Welcome to Factonista.org

Factonista is an online freethought advocacy organization that relies on its users for content. Through international broad-based collaboration with its users, and other groups and organizations, it strives to provide timely and comprehensive news, views, reviews, and creative multimedia on issues at the forefront of everything under the umbrella of freethought

Not a member? Register | Lost your password?
Hi and welcome to Factonista. Please keep in mind we're still in BETA. We'll be fully functional very very soon. In the mean while feel free to browse around, read our articles, and participate in our discussions. If you note any bugs and feel like helping us out, forward a quick message to us here. Thanks! [close]

Archive for August, 2008

« Older Entries

South Park + Free Speech = A Bad Day for Religion Part 2 – Christianity

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

Part 2: Christianity

Comparing South Park’s (SP) portrayal of Scientology (part 1) to the portrayal of Christianity is like comparing Hiroshima to the invasion of Iraq.  The attack on Scientology was mostly done in one epic episode that aimed at completely dismantling the cult’s credibility.  Christianity, on the other hand, is given some lenience.  Parker and Stone attack Christianity often, but not nearly as harsh.  It’s more like a slow moving invasion of Christianity’s most cherished beliefs.

Their main source of lampooning this religion is through one of SP’s most beloved characters, Jesus – a resident of South Park.  Parker and Stone have anthropomorphized  Jesus, taking him off the podium where Christians have placed him.  To Parker and Stone, Jesus was just a normal guy; that is…if he even existed at all, which is evidenced in season 11 where they have Jesus residing in “Imaginationland.”

The funniest Jesus antics are his attempts at magic.  In “Super Best Friends” Jesus loses a battle of magical talents to David Blaine.  In the scene, Blaine first eats his own head and the crowd goes wild.  Jesus pulls out a cart of fish and exclaims “Certainly not enough to feed this entire crowd, but now – turn around.”  As the crown turns around Jesus pulls out fish and bread from behind the cart and piles it on top of the cart.  Jesus then tells the crowd to turn back around, which does, and to the viewers’ amazement, starts cheering in awe.  What better way for Parker and Stone to make fun of Jesus then to show how people are gullible to simple miracles magic that Jesus most likely performed (if he even existed).


Aside from poking fun at Jesus, SP also takes on the institution of Roman Catholicism.  In “Red Hot Catholic Love” father Maxi from South Park goes to the Vatican to inform them of his shocking discovery that all American priests molest little boys, only to find out that all of the members at the Vatican do as well.  Even the Galgameks molest their children.

In “Hell on Earth 2006” priests and bishops are shown walking with little naked boys on leashes.  They attempt to get into a party being held by Satan who is ironically gay. To make matters worse, in the SP world, the Vatican is governed not by the Pope, but by a giant queen spider that appears before the members of the Vatican.  Father Maxi is fed up and gives a typical SP rant.  “When you start turning the stories into literal translations of hierarchies and power, well… Well, you end up with this. [shows the ruins, and then the Queen Spider, then the Gelgameks].”

In another instance, Jesus tells the Pope “…men are so easily led astray. St. Peter was a rabbit. And a rabbit should be Pope.”  It’s a safe bet to say Parker and Stone don’t like Catholicism when they speak of a rabbit having better judgment than the Pope.

On numerous occasions, Christian organizations have attempted to have SP episodes banned from TV and DVD sales, but to no avail.  The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, run by Edger’s beloved friend Bill Donahue (insert sarcasm), condemned an episode because of the portrayal of the Virgin Mary.  They demanded that Parker and Stone apologize to Roman Catholics and that the episode be retired from ever airing again.  Parker and Stone did neither.  The American Family Association (A Christian backed organization) convinced advertisers like Best Buy, Geico, and Foot Looker to pull out their advertisements during the show and even persuaded J.C. Penny to stop carrying SP merchandise but failed to get episodes pulled.

One only has to look at how many Christians live in America to see how dedicated Parker and Stone are to attacking the taboo.  They risk losing millions of viewers because of their portrayals of Christianity, and surely they’ve lost many, but continue to make fun of it nonetheless.

For the sake of keeping you from reading too much, I’ve left out other SP attacks on Christianity.  Here is a shortlist of some more.

South Park has shown,

Next week is Part 3 – Islam

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Feature | 10 Comments »

Is Jack Chick going senile?

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

If you have ever been accosted in the subway, on a bus, or in an airport by a disheveled evangelist passing out little credit card-sized comic books about Jesus, or if you have ever been browsing through books about science, religion, or atheism at your local bookstore and suddenly a little booklet entitled “This Was Your Life” falls out of God is Not Great or The God Delusion, then you have experienced the work of famous Christian evangelist Jack T. Chick firsthand. Perhaps you have read some of his delicious works on evolution on the internet, or read some of the parodies of his anti-Dungeons and Dragons screed “Dark Dungeons.” Almost a billion of these booklets have been distributed by missionaries and evangelists ever since Chick started writing, drawing, and printing his own tracts decades ago, and odds are that if you haven’t seen one yet, you probably will in the future.

Chick’s online catalog has dozens of different tracts, but it is unlikely that you will see any of his recent works in the outstretched hand of your friendly neighborhood evangelist. Chick, who is now 84, has not been producing works of the same “quality” as his most famous tract “This Was Your Life” for years. In fact, given the complete ridiculousness of some of his most recent tracts, it may be time to speculate on whether Mr. Chick is in fact in a state of mental decline.

Chick’s first tract, “Why No Revival?,” is a lucid, by-Christians-for-Christians story of a young man who is turned on to Jesus by an anonymous evangelist and who then undertakes a career of “reviving” Protestant churches that have gone astray, much to the chagrin of the demons who try to tempt him off the path of piety throughout the story (his second tract, “A Demon’s Nightmare,” is almost exactly the same story). “This Was Your Life,” which Chick’s site claims has alone sold almost a hundred million copies worldwide, is an almost entirely scriptural appeal to existential terror of death, and to find Jesus before it’s too late.

His most recent tract, by contrast, is a garbled mess. “First Bite,” which was released the day before this writing, is the almost incomprehensible story of a Satanic coven that is waiting for some kind of demonic anti-messiah named Igor. Igor is born, raised by “dragon masters, grand lodge leaders and ‘9 unknown men,’” and when he comes of age, Satan himself tells the coven that little Igor has to have his “first bite” of human flesh before he can take over the world (why this is the case is not made clear). The coven just happens to pick an innocent young evangelical Christian woman as the victim, Igor moves in for the kill, the woman shouts some Bible passages at him, and then Igor’s fangs magically disappear, he converts to Christianity, and the coven goes into panic-mode when Satan shrugs and says he was lying about Igor all along.

The tract before that, “Who Is He?” appears to be a normal Chick tract: it is a scripture-filled general summary of evangelical theological beliefs about who Jesus was, replete with straw-man unbelievers who say things like “Jesus was Buddha’s cousin” and a filthy, tattooed biker who says that Jesus was a “hoax.”

This tract, however lucid it appears to be, is suspiciously bereft of new material. As someone who has been collecting these tracts for some time, I notice that it has almost no illustrations that have not appeared in previous Chick tracts, and even its story arc completely breaks the Chick formula: in most Chick tracts, there is the wise servant of Jesus and the confused, laughably gullible or uninformed nonbeliever, and often there is a third character (usually either a demon, a scientist, or a Catholic) who tries to lead the gullible non-Christian astray. The stories are usually tug-of-war fables that end up with somebody in hell, somebody in heaven, and a hasty message about how to find Jesus. “Who Is He?” has none of that. Even “This Was Your Life” has the wise angel and the duped unsaved man, whereas “Who Is He?” has no actual characters, dialogue, or particularly useful message of any kind “Who Is He?” is mostly just a regurgitation of previous Chick material, both visually and textually, and so it is quite likely that Chick himself did very little “new” work on this one.

Like “First Bite,” Chick’s third-to-most-recent tract, “There Go the Dinosaurs,” provides strong evidence that all is not right in Chick’s mind, or certainly at least that the quality of his writing and drawing has diminished significantly. “Dinosaurs” is, like “First Bite,” completely incomprehensible and incredibly childish. It tells the story of the last dinosaur (whose thoughts we can read in little bubbles) who tries to hide from a vaguely Middle Ages-ish tribe of hunters by (and this is not a joke) hiding her head in a cloud. The story moves gracelessly into a laughably unsubstantiated tirade about evolution (but only after the inexplicable exclamation that the “dino-burgers” eaten by the hunters took “36 trips! to scavenge from poor Ms. Dinosaur’s corpse) and then closes with the familiar “Heaven or Hell? – Your Choice” page about how to find Jesus.

Of his last three tracts, two are complete messes and one is recycled, and may not even have been written by Chick himself given the oddities in its narrative structure. Has this once-great evangelist, who claims to have saved millions of souls worldwide, simply lost his touch? Or is he in a genuine state of decline?

Jack Chick is 84 this year. The quality of his writing is down, his new stories (when he does write stories) are so incomprehensible and so silly an objective observer would be tempted to view them as parodies. There is nothing in his last three tracts that is even plausibly mistakable for the familiar, modern-day, real-life stories of Christians and unbelievers duking it out for spiritual control of the undecided. Instead, all that is left is an old man telling stories about vampires and dinosaur hunters. His advanced age and diminished creative capacities lead me to believe that it won’t be long before we see the final Chick tract, and we have certainly seen the last legible, new one.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Commentary | 10 Comments »

Fundamentalist Theatre 3000 BC – Megiddo: The Omega Code 2

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

I admit that I have an affinity for crappy movies. I was one of the few who actually spent money to go see Uwe Boll’s epic computer game-turned-into-movie disaster ‘In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale’ and am a fan of those wondrously bad Sci-Fi Channel Original Movies. Another element of my strange hobby consists of watching fundamentalist (mostly right-wing Christian) films such as Left Behind, Bibleman, and others. Often armed with a low-end budget and reasoning akin to the Kirk Cameron/Ray Comfort ‘banana’ argument, one can derive a certain cynical hilarity from these films as well. For everyone else though, I have volunteered to watch these films so you don’t have to (or don’t want to waste the time doing so).

Aside from the obvious outlining of the plot and the various pitfalls of the movies, I will be assigning a ‘rating’ to the movie consisting of one to five popped collars, where one popped collar is mildly annoying and five popped collars is the epitome of douchebaggery.

Today’s review will be of The Omega Code 2: Megiddo. You can view/download the entire movie HERE free and completely legally.

Michael York stars (the guy from those old Three Musketeer films) as Stone Alexander, the Anti-Christ. Also of note is R. Lee Ermey (the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket), who plays the President of the United States. Megiddo is the only true right-wing Christian ‘war’ movie set during the end times; other films such as the Omega Code 1 and the Left Behind series were always more dramas with elements of conflict.

The first part of the film essentially follows the life of a young Stone Alexander, as he fails to kill his infant brother David Alexander as a youth, graduates at a top military academy, and later employs ruthlessness and a diabolical intellect to climb his way up the political ladder to eventually become the leader of the European Union. In his personal life, Stone eyes Gabriella Francini – the daughter of the man who runs the military academy – and threatens and reveals himself as the AntiChrist to her father to pressure him into accepting her as his wife.

Stone’s political stature increases even further as a worldwide food crisis looms; as other first-world governments fail to respond to the threat, his EU introduces revolutionary new food wafers, genetically engineered crops, and new desalinization technology to quickly mitigate these issues. Using the political capital gained from his management of the situation, Alexander proposes that there be a ‘global democracy’ consisting of ‘ten world regions’ and himself as the Chancellor.

Of course, all offers of global peace are frauds perpetrated by demons masquerading as world leaders, so many people were rightfully skeptical. Among those is the President of the United States and David Alexander, the Vice President of the United States. Both somehow intrinsically (when completely lacking evidence, trust your gut!) know that Stone Alexander is somehow evil and plotting to take over the world. Unfortunately for President Ermey, his drill sergeant-esque awesomeness and his complete willingness to go against Congress, the American Public, and his very own Secretary of State (all three of whom support the ‘global democracy’) was no match for the Anti-Christ and a subtle but very lethal dose of poison.

When his brother and now-president David Alexander continues to resist the formation of the new world order, Stone Alexander kills his own father and frames David for the murder. Stone then takes control over his father’s media empire in order to further propagandize the world population and sway it into accepting his proposal. Meanwhile, David is branded as a traitor and fugitive by his own country and by the world. But surely this goodly conservative president who is solidly against the sentiments of the American people and who issued numerous executive orders without Congressional oversight has done nothing wrong, right?

People begin to realize that Stone is not all who he appears though. When Mexico refuses to join the New World Order, Stone unleashes a drought upon the entire nation. China, too, resists and is hit by a locust swarm and forced to join. Elsewhere, a spike in the level of natural disasters not caused by Stone – a symbol of God’s wrath – fuels discontent among the people towards the new world government. But perhaps the most ridiculous part of the film happens when Stone takes a trip to Africa to shore up support for his flagging coalition. When the African crowd – which initially enthusiastically addresses Stone with stereotypical tribal hollering – reacts negatively to Stone’s completely reasonable demand that he be worshipped as a god, the good Anti-Christ rains lightning down from the sky to force the crowd into submission.

Stereotypical tribal yelling? A white guy resorting to ‘magic’ to get an uncouth mass of Africans to worship him as a god? Nope, not racist at all. Maybe this is a window of how the filmmakers view Africa though – as some sort of ‘Dark Continent’ full of heathens who need to be converted to the Goodly Religion. But I digress…

With all the ten world regions subjugated and the pro-Satan Secretary of State seemingly in control of the US Armed Forces, Stone Alexander orders an army from all of the ten regions to gather at Megiddo to prepare to battle God. Fortunately for his brother David, the US Military in this universe actually unflinchingly serves it’s Commander in Chief rather than the Constitution no matter what he has done. Naturally the US’s sources of cheap labor – Mexico and Godless Heathen Red Communist China (go figure…) – are also prepared to do God’s work and, along with the US Army, plan on turning against those pansy liberal Europeans gathered at Megiddo.

The forces of good initially gain the upper hand with the element of surprise. However, it turns out that in the near future every nation in the world will employ generic M1 Abrams tanks that snail along at 3 mph. It is no wonder then that on the verge of defeat, Stone Alexander reveals himself to be a bad CGI of a giant flying horned baboon… thing who imbues his troops with unholy strength to turn back the tide. Predictably leading the counter-charge are those godless former Communists – the Russians; never mind the fact that we have our own godless Communists the Chinese who for some reason fight on the side of God and are kind enough to supply us with lead-coated Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.

The flying demon baboon who I assume is supposed to represent the Anti-Christ then blocks out the sun purely for dramatic effect and engages in a one-on-one fight to the death with David… because that’s how all battles are supposed to be decided. With the Mexicans and Americans on the brink of defeat and David badly injured, it appears that the entire world would be doomed to an existence of worshipping some giant flying baboon… thing while holding their laughter back or risk facing his simian wrath. But fortunately for our heroes God decides to spontaneously appear, kill all the evil soldiers, and lock the Anti-Christ in a molten prison in the center of the earth – thus making all the elan, tactics, strategies, and bravado exhibited by both sides of the conflict completely irrelevant! The End!

Overall, the first part of the movie wasn’t that bad. We get a sense of what ends Stone Alexander is willing to go to get ‘his way’. And despite his being more ruthless and more ambitious than all his colleagues, we also can connect with those people around him who aren’t possessed by the Anti-Christ, especially his wife and his father. One thing I especially liked about this part of the movie was the subtleness that Michael York portrayed Stone at this juncture – unlike with the Left Behind series, York is a very experienced actor who does try to bring out the most in his lines.

The battle scenes during the second part of the movie were passable given the $10 million budget (which is actually higher than most fundie films). The inclusion of plenty of pyrotechnics, dozens of vehicles incorporated into each shot, and many extras gave the sense that one actually was watching a major battle – granted, not the battle for the end of the world and one without any tactics or overall strategy, but nonetheless an impressive feat given the typically low quality found in this genre of films.

However, given the latent racism against the Africans, the implication that liberal Europeans are going to ruin the world unless a right-wing law-breaking US president stops them, and that CGI ‘Anti-Christ’ that I still can’t get over, I give this movie a rating of:

2.5 Popped Collars

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Feature | 2 Comments »

The Course of Reason- Episode 2

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

The Center for Inquiry has just released their second episode of the new student freethought oriented The Course of Reason podcast.

On the Center for Inquiry’s The Course of Reason podcast Justin Trottier, Tyler Handley, and Debbie Goddard discuss campus-related news and events in the world of freethought activism, engage in educational segments, conduct interviews and panels with freethought leaders from around the world, and provide student leaders with information and resources for successfully organizing, participating in, and running a campus freethought group.

Join the podcast’s Facebook fan page

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Media | No Comments »

“Prosperity gospel” preacher-”IRS investigation of my church is ‘politically motivated’”

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Yesterday, a Minnesota “prosperity gospel” preacher, whose theology is based upon the un-Biblical precept that God wants his followers to be economically successful, stated that an intensive IRS probe of his church’s income and expenses is “politically motivated.”

Reverend Mac Hammond told the Christian Post that “enemies of the gospel” are behind the inquiry. Though Hammond could not be reached by email by this author for comment, he appears to maintain that the IRS probe into his church’s income is based on purely material or political gain rather than on an authentic, principled desire to enforce IRS tax regulations that are suspicious of any religious entity’s gaining for itself a particularly strong annual income from donations and investments.

This IRS probe comes in the wake of (Republican) Senator Chuck Grassley’s battle to ensure that six profitable megachurches adhere to IRS regulations of non-profit, non-political entities amassing great wealth adhere IRS religious-based tax exemptions.

Reverend Hammond did not provide any details about whose political ends are being served, or what possibly political gain other than principled enforcement efforts of existing regulations are provided by the investigation of successful American megachurches for their lavish economic gains.

Megachurches, which comprise a relatively small (but growing) percentage of mostly Protestant congregations, typically draw thousands of worshipers from across their host states to single, highly profitable locations, often providing strong economic gains for popular pastors. Among Senator Grassley’s targets is the infamous megachurch reverend Creflo Dollar, whose personal benefits for presiding over a large (apparently unaffiliated Protestant) congregation include at least two private Rolls-Royce automobile for Dollar’s personal use as well as numerous other kickbacks.

The principle of separation of church and state, which dates back to the time of Jefferson, requires that local and federal government officials be wary of any religious organization that unnecessarily abuses its tax-exempt status for the purpose of personal gain by clergymen. No fault has yet been found in the enforcement of such regulations other than personal offense by the wealthy religious pulpit-men who have profited the most from exploitation of IRS tax exemption.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Media | 150 Comments »

Webster Cook Impeached Without Due Process

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

For legality’s sake, I’m going to start this with a disclaimer: The views contained within this article are mine and mine alone, and do not represent those of Webster Cook or his affiliates in any way unless otherwise specified.

On Thursday, August 28th, Webster Cook was formally impeached and removed from his position as Senator. This represents the culmination of many weeks of arduous legal battles and emotional turmoil for Webster and his family, and Webster is left with a permanent stain on his record after an impeachment hearing that was nonobjective and patently farcical.

Those unfamiliar with the situation should learn more here.

During the week between summer classes and Fall semester, the Speaker of the Senate, President Pro Tempore and Legislative, Judicial, & Rules Committee(LJR) chairman met privately with key witnesses to question them about the incident. These conversations were transcribed and presented during the Thursday hearing as evidence. The witnesses were not under oath at the time, and later analysis found that there were numerous discrepancies between the transcriptions and the conversations themselves.

According to the Impeachment Statutes here at UCF, the defendant is explicitly guaranteed the right to cross-examine witnesses. Webster was not granted this opportunity. He wasn’t even informed that the conversations were going to be used in his hearing until the night before, giving him no time to review the evidence or examine the witnesses himself.

The Impeachment Statutes also guarantee the defendant the right to refute the charges presented against him or her, but Webster was blatantly denied this as well. The hearing was scheduled to end at 11:00 PM, and at 10:53 a senator made a motion to table debate and immediately move into voting procedures. Robert’s Rules of Order gave this motion precedence. When Webster protested, he was flatly denied the opportunity to refute the charges, being curtly informed that “we don’t have time for that.”

It seemed as though all of the senators there had an agenda. Those who were not actively attempting to destroy him appeared more interested in getting an early start on Labor Day weekend.

Webster now stands stripped of his title, picking up the pieces after a minor incident was inflated and sensationalized onto the national stage. The impeachment proceedings reeked of both indifference to Webster’s human dignity and biased intent to sacrifice his future to placate a public hungry for his blood after the ridiculous spectacle surrounding his incident.

Regrettably, such incidences of questionable integrity within college student government associations are anything but rare. In high school, student political proceedings are at least superficially monitored by responsible adults whose job it is to ensure that the rules are followed and that things stay clean. Once college rolls around, the political corruption starts; those who aren’t just in it for graduate school application padding quickly find that they can deviously pursue their own ends with impunity. There are a dedicated few, though, a few who seek to challenge the norm and facilitate progress towards a greater good.

These few are quickly punished. Webster has long been a passionate, outspoken critic of giving public money to dogmatic organizations, both religiously affiliated and not.

Here’s a quick primer:

Each UCF student pays an “Activity and Services Fee,” to the tune of $12 per credit hour. This money then goes to student government for allocation.

Explicitly religious student groups received $75,000 of public money last year alone.

Few raise an eyebrow at this, if they even care to know about it. Many senators at UCF spend their meetings batting balls of paper around, doodling, whispering casual conversation to one another, and generally being ineffective, one senator (not Webster) tells me. During one financial allocation hearing, one awe-inspiringly brilliant senator expressed credulity at the legitimacy of allowing a group of 40 people to decide things for the entire student population.

Isn’t that the very nature of the Senate?

This general level of incompetence was certainly reflected in Webster’s impeachment hearing; “it was like they were making it up as they went along,” Webster later told me. Webster’s father was also there, powerlessly left to watch as the committee flagrantly disregarded the rules. The senators didn’t even officially debate the issue, instead just dutifully following the recommendation of the LJR committee.

Interestingly, the LJR committee is comprised of just seven people, four of whom are Catholics. It is up to each individual to recuse themselves from a potential conflict of interest. Not surprisingly, none did.

Webster had a thoughtfully written statement prepared to refute the charges, but as already mentioned, he was denied this right. The three who arranged the clandestine meeting with the witnesses did so by completely disregarding the direction of the Impeachment Statutes. Webster was not allowed to cross-examine these witnesses prior to the hearing. Such are but a few examples of the mockery of justice that was Webster’s hearing.

Now, Webster is doing everything in his power to fight for his rights and do what he can to clean up this situation.

Those wishing to help Webster out are more than welcome to contact our SGA Chief Justice Jordan Axelrod at 407-823-4721 or at sga_cjus@mail.ucf.edu

Editors Note: For the back story to Crackergate, please consult the following articles:

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Feature | 8 Comments »

A first-hand experience of a healing crusade

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

I recently attended a ‘healing crusade’ where people expected Jesus to somehow cure their illnesses while children die of starvation in Africa.

Did it convince me that something supernatural was going on? No.

Granted, nobody was literally smacked on the forehead like what happens during Benny Hinn’s crusades, but it was a painful experience to sit through. The room was packed with true believers, and I felt exasperation overwhelming me. It took every ounce of effort not to start screaming and yelling at everyone to simply open their eyes to the deception that they have willingly entered into.

On the other hand, I felt pity and rage at the same time. I felt pity for the sick who attended desperately seeking a miracle. I felt pity for the children whose parents chose to drag to the healing crusade instead of receiving medical care. It was indeed a heart-wrenching sight to see the disabled, the deaf and the blind with looks of longing and hope on their faces as they ‘surrendered their fates’ to their particular version of a deity. I was filled with rage at the people who could even consider feeding tantalizing, false hopes to people who are desperately seeking a miracle just to propagate their own convictions. I felt rage looking at the entire system of self-deception and suspension of disbelief. With pity and rage alternating inside me, I took my seat among the true believers.

It started off with a few worship songs to supposedly ‘bring the presence of god into this place’. The songs were repeated over and over again, bringing about an almost hypnotic effect which some in the audience took as a sign that the ‘holy spirit’ was present. If the Christian god is the omnipotent, omnipresent, all-knowing deity he is portrayed as being, why would he need to be alerted to the fact that his followers needed healing? Couldn’t he have just healed them without having to be told to do so in a special ceremony? The ‘invocation’ also sounded a lot like pagan practices of invoking ‘spirits’. Another interesting question is that if god/his spirit/the holy ghost is omnipresent, why did he need to be specifically channeled into the hall? Why did they have to start the crusade with the act of ‘bringing god into this place’? Is it just me, or does something not quite add up?

The epitome of the phrase ‘fleecing the flock’ was displayed when the collection basket was handed out with calls to ‘give back to god what he has done’. In the first place, nobody had been healed yet, so what would be the rationale for that statement? However, the true believers gave, and they indeed gave! By the time the collection basket arrived at my row, it was full enough to line an evangelist’s pocket or two.

Next came the preaching. The preacher claimed that everyone wants to believe in a god. Many people do want to believe in a god, but saying that everyone wants to believe in a god was an overgeneralization. I guess he also missed the memo that wanting to believe in something doesn’t make it so.

He then claimed that he has ‘evidence’ to conclusively ‘prove’ the existence of one true god. First, he asked the crowd how many people have only one biological father. When the audience raised their hands, he continued with ‘Since nobody could have more than one biological father, it is only possible to have one god as well. It is impossible to have more than one god, as it is impossible to have more than one biological father.’

Yes, that was his great theological proof of monotheism. Voila!

I have to admit that I was more than a little disappointed.

After the great theological ‘proof’ of god, it was time for the ‘worship Jesus or burn’ threats. The usual evangelical stock-phrases were spouted: Now that you have proof that there is only one true god, it is your obligation not to worship false gods. You must choose Jesus, because if you don’t, you will end up in hell, and hell is not a place you want to go to. You want eternal life! You don’t want to end up in hell! You don’t! You don’t! You don’t! You don’t! You don’t! Hell is an absolutely terrifying place! You DON’T want to go there! ACCEPT JESUS!!

The same thing was repeated over and over again until I nearly fell asleep, but I was jolted awake in horror when I saw the true believers around me simply lapping it up. After attending evangelical crusades, trust me, horror movies pale in comparison. The horror of again realizing that around the world, millions of people are buying into this dogma would be more than enough to cause sleepless nights.

Next, we were promised that Jesus would work miracles and that through the miracles; we would see that he is the way to God. We were also told that God/Jesus/Holy Spirit would work the miracles not only to heal the sick, but to also ‘show the truth’ to the non-Christians.

You must be wondering what ‘miracles’ Jesus worked that night. And I have to say, Jesus was really disappointing, or more likely, a no-show. There were a few headaches, stress and depression cases ‘cured’, in addition to a kid’s cough, a slight pain in the foot, a mild ankle injury, ringing in the ears, and pain ‘disappearing’ from various parts of the body. Nobody got out of their wheelchairs and walked despite the repeated calls to ‘Get up and walk.’ No blind people suddenly saw, the deaf didn’t suddenly hear, the mute didn’t suddenly talk, and the disabled didn’t suddenly recover. Most importantly, no amputated limbs were re-grown by God.  Although that would be the most convincing ‘evidence’ that faith healing actually could have something to it after all.

One case was especially heartbreaking, as it was self-deception in the highest degree. A cancer patient who had undergone several rounds of chemotherapy claimed that she felt a decrease in the numbness in her right side. She also felt that the cancer had been ‘reduced by 90%’. How would this be possible to determine without a medical check-up? Despite the patient’s obvious credulity and willing acts of self-deception, I felt really sorry for her. Would she stop her chemotherapy treatments because she feels that her cancer is all but gone? I would never know, but somehow I hope that somewhere along the line, her skepticism kicks in. The anger and pity coursing through me when she gave her testimony at the front was indescribable.

Another sad part is how the crowd clapped and cheered at the end of each testimony, seeing the testimonies as a confirmation of what they so desperately want to be true. When it was time for the altar call, around forty people went up to the front to ‘accept Jesus’. Is skepticism dead among most members of the human species? Superstition claimed more members that night, and I am afraid that we may never be able to compete with the numbers superstition claims all over the world everyday if we are not willing to stand up, speak up, and be counted. Being an appeaser simply would not do.

I know this sounds pessimistic, but perhaps you had to be there on that fateful night.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Feature | 8 Comments »

How Astrology Ruined Myanmar’s Economy

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

If you have been following the news, you no doubt would have heard by now of Cyclone Nargis hitting Myanmar (also known as Burma) and the ruling military junta’s piss-poor disaster relief initiatives that makes FEMA’s response to Hurricane Katrina look like a shining moment in the Bush Administration’s history. It is estimated as of today that 155,000 people are dead and that number is certain to rise given the complete lack of food or medical aid and the completely unwillingness of the government to aid its own people. Apparently the regime is more concerned that foreign journalists and aid workers might report back the horrors of living in one of the least-developed countries in the world under a retrograde military regime; The callousness with which the regime is handling the situation hearkens back to how the 2007 and 1988 pro-democracy protests were brutally suppressed and is very different from China’s transparent and rapid response to it’s own major disaster in the Beichuan region.

But these instances do not constitute the only time the military junta has screwed over its own people. Of all the megalomaniacs, it is perhaps only General Ne Win and his successors who relied heavily on astrology and other superstition to chart out national policy…

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Feature | 4 Comments »

McCain’s VP pick is Not Good for Science

Friday, August 29th, 2008

I wake up this afternoon and check the news and my e-mails from my bed on my iPod touch. It has become an enjoyable morning ritual of mine. As I perused the top stories of the day, I find that McCain chose a VP, Sarah Palin. She was an intriguing choice and I started doing some research on her.

I found out that she:

  • is the governor of Alaska.
  • is a mother of 5.
  • is an evangelical Protestant.
  • is pro-life and a member of Feminists for Life.
  • is a creationist.
  • is a creationist who wants creationism taught along with evolution.

I shall let her speak for herself:

In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:

“I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”

(…)

Palin said she thought there was value in discussing alternatives.

“It’s OK to let kids know that there are theories out there,” she said in the interview. “They gain information just by being in a discussion.”

That was how she was brought up, she said. Her father was a public school science teacher.

“My dad did talk a lot about his theories of evolution,” she said. “He would show us fossils and say, ‘How old do you think these are?’ ”

Asked for her personal views on evolution, Palin said, “I believe we have a creator.”

She would not say whether her belief also allowed her to accept the theory of evolution as fact.

“I’m not going to pretend I know how all this came to be,” she said.

From Anchorage Daily News

Again, this is the usual tripe creationists try to push: “Teach both sides!” “Teach the debate!”

There is NO debate. Evolution is fact. I bet you Palin won’t be able to define evolution if you asked her to. In my experience, almost all deniers of evolution do not know what evolution is. It’s rather pathetic that they would deny something without knowing what it actually is.

Wired also had this to say about her:

Palin’s statements track with the official Alaska Republican Party platform, which support creation science and intelligent design by name, and says that “evidence disputing the theory should also be presented.”

According to Fordham Institute science education expert Lawrence Lerner, Palin’s nomination is less worrisome in terms of education than the broad relationship of science and government.

“In the direct sense, vice presidents don’t have much to do with what goes on in classrooms. But a person who’s a creationist doesn’t understand science and technology at all,” said Lerner. “It doesn’t bode well for science, and doesn’t bode well for interaction between science and government.”

From the Wired Website

Personally, if someone believes in creationism, it does not bother me. If their belief does not have negative effects on my life, then I don’t mind it. BUT this is just not the case with regards to Palin and most creationists. Their unscientific demeanor does have negative ramifications. It does affect me negatively. How could they possibly make informed decisions about scientific policies when they are scientifically illiterate? They are dangerous people. Palin is dangerous.

So…who wants to move out of the US with me if McCain gets elected?

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | 8 Comments »

Political Untouchables

Friday, August 29th, 2008

I’ll admit it. I had caught Obama fever.

It started when my girlfriend’s mother gave me a copy of Dreams from my Father, Obama’s bestselling 1996 biography. Reading it got me very excited about Obama’s candidacy, and once it became clear that it was going to be a contest between Obama and McCain I enthusiastically threw my support behind Obama. A McCain presidency promises a fresh social conservative in the Supreme Court following Justice Stevens’ imminent departure, something that, as a freethought activist, I felt I had to oppose. Meanwhile, Obama has been explicit in several speeches about his staunch support of church-state separation. To me, the choice was obvious.

Then my wake-up call came, in the form of Obama promising to promote and enhance faith-based initiatives across the country. I was shaken; was there any candidate who could help us progress as a society, who would not actively promote conformity to mainstream religious modes?

The answer is simply no. This election is noteworthy, among many other things, for the fact that the Evangelical Christian bloc is up for grabs for the first time in recent memory. They carried Bush II to victory in the 2000 and 2004 elections, swinging states like Ohio into the Red and helping him capture the White House. However, the evangelicals are not as excited about McCain as they were Bush II, and both camps know that they have to mobilize to target this very motivated group of voters. The first real appearance of the two candidates together was the recent Saddleback Church forum, hosted by celebrity evangelist pastor Rick Warren. Before they debated on real issues, they instead got on-stage in front of the nation and tried to out-Christian each other, jumping through the Judeo-Christian hoops to prove that they are Christian leaders who will lead a Christian nation with Christian values towards a Christian world.

As an non-believer and a secular freethought activist, this sickens me. Many who decry the role of religion in Middle Eastern politics passionately advocate a Christian stranglehold on our own government, the worst of which we have seen since Bush II came into office. Christianity disproportionately dominates our government, unreflective of the true nature of the American religious demographic: anywhere from 4%-14% of Americans(depending on who you ask) consider themselves to be non-believers, not including many who keep their mouths shut about their disbelief. Despite this fact, one has to ask: where are the non-religious politicians? Well, here’s one, and he’s not the first; California Gov. Culbert Olson, a Democrat who served from 1939 to 1943, declared his atheism as well. But these men “came out” close to or after the end of their political careers, when they had little left to lose by such an admission. It would seem as though the non-believer is among the last of the political outcasts; the Democratic Party has a black man running for president with a Catholic as his running mate, and it came narrowly close to nominating a woman. A Jewish man was a Vice Presidential candidate in the 2000 election. The Democratic party openly supports civil unions for homosexuals. Yet, for all of its talk, the “party of inclusiveness” shuns those whose worldview tends toward the skeptical.

Given the current socio-political landscape, this makes bitter sense. To formally recognize non-believers as a political entity would be instant suicide for any political party. The best that we can hope to do is to vote for someone who would hurt our cause less, and in this case, the choice is clearly Obama. However, it is a regrettable choice, one that hurts more and more with each election cycle as we grow as a subset of the population while facing the same political disenfranchisement year after year. Perhaps someday the non-believers will know the joy of having a real say in politics, like women, minorities and soon homosexuals. Until then, we’ll fight the good fight until the world considers our voice a legitimate one.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Commentary | 8 Comments »

« Older Entries