See? SEE?

God wants Iran to have nuclear capabilities.

How do I know?

Because the Ayatollah says so:

""The Iranian people openly announce that they will defend their rights [to nuclear power]... God will reprimand them if they do not do so," state radio quoted Khamenei as saying.

Naturally, he makes it clear after saying this that, of course Iran isn't going for nuclear weapons.

Yeah, I'll believe that one.

After all, God also wants Israel "wiped off the map," and we all know what God expects of his children in carrying out that divine ordinance:

Would she herself become a suicide bomber? "If God wills it," she says in a low, serious voice. "If I had the means, I would have done it yesterday."

So forgive me if I see this as being only one step away from "God wants Iran to have nuclear weapons," and an even shorter step to "God wants Iran to use the weapons to destroy the Zionists and the Great Satan (i.e. the West)."

Just add it to the list of reasons why religion is dangerous and should be relegated to the historical scrap heap of failed human ideas.

A very reassuring price of news

Whaddya know? Apparently the guys who run Wikipedia decided to take a stand for free speech and expression by rejecting over 180,000 emails from Muslims to remove images of the prophet Muhammad.

Keep in mind, these aren't the iconoclastic images of the Danish cartoonists, but rather they are images of miniatures from the 14th century that feature the painted face of Muhammad. I should also mention that these were made by Muslims.

Apparently, these idiots are so dogmatic that they'll deny even their own cultural heritage! The only word I can think to describe such behaviour is "tragic."

[Via Charlayne over at AANR. Thanks again girlfriend!]

How about "NO?" Does "NO" work for you?

The UN's new secretary general, Ban Ki-moon is following his predecessor's lead in asking that religion should be respected.

This is in reference to the latest developments in the row over the Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. Last month, a concrete plot was discovered to murder one of the cartoonists, and five people, all Muslims, were arrested on terrorism charges. The cartoonist in question, Kurt Westergaard, who drew the cartoon of Muhammad with a lit bomb in his turban, is now homeless because the hotel where he had been placed under police protection has evicted him because he is too much of a security risk.

But this brings the issue of the cartoons back, and Secretary General Ki-moon is, like Kofi Annan before him, trying to assuage the Muslim world by insisting that religious beliefs must be respected.

Well, fuck that.

Excuse me, but if you believe that you have a divine warrant to commit murder, then I will not respect that. It's time we stop pussy-footing around. Religion in general, not just Islam, promotes violence and oppression with an authority that cannot be appealed to, much less questioned. It's dangerous, nay, DEADLY, and those beliefs that encourage or justify this kind of malicious behaviour should be denounced and condemned from all sides.

Free speech isn't free if you have to worry about being lynched just for voicing a criticism. If Muslims don't like having the mirror held up to their faces so they can see the ugliness and depravity that is allowed under the tenets of the Koran, well...that's just too fucking bad!

Christians, Jews, Hindus, and other theists should take note too: if there's something unseemly or offensive about your religious beliefs (and rest assured, there is), don't go crying about disrespect or intolerance when people call a spade a spade.

Religion is too rooted in the dark ages of our primitive past to provide us with a way forward, because no matter how "moderate" or "peaceful" a majority of believers in a particular faith may be, there will ALWAYS be a violent and despotic fringe that will violently promote a narrow and fundamentalist view of the faith. And when the faithful number into the billions, that translates into several hundred thousand, if not millions of those "fringe" kooks who think that murder and discrimination are a divine mandate. And actually, "kooks" is not the right word; these people are not insane, delusional maybe, but they are deadly serious when it comes to their religious beliefs. And that's what makes them so terrifyingly dangerous.

We cannot ignore this problem. It MUST be confronted with the same vehemence with which we confront apologists for Nazism or Stalinism. Put simply, how can we possibly respect something which is the PRIMARY impetus to violence for so many terrorists and murderers throughout the world, both today and in the past?

The answer is we shouldn't. We can't. And, at least for my part, we won't. If a belief promotes violence, it MUST be repudiated and condemned, not respected.



[Thanks to Charlayne Bozak over at AANR on Facebook for posting these two news stories.]

These people are redefinig "warped"

So there's this article about how a youth pastor in Texas has confessed to a murder he committed 14 years ago in California, in which he stabbed a 64 year old convenience store clerk with a kitchen knife.

And how is his congregation taking the horrifying news that their children were being tutored by a murderer? By praising him of course.

"The debt he's paying to our society is teaching our young people to do the right thing," said Cheryl Ellis, a member of the church's youth staff. "To lock him away someplace and say he owes it to society is robbing the next generation of a mentor."

Robin Thac said her 17-year-old son was active in the youth group that Inman led.

"I am thrilled my son has a role model to accept responsibility the way Calvin has," Thac said. "There are way too many men who don't accept responsibility."

Seriously...how messed up is that? They'd prefer that he not be locked away for killing another human being? They want him to continue teaching their kids? They think he's a role model just because he confessed...TO MURDER??? I can understand pointing to him as an example of taking responsibility for your actions, but if I were a parent, I wouldn't want my kids anywhere NEAR this guy.

Maybe they don't think too much of the man he killed. After all, his name sounds possibly Islamic, so they probably don't think too much about it since he's a non-Christian.

But perhaps that's a bit unfair, they're most likely nice people, it's just that this is completely and totally FUBAR. But then, that's religion.

Voter idiocy leads to idiots in public office

I would think that's a pretty simple-to-understand truism, but apparently some people still haven't been paying attention.

Watch this quick video. It's of three women from Lynchburg, Tennessee commenting on election year politics...



Aside from the obvious stupidity of voting for a candidate based solely on their stated religious beliefs, did you also notice how the old woman never thought to question something she heard at church about Barack Obama? As if it had been God himself spewing that old lie about Obama being a Muslim--she never questioned it!

Ugh, then there's the old "we are a Christian nation" bullshit. I'm starting to get really sick of hearing it. But then, that's what usually happens in home-schooling.

But the irony of ironies is that young girl. Did you catch what she said about Bush? Watch it again.

Apparently, she realizes that voting for someone just because they say they'll "foilow the word" is bad because Bush is the penultimate example of that error...but her family has no problem giving Mike Huckabee the same free religious pass that gave us EIGHT FUCKING YEARS OF SHIT under Dubya.

Thanks ladies. You are living examples of why stupidity should be physically painful. Like shock collars or something.

An Open Letter to Rabbi Schmuley Boteach

Before I get to the letter, the video of the debate between Christopher Hitchens and Rabbi Schmuley Boteach is below the fold, if you wish to watch it. I would advise you to watch it on an empty stomach, as fits of nausea and revulsion will most likely accompany the portions in which the good rabbi speaks his turn. My letter also begins below the fold, with the video at the end. Comments and constructive criticisms are welcome.

Ben Stein: was he born this ignorant, or does he have to put an effort into it?

OK, so I'm wandering around some Christian discussion groups, when I came across a copypasta job of an internet chain letter written by Ben Stein. Immediately my lip began to curl and a low guttural sound started emanating from my throat. The sheer idiocy! Not only of Stein but of the person who posted this with the topic title "Read This!" like it was somehow profound or insightful! I was so angry, I just HAD to respond, and I'll let you guys share in my righteous indignation. The letter is presented from start to finish, with my comments interspersed. Enjoy!

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away .

OK. No problem, right? Right.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

No one is trying to create an "atheist America" in any sense, whatever that would look like. Rather, the problem is that America *is secular* and religious zealots are trying to change that. Being secular does not necessarily equate with atheism. Under the secular Constitution, the government is forbidden from sanctioning any particular religion *so that* it may ensure that no religion is prevented from being practiced freely by those who choose to do so.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

I actually join Ben in lamenting the apparent obsession with vapid celebrities in the US, but who is preventing him from being allowed to "worship God as we understand him?" What kind of bullshit is that?

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

Apparently no one ever told Anne Graham that there were devastating hurricanes long before we supposedly "told God to get out." Indeed, we told God to get out the minute our Constitution was ratified.

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Shall I count the number of false correlations in this paragraph? Or shall I just laugh at Ben's implication that the Bible is the only thing that makes people act kindly toward others and prevents them from killing or stealing? Hmmm...I think I'll just laugh, if you don't mind! XD

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Yeah, it's all Dr. Spock's fault. It couldn't possibly be indifferent parenting or poverty or any other number of cultural/socio-economic ills, could it?

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Am I supposed to be impressed by this common trope?

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

There is no hell, and the world isn't actually all that bad if you really think about it. This is not to say that there aren't problems, but Stein here seems to think that everything was all hunky-dory before we "told god to get out." There will *always* be problems, and two hands working accomplishes more than a million clasped in prayer! So quit your idle bitching Ben!

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

This is truly idiotic. I read newspapers with the same critical eye that I do with the Bible, as do most people.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Maybe most people are courteous and know that, while I appreciate a good joke, I'd rather not be sent something I did not solicit, and that includes prayer chain mails.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

This is a truly insidious statement. The reason that those pictures and articles can pass over the internet (and I would mention, briefly, that religious articles and pictures pass over this same internet unhindered as well) is because we have freedom of speech in this country. However, the reason we CANNOT allow Christianity or Judaism or any other religion in schools and the public square is because of a separate freedom: the freedom of religion If you promote one image of God in schools and the public square, you do so at the expense of all the others, essentially negating freedom of religion. Apparently, what Ben is saying here is that he does not like freedom of speech or freedom of religion, and that makes him a maliciously ignorant wretch.

Are you laughing?

Normally, I would be. But quite frankly, I'm too disgusted to laugh.

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

I can only hope they would be so courteous, but what I would really wish is that they would be smart enough to delete it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

It's a stupid statement, but I'll comment anyway: we should, to an extent, be worried about what others think of us. It is part of the metric by which we measure our own intelligence and character.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards .
Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Amen

There was nothing honest or respectful about this ridiculous rant, and I hope people who are thinking of forwarding this will stop to consider just how stupid they would make themselves to do so.