…the harm that Stone Age thinking has done and continues to do.

Here is a great article penned by Neil MacDonald, who discusses a new book (Lawrence Wright’s investigative book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief),that looks at Scientology and the power that it can wield in American society. And while granted that the Scientology kooks are the extreme, the same can be said to some degree for most of the other mainstream religions.

Take the Catholic Church. What other global organisation can you think of that as a matter of policy has for years shielded some of its members accused of and guilty of systematic child molestation.

Or, common to Catholicism and most sects of Protestantism, gays and lesbians are considered abominations.

Or take how, under the guise of Islam, how women and young girls are routinely descrimanted against, physically abused and prevented from the same opportunities as men.

Faith. The crimes committed in its name.

After the FBI uncovered evidence in the 1960s that Scientology had systematically infiltrated government departments with church spies, Scientology’s tax-exempt status was revoked, triggering a two-decade war with Washington.

According to Wright, the church in that time filed 2,500 lawsuits, swamping government lawyers. Scientology agents dug into the private lives of IRS staff, looking for evidence of drinking or marital cheating, then planted news stories on them.

It offered a $10,000 reward for dirt on the tax agency.

Eventually, the IRS backed down, defeated. But fight any temptation to cheer.

Effectively, what we have here is a profit-making machine that disregarded the law to pursue restitution of its tax-exempt status, which in turn made it even more potent, even more immune to the rules that govern the rest of us.

Yes, other big profit-making entities push government around, too — just take a look at Wall Street — but none has the body armour of a church.

Skeptical? Ask yourself this: If it were proved that senior employees of Microsoft, or Bank of America, had been sexually assaulting minors worldwide for decades, overwhelmingly young boys in their care, and senior company management had been complicit, either ignoring the abuse or actually taking steps to cover it up in order to protect the company’s image, how long would it be before that company would be facing a Justice Department strike force? Or bankruptcy?

Yet the Roman Catholic Church was, at most, dented by such horrific revelations. Individual priests have been charged worldwide, yes. But efforts to hold the church hierarchy responsible for the crimes that were covered up have been exceedingly rare.

(30)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

is that I’m smarter than that.

Only fools believe.

Sorry if you are offended. But guys like these are your spokepeeps.

20 Children died because a fictional bogeyman has been called into question! GOD has been removed from schools so some fuckhead shot 20 little kids??

Proud to be an atheist who will never do evil in the name of a fictional being.

I almost hope the Mayans were right and this all ends next week.

This world sucks. And I love my children. (67)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

And why is this news?

It is a prime example of the non-secular bias in our mainstream media.

Hell, the news about Streisand wowing he crowd at Scotiabank Place last night lis more interesting and important than someone being anointed as a “saint”. (78)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Is this is good news from south of the border? You betcha!

Young Americans in particular are beginning to think for themselves and critically analyse the belief systems held by their parents and grandparents. I think this may be a function of better education but it is also the fault of the in-your-face evangelicals whose fanaticism turns off a good segment of the population; especially people who are turned off by moral ultimatums.

Scholars have long debated whether people who say they no longer belong to a religious group should be considered secular. While the category as defined by Pew researchers includes atheists, it also encompasses majorities of people who say they believe in God, and a notable minority who pray daily or consider themselves “spiritual” but not “religious.”

Still, Pew found overall that most of the unaffiliated aren’t actively seeking another religious home, indicating that their ties with organized religion are permanently broken.

It is the bolded phrase that strikes me as being the most significant of these findings.

The religiosity class of ministers, priests and evangelic extremists should be afraid. Very afraid. (89)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

This is an encouraging sign coming from the USA.

Unbelief is on the uptick. People who check “None” for their religious affiliation are now nearly one in five Americans (19%), the highest ever documented, according to the Pew Center for the People and the Press.

The rapid rise of Nones — including atheists, agnostics and those who say they believe “nothing in particular” — defies the usually glacial rate of change in spiritual identity.

—

How high the Nones numbers might go depends on demographics, says Mark Chaves, professor of Sociology, Religion and Divinity at Duke University, an expert on the General Social Survey.

Two forces could hold Nones’ numbers down. First, they are disproportionately young, often single, and highly educated — all groups with a low birth rate. Second, the number of believers who immigrate to the USA from particularly religious nations, such as Catholics from Mexico, fluctuates with government policies and economic issues, Chaves says.

But the chief way the category grows is by “switchers.” A 2009 Pew Forum look at “switching” found more than 10% of American adults became Nones after growing up within a religious group.

Chaves says there’s another dimension to the unbelief trend worth watching.

“Americans famously say they believe in some variation of God. Over 90% do,” Chaves says. “But it used to be 99% decades ago. The change is slow, but we can see it coming.”

The last paragraph is of particular interest. It is one thing to declare no religious affiliation. It is quite another to say that you don’t believe in a God.

Oh, and in Canada, the proportion saying that they had no religious affiliation – 23%. (231)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

…the logic of religion!

LOL!

(266)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

… corruption within the Catholic Church!

Who woulda thunk it?

I mean, it’s just a modern institution that is sure to have complex internal mechanisms to prevent such folly, right? Things cannot have changed that much since the 14th century, right?

Those billions of dollars that are funneled to the church each year, courtesy of its faithful parishioners, are in good hands, I’m sure! (116)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

…And I have a Loblaws bag with the remains of a Leprechaun contained therein. Really! I do!

An Israeli antiquities dealer has been acquitted of forging relics, including the contentious James ossuary — the casket said to have held the remains of the brother of Jesus.

A judge acquitted Oded Golan of the most serious fraud charges in Jerusalem on Wednesday, saying the prosecution had failed to prove without a reasonable doubt that the artifacts in question were forged or that Golan (or an accomplice) was behind it.

A comment on the story that is linked in the text below.

Dateline somewhere near London Bridge… Remains of Little Pig’s Brick House have been identified among the ruins of the London Blitz. Historians agree that the masonry was not entirely wolf-proof, but, given the shreds of fur still clinging to the chimney, the house was deemed authentic and solidifies the Brick House in the history of London Suburban life. Grimms experts have weighed in, pulling beards and insisting that there can no longer be any doubt about the existence of the Three Littles and the B.B. Wolf. Grimmsiologists maintain that this ends all dispute about the veracity of their collected wisdom.

Good Grief.

People. Really. (449)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

But, of course, they’ll have to be driven to the polling stations.

Saudi King Abdullah announced on the weekend that Saudi women will be allowed to take part – vote and run for office – in the 2015 local elections.

Of course, they are still not allowed to drive. That would be way too much to expect, wouldn’t it?

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, follows deeply conservative social traditions and adheres closely to a strict version of Islam. Despite Abdullah’s attempts to push through some social reforms, women still cannot drive and the sexes are segregated in public.

Saudi Arabia held its first-ever municipal elections in 2005.

The kingdom will hold its next municipal elections on Thursday, but women will not be able to vote or run in those contests.

So they’ll be able to vote, just not right away.

Sure, it is a tentative step into the 20th century (we’ll leave the 21st till another time, k?), but a step is a step, right?

I guess that the Saudis, like the rest of the Arab world, have been a wee bit offput buy all of the democracy stuff that has been breaking out in that part of the planet  lately and they figure that they had been at least have the appearance of addressing some of the popular concerns. This step is being taken out of fear of uprisings, certainly not due to some democratic awakening by the Saudi royal family, clerics and government.

But it’s a step, right? Progress?

Sure, but unfortunately, the men in Saudi Arabia won’t care too much for this “progressive” move and they, not the law, will determine whether or not their spouses, daughters, grand-daughters and nieces exercise their right to the franchise.

And does anyone really think that these men will allow this to happen? Some might, but most will not. No way.

But maybe, just maybe, twenty years from now will see an enlightenment among the estrogen-challenged citizens of Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region and women will legally, freely and without fear exercise their democratic rights.

And maybe even be allowed to drive themselves to the polling stations. (227)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

I had fully intended on writing something about the whole MERGER-MANIA that is currently sweeping the #cdnpoli Twitter stream. Much wringing of hands! Woot!

You betcha!

Didja realise that merger and murder are separated by but one letter?

Think about it…

“Redrum. Redrem.” “Redrum. Redrem.”

OK. Two letters.

Still!

But! That will have to wait… cuz, and I’m sorry if I got some hopes all drive high-like… I have found something much more entertaining than the organizational thrashings of those of us to the left of Vic “hang ‘em high” Toews.

Namely, the proposal that atheists be registered with the State of Florida. Yup, the The Christian National Registry of Atheists.” is his goal.

Brothers and Sisters , I have been seriously considering forming a ( Christian ) grassroots type of organization to be named “The Christian National Registry of Atheists” or something similar . I mean , think about it . There are already National Registrys (sic) for convicted sex offenders , ex-convicts , terrorist cells , hate groups like the KKK , skinheads , radical Islamists , etc..

This type of “National Registry” would merely be for information purposes . To inform the public of KNOWN ( i.e., self-admitted) atheists . For example , let’s say you live in Colorado Springs , Colorado , you could simply scroll down ( from the I-Net site /Blog ) I would have , to the State of Colorado , and then when you see “Colorado Springs” , you will see the names of all the self-admitted atheist(s) who live there ( e.g., if an atheist’s name happened to be “Phil Small” ) . The individual’s physical address , and other known personal information would NOT be disclosed ( though , perhaps a photo could be ).

Crazy. Oh Yes.

Scary? Even more so.

I’m traveling to D.C. next month. I have already had some trepidation about this given my posts ranting against the public funding of religious education, war, conquest by imaginary characters, etc. And this makes me even more nervous.

Border dude: “Excuse me, Mr. Marshall? Do you believe in God? Do you have faith that your soul will be saved by Jesus?

Me: “Um. Seriously, sir? Don’t you want to look in my carry-on for the BC bud I’m trying to sneak across the border?”

Border dude: “No sir. Need to confirm your spiritual mindset.”

I’m screwed. (421)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario