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Brainwashing, Jesus … and Fascistic Creep

What better way to brainwash people than to stress them, exhaust them, force them to go without food and sleep? And THEN jump in with your message, the thing you want to force into their unresisting minds, when they’re at their most vulnerable?

I’m describing the brainwashing tactics of Stalin, or Mao Tse Tung, right?

No. I’m talking about U.S. Military chaplains. I’m talking about the brainwashing of U.S. soldiers to become Christians, and Christian evangelists. All of it paid for, by their own proud admission, by our government. Continue reading “Brainwashing, Jesus … and Fascistic Creep”

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World Ending! Again! This Time for Real! So Get Right With Jesus, Slacker!

I’ve got this thing I think about sometimes, an observation about religion and how it really is out in the real world.  How it works in people’s heads. Not the way Christians think it is, but the way it really is.

I think I’ve mentioned it before — I call it “the 180-degrees thing.” (As in ‘180-degrees-opposite.’ Someday I’m going to come up with a cool name for it instead of this kludge.)

The basic idea is that, whatever Christians say, astonishingly often, there’s something REAL just about exactly opposite. Probably the reason I don’t have a good name for it is that I always find it hard to describe, or point out. You kind of have to look for it, keep it in mind as you watch the workings of Christianity and churches. Continue reading “World Ending! Again! This Time for Real! So Get Right With Jesus, Slacker!”

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Duh, Idiot Me — or: Why The Catholic Church Soldiers On

Reading this article on Papal infallibility — Postponing Self-Destruction of the Catholic Church — I just now learned the real reason why the Catholic Church doesn’t update its outworn policies on things like contraceptives, marriage, or human morality.

Because, really, who hasn’t thought about how much good this huge worldwide organization could do if it reversed its stand on condoms and contraceptives? Rather than waiting for tardy governments to act, it could simply began distributing condoms and teaching how to best prevent the spread of HIV. It could give a kick in the head to overpopulation by telling Third World men and women that it’s okay to use contraceptives, okay NOT to have more and more and more children they can’t feed. Continue reading “Duh, Idiot Me — or: Why The Catholic Church Soldiers On”

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Reason Not to Rest

I’m reading the book American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, by Nancy K. Bristow.

It’s pretty good by the way, well worth a read. It’s amazing reading about how many people were dying, and how the public reception, including media coverage, was so casual for so long. And really, how the thing mostly vanished from the public mind after it was all over, despite its impact.

Wikipedia says “Between 50 and 130 million died, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history.” Continue reading “Reason Not to Rest”

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Kuwait Votes to Murder Blasphemers

This would qualify as a Monty Python skit if it wasn’t real. (Warning: Fairly shocking pic below the fold.)

Kuwait’s parliament approved a law that calls for the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, his wives and relatives, in a sign of the growing sway of Islamists who triumphed in elections this year.

Amnesty International describes the thing as “a massive step backwards” for Kuwait.  Jeez, you think?

Under the law, any Muslim who, through any form of expression, insults God, his prophets, messengers, Prophet Mohammad’s wives or the Qur’an will be subject to the death penalty unless the defendant repents. If he does, then the judge is to instead impose a sentence of at least 5 years in prison and a fine equivalent to $36,000 (US).  Continue reading “Kuwait Votes to Murder Blasphemers”

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God Without Spellcheck

I love/hate this kind of thing. Either way, it’s often worth a laugh.

I’m sure you have your own unfavorite misspelled signs, posters, etc., from the goddy demographic. Send me some links! Let’s start a collection.

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Stilling the Jerk of My Liberal Knees

Look at this picture (click to embiggen) of a woman arrested in France for refusing to remove her veil. A tiny, defenseless woman, a plucky warrior for the rights of a minority to live and breathe free, is manhandled by racist government thugs.

It came up on my Facebook wall recently, from a group called the Muslim Defense League (MDL) United We Stand, Divided We Fall (“Fighting against racism, fascism and oppression”).

The photo caption was “A Muslima is arrested in France for refusing to remove the veil! If you are against this act then Share it everywhere!” Continue reading “Stilling the Jerk of My Liberal Knees”

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The Great Debate

I went to the “great debate” – Does God Exist? – last night at Binghamton University in Upstate New York. The event was double-hosted by the Campus Bible Fellowship and the Secular Student Alliance.

Ex-Mormon Erin M. and I caught a ride with Michael McElroy, all members of the local atheist Meet-Up group, Capital Region Atheists and Agnostics. Nice trip, the both of you. I enjoyed the wide-ranging conversation immensely. Sorry I fell asleep on the late-night return trip; hey, I’m old. —Oh, yeah, also saw Rick Martin, one of the CRA&A founding members.

McElroy has an excellent recap of the actual substance of the debate on his own blog.

I’ll post the YouTube videos when I see them up. Don’t know when that will be. But meanwhile …

I thought Matt Dillahunty (host of The Atheist Experience) did a fantastic job against Christian apologist Jay Lucas.

Matt was thoughtful, open, generous, honest and funny. Continue reading “The Great Debate”

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Dear Friends, Bloody on the Highway

As I’ve said here in the past, I still get emails from old friends in Texas. Some of those people have gotten so goddy over the years that we seem to have nothing at all in common anymore.

Every time I get one of these things, it’s like waking up in a cold cabin with the fire gone out. I remember how warm it used to be, and some part of me hopes there’s still an ember in the coals. Thinks that if I go back to Texas someday and feed it new fuel, the flame of our friendship will burn again. Continue reading “Dear Friends, Bloody on the Highway”

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Happy Easter (from the Church of the Dead Bunny)!

 

The above ad, in the spirit of the holiday, is from an actual church. It’s one of the rotating banner images from Conway Baptist Church, of Conway, South Carolina.

Sometimes you just have to gasp at the galaxy-class lack of awareness (or, just possibly, someone’s DEEPLY camouflaged sense of humor). Go take a look now, before church authorities become temporarily sane and realize how incredibly tasteless, in this context, the picture really is.

Also, as I suggest in the title to this blog post: Henceforth, I think Conway Baptist Church should be known as The Dead Bunny Church. As in “My grandmother goes to Conway Baptist; you know, The Dead Bunny Church.”