Welcome To The Dark Ages!

This is bad on so many levels!

UN Bans “Defamation of Religion”

Tuesday, 25 November 2008, 11:03 am
Press Release: UN Watch

UN Bans “Defamation of Religion” in Islamic Bid to Curb Free Speech

But advocacy campaign reduces support from 108 to 85 votes

Geneva, November 24, 2008 – By a vote of 85 to 50, with 42 abstaining, the UN General Assembly today adopted a draft resolution calling on all countries to alter their legal and constitutional systems to prevent “defamation of religions,” asserting that “Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism.”

The decision, sponsored by Islamic states with the support of Venezuela and Belarus, drew immediate protests from human rights activists and legal experts.

“This is just the latest shot in an intensifying campaign of UN resolutions that dangerously seek to import Islamic anti-blasphemy prohibitions into the discourse of international human rights law,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent human rights monitoring group in Geneva.

“Human rights were designed to protect individuals — to guarantee every person free speech and free exercise of religion — but most certainly not to shield any set of beliefs, religion included.”

“These resolutions legitimize the criminalization of free speech in countries like Sudan, Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia,” said Neuer. “Muslim moderates, bloggers, women seeking basic freedoms — all of these will be the first to suffer from the worsening climate of state repression in the name of state-supported Islamic orthodoxy.”

[Read The Rest Of The Article Here]

I am, quite literally, gobsmacked … I thought we lived in a world that enshrines the principles of free speech but it would seem, that if this becomes law, that we do not. There are now Sharia, Jewish & other law courts in the UK, creationism and other faith-based initiatives are sneaking their way into UK schools via the wide open back door of the academy programme, and somehow it remains respectable to believe in invisible, undetectable entities.

There was once a time when people were not able to speak out about the excesses of religion, afraid because they feared the consequences and that time was known as the Dark Ages and I am very scared that we may be on our way back there.

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

Oh Yes! Ken Ham Get’s A Whuppin’!

From the excellent Pharyngula blog:

You said that unicorns are real. You claim that the Beowulf story is evidence of human cohabitation with dinosaurs. You say that sometimes religious genocide is OK. You think that the government is training people to talk to aliens. You believe that evolution is a random process, a process of blind chance, which is just factually wrong. You target children because they can’t defend themselves and trust you (talk about a cowardly act). You believe if a 2-year old understands it, it must be cutting edge science. You believe that observation and measurement cannot trump “common sense.” You believe you do the type of science that you need faith to understand instead of, you know, understanding to understand. You believe…whatever the fuck this is. You employ the nanny-nanny boo-boo defense. Your ilk do not even try to publish outside of their little circle, and you set up a bogus journal to pretend that you were scholars, THEREBY AVOIDING THE DEBATE YOU CLAIM TO CRAVE. You stare at evolution, describe evolution, and then say, “It’s not evolution.”

And yet you wonder why someone with an education and responsibilities and a reputation would not talk to you? Despite this record of shame (I could have gone on and on just looking at my website alone), you have the balls to claim that you won something by [being] so catastrophically ignorant as to be not worth speaking to?

KEN, WE ARE TIRED OF TRYING TO TALK TO YOU. WE HAVE MOVED ON TO RIDICULE. THIS IS WHAT YOU DESERVE, YOU PIG-IGNORANT SLAVE.

And it’s about damned time someone stuck a rocket up that [expletive deleted] idiots backside (not that I’m stupid enough to believe it will make a difference).

Read The Original Piece Here: Ken Ham: “I’m not a moron! No, really!”

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

So Islam Is “The Tolerant Religion” Eh?

‘Cheating’ Woman Stoned To Death

Tuesday October 28, 2008

A woman accused of adultery has been stoned to death by Islamists in Somalia.

The 23-year-old woman was buried up to her neck in front of hundreds of people in a square in Kismayu and stones were hurled at her head.

She was dragged out of the hole three times to see if she was dead.

When a relative and others surged forward to rescue her, guards opened fire and killed a child.

It is thought to be the first such public killing by the militants for about two years.

Witness Abdullahi Aden said: “A woman in green veil and black mask was brought in a car as we waited to watch the merciless act of stoning.

[Read The Rest Of The Article Here]

Oh I’m sure many Muslims who read this will, just like their Christian counterparts in similar situations, try to jump through every whacky reasoning hoop there is and I know that not all religious people are like this so let me make this clear … if you’re a relatively moderate Muslim my only complaint is that some of you won’t stand up and denounce this shit! What I will say is this (and listen up Christians and theists of all stripes), you don’t find these kind of crimes done in the name of atheism and yeah, if you think I’m hinting that the moral stance of the rational atheist is superior to that of most theists, you’d better start giving that some thought because right now, with all the violence carried in religion’s name, it’s getting very hard to make a case otherwise.

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

Carlin Has The Last Word!

“In the Bullshit Department, a businessman can’t hold a candle to a clergyman. ‘Cause I gotta tell you the truth, folks. When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims: religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told.

Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man — living in the sky — who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time!

But He loves you.

He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!”

George Carlin Politically Incorrect, May 29, 1997

Does anything else need to be said? Yes … goodbye George, you’ll be missed!

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

CFI: A Time For Reason

Center For Inquiry have just released this video:

In my opinion this is one of the simplest, most moving and most inspiring videos I have seen for a very, very long time!

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

Sam Harris: A Defence Of The Elite!

Yes, I‘m an atheist; Yes, Sam Harris is regarded as an atheist (or at least secular) writer and yes, Sarah Palin (US Presidential Candidate John McCain’s running mate and VP if elected) is of a very strong religious background so I could be seen to be pursuing an agenda with this post. I wont defend that except to say that bias is not necessarily wrong if that bias can be logically justified (”When two points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not always lie exactly halfway between, it is possible for one point of view to be wrong”, Richard Dawkins).

People in the UK often seem to take the view that the US is an interesting distraction but has hardly any real impact “across the pond” but is that true? 10 years a go I predicted the rise of creationism in our politics and schools and got laughed at … I was right as creationism is now deeply entrenched in a small segment of our society, the Anglican Church (long seen in England as the cuddly, friendly religion with more in common with afternoon tea & biscuits) is moving increasingly towards a more fundamentalist mindset and at least 3 northern England state educational academies are run to the tune of local hero & motor magnate Reg Vardy, a committed creationist. That more schools are teaching the same (religion in the science classroom) is undeniable but they are, for the most part, private … I’m sure someone will correct me on that if I’m wrong. Whether the most appropriate place to teach a religious viewpoint in school is the RE or the science classroom is still a subject of debate in the media, government circles and in various forums across the internet but what is happening in the US right now could be worse still.

Few can have failed to be aware of the race for the US presidency; John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate is running against Democratic candidate Barrack Obama and each has their running mate, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden respectively … all 4 candidates, unsurprisingly given that this is the US,  are religious to some degree or other but the one that concerns me is Palin. Palin is a member of the Wasilla Assembly of God church and if her stated view that US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are on a mission from god isn’t scary enough then consider that she apparently believes that Jesus will return in her lifetime and that the End of Days will happen in a similar time frame.

Read Harris’s article (linked below), although a secular writer he concentrates more on the political concerns than his religious/secular ones and makes an interesting case (one I agree with) in support of elitism and then read my final comments.

When Atheists Attack: A noted provocateur rips Sarah Palin (and defends elitism)

So you’ve read the article? I hope so!

Now Senator McCain (the Republican candidate) is 72 years old and I read that that, statistically, gives him about a 14% chance of dying in office (more I suppose if we’re talking incapacitation) and if he enters a second term that rises to 44% so there is a significant chance that Governor Palin will become the first female president of the US … and if that was my only concern then whoopsy doo! I’m no misogynist, I only hated Margaret Thatcher for her politics and her rape of a number of state owned resources (including the NHS where my father lay dying) to line the pockets of entrepreneurs & the wealthy … had it been anyone else (well possibly not anyone) I’d have been proud to have been a part of a nation with its first female Prime Minister. Also, I supported (as much as a non US citizen could) Hilary Clinton for a very simple, practical reason … I like Obama & Obama is black but America isn’t known for its forward thinking and many of it’s citizens appear to be poorly educated and ignorant. I’m no racist but I am not blind to prejudice and I’d be stupid not to concede that a large number of prejudiced people have a proportionate influence in an election scenario. I have debated for a long time on US & UK forums and one thing has become apparent to me, an awful lot of Americans seem to tend towards a more racist mindset and I genuinely do not believe that the US is ready to elect a black president, I could be wrong, I sincerely hope I am but that is why I was dismayed that Clinton lost and that it is quite likely (especially with his “Super-Mom” running mate) that McCain will win and I don’t think that’s a good thing.

I want Obama to win but like I say above, if he doesn’t and that’s all it was, I’d have no particular concerns … we’ve had republican governments before in the US and whilst I’d prefer Democratic ones c’est la vie, there’s another election in  4 years. But here’s the thing … in the event McCain does win and should Palin subsequently take the presidency while McCain is incapacitated or dead we will have the most militarily advanced nation on our planet headed by a scientifically (and, if Harris is right, politically) ignorant fundamentalist who genuinely believes the Earth is 6000 years old, who genuinely believes that troops are (or should be) sent to war in the name of her god & who genuinely believes that her Messiah will be coming back in a huge war to reclaim his own and take her and her fellows to paradise leaving the rest of us to be consumed for all eternity in a lake of fire below. For the first time in the world’s history a fundamentalist may have the means at her disposal to bring about armageddon, the End of Days and I think that is an idea that should strike fear to any rational thinker’s core.

I can’t predict the future and for all I know Palin might, if given the chance, turn out to be one of the best presidents the US has ever had but ask yourself this simple question … do you really want someone with beliefs like that at the helm of the world’s mightiest nation, to give someone with the kind of views Sarah Palin has espoused control of an immense arsenal of nuclear weapons?

I most emphatically do not and from my non-US POV it is seriously (and I mean SERIOUSLY) scary that the US could elect a party that might mean a religious fundamentalist in control of the world’s most powerful military nation!

If you’re reading this and you’re not an American be very, very scared, if you’re an American and you’re reading this be scared and vote democratic or abstain.

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

NY Times: Put A Little Science In Your Life

I saw a link to this article and felt it said what I wanted to say about why I continue to be an atheist much better than I could:

Put a Little Science in Your Life

BRIAN GREENE
June 1, 2008

A COUPLE of years ago I received a letter from an American soldier in Iraq. The letter began by saying that, as we’ve all become painfully aware, serving on the front lines is physically exhausting and emotionally debilitating. But the reason for his writing was to tell me that in that hostile and lonely environment, a book I’d written had become a kind of lifeline. As the book is about science — one that traces physicists’ search for nature’s deepest laws — the soldier’s letter might strike you as, well, odd.

But it’s not. Rather, it speaks to the powerful role science can play in giving life context and meaning. At the same time, the soldier’s letter emphasized something I’ve increasingly come to believe: our educational system fails to teach science in a way that allows students to integrate it into their lives.

Allow me a moment to explain.

When we consider the ubiquity of cellphones, iPods, personal computers and the Internet, it’s easy to see how science (and the technology to which it leads) is woven into the fabric of our day-to-day activities. When we benefit from CT scanners, M.R.I. devices, pacemakers and arterial stents, we can immediately appreciate how science affects the quality of our lives. When we assess the state of the world, and identify looming challenges like climate change, global pandemics, security threats and diminishing resources, we don’t hesitate in turning to science to gauge the problems and find solutions.

And when we look at the wealth of opportunities hovering on the horizon — stem cells, genomic sequencing, personalized medicine, longevity research, nanoscience, brain-machine interface, quantum computers, space technology — we realize how crucial it is to cultivate a general public that can engage with scientific issues; there’s simply no other way that as a society we will be prepared to make informed decisions on a range of issues that will shape the future.

These are the standard — and enormously important — reasons many would give in explaining why science matters.

But here’s the thing. The reason science really matters runs deeper still. Science is a way of life. Science is a perspective. Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner that’s precise, predictive and reliable — a transformation, for those lucky enough to experience it, that is empowering and emotional. To be able to think through and grasp explanations — for everything from why the sky is blue to how life formed on earth — not because they are declared dogma but rather because they reveal patterns confirmed by experiment and observation, is one of the most precious of human experiences.

[Read The Rest Of The Article Here]

Despite some people’s ignorance, wilful or otherwise, of such things science matters, science not only explains things, it affects social progress, it enables communication and so much more … without science I believe we would still be in dark ages under the dominion of tyrannical religious organisations, more slave than anything else.

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

Sharia Law In The UK?

A friend of mine asked that I post this anonymously:

I wish to make an apology. I don’t exactly know to whom, but there are a large number of people I’ve wronged and if you’re one of them, I’m sorry.

I have always had a fairly tolerant attitude towards pretty much everything, part of being a liberal at heart, so I have generally felt that religion needed to be tolerated just as long as it didn’t actually do anything inherently divisive. The example I always used was that of the Church of England. Anglicanism in the UK has always been the village-fête faith. The tombola faith. The bingo faith. The one that comes with bourbon creams and Typhoo tea. It’s the religion of the elderly people seen wandering the aisles at Tesco on Saturday afternoon in the vain hunt for a new kind of food made entirely from prunes and spam. It’s the religion for aunts and grandmothers. The one with doilies. It’s harmless.

Not so Catholicism. The Roman Catholic church is the one with the globe-spanning secret empire that tries to stop people from using condoms even in countries where most of the young adults are HIV positive. Catholicism is the religion of Goodfellas and the Godfather, it’s the religion of hanged bankers, Mussolini and the dark manoeuvrings of Opus Dei. Catholicism is sinister. Best-selling books describe planet-spanning conspiracy theories, which despite their laughable lack of research or evidence somehow feel right. It seems we’re supposed to distrust the man from the Vatican. As you walk the streets of Rome you’re surrounded by architecture and public art that showcases the power and wealth of an organization that includes a Propaganda Department in a lovely old building near the Spanish Steps.

Other faiths each have a natural feeling as well, a stereotypical way they appear to the outsider. Islam seems a faith of devotion beyond reason. Buddhism somehow ethereal and distant. Hinduism, colourful and vibrant. Judaism, sober and intellectual. All of these are undoubtedly stereotypes, bearing no relation to reality and we should try to step beyond them, hard though it is, because our minds are better than this, we owe it to ourselves to avoid cliché.

I recently had time to re-evaluate one of these stereotypes fully and it has helped me to step beyond my limitations. I have discovered that the Church of England is stunningly dangerous and I want to tell everyone about it so we won’t ever again fall into the trap of thinking of it as the tombola faith.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has declared that he would like to see Islamic Sharia law included in the legal system of the UK. In fact he said it was inevitable and we should just go with the flow. He then pointed out that he didn’t mean we should allow the excesses of punishment such as beheadings and amputations but just a few simple bits and pieces of Sharia in a luxury assortment of legal frameworks would be the way to go.

I don’t agree with him and I’ll tell you why.

In the UK we abide by something called the rule of law. Essentially this means that everybody, however rich or powerful, has exactly the same responsibilities and liabilities under the law. Just because you happen to be King it doesn’t mean you’re above the law. Remember the Magna Carta? It’s in there somewhere. It is an absolutely fundamental principle of a free society, as important as freedom of speech, but the Archbishop of Canterbury would discard it cheerfully; inevitably, to use his term.

OK, so what? Well this person is the Archbishop of Canterbury. If he was the Archbandicoot of Cauliflower it wouldn’t matter because the Archbibbldeboop of Clodhopper isn’t part of the functional institutions of this country. I never really opposed the position of a religious leader in a secular government because I thought that people of faith would like their particular hobby to be properly looked after, the way fans of trainspotting are provided for by the Department of Transport and fans of unemployment are provided for by the Department for Education and Skills. Now I see how wrong I was. This dangerous extremist must be stopped. If we allow people to have a court made up of any non-evidential institution to pass judgement upon them then I want to be judged by the prefects’ council of Hogwarts school, please.

I simply had not seen the institutional position of the Anglican faith for the danger that it really represents. It is allowing extremist and bizarre ritual cults into positions of great authority in an otherwise free nation. Ask yourself whether you’d like the head of the Freemasons to be a cabinet minister, the head of the Scientologists to be Prime Minister, or some lunatic fascist to be leader of the opposition. OK, I’ll give you that last one.

If I ever argued for permitting people into powerful positions simply because of their faith in your presence then I apologise unreservedly. I was clearly wrong. I will ask the prefects’ council what my punishment should be immediately. I suspect they’ll be lenient.

Probably let me off with a simple beheading for a first offence.

As an ex (and hopefully one day ex-communicated) Catholic I agree with the bits about that religion … as it happens I agree with the rest too.

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

The Rules

A slightly late bit of humour for Valentines day:

1. The FEMALE always makes the rules.

2. The RULES are subject to change at any time without prior notification.

3. No MALE can possibly know all the RULES.

4. If the FEMALE suspects the MALE knows all the RULES, she must immediately change some or all of them.

5. The FEMALE is never wrong.

6. If the FEMALE is wrong, it is due to a misunderstanding which was a direct result of something the MALE did or said wrong.

7. The MALE must apologize immediately for causing the misunderstandings.

8. The FEMALE may change her mind at any time.

9. The MALE must never change his mind without the express written consent of the FEMALE.

10. The FEMALE has every right to be angry or upset at any time.

These are, in my opinion, so true … there are extended versions out there but I think these 10 rules really sum it up!

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)

On The US WGA Writer’s Strike “Deal”

I was glad when the WGA strike was over, even more glad that I thought they had got some measure of what they wanted but if Harlan Ellison (I assume the same as the respected SF author and a significant force behind Babylon 5) is typical of the view the WGA memebers hold they were shafted:

HARLAN ELLISON ON THE WRITERS STRIKE SETTLEMENT

YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO RE-POST THIS ANYWHERE:

Creds: got here in 1962, written for just about everybody, won the Writers Guild Award four times for solo work, sat on the WGAw Board twice, worked on negotiating committees, and was out on the picket lines with my NICK COUNTER SLEEPS WITH THE FISHE$$$ sign. You may have heard my name. I am a Union guy, I am a Guild guy, I am loyal. I fuckin’ LOVE the Guild.

And I voted NO on accepting this deal.

My reasons are good, and they are plentiful; Patric Verrone will be saddened by what I am about to say; long-time friends will shake their heads; but this I say without equivocation…

THEY BEAT US LIKE A YELLOW DOG. IT IS A SHIT DEAL. We finally got a timorous generation that has never had to strike, to get their asses out there, and we had to put up with the usual cowardly spineless babbling horse’s asses who kept mumbling “lessgo bac’ta work” over and over, as if it would make them one iota a better writer. But after months on the line, and them finally bouncing that pus-sucking dipthong Nick Counter, we rushed headlong into a shabby, scabrous, underfed shovelfulla shit clutched to the affections of toss-in-the-towel summer soldiers trembling before the Awe of the Alliance.

My Guild did what it did in 1988. It trembled and sold us out. It gave away the EXACT co-terminus expiration date with SAG for some bullshit short-line substitute; it got us no more control of our words; it sneak-abandoned the animator and reality beanfield hands before anyone even forced it on them; it made nice so no one would think we were meanies; it let the Alliance play us like the village idiot. The WGAw folded like a Texaco Road Map from back in the day.

And I am ashamed of this Guild, as I was when Shavelson was the prexy, and we wasted our efforts and lost out on technology that we had to strike for THIS time. 17 days of streaming tv!!!????? Geezus, you bleating wimps, why not just turn over your old granny for gang-rape?

You deserve all the opprobrium you get. While this nutty festschrift of demented pleasure at being allowed to go back to work in the rice paddy is filling your cowardly hearts with joy and relief that the grips and the staff at the Ivy and street sweepers won’t be saying nasty shit behind your back, remember this:

You are their bitches. They outslugged you, outthought you, outmaneuvered you; and in the end you ripped off your pants, painted yer asses blue, and said yes sir, may I have another.

Please excuse my temerity. I’m just a sad old man who has fallen among Quislings, Turncoats, Hacks and Cowards.

I must go now to whoops. My gorge has become buoyant.

Respectfully, Yr. Pal, Harlan Ellison

I suspect my good friend Ben will have more to say about this!

Kyuuketsuki (Co-Founder: “Science, Just Science” Campaign)