Is Islam Evil & Why Does Muhammad Look Mongolian?

Muhammad depicted leading Abraham, Moses, Jesus & others before they stop, drop and roll and clock in at Genghis’ Mongolian Grill

As expected after the Boston bombings, Islam is back in the news. The story is more or less the same as all the others. Not particularly well-adjusted people find religion and KA-BOOM. Is Islam responsible? There are no two ways about it, it’s certainly part of the equation. The Koran is an allegedly holy book that in over 100 passages calls for Muslims to engage in violence against non-believers for the sake of Islamic rule. People like to say, because of political correctness, that there’s great debate on whether the Koran calls for violence or not. That’s entirely disingenuous. The only real debate is whether the call for violence is defensive or offensive. As monotheistic religions have proven, worldwide, the line between defensive and offensive is a moveable feast. Many religious people interpret the lack of submission to their ideology as an attack. That’s not unique to Islam, it’s been the case for Christianity as well. Catholics and Evangelicals in particular. In fact when fascism was de-riguer in certain parts of Europe, Catholicism wasn’t far behind pushing its nefarious agenda to secure its power. However, it’s much more widespread (today) in the socio-cultural world of Islam. Not too long ago Bassem Youssef, Egypt’s outstanding satirist, was arrested and questioned for allegedly insulting Islam. The problem is, of course, religion- but more so, it’s the lack of separation of religion and government.

All that being said, the Tsarnaev brothers seem to fit a profile that comfortably overlaps with the profiles of so many others involved in similar incidents. A perceived (or real) sense of exclusion leads them to religion which then leads them to find justifications for violence. When people feel they’ve got nothing more to lose and on the other side is paradise- why not go ka-boom?

Now if you want a more thoughtful perspective, Prof. Coyne’s is a good choice.

The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science by Will Storr – review | Books | The Guardian

“With The Heretics he has returned to similar ground and, as if taking on Russell’s mantle, sets out to question individuals who persist in beliefs about the world that are, in his view, demonstrably false. “I like to write about these people,” Storr confesses, “it is like being a tourist in another universe.” At first glance the chapters of this book seem like a straightforward series of magazine pieces, with Storr in the role of objective journalist driven to uncover the truth, then persuade others of his arguments. We expect him to poke fun at some of the wackier believers – the UFO-spotters, yoga fundamentalists and past life regression fanatics have some rollicking arguments with the belligerents among them, and emerge crowned in the conclusion, a champion for science. But as you read on, something darker, more complex, and potentially more interesting begins to unfold. The other universes he tours are brought rather closer to home: the heretics “are magic makers”, he tells us, and he feels “kinship” with them. This is not what we expect of the sceptical journalist. He confounds other expectations by being naturally shy, and by refusing to champion anything.”

The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science by Will Storr – review | Books | The Guardian.

Funny Irish People & The Pope: Ex-Bendict

Our actor friend, John McAndrew, just sent us this image:

Diderot, an American Exemplar? Bien Sûr – NYTimes.com

By ANDREW S. CURRAN

Published: January 24, 2013

…”Like many Enlightenment writers, Diderot preached the right of the individual to determine the course of his or her life. But the type of liberty that underpins Diderot’s body of work differs markedly from today’s hackneyed understanding of freedom. His message was of intellectual emancipation from received authorities — be they religious, political or societal — and always in the interest of the common good. More so than the deists Voltaire and Rousseau, Diderot embodied the most progressive wing of Enlightenment thought, a position that stemmed from his belief that skepticism in all matters was “the first step toward truth.” He was, in fact, the precise type of secular Enlightenment thinker that some members of the Texas State Board of Education have attempted to write out of their high school curriculum.”

Full text:

Diderot, an American Exemplar? Bien Sûr – NYTimes.com.

Is Washington Actually More Religious Than Other States? A message to biblical literalists

 

Judge plans to deny bid for park Nativity displays – Yahoo! News

Judge plans to deny bid for park Nativity displays – Yahoo! News.

US: Hey, you know that famous guy who cheated on his wife with two other women? « Religious Atrocities

“…a pro-Christian, anti-atheist book heartily endorsed by none other than Gen. David Petraeus”

US: Hey, you know that famous guy who cheated on his wife with two other women? « Religious Atrocities.

Mitt Romney & His 1st Class Tickets to Planet Kolob

I’m not one to pick on religion… HA- just kidding! Interesting video on Mormonism. I have to admit I find it funny Christians seem so ready to single out Mormons when they all share equally absurd beliefs. Planet Kolob is only as absurd as magic crackers and the whole transubstantiation rubbish. Lighting a candle in a church or sacrificing a chicken in a Candomblé ritual are in essence the same flawed thinking: The idea that one can change the course of events with some sort of magical intervention. Mormons baptising dead people is no more offensive and condescending as a Christian saying they’ll pray for you. Today Andrew Sullivan is asking us to have a look at Romney’s religion. I’ll save my critique of Sullivan for another time except to say he calls himself a ‘secularist Christian’- which is an oxymoron.

This Must Be Heaven : Sam Harris

Sam (my hero) slams an idiot…. Hurrah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Once upon a time, a neurosurgeon named Eben Alexander contracted a bad case of bacterial meningitis and fell into a coma. While immobile in his hospital bed, he experienced visions of such intense beauty that they changed everything—not just for him, but for all of us, and for science as a whole. According to Newsweek, Alexander’s experience proves that consciousness is independent of the brain, that death is an illusion, and that an eternity of perfect splendor awaits us beyond the grave—complete with the usual angels, clouds, and departed relatives, but also butterflies and beautiful girls in peasant dress. Our current understanding of the mind “now lies broken at our feet”—for, as the doctor writes, “What happened to me destroyed it, and I intend to spend the rest of my life investigating the true nature of consciousness and making the fact that we are more, much more, than our physical brains as clear as I can, both to my fellow scientists and to people at large.”

Read the full article chez Sam:

This Must Be Heaven : Sam Harris.

And the medal goes to… Who? Did you just say the Virgin?

In June, Fátima Báñez, Spain’s Labour Minister, went to Huelva. She went to ask the Virgin of the Rocío to create employment. I know, you think I’m being facetious, which is why I included the link to an article describing the event. It actually happened.

Today while protests were going on outside parliament in Madrid, our right wing politicians were approving honours they themselves proposed. This year’s Great Cross of Merit goes to… La Virgen del Pilar, Our Lady of the Pillar. Yes, a saint was awarded a medal of honour. I wonder if Pope Benedict gets to hold it for safekeeping as both a Pope and a Virgin himself- or do they just pin it to a statue? I know this is hard to believe, so here’s the document (or you can see the original article at EuropaPress here):

NY Exhibition: Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life

Greame Williams, Right Wing. South Africa, Pretoria, 1990. Courtesy the artist. © Greame Williams.

SEPTEMBER 14–JANUARY 6, 2013

MUSEUM | 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 | Phone 212.857.0000

“Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life is a photographic exhibition examining the legacy of the apartheid system and how it penetrated even the most mundane aspects of social existence in South Africa, from housing, public amenities, and transportation to education, tourism, religion, and businesses. Complex, vivid, evocative, and dramatic, it includes nearly 500 photographs, films, books, magazines, newspapers, and assorted archival documents and covers more than 60 years of powerful photographic and visual production that forms part of the historical record of South Africa. Several photographic strategies, from documentary to reportage, social documentary to the photo essay, were each adopted to examine the effects and after-effects of apartheid’s political, social, economic, and cultural legacy. Curated by Okwui Enwezor with Rory Bester, the exhibition proposes a complex understanding of photography and the aesthetic power of the documentary form and honors the exceptional achievement of South African photographers.”

I’m An Equal Opportunity Haranguer. Religious idiots come from all religions. Meet Daniel Chejfec.

Mr. Idiot du jour, Daniel Chejfec, of the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County just sent me an angry message. So I’m celebrating I can offend people of all religions by drinking another glass of wine and lighting another cigarette! Hurrah!!!

“Daniel Chejfec

September 13, 2012 at 9:47 pm  (Edit)

And among the proofs of imbecility is your blind acceptance that this was an Israeli Jew apparently making the movie. Read the news, dud – it was an Egyptian Copt protesting the persecution of his people in Egypt…”

I’m not sure what Mr. Chejfec is responding to, since I neither accepted (nor did I not accept), nor did I ever make any mention of the alleged religion of the man formerly known as Sam Bacile- now known as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. In fact, as soon as facts were more clear about the man in question I posted a corrigendum on the name- and it was only at that point that I included more details on his identity and alleged religion.”

So I repeat what I said directly to Mr. Chejfeck:

pinkagendist

September 13, 2012 at 9:49 pm  (Edit)

“Have you read my correction of the name, idiot? It was posted today… and I suggest you re-read the article, at no point did I say he was an Israeli Jew, I simply said his name was Sam Bacile and provided a link to an article in The Guardian- so I don’t know what you’re complaining about, you paranoid jack ass.”

So let me make this clear, Mr. Chejfec: Many Christians are religious imbeciles. Many Muslims are religious imbeciles; And you prove Many Jews are also religious imbeciles- so disconnected from reality you can’t differentiate from what you read and what you don’t read, such is your paranoia. Do seek the assistance of a mental health professional. In some instances medication can be helpful in suppressing paranoid delusions.

P.S. My ancestors include Catholics AND Jews.

CORRIGENDUM: Sam Bacile is not Sam Bacile he’s Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. The Ambassador’s Death

I wasn’t surprised to learn today of the shady history of the maker of the movie that launched a chain of events that resulted in the death of an ambassador (and others.)

Apparently initial reports attributing the film to a Jewish man named Sam Bacile were wrong. The real culprit is Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. A Coptic Christian who has had many brushes with the law.

“Nakoula, who talked guardedly about his role, pleaded no contest in 2010 to federal bank fraud charges in California and was ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered not to use computers or the Internet for five years without approval from his probation officer.”

As is usually the case in these matters, we have a con-man whipping up sentiment against a particular group to make money. He’s a Pat Robertson, a crazy Imam who chants Death to America- a fraudster who makes a living out of gullible people.

Sam Bacile & Muslim Extremists. When Imbeciles Collide Innocent People Get Hurt. Egzorcysta

I’ve just wasted 13:51 minutes of my life watching the video that started the debacle. Chris Stevens, an ambassador who assisted Libya during the revolution and transition process is dead along with three other embassy employees. Religious stupidity colours all corners of the tragedy. An attention-seeking idiot named Sam Bacile (inaptly described as a writer and director) makes a rubbish movie and has it translated into Arabic- then more idiots publicize the film, fanatics attack and now innocent people are dead. All in the name of ‘my myths are better than your myths‘.

Meanwhile we’ve got our own religious imbecility going on right here in Europe. This week saw the launch of Egzorcysta in Poland. A 64 page glossy magazine with a cover that includes headlines like ‘Satan is a Reality’ and ‘Aimed at People Who Have Issues with Evil’- I find that second one quite revealing. So now for just 2.34 euros per month you too can be contaminated by ignorance and abuse other human beings (usually children) when they do not conform to your vision of the world. Apparently there’s an exorcism boom in Poland. We shouldn’t worry because “…evil spirits are chased out using a guide of ritual prayers approved by Polish-born pope John Paul II in 1999.“- and the Catholic church never, Ever, EVER gets it wrong when protecting children is at stake!

Muslim cleric arrested for framing girl in Pakistan blasphemy case – Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

Some reports say the girl in question is 11 years old. others say four- and that she has Down Syndrome.

Muslim cleric arrested for framing girl in Pakistan blasphemy case – Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper.

Prominent Priest Defended Child Sex Abusers, Later Apologizes

Prominent Priest Defended Child Sex Abusers, Later Apologizes - 

Religion As Psycho-Social Narcissism. Christianity as Mental Illness.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: DSM-IV-TR 301.81

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behaviour), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

• Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
• Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
• Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
• Requires excessive admiration
• Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
• Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
• Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
• Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
• Shows arrogant, haughty behaviour or attitudes.

It’s impossible to go through that list of symptoms without two things coming to mind. Firstly, that the central figure of Christianity fits all of the criteria and secondly that because of that Christianity itself was modelled on a narcissistic mindset. This isn’t, of course, limited to Christianity. Monotheistic religions as a whole are founded on ideas of self-importance, exclusivity and entitlement- always at the expense and to the detriment of non-members of the group. This is dangerous because it results in collective narcissism/ethnocentrism. It also makes monotheistic religions the perfect environment for real narcissists  (the leaders of the religion) and compensatory narcissists. For the real narcissists the group protects and amplifies their sense of superiority. For compensatory narcissists belonging to the group allows them to mask their feelings of inferiority and compensate for them with faith.

This narcissistic ideation clearly explains the distorted perception of fundamentalist Christians. In their anti-gay arguments they state in no uncertain terms that they feel threatened by the very existence of gays and/or gay marriage. We hear slogans like “They’re threatening traditional marriage” or “They want to impose themselves on society.” When in fact, it’s monotheistic religions who want to impose their ideology on all of society. Legalizations are never totalitarian, they leave the door open for each person to choose for themselves. Bans and illegalizations (regularly proposed by Christians) are by their very nature totalitarian and force all of society to subject themselves to absolutes.

When the narcissist feels ______ about X, he knows he must be right because otherwise he wouldn’t have that feeling. It’s circular and self-justifying. This means that everybody else must also feel _____ about X, otherwise they will be violating his world view and, thus, offending his ego. When this is extrapolated to a group it has dangerous consequences since narcissist ideation suppresses the line that divides inner-reality and outer reality. They require that their feelings and perceptions be regarded as objective “truth”, while dismissing the perceptions (or evidence) of others out of hand. This is how we end up with people rejecting evolution and other established science. It allows (or causes) them to relate to the world on unilateral terms where no evidence can ever be sufficient to change their perspective. Yesterday I was watching Sam Harris debate William Craig at Notre Dame University. There’s an interesting question at the end, unfortunately the student used a facetious tone which allowed Craig to simply dismiss it. He started with “I had a revelation from god last night, and god told me that he was okay with gay marriage…”- Although Craig didn’t answer (and even feigned indignation) we know exactly what his answer would be because of his narcissistic thought process. He would only allow for “revelations” that confirmed his static world view. The narcissist is comfortable speaking in the name of god but anyone who does the same is automatically dismissed and rejected if  it contradicts the narcissist individual’s or group’s perception.

Epiphenom: Christians find it harder than atheists to recognize their own faces

The title of the article says it all. I’d just add that it’s not just their own faces they have trouble recognizing.

Epiphenom: Christians find it harder than atheists to recognize their own faces.

Religion as a Psycho-Social Defence Mechanism. Why Evangelicals Buy Into Hate.

Background:

This morning I was reading Gregory Paul’s essay titled The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions. Sue Blackmore summarized his findings in The Guardian in 2009. Here’s a summary of her summary:

Paul measures “popular religiosity” and compares it against the “successful societies scale” (SSS measures include homicides, the proportion of people incarcerated, infant mortality, STDs, teenage pregnancy, abortions, corruption, income inequality etc). On almost every measure the US comes out worse than any other 1st world developed nation, and it is also the most religious. The 1st world nations with the highest levels of belief in God, and the greatest religious observance are also the ones with all the signs of societal dysfunction.

“Because highly secular democracies are significantly and regularly outperforming the more theistic ones, the moral-creator socio-economic hypothesis is rejected in favour of the secular-democratic socio-economic hypothesis”; “religious prosociality and charity are less effective at improving societal conditions than are secular government programmes”.

This makes for an interesting explanation of the success of the American Evangelical Christian movement. We often get bogged down in debating the intellectual or academic validity of religious propositions and in doing so we fail to examine the psychological factors which lead to people adopting and staying within a religion. Here’s a poverty map of America.

You’ll note the bible-belt coincides with the highest poverty rates. It also coincides with food stamp usage & highest number of hate groups per capita. It’s also the home of the Tea-Party, that loud group of people constantly complaining about moochers. Interestingly the NYT recently released a map that shows the bible belt is the home of America’s biggest moochers. This pattern isn’t unique to first world countries. Religiosity also co-relates to poverty and strife in the developing and third world.

Religion as a Defence Mechanism:

It can be argued that early Christianity was at its inception an ideology of social rebellion. As a grass-roots movement it attempted to re-frame social perception and allocate value to the lower & struggling classes.

“Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 

Matthew 19:24

(Side note: The aristocracy soon recognized this same ideology could be used to protect its own interests. When people believe that their suffering brings them closer to their god, that their poverty is a virtue, that there is pride in their strife- it also keeps them from rebelling.)

Freud states that the ego copes with anxiety by using defence mechanisms. Individuals unconsciously deny and/or distort reality to reduce stress. The occasional use of defence mechanisms is normal; However, the consistent use of defence mechanisms becomes a problem as some individuals use them to avoid reality altogether. American Evangelicals fall squarely into this category and their magical thinking patterns now permeate their perception of reality as we know it. In practice this takes the form of: You feel your life is rubbish? You can’t handle the anxiety? You cannot base hope of a better future in logic? Don’t despair! Religion can give you a thought pattern that allows you to fool yourself into thinking you’re not at the bottom of the pyramid after all.

American Evangelical leaders have gone to great lengths to sophisticate their belief-system and exploit these human defence mechanisms. Xenophobia is one if their most popular tools (remember Jerry Falwell defending Apartheid in South Africa?). If one cannot measure up intellectually, financially or even morally to society at large (as is the case of the bible belt)- a system that substitutes those measures and calculates worth by nothing other than religiosity and facile adherence to a set of religious basics is a defence mechanism jackpot. In this interesting equation reductionism is of paramount importance. Morality, according to the Oxford dictionary: concerned with the principles of right and wrong, is reduced to not being gay and not having an abortion. Keeping the focus on those two minority behaviours/actions as absolute evils allows the Evangelical majority the freedom to ignore questions of true morality that could have bearing on their own lives and behaviours- They don’t even have to ask themselves the question: What is true morality? They don’t stop at morality, their systemic defence mechanisms now touch every area of life which is why when a black man gets elected president, all hell breaks lose. It directly negates their system of hierarchy. He must have cheated, he must be from Kenya, he must, he must. Blacks, Latinos, Gays, Atheists- the systematic marginalization of these groups is of primordial importance to them, it’s the cornerstone of the Evangelical’s ego.

Religious Theory: Christianity’s Proposition. American Evangelicals.

An examination of the timeline:

• The “theory” is that an almighty god created man.

• He then ignored mankind for many thousands of years. Conservative estimates would put it at 98,000, other estimates would put that at 198,000 years.

• Meanwhile there were advanced cultures being formed around the globe. The Han dynasty in China made great advances in philosophy. The Parthians in Persia were also highly advanced. In the first century BC Greeks were advanced enough to come up with the Antikythera mechanism, an amazing and complex navigation machine which shows how Greeks already knew that the earth orbited the sun.

• The almighty and all knowing creator of everything didn’t care about any of these civilizations. His focus was on middle eastern Jews who represented 0.2% of the world population. He only communicates through and with them.

• He realizes that after 98,000 or 198,000 years things are not going to plan. So he impregnates a virgin. After impregnating the virgin with his “son“, this alleged son spends a lot of time spreading messages that are surprisingly similar to the rest of the mythology that’s popular in the region and beyond. Not only that, but the son’s life has an uncanny resemblance to other popular mythological figures of the time.

• Then a bible is put together through magical telepathy. Even though this god apparently made everything and therefore must know of the advances of mankind, he doesn’t share any of that information with the people he’s allegedly speaking to. His favourite people! He even lies to his people a little bit by saying the earth is immobile! He was just messing with them so they didn’t get too bored. But, not only does he not share any useful knowledge, he doesn’t even mention the other peoples on the planet. It’s suspiciously like he only knows about things that were happening within a 10 mile radius of the telepathic magical knowledge receivers.

• As if that’s not enough… humanity keeps going and god “decides” (right?) that every cult who followed his son did it wrong. He still doesn’t really care about the populations of Asia, Africa, the South Pacific or the Americas, but he’s about to launch a marketing campaign by force to make himself known in some of these places through Spaniards and the Portuguese. Kind of like Marlboro commercials except the man on the horse is holding a weapon. 1500 years have gone by and since it’s all gone terribly wrong, he sends Martin Luther to fix the situation. In the years that follow there’s a lot of infighting amongst the two cults. Wholesale death and destruction. There are even wars and massacres.

• Another few hundred years go by and this bungling god who just can’t get it right realizes things still aren’t going to plan. He looks all around the world and its population of hundreds of millions and thinks to himself “Evangelicals in America“, that’s the answer!!! “I am going to speak through under-educated Americans!!! They are the only ones who get me. They know what I want.”

…And that’s history as postulated by Evangelicals in America!!!

A Bridge That Does Not Collapse Is Not an Opinion. Religion & Skin Cancer. The God Lottery.

I miss Christopher Hitchens. I spent the last few hours re-watching him debate with a fool in 2009. He was incredibly patient. I couldn’t possibly get through a discussion like that without using words like imbecilic, under-educated and camel herders. I can see why Dawkins says it’s a waste of time to debate with apologists because it all boils down to them saying “but I believe“.

I find it interesting that we rarely hear the mention of mathematical probability in these debates. Most religious sects claim that non-adherence to their precise interpretations of their religious texts leads to hell. So on a purely mathematical level they would have to concede that even just within Christianity’s 38,000 denominations,  their probability of having chosen the “right one” is only one in thirty eight thousand. Interestingly those are the same odds for death by skin cancer in America. You have the same probability of choosing the right religion as you do of dying of skin cancer this year!

If we’re going to be thorough and fair, then we can’t just count Christianity. We should include Islam (which is divided into five denominations), Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, the various denominations within Judaism et. al. By the time we’ve factored all of them in, I imagine an individual’s mathematical probability of choosing the right religion and then properly adhering to its tenets is lower than their chances of winning the Euromillions lottery.

But if you don’t like math, let’s have a look at it from another perspective. The almighty Christian god, capable of creating the universe in six days, causing great floods and plagues and impregnating virgins in non-traditional ways had a really amazing idea 2000 years ago. An idea only a perfect being could come up with. He chose one of the world’s most ignorant zones, knocked up a married woman (putting her at great risk) and then killed his own son. Perfectly genius. He did this because he wanted American Evangelicals, 2000 years later, to persecute gays, hijack politics and the legal system!

He knew not to impregnate a Chinese woman in the Han Dynasty because that culture had founded a university in 124BC. They were less likely to take the idea of virgin births and resurrections seriously and as the Christian god is a bit lazy he decided performing minor miracles where people are more credulous was simply more practical. It’s easier to convince a camel herder and have him spread your message than say, people who had read Yang Xiong (53 BCE–18 CE).

To be continued…

Is Your Religion Sold on QVC? How to Start Your Own Monotheistic Cult! This is how Christianity works.

Ever thought of starting your own religion? Your own cult? It’s easier than you think! If you follow the four easy steps below you too can represent god.

Step 1: The Foundation

If you’re going all out and creating a new religion then you have to first invent a name for your god, if you’re going down the traditional route you can go straight to the next step.

e.g. My God is Dysonian and his paradise is Dysonland

Step 2: I’m Special!

Set yourself up as the only link to the magical paradise. Only you (and the people you appoint) have a deep understanding of your god. You’re the virtual St. Peter holding the keys to eternity and you have the authority to decide what is good and what is bad. Catholics and Mormons have done this particularly well, they came up with whole new books as to not be constrained by the bible- although the bible is malleable enough that you can usually make it mean anything you want should you wish to go down the traditional route and cash-in on the work other people have been doing for centuries.

e.g. Only Dysonites will end up in Dysonland where all is clean and dust-free!

Step 3: Staying Power

Focus on promoting the idea that being a member of your group makes people special. You are the chosen people, the only ones going to the special paradise. God likes your followers more than he likes other people.  In fact, god doesn’t like people from other groups. Use your converts to bring in more followers. This has the two-fold advantage of increasing your numbers and the act of proselytizing cements the commitment of those you’ve already convinced. Keep your followers fixated on the carrot. The payoff is on its way and they’re the only ones getting it! For this to be successful an end-of times theory could be very useful. The urgency of clouds parting at any minute and people  being sucked into the heavens by a giant magical Dyson makes for great symbolism, and won’t all those non-believers be sorry!!!

Step 4: The Commandments, aka Show Me the Money!!!

This part is fine tuning. You’ve now got a good-sized following. You’ve played around with the rules and you know what works and what doesn’t. Now you can introduce the absolutes, the contract. You can be as absurd as you like, after all, you do speak for god. Introducing visual elements at this stage can be be very effective. Choose an object and make it the symbol of your religion, this is also useful if you want to sell merchandise. If you can come up with a special type of clothing or jewelry that believers can wear or keep with them during the day it keeps them focused. This is part of your marketing appeal so choose carefully! Don’t forget to use the commandments to further cement your importance in the group. Inserting daily rituals for people to be reminded of how important you are is very useful. Use language carefully here to build-up the group’s self-satisfaction while also making outsiders seem inferior for not belonging to the group!

e.g.

Commandments:

1. There is only one God and he is Dysonian, you shall not worship any others! (this one is of primordial importance)

2. Dysonian expects you to give me 20% of your monthly income, he told me so through text-messaging. (he communicates with me from a pre-paid Nigerian mobile phone)

3. You must tap your forehead three times every hour on the hour and whisper “I am one of the clean people”. (using the word clean here has the advantage of implying that non-believers are unclean!)

4. You must attend meetings with other Dysonites five times a week and discuss our scriptures The Great Instructions Manual for a full 45 minutes each time.

5. If you do not follow all of the commandments you will not be allowed into Dysonland*. (see note below)

*the payment of a fine can be arranged in the event you’ve broken one of the commandments and not only will Dysonian like you again, but you’ll be permitted into Dysonland!

A very faithful Dysonite.

What you can learn from other Religions:

• Mohammed had or faked seizures when “god spoke to him”. Physical demonstrations of your communication with god can lend credence to your followers.
• Catholics and Christians in general cleverly use deceptive language to give more credence to their beliefs. Attach words like Law, Natural and Truth to your ideology. For example: Dysonian truth is the only truth. People who do not marry in a Dysonite Church are unnatural. Dysonite Law says ________.
• Discourage questioning, doubt and dissent. You can do this in a threatening manner: If you do not believe not only are you not going to Dysonland you’ll end up in Broomland where dust is just pushed from side to side for all of eternity!!! To discourage questioning plant the idea of a conspiracy: People will try to take you away from the message of Dysonian. Then when it happens you can say they were warned and they’ll recognize your “prophecy” and fall back in line. This works well with the following point:
• Always have an enemy! Nothing unites people more than believing they are being persecuted. You can have multiple enemies but put your focus on people who question Dysonian.
• Discourage or restrict access to other ideologies and ideas. If anything directly opposes what you say, say it’s lies and the work of the Broomlandwitch.
• Mind numbing techniques unify the group and are good for group spirit. Chanting, meditation and singing when done in groups creates a connection between followers.
• Exploit personal crisis: You’re father died? He’s in Dysonland. If you want to see him again, you must join us.
• …and finally create a hierarchy. This way you can use followers to police each other. The most ardent followers get rewarded by being welcomed into the upper echelons of the group and trouble-making questioners are made to feel their lack of belief makes them inferior.

The Dan Savage vs. Brian Brown Debate: A few big lies… & another fallacy fest.

There are a few points that were ignored during the debate which I think should have been highlighted. Firstly we’re still allowing anti-gay activists to hide behind the semantic argument. They pretend it’s about the word marriage because they get to hide their bigotry and avoid bringing out debunked science (which at this point is rather embarrassing.) The truth is that it’s not about the word. They’re anti-gay and also against civil-unions:

Colorado civil unions battle reanimates old-school Christian right group

Amendment One North Carolina: Anti-Gay Marriage Measure Passes

This is not about the word marriage!

They have consistently opposed civil unions in every country that has tried to adopt them. They routinely used the same junk science then as they do now to oppose gay marriage. During the unpleasantly long right-wing, Aznar presidency, gay-civil-union bills were presented sixteen times and sixteen times they were vetoed by the pro-religion administration.

Defining a hate group:

It’s actually a very basic concept which conservatives seem to be ignoring: Does a group’s propaganda incite (unwarranted) fear or hate of a particular group? If it does, it’s a hate group.
It’s twofold:
1. Is the information false? Yes, this is an important point in the definition as truth would be a legitimate defence to slander
2. Does the false information incite hatred? Yes

And that’s the end of the story.

Fallacy Fest:

Mr. Brown was disingenuous enough to re-introduce the slippery slope fallacy: Gay marriage will lead to polygamy and bestiality. A slippery slope fallacy is an argument that says adopting one policy or action will lead to others also occurring, without showing a causal connection between the advocated policy and the consequent policies. A popular example  is, “If we legalize marijuana, next we’ll legalize heroin, LSD, and crack cocaine.” This slippery slope is also a non-sequitur, because no reason has been given for why the legalization of one thing would lead to legalization of the other. Tobacco and alcohol are currently legal, and well regulated whilst other drugs remain illegal. Gay unions have existed for decades in Denmark and many years in other countries and no legislation has been proposed or adopted concerning bestiality and polygamy. They have not been proposed or adopted for two very simple reasons. Animals cannot sign contracts and are therefore unable to legally consent and state-sanctioned polygamy would violate the equality clauses in most democratic constitutions. Polygamy not only creates an unequal relationship where (more than) one citizen is subjugated to another but would also entail financial complications regarding pensions, health care rights and inheritance laws.

It’s also a red herring fallacy in that it’s used as a manipulative diversionary tactic. Mr. Brown wants to appeal to society’s repudiation of bestiality and polygamy and associate that repudiation to gay marriage.

Where did you say you got your degree?

 

She meant well… A kindly 80 year old woman in Zaragoza decided to do her local church a favour by restoring a García Martinez painting, his Ecce Homo. The problem was she didn’t tell anyone which was compounded by the fact that she wasn’t a restorer or even an artist.

Stanford University; Free Online Course: Introduction to Logic

DON’T JUST LOSE YOUR RELIGION, KICK IT OUT!

Introduction to Logic

Michael Genesereth, Associate Professor

In this course, you will learn how to formalize information and reason systematically to produce logical conclusions. We will also examine logic technology and its applications – in mathematics, science, engineering, business, law, and so forth.

About the Course

Logic is one of the oldest intellectual disciplines in human history. It dates back to the times of Aristotle; it has been studied through the centuries; and it is still a subject of active investigation today.

This course is a basic introduction to Logic. It shows how to formalize information in form of logical sentences. It shows how to reason systematically with this information to produce all logical conclusions and only logical conclusions. And it examines logic technology and its applications – in mathematics, science, engineering, business, law, and so forth.

The course differs from other introductory courses in Logic in two important ways. First of all, it teaches a novel theory of logic that improves accessibility while preserving rigor. Second, the material is laced with interactive demonstrations and exercises that suggest the many practical applications of the field.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP, IT’S FREE!!!