a rise in satanism? Let's see what Google Trends can find:

First I looked up satanism by itself. There is no increase in searches for that term since 2004. It's really not that popular, I don't think. Then I did "satanism, exorcism". Exorcism has spikes, either from movies like Last Exorcism or "scary" vatican rumblings about the exorcism "crisis".



So, I guess they lied? Or they have no idea what they're talking about.

Anyway, a few things in this article stood out. First, they were written because the vatican hosted a 6 day conference in Rome regarding the "crisis". It was to give support to families and priests. Apparently "there is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile."

Also, the objective of the seminars was to look at the "phenomenon" of satanism with "seriousness and scientific rigour". Uh, really? That's laughable!

Pope Ratz Charged With Crimes Against Humanity Again

Last year, Pope Ratz (aka Pope Palpatine) was charged in the UK with crimes against humanity but it didn't go anywhere. This time, because the charges were filed at the International World Court, it has to be investigated. Two lawyers from Ratz' home state of Bavaria filed a 16,500 word indictment which alleged the following:

“three worldwide crimes which until now have not been denounced . . . (as) the traditional reverence toward ‘ecclesiastical authority’ has clouded the sense of right and wrong”.

The Pope “is responsible for the preservation and leadership of a worldwide totalitarian regime of coercion which subjugates its members with terrifying and health-endangering threats”.

He is also responsible for “the adherence to a fatal forbiddance of the use of condoms, even when the danger of HIV-Aids infection exists” and for “the establishment and maintenance of a worldwide system of cover-up of the sexual crimes committed by Catholic priests and their preferential treatment, which aids and abets ever new crimes”.

Tthe Catholic Church “acquires its members through a compulsory act, namely, through the baptism of infants that do not yet have a will of their own”. This act was “irrevocable” and is buttressed by threats of excommunication and the fires of hell.

It was “a grave impairment of the personal freedom of development and of a person’s emotional and mental integrity”. The Pope was “responsible for its preservation and enforcement and, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of his Church, he was jointly responsible” with Pope John Paul II.

Catholics “threatened by HIV-AIDS . . . are faced with a terrible alternative: If they protect themselves with condoms during sexual intercourse, they become grave sinners; if they do not protect themselves out of fear of the punishment of sin threatened by the church, they become candidates for death.”

There was also “strong suspicion that Dr Joseph Ratzinger, as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of his church and as Pope, has up to the present day systematically covered up the sexual abuse of children and youths and protected the perpetrators, thereby aiding and abetting further sexual violence toward young people”.

Let's hope it sticks this time.

From: The Examiner

A Delicate Situation

As you may know, I used to unquestioningly believe in the power of "energy". I became an atheist long before I became a skeptic. I still "knew" that there was an energy force in the universe, that we reincarnated after death, that there was justice in the form of karma, and that people could be healed by energy.

I never had any reason to doubt my beliefs. In fact, I had a lot of selective bias that showed I was pretty good at giving readings (I didn't know it but I was good at warm and cold readings), and I was very good at doing energy healings. People told me they felt better just talking to me. Now I know that just paying attention to people can be help someone feel better. I did reiki healing which is very comforting. I would pay a lot of attention to a person and really listen to them compassionately. The placebo effect did the rest.

Long before I discovered skepticism I heard something about the power of suggestion, so without knowing I was doing science (roughly) I tested out the claim that energy healing is all about just making people feel cared for and is no better than placebo. I "turned off" my healing hands (reiki) several times and people still thanked me and told me I gave them a wonderful healing.

That's when I started getting out of it all. I realized I was just doing therapy for people, and that it was psychological and not "magical" so I gracefully extricated myself from the spiritual community.

I had many friends in the spiritual community back then. Most of them stopped talking to me when I stopped giving readings and healings. One woman, we'll call her Barbara, kept asking me for readings. She would call me all the time, every few days, asking for advice. I am horrible at confrontation, so after trying to tell her I didn't do readings anymore, I broke out the cards and went ahead and tried to help her. I did my best, but I started to feel more and more uncomfortable as time went on.

Some Lighthearted Fun, Kinda

Here are some random images and thoughts. Tomorrow is my local atheist group's Thanksgiving get together and I'll be busy making candied yams and eating tons of great food and hanging out with my fellow heathens. So I wanted to give you something beforehand. It's that time of year, too. What are you grateful for? I will list a few things below.

Here is a better bible, and it's only one page. It can fit on a sticky note:



But first, I require that you go first, God. Follow your own rule and Don't Be a DICK!

And God would reply (predictably), "Do as I say, not as I do."

Which leads me to ask you, if the god of Abraham (we'll assume he's the same one for the Jews, Christians and Muslims) exists as he is represented in his "holy" books, would you worship him?

I wouldn't. No way. What a complete and utter childish bully he is. And fickle!

While the above image is for a bit of humor, I'd say that's a pretty good place to start when putting together your moral code. I rewrote mine awhile ago - Neece's Principles. It's a great exercise that helps you realize what's important to you and why, instead of just doing what we were taught by our religious leaders and parents, who probably got their morals from their churches.

Last Mr Deity Of Season Three and A Bit About the Vatican and Pope Ratz

Mr. Deity and the Quitter
Jesus gets upset when he realizes that there's no reason for his sacrifice.



I can't believe Jesse quit! He'll be back, don't you think?

Now onto more serious issues that have been weighing on my mind lately, and yours as well, most likely.

Johnny posted something on Facebook the other day that I have been meaning to share with you.

Interesting Randomness

I'm sorry for neglecting you, my friends. You see, exciting things are afoot here and I am super busy herding cats. I'll fill you in on Tuesday and you'll see what's been keeping me so busy. :-D WOOT!

So for today, I'm going to link to some interesting stuff that you might enjoy.

Here's an interesting bit of religious nuttery: Maine diocese asks catholics to fast against gay marriage. The article also mentions how lame fasting is for catholics: They get to eat one full meal in the day, up to 2 snacks and they can drink all they want. WTF? How is that fasting? That's more than I eat in a day normally!

On a much happier note, Mutations make evolution irreversible! Researchers resurrected (pun intended?) ancient proteins to find that evolution can only go forward. Very wicked cool.

This article is very helpful to nontheist parents: Raise critical thinkers, not atheists. I couldn't have said it better myself!

Our very own superhero, Johnny linked us to this video of Michael Shermer on the Young Turks show. Michael Shermer is the man. He coherently and articulately explains religion, a hypothesis regarding jesus' actual existence, and some other interesting stuff. I would have liked to do a transcript of some of what he said, but I am running out of time. So enjoy this 12 minute video:

Do People Need To Worship? EDITED

This is not about church so much as society and culture. Recently Farrah Fawcett died. Later in the day Michael Jackson bit the dust as well. The world seemed to forget about Farrah immediately and focus on Jacko and how much of an amazing person he was.

Do people have such short attention spans and memories? Do they so easily forget what a freak he was? Do they so mindlessly get selectively nostalgic when someone dies or a big event happens?

I am so over Jacko, not that he was ever big on my list. He was a pedophile and a full-on freak. Why is he being revered? Has the catholic church's silent acceptance of pedophilia made most people numb to such horrors when committed by the exceedingly rich? I question the cognitive processes of anyone who feels the need to worship at the feet of such sickness.

On the other hand, Farrah died at age 62 of cancer. She was a good person who actually contributed to our entertainment. When she made The Burning Bed in 1984 (which was based on a true story), she was forever changed by that experience. Not to mention, as a sex symbol, she was willing to make that movie in the first place.

I found out a few minutes ago that she left donations to shelters for abused women, as well as some of her belongings. That's wonderful and thoughtful.

But it's not as interesting, apparently, as Jacko, who slept in a hyperbaric chamber, drank "jesus juice",  was a jehovah's witness and liked to diddle little boys then pay their families off for the privilege. So the world weeps for him? That's disgusting. Why would anyone feel the need to worship such a horrid person?

Then again, why do people worship god in whatever barbaric religion he is in? Do most people need to worship and look up to someone or something above them? Is it some vestige of evolution that we have yet to shed?

EDIT: My most awesomest husband Butch has written an excellent article about Whacko Jacko, along with an exclusive photo of said molester holding some damning evidence.

Also, here are some Smoking Gun articles that may interest you:

Jackson the Predator

Jackson's Legacy (with transcript)

Morals, Ethics and Pope Benedict Evil

Every week I look forward to cleaning up a bit on Monday. After my husband goes to work, I update my iPod and blast The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe while I tidy up. I love the Rogues. I learn an awful lot from them. They spark my interest in various topics and have helped me to learn to be skeptical.

So, the reason I'm sharing that is because I want to share part of the most recent podcast with you. It was Episode 191 and they talked about the Pope who was in Africa talking about Aids recently. Pope Benedict Ratz-en-evil said,

"(HIV/AIDS) is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, and that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems."

Um, WTF? That is reprehensible. The pope, the spokesman for god, is basically telling people who are uneducated and fully indoctrinated into the god myth that condoms are unhelpful and even harmful when it comes to spreading AIDS. That is evil.

Here are some of the other stances he's taken regarding science:

The Virgin Mary Gets Sexed Up In Chile

Rawr! The Virgin Mary is SEXY!

I think I may convert to catholicism! Will she welcome me into her warm and ample bosom?

This story is really great. Ricardo Oyarzun, a fashion designer in Chile, is supposedly having a show on the 22nd (unconfirmed date) in Santiago. The models will be dressed like the Virgin Mary. And apparently Mary was a real knockout.

Prayer Is Worse Than Nothing

Let's talk about prayer and visions and things today.

First, let's talk about the inauguration with Obama. Even if I weren't a vocal atheist, I'd be offended by the choice of rick warren to deliver the prayer. Of course, as a Constitutionalist, I believe in the Separation of Church and State. The office of president of the United States is earned by votes. Not direct votes of the people, but hey, let's not nitpick on that issue at the moment. This job of president is purely secular. Why is there a bible, a pastor and prayer involved at all? The FFRF is suing to get rid of the reference to god and the prayers, at least.
warren, this hypocritical slimeball, is going to act as an agent of the state to deliver the invocation and benediction. Read more about warren and how he backs a man (martin ssempa) who burned condoms in the name of jesus in Africa, virtually stamping out the free distribution of condoms to people to replace it with abstinence only (yeah, we all know how well the abstinence program works!). Oh, and let's not forget how warren compares homosexuality to pedophilia, incest and beastiality. So now we know how far off his rocker he is.

Social Obligations and Avatars

What on earth is Neece on about with that title? Well, I have to ask you a question and I need to let you know that company is coming into town for a week or 10 days or some such nonsense.

Ok, first, I want an avatar! I have no idea how to get one. Can someone please tell me the mystical woo secret of having one when I comment on my own goofy blog? LOLz... ok.. so I'm not the sharpest stick in the tiger trap. :P

Anyway, my husband's family is descending en masse tomorrow (actually tonight now that it's after 2 am) sometime in the evening. So, his two sisters are staying here for over a week and I won't get much time to be in front of my beloved computer.

Hopefully I'll at least gather together some good bible thumping vs atheist banter for you since we'll be surrounded by "good" catholics. At least the food is delicious! LOL!

Wish me luck. I really don't like having company. :( Oh well. Social Obligations and all that nonsense!