Turn it up load, sit back and enjoy.
Merry Christmas, Joyous Saturnalia, have a wicked Solstice, Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings everyone.
Author Archive for PsychoAtheistPage 2 of 3
Yes, I did post this last year and the year before but it's one of my favourites, so once again here's a treat for everyone,The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl singing live one of the greatest Christmas tunes of all time - Fairytale of New York.
Turn it up load, sit back and enjoy.
Merry Christmas, Joyous Saturnalia, have a wicked Solstice, Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings everyone.
Turn it up load, sit back and enjoy.
Merry Christmas, Joyous Saturnalia, have a wicked Solstice, Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings everyone.
"You can't teach an old dogma new tricks."
Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)
Pat Condell's latest on 'Agressive Atheism'.
Way to go Pat!
Way to go Pat!
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Rest in Peace comrades.
And the full poem from Laurence Binyon:
For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds
Uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are
Known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our
darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Laurence Binyon
If there is ever any doubt about why you should buy a poppy, Poppy Scotland's official TV ad for the 2009 Poppy Appeal should hopefully address any concerns:
An emotional and thought provoking ad.
Please buy a poppy or donate online.
An emotional and thought provoking ad.
Please buy a poppy or donate online.
Ricky Gervais explains his Atheism.
I'm not convinced by the 'I wish there was a God' argument, I tend to side with Christopher Hitchens on that point.
I'm not convinced by the 'I wish there was a God' argument, I tend to side with Christopher Hitchens on that point.
"If you believe good, kind, moral, just, loving people, are going to be tortured in hell, forever, for not believing in Jesus, then you are a masochist, a schizophrenic, and very religious. You've lost your sense of what is rational, moral, logical and just. You need psychiatric help."
(Dr Albert Ellis 1913 – 2007)
Slightly stronger language than most people are used to but I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment.
Eight years ago whilst sitting on my sofa and channel-hopping through the TV schedule I happened across a riveting documentary. A young female reporter of Afghani descent had decided to travel to Aghanistan and see the land that her father had spoken so fondly of. Nothing so unusual about that you may say, there are now hundreds, if not thousands, of reporters male and female cutting about Afghanistan. Note the first three words of this paragraph - 'Eight years ago', this particular young female reporter was entering Afghanistan at the height of the Taliban's power, when they ruled the country with an iron fist and the religous 'police' were universally feared. When public executions in the main football stadium were a regular occurrence (and well attended!) and women especially were subject to the most barbaric and inhumane treatments imaginable.
Why do I bring this up now, eight years later? Because this particular documentary was one that has stuck in my mind in the intervening period and because it is now available on Google video. The reporter in question is a young lady named Saira Shah and she deserves the utmost respect for having the fortitude and courage to enter the theocratic nightmare that was Aghanistan under the Taliban and show the world what was happening.
That is why, ladies and gentleman, we should endeavour to ensure that situations like this are not allowed to flourish.
Why do I bring this up now, eight years later? Because this particular documentary was one that has stuck in my mind in the intervening period and because it is now available on Google video. The reporter in question is a young lady named Saira Shah and she deserves the utmost respect for having the fortitude and courage to enter the theocratic nightmare that was Aghanistan under the Taliban and show the world what was happening.
That is why, ladies and gentleman, we should endeavour to ensure that situations like this are not allowed to flourish.
'Nuff said.[Religious belief] is a totalitarian belief. It is the wish to be a slave. It is the desire that there be an unalterable, unchallengeable, tyrannical authority who can convict you of thought crime while you are asleep, who can subject you - who must, indeed, subject you - to total surveillance around the clock every waking and sleeping minute of your life - I say, of your life - before you're born and, even worse and where the real fun begins, after you're dead. A celestial North Korea. Who wants this to be true? Who but a slave desires such a ghastly fate? I've been to North Korea. It has a dead man as its president, Kim Jong-Il is only head of the party and head of the army. He's not head of the state. That office belongs to his deceased father, Kim Il-Sung. It's a necrocracy, a thanatocracy. It's one short of a trinity I might add. The son is the reincarnation of the father. It is the most revolting and utter and absolute and heartless tyranny the human species has ever evolved. But at least you can fucking die and leave North Korea!
Billy Connolly espouses on the subject of religion:
Yep, the big hairy bollocks would certainly make a man think twice I'm sure!
Yep, the big hairy bollocks would certainly make a man think twice I'm sure!
Given that I hadn't posted anything on this blog for some months, people may have been forgiven for thinking that I had laid it to rest. I don't attract a great deal of readers anyway and garner limited comments on the posts that I do make, which is why I was greatly amused to find the following e-mail languishing in my in-box. Someone called 'shaunf10186' has obviously discovered my blog, and after reading some posts and my profile, felt compelled to vent by way of e-mail.
I was finding it hard to put into words my feelings on receiving this e-mail, so many questions sprung to the fore. What had I done to deserve this? Was it really for me? Why had I been chosen? I eventually accepted the inevitable and can only simply say...Thank You!
I read a lot of atheist blogs and have always been envious of those that receive e-mail from religious fuckwits and various whackjobs. I've been blogging on here for almost 2 years and have never received so much as a one-line e-mail from anyone that has been so pissed off by what I have written that they just had to respond via electronic media. Sure I've had comments on my posts from individuals such as I have described, but Damn It, surely you haven't achieved anything in the atheist blogosphere until you get a vitriolic e-mail from a nutjob? So Thank You!
I am honoured to join the ranks (albeit as a raw recruit) of those giants of teh internets who receive such e-mails by the bucketload. Some of those blogging giants even, dare I say it, delete such e-mails. Gasp! Imagine getting so much tard in your in-box that you could act in such a cavalier manner? I promise never to become so blaise.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present for your viewing pleasure, shaunf10186's e-mail. I have reproduced it in full initially and will reproduce it again after the fold with my comments in red.
Other than that you have made my day, so once again, Thank You.
I was finding it hard to put into words my feelings on receiving this e-mail, so many questions sprung to the fore. What had I done to deserve this? Was it really for me? Why had I been chosen? I eventually accepted the inevitable and can only simply say...Thank You!
I read a lot of atheist blogs and have always been envious of those that receive e-mail from religious fuckwits and various whackjobs. I've been blogging on here for almost 2 years and have never received so much as a one-line e-mail from anyone that has been so pissed off by what I have written that they just had to respond via electronic media. Sure I've had comments on my posts from individuals such as I have described, but Damn It, surely you haven't achieved anything in the atheist blogosphere until you get a vitriolic e-mail from a nutjob? So Thank You!
I am honoured to join the ranks (albeit as a raw recruit) of those giants of teh internets who receive such e-mails by the bucketload. Some of those blogging giants even, dare I say it, delete such e-mails. Gasp! Imagine getting so much tard in your in-box that you could act in such a cavalier manner? I promise never to become so blaise.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present for your viewing pleasure, shaunf10186's e-mail. I have reproduced it in full initially and will reproduce it again after the fold with my comments in red.
Subject: opinion-atorMay I retort?
Date: 22/08/2009 18:26:20 GMT Daylight Time
From: shaunf10186@hotmail.com
Dear Psycho-fantic killing machine come Freudian follower,
I know for a fact you enjoy lauding in other peoples discomfort and pain. So I’ll just keep this short and sweet remtard. Your opinions and views are what I can only describe as fashionable for the atheist and secular turning world and for some phyric reason you think you speak common sense well Einstein quibbed common sense was a set of misconceptions attained by your twenties and believe me he has got the moral authority over you and he is Jewish. Fact as fact can be. Keep your Freudian-mum-loving-after-life-hating- killingcareer -living opinions of morality to yourself. You’ve got no reason to wade in these waters and do you want to know why because your path in life has been directed towards killing soldiers in the army/air-service / navy of foreign countries now you broadcast your superior morality over people, who derive their morality from something more pure than post colonial foreign policy and Freudians half baked incestual ideas. Jog on wannabe.
P.S. Half way through writing this I thought to myself I am turning into some kind of religious zealot(I reasoned with myself sometime ago that I’am agonistic maybe a patheist at worst/best) but it looks like I’ve come out the other side a patheist hen again its better to fight for something than live for nothing is’nt that right captain killer. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees is‘nt that what hey make you do in the armed forces for your country. Is that the reason, your nashamedly against organised institutions because they brainwash individuals to kill for ulterior motives. Well get with the program Plato the majority of Christians/Jews and Muslims are peaceful until they are persecuted not at all like the politicians peaceful until the whiff of black gold and power arises. Should we et bums like you destroy the moral reasons of millions of people who selflessly give up time and money to help charitable causes. Should we all gravitate towards a odless world where justice and progress is decided by individuals on WHAT? (political) grounds. Face facts we basically inherited our justice and working system from religion if we hadn’t we would still be fucking cavewomen in caves and made no progress from the age of wholly mammoths. Hardly an atheist utopia back then was it boyo. I will leave with this rhetorical question cave sex with monkeys or religion which one would you of chosen Freud?
Dear Psycho-fantic killing machine come Freudian follower,So there you have it folks, my very first e-mail from a fuckwit. I'm impressed that it carries a lot of the hallmarks of the religious fanatics' e-mail that I see on other sites; it has the atrocious spelling and bad grammar that we have come to expect, the multitude of ad hominems and appeals to authority and a quite obvious display of ignorance. My only criticism (and it's a really small one) is that it could have been so much better. Next time shaunf10186 can you please omit the paragraph break, type in all caps, oh and remember to throw in a few font colour changes.I'm so keeping that.
I know for a fact you enjoy lauding in other peoples discomfort and pain.
Have we met? You just described my favourite trait.
So I’ll just keep this short and sweet remtard.
Oh, if only.
Your opinions and views are what I can only describe as fashionable for the atheist and secular turning world and for some phyric reason you think you speak common sense
Fashionable? You say that like it is a bad thing. Fashionable would indicate attractive and desirous, the latest 'must have'. So if by fashionable you mean that people are attaching the atheist label to themselves as some sort of 'latest trend' and don't really dis-believe then I am afraid that says more about the mainstream religions that it does about atheism. 'Phyric reason'? I'm almost sure you mean to say Pyrrhic but I fail to see how it fits into the context of your statement. Perhaps you should consult a dictionary before you hit send on these rants?
well Einstein quibbed common sense was a set of misconceptions attained by your twenties and believe me he has got the moral authority over you and he is Jewish.
Actually what Einstein said was that 'Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen', a misconception on your part perhaps? I'm not sure what his being Jewish has do with anything however, are you a tad anti-Semitic?
Fact as fact can be. Keep your Freudian-mum-loving-after-life-hating- killingcareer -living opinions of morality to yourself.
Don't sit on the fence mate, say what you mean.
You’ve got no reason to wade in these waters and do you want to know why
Do tell!
because your path in life has been directed towards killing soldiers in the army/air-service / navy of foreign countries
I can truthfully say that in 23 years service in the British Army I have never fired a shot in anger. Not everyone who serves in the Army is a combat soldier you know?
now you broadcast your superior morality over people, who derive their morality from something more pure than post colonial foreign policy and Freudians half baked incestual ideas. Jog on wannabe.
If you really think that people derive their morals from the various holy books than you most assuredly haven't read one fully.
P.S. Half way through writing this I thought to myself I am turning into some kind of religious zealot
A rare moment of self-awareness perhaps?
(I reasoned with myself sometime ago that I’am agonistic maybe a patheist at worst/best) but it looks like I’ve come out the other side a patheist
Again, I'm sure you mean pantheist, but for some reason I read it as 'pathetic theist'.
hen again its better to fight for something than live for nothing is’nt that right captain killer.
For once we are in agreement.
Better to die on your feet than live on your knees is‘nt that what hey make you do in the armed forces for your country.
Most assuredly, you're not very good at this insult lark are you?
Is that the reason, your nashamedly against organised institutions because they brainwash individuals to kill for ulterior motives.
Are you trying to say that we shouldn't be against organised institutions that brainwash individuals to kill for ulterior motives?
Well get with the program Plato the majority of Christians/Jews and Muslims are peaceful until they are persecuted
Agreed, it's just a shame that it doesn't take much for them to feel persecuted.
not at all like the politicians peaceful until the whiff of black gold and power arises.
A very astute observation, people in power tend to utilise that power for their own ends. What makes you think a theocracy would be better?
Should we et bums like you destroy the moral reasons of millions of people who selflessly give up time and money to help charitable causes.
I would like to think that people would give up time and money to charitable causes because it's the right thing to do, not because they think it will curry favour with 'the man upstairs'.
Should we all gravitate towards a odless world where justice and progress is decided by individuals on WHAT? (political) grounds.
Where do you think justice and progress is decided upon at the moment?
Face facts we basically inherited our justice and working system from religion
Because prior to Moses rocking down a mountain with a couple of stone tablets the Hebrews were happily killing and fucking everything in their paths?
if we hadn’t we would still be fucking cavewomen in caves and made no progress from the age of wholly mammoths.
Yeah, religion never gets in the way of scientific advancement does it?
Hardly an atheist utopia back then was it boyo.
That would be because the superstition mongers were running the show.
I will leave with this rhetorical question cave sex with monkeys or religion which one would you of chosen Freud?
Do you have pictures of the monkeys?
Other than that you have made my day, so once again, Thank You.
Hello folks, as I intimated in my previous post I am indeed now ready to recommence my efforts on this blog. Some of you may have noticed that I haven't posted anything for a while, in fact my last substantive post was in early March. You may also have noticed that I stopped posting without warning, well don't worry gentle readers I didn't disappear from the atheist blogosphere due to discovering a supernatural deity shaped hole in my psyche or anything like that, it was purely and simply due to work commitments. I have never explained on this blog what I actually do for a living and, sadly, I'm not about to now either, but I have spent the past few months out of the country in a location where, due to the nature of my employment, blogging has been impossible.
It may seem that I am attempting to be enigmatic and mysterious with regards to my employment in an attempt to 'big myself up'. I can assure you that is not the case. My job is mundane for the most part, but for reasons that I simply can't be arsed to explain on this blog, I feel that discussing the matter would be giving out more information regarding my personal life than I am currently prepared to give. So sorry readers (both of you!).
However, I am now back in control of my keyboard and will attempt to pick up where I left off, which, as you all remember, is posting random atheistic commentary on a minor blog which probably amuses no-one other than me.*
Good to be back.
*Which is probably the only real reason for anyone to blog anyway.
It may seem that I am attempting to be enigmatic and mysterious with regards to my employment in an attempt to 'big myself up'. I can assure you that is not the case. My job is mundane for the most part, but for reasons that I simply can't be arsed to explain on this blog, I feel that discussing the matter would be giving out more information regarding my personal life than I am currently prepared to give. So sorry readers (both of you!).
However, I am now back in control of my keyboard and will attempt to pick up where I left off, which, as you all remember, is posting random atheistic commentary on a minor blog which probably amuses no-one other than me.*
Good to be back.
*Which is probably the only real reason for anyone to blog anyway.
Forty lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation. What despicable crime could a person commit to warrant such a sentence? Well, if you are a 75 year old grandmother and live in Saudi Arabia then the answer is simple - 'Mingling' with 2 male non-relatives.
Wait, what? A 75 year old grandmother is to be given 40 lashes, a prison sentence and kicked out of the country because she was in the presence of two men in their twenties without a male relative as an escort? What the fuck did the judiciary think was going on there? Now I'm normally the first one with his mind in the gutter but even I might draw the line at the idea that there was something immoral going on in this situation.
According to The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice however, immoral is exactly what it was and the woman and her 2 male 'accomplices' were hauled up in front of the judge. And, lest it be said that Saudi justice is anything but fair, the two men were also sentenced to four months in prison and 40 lashes and six months in prison and 60 lashes respectively.
That'll teach them.
Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider hits the nail right on the head:
Wait, what? A 75 year old grandmother is to be given 40 lashes, a prison sentence and kicked out of the country because she was in the presence of two men in their twenties without a male relative as an escort? What the fuck did the judiciary think was going on there? Now I'm normally the first one with his mind in the gutter but even I might draw the line at the idea that there was something immoral going on in this situation.
According to The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice however, immoral is exactly what it was and the woman and her 2 male 'accomplices' were hauled up in front of the judge. And, lest it be said that Saudi justice is anything but fair, the two men were also sentenced to four months in prison and 40 lashes and six months in prison and 60 lashes respectively.
That'll teach them.
Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider hits the nail right on the head:
"This is the problem with the religious police,watching people and thinking they're bad all the time. It has nothing to do with religion. It's all about control. And the more you spread fear among people, the more you control them. It's giving a bad reputation to the country."Control. Control through fear. The foundation of just about every religion ever to have existed and something that is utilised ever so successfully by the Saudi 'royals'. Oh, and the fact that the rest of the 'civilised' world will do absolutely fuck all about it lest they upset the delicate sensibilities of those misogynistic goat-herds who control the majority of the world's oil supply.
It's that time again! Carnival Of The Godless #112 is here and ready for your delectation. Get your arses over to State of Protest where you can check out the latest musings from around the atheist blogosphere.
Atheist musings...mmmmmmm!
Wow! Christopher Hitchens really slams this Rabbi on the subject of circumcision and genital mutilation:
Remind me never to get on the wrong side of the Hitch!
Remind me never to get on the wrong side of the Hitch!
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. (Blaise Pascal)H/T once again to Too Many Tribbles
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