Author Archive for Stew

Magic!

Space shuttle Atlantis in silhouette, or in transit, against the sun.

Beautiful

Spritual Attack

For most of us, shit happens.
Your car breaks down on the way to work, the biro leaks in your shirt pocket, and the goon at work is giving you a hard time. Shit happens.
But if you're a fundie Christian it's all the fault of Satan and it's a spiritual attack, for the express purpose of making you lose your faith in God.

There are several ongoing threads at Rapture Ready on spritual attacks. because these bozos believe the end is nigh, they are also convinced that spritual attacks are on the increase as Satan, in his last gasp attempts to forestall the inevitable final triumph of jesus lashes out at the faithful. All the following quotes have come from the last three days.
(It needs mentioning that back in the day, I was a bozo too)



I am just completely exausted. I sometimes feel like one more day will be to much! I think of all that is going on in the world is just amazing...I am just so heartbroken that our country is being sold out. And it seems nobody has a clue about what is happening. Everybody is walking around as if it's business as usual. We are a matter of months to a year away from Iran getting nukes....I just dont know. People its time to wake up!


Yes, there's been weird things going on in my corner too. Mostly things happening to people close to me (alcoholic brother relapsing, etc.), things not working out much more so than usual, yet it seems God causes other doors to open. Usually I would be a bit more negatively affected, but I've just put these things in God's hands and I feel at peace. Praise God!
Lately I've been led to pray for God's supernatural hedge of protection around my family, friends, neighbors and brothers and sisters in Christ (around the world and of course here at RR). I really think that we are in a time where we will survive only through God's constant supernatural guidance.
All week last week I couldn't find my Sunday School material for teaching kindergartners at church. I was kind of stumped as to where in the world it went, I'm pretty good about making sure the material is in a safe spot in the house.


I, too have felt the 'heaviness' upon my heart in the past 2 weeks. I know I am getting closer to the Lord, yet I still have a long way to go. My heart is unsettled and I know it shouldn't be. I've made it a habit to take some quiet time daily and pray (I also talk to the Lord during the day) and I am reading my bible on a fairly daily basis. It does help me, but I am still struggling.


I have had attacks that lasted for years and I wanted to kill myself because of them. God provided me a way to stand against the hurricaine that had invaded my life. I seem to be in a resting period right now. All I can say is that nothing lasts forever in this life. Nothing good and nothing bad. Just think that we could be living in the millenium kingdom 10 years from now and forget everything about this time that we live in. It's very possible.


One of the most upsetting things that I've seen lately is the amount of attacks from other self-called "Christians." Has anybody else been experiencing this?
One of Satan's ploys, apparently, it to attack from directions that are almost unimaginable. It's expected to be hurt by non-believers. However, my family, recently, has been attacked by some who proclaim to be Christians. These attacks are more shocking because they are so unexpected. So many are being led down that wide path, and they don't even realize it.


I'm not sure what to think, I feel weird about the World every single day.
Just hang in there, things are heating up! This IS the Last Generation.
Can't be too long.


The same here also, the days go by and I feel well different, going throw the motion's of life, but at the same time feeling I guess a big sense of change coming are way.....I also feel the sense of urgency to leave tracts everywhere especially the last couple of days, one day it was late and I couldn't get it off my mind so I left and just went around leaving tracts everywhere... about 30 to 45 minutes later I came back feeling much better, the same thing yesterday.....but I also have the sense of peace that the Lord has it under control....and I really believe that there is a spirtural battle going on right now, the devil knows his time is really short....but pray and stay close to God......For Jesus is coming back!

Ye oŋe and oŋley wordde of God

A particular brand of wingnuttery I've come across lately is the belief that the King James version of the Bible is the one and only Word of God and all other translations are at least substandard, and at worst, works of the devil.
It is called the King James Only movement and is yet another source of schism amongst the myriad Christian sects.

Try this web page for example: Why Do We Only Support The King James Version Of The Holy Bible?

FABLE: The King James Bible was revised several times before 1800, so modern translations are just additional revisions of the original King James Bible of 1611.

FACT: The so-called "revisions" of the King James Bible prior to 1800 were to correct typographical errors, add notes, and omit the Apocrypha from between the Testaments. There were no changes in the actual TEXT of the King James Bible. The REAL changes (over 36,000 of them) didn't start until the modern revisionists came on the scene.

Well that's OK then. The whole thing was God inspired and controlled except for the typos. God can't proof read.

FABLE: The modern translations are more accurate because they have been translated from older and better manuscripts.

FACT: It is truly amazing how so many Christians have bought into this lie without ever checking to see WHAT these manuscripts are, WHERE they came from, and WHO wrote them. Its also strange that no one seems to be asking the question, "Has God honored these 'older' and 'better' manuscripts throughout Church History?"

Older doesn't mean better. Unless it's the KJV in which case older is better.

FABLE: New translations are needed to correct the errors and contradictions in the King James Bible.

FACT: No one has ever proven that there are errors and contradictions in the KJV. Many "Christian" colleges and preachers have a nasty habit of pointing out APPARENT contradictions to their people, but these arguments have been disproven so many times that it is nothing less than disgusting to hear them still being used.

Well there's a few problems here, not least of which is that all the newer translations are full of contradictions too.

FABLE: New Translations are needed to bring the archaic Old English language up to date. People have trouble understanding the language of the King James Bible.

FACT: The King James language is NOT hard to understand. Most of the so-called "archaic" words are explained by the context of the passage or by comparing the passage with other passages in the Bible where the same word is used. Heady and high-minded people resent the King James language because it is plain and simple, and it isn't in tune with their high-minded vocabulary. In fact, the Grade Level Indicator of the Flesch-Kincaid research company says the King James language is EASIER to understand than the new versions.
We certainly agree that the language of the King James Bible is a unique language, but why shouldn't it be? It's the WORD OF GOD!

Can't argue with that. If English was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for me too.

FABLE: The King James Bible cannot be infallible because the translators were only men, and all men are sinners. The human element prevents the KJV from being infallible.

FACT: If this is true, then even the ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPHS in Hebrew and Greek were not infallible, because they too were penned by men!

Exactly. Do these people have no sense of irony?

FABLE: The King James translators added to the word of God, because the italicized words in the KJV were not in the originals.

FACT: The Italics in the KJV prove that the translators were HONEST in their work. They set the words in italics so we'd know they were not in the manuscripts they were using.
Besides, no one has a copy of the original manuscripts today, so no one knows for certain that the italicized words aren't in them. In fact, there are many cases where we know that the italicized words are justified. For example, notice in Deuteronomy 8:3 that the word "word" is in Italics. However, when Jesus quotes this verse in Matthew 4:4 he INCLUDES the italicized word! If the italicized word does not belong in the Bible, why did the Lord Jesus quote it?

Because the guys who wrote the gospels were making shit up?

FABLE: The original King James Bible included the Apocrypha in the Old Testament.

FACT: The King James translators knew the Apocrypha was not scripture, so they placed it BETWEEN the Old and New Testament as a HISTORICAL DOCUMENT, not as scripture.

Ohhh, OK. So why have the Apocrypha been dropped from the KJV again?

Here we have the crazy Faithful Word Baptist church burning the Satanic NIV. A bit of web research will show that the wife of pastor Steven L. Anderson, Zsuzsanna has a particularly hateful blog, and do yourself a big favour and watch the YouTube vid of pastor Anderson very upset after a border cop beat him up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUzd7G875Hc They are also Quiverful crazies and antivaccine crazies

A French nutter

Sometimes my blogospheres overlap. As in this case, a tale of Christian wickedness from my adopted France. I'm surprised Mojoey hasn't got here first!

The daring prison break of Juliano Verbard, who was serving 15 years, and two other men 10 days ago was the stuff of TV drama as accomplices flew over the Reunion prison in a helicopter and hoisted them aboard.

Police said the fugitives were hiding in a house when arrested. Juliano Verbard and seven others were caught in a building in the island's capital, Saint-Denis. Police said 50 officers were involved in the operation, AFP news agency reported.

Here's the kicker: Verbard, the leader of the pseudo-religious cult, the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, was jailed in 2008 for rape and sex attacks on children, and the other two for their roles in a kidnap.

Shurley some mistake…

As they say in Private Eye

Speaking at the modern King Hussein bin Talal Mosque in Amman, he (the Pope) struck a note of harmony and shared purpose between the world's two largest faith groups, urging Christians and Muslims to jointly defend religion from political manipulation.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL852380020090509

I prefer to turn that phrase around.

It seems to me we need to defend politics from religious manipulation. Political manipulation is the Catholic church's no. 1 job.

As for Islam ... how can anyone, especially the Pope keep a straight face while saying Islam needs to be defended from politcal manipulation?

Good luck girls

Irina Fyet and her partner will try to become Russia's first lesbian married couple on Tuesday May 12.

Given Russia's deep rooted homophobia, I doubt they'll succeed. They have a back up plan, which is to get married in Canada, or Norway, where you don't have to be a citizen to get married, and then return to Russia and try and get the marriage recognised.

Three years ago, Russian Police, militant Orthodox Christians and neo fascists violently broke up the first gay rights march in Moscow. (I'd love to see a Venn diagram depiction of those 3 groups, I suspect they all overlap 100%)

Next week will also see Russia's gay pride marchwhich willpurposely coincide with Moscow's hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest and competitors will be asked to back homosexual rights on stage.

The Russian Orthodox Church, resurgent since the fall of the Soviet Union, has helped turn public sentiment against gay pride events, which the then head of the church, Patriarch Alexey II, has called "propaganda for homosexuality."

Can’t fool Google

Have you ever lied?

Ray Comfort and his Way of The Master ministries have a favoured style of street preaching and evangalism. You can find examples on YouTube if you care to search. I wouldn't dignify anything to do with WOM with a link.

It starts with asking the punter "Have you ever lied?" When the reply is "Yes" They then ask "What does that make you?".
"A liar" is the logical response.
"Have you ever stolen anything?"
"Yes"
"What does that make you?"
"A thief"

Having put the mark on the defensive and made the mark admit his own"sin", the WOM evangalists then give chapter adn verse on how the reward for sin is hell, but you can be saved through the sacrifice of Jesus.

I had always thought a valid riposte would be to ask the evangalist if he had ever been kind, or helped anyone, or loved anyone, because by their own logic that would make him a kind, helpful, loving person, but of course they would then quote the Bible to show that our good works count for nothing before god.

I much prefer this excellent response from Over at the Richard Dawkins Net Forum by Sevlevboss:
I'll answer your questions if you answer mine.

1) Have you ever worn a diaper?
2) Have you ever drooled?
3) Were you breast fed?

OK, I may be a blasphemous liar, but you are a drooling, pants shitter who sucks his mom's tits!


Pure gravy.

Bloody savages

Here's a story of mixed messages.

Ameneh Bahrami was terribly scarred and blinded in 2004 when a spurned suiter poured sulphuric acid over her.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/13/AR2008121302147.html

In the weird and barbaric world of Sharia law, the condemned man was originally sentenced to be blinded in one eye, because one man is worth two women, thus two female eyes equal one male.

Bahrami appealled and the sentence was changed so that the attacker will now be blinded in both eyes, under anaesthetic via 5 drops of sulphuric acid in each eye.

Bahrami feels that she has not asked for more than her due, given the suffering, pain, disfigurement and blindness she has endured.

Today, International Womens Day, it is good to know that female eyes have the same worth as mens' in Iran.

Manic Street Preacher #2

So, Tony "The Lawman" carries a handgun when he's out preaching on the streets.

How do we know this?

Because he blogged about it. He later deleted the blog entry, but thanks to the vigilance of SMRT Jill D the blog post was saved. Below is thiat blog post, followed by a revealing exchange between Tony "PhD" Miano and a young Christian.



The Story of how I earned my 'Ph.D"

(Picture of handgun)

Don't freak. There's a good reason why there is a picture of a gun on my blog. :-)

I closed my last post with the following:

"One of the highlights of the afternoon was when Ray conferred upon me my first Ph.D. That's right. It's now "Dr. Lawman," thank you very much. To be continued....."

So, please, extend grace and patience to me while I digress from the usual evangelistic post and share with you, my friends and readers (not always one in the same), how I earned my first Ph.D.

As most of you already know, I spent twenty years of my adult life serving as a deputy sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. When I joined the Living Waters team at the beginning of the year, we all agreed that my presence would provide some additional security at headquarters, during film shoots (no pun intended), and whenever the need may arise.

From time to time, Ray will playfully ask, "Tony, are you packin' heat?"

Sometimes I answer. And sometimes, with a twinkle in my eye, I just give Ray a smile.

Well, for my birthday this year, I decided to treat myself to a new gun. When I retired from the Sheriff's Department, I had to turn in the firearm I carried for twenty years. And the other weapons I have are neither practical enough or tactical enough for life as a retired deputy sheriff. I needed something I could discreetly carry on my person that met my needs. So, I purchased the weapon pictured above: a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm Compact. Ain't she a beaut! (Okay. We law enforcement types get unusual birthday presents.)

Yesterday, as Ray, Mark, and I made our way to Hollywood Boulevard, Ray asked, "Tony, are you packin heat?"

"Yes, Ray." I answered with a smile.

"Does it have a name?"

"No, Ray, I don't name my guns. Some people do; but I just never thought of my guns that way."

"Well, we should come up with a code word, just in case we need it."

"Need what?"

"Your gun!"

"Ah, let's hope that never happens." I said. "Well you're always asking me if I'm packin' heat.

Why don't we use 'Paul Henry' -- 'P' for 'Paul,' and 'H' for 'Henry'. 'Packin' heat,' 'Paul Henry.'

How does that sound?

Ray thought for a moment. Ray is not only a master of analogies, but he is also a master of acronyms. "How about 'Ph.D.!'"

"Ph.D.?"

"Yeah. 'Ph.D.' 'Packin' Heat Dude!'"

We all laughed, and the acronym stuck. And that's how Ray Comfort conferred upon me my first (and likely only) Ph.D.

So, in the words of the radio legend, Paul Harvey, now you've heard the rest of the story. :-)


How weird is Ray Comfort?

This, the is an exchange of posts between Tony and a young believer.

Tony Miano,

I believe you misplaced this. No matter, that’s only part of why I’m emailing you. Rather, [and unfortunately] I find occasion to call account of a deed of your’s which I do not see as at all Biblical (quite the opposite, as I hope to convince you). Namely, your carrying of a gun.

First of all, please understand where I’m coming from. As something like a red-neck myself, I completely empathize with you for carrying a gun. I simply don’t believe you have the right. Did the Apostle Paul make any effort to defend himself? Or what of Steven? Or any of the other apostles? Yet their scenarios were far worse then your own, my friend. Rest assured you have the law on your side. Paul didn’t, but he by no means undertook to defend himself.

You talk enough about hell and judgment –you ought to be more practical about it. Could you honestly and deliberately take the life of an unbeliever, knowing very well where that person was going? Might I ask, whatever happened to turning the other cheek? Or is, perhaps, your ministry truly only about yourselves?

Provers 9:8 says “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Rebuke a fool, and he will hate you.” I think you get the point.

Sincerly, your brother in Christ,
Jonathan Brennecke


The Lawman replies:
Jonathan,

You close your e-mail with “Sincerely, your brother in Christ.” Yet the tone of your e-mail, young man, is anything but brotherly or Christian. While you ask some legitimate questions, the manner in which you ask them smack of sarcasm. If you are looking for a rational and respectful conversation, then I welcome it. But I don’t abide the disrespect of my children (some who are older than you), so why would I accept it from you?

So, if you are a Christian, then approach me the way a young Christian man would approach an older Christian man. Change your attitude and maybe we will have a conversation. “Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father” (1 Timothy 5:1a).

One of the reasons I removed the article you referenced is because I came to realize that it might be a cause of stumbling for some. You validated this by the tone and content of your e-mail.

Again, I welcome your questions, so long as you can behave in a respectful manner.

I am in the middle of a conference, at the moment. So, if you do decide to change the tone of your rhetoric, we may be able to continue the conversation in a few days.


So, the question not addressed, Just a slapdown for not showing enough respect.

Jonathan replies:

Tony Miano,

I’ll be the first to admit that my tone was rash –is rash– but love is rash. Love is audacious. Love is uncompromsing. If you must glean nothing more from my words than that, so be it.

I will tell you what love is not. Love is not patronizing, not derisive, not condemning.

I may be young enough to be your son, but I am not your son –don’t patronize me. The future belongs to the young, Tony. Get off your high horse already and recall that Jesus said to come to him like a child.

Jon,
Pesharim


Tony responds with:
I may answer your questions in a future blog post. But until your attitude changes, this will end our conversation.


In the first reply Miano said one of the reasons he removed the post was:
I came to realize that it might be a cause of stumbling for some.
and he accusses Jon of having done exactly that.
"Causing someone to stumble" is a Christian euphamism for "I can do this thing because I have rationalised it to myself, but if you try and do it, you are not sufficiently spiritually mature and it will lead you into sin".
They tend to use it with regard to things that are not explicitly forbidden in the Bible, like smoking, for example, or heavy metal, or big fat mustaches.

Manic Street Preacher #1

Over at the SMRT forums someone posted a link to this video of Tony "The Lawman" Miano.



Tony "The Lawman" Miano is a colleague of Ray "Bananaman Comfort" at Living Waters. When I watched this video I was appalled by the hypocricy and the cowardice.

The video is hosted on YouTube channel called "TheLawman104". It's a bit strange because it looks like it's his channel, it says "Tony" next to the name field, but in all the video descriptions he talks about himself in the third person. Very Odd. Ray Comfort's been known to speak of himself in the third person too. It must be some Living Waters delusion of grandeur thing.

He calls himself "The Lawman" because he's ex-cop, and he's big on preaching "The Law" of the Bible. He's also big on mustache, and reminds me of the cop from Village People. Or the leather man.

He also carries a gun.

That's right. Watch the video. Hear how he refers to the crowds as "rabid". He says "The most loving thing you can do for a homosexual . . . is to lovingly share the Law and the Gospel with them" I don't think Biblical law is filled with love for homosexuality. And if it's all done so lovingly, why carry a gun?

On the other hand, he also believes that homosexuals are an abomination to his god. That makes his gun even more worrying.

I will shortly publish the post he deleted from his blog, where he tells of why he carries the gun, and how Ray Comfort came up with the nick-name/codeword "PhD" for Tony's gun. I will also post the discussion between Tony and a young Christian who contacted him asking about the morality of an armed evangalist.

Atheists don’t do charity, apparantly

How volunteering can stave off depression

Don't waste money on expensive therapy, give up your time for someone else


Julie Burchill reckons that athesists are too busy being intellectual to help anyone.

Those wonderful atheists are obviously too busy doing something intellectual to be bothered with helping others.


She also believes that depression is on the rise because:
a. People are less religious than before
b. People do less voluntary work than before
the Christian presence has stayed constant as middle-aged women have been tempted into more self-regarding activities. And as this has happened, their levels of depression have risen, because religious faith and voluntary work are the twin tried-and-tested pillars of happiness.


If you feel the self absorbed La Burchill needs correcting you might leave a comment on the article at the Times website, linked above.

A psychic gets one right!

Here's a turn up for the books.

From Charente Libre, our local paper, Saturday 6th December.

Original text below, my translatioàn is as follows:

Police dogs, helicopter, divers from La Rochelle ... For a week, they pulled out all the stops to try to find Jeanne Brault, a deaf and mute woman, 82 years old, who had left the hospital in Loudun Renaudot, Saturday 22 November. Just until last Saturday when the lifeless body of the octogenarian was eventually found by family members in the park of the hospital Loudun "thanks to a valuable visionary," according to one brother of the victim, Henri Brault. "My brother and my sister went to see a psychic last Saturday near Saumur. This psychic, without going to the scene, told them where she was. The police returned to Loudun that afternoon and found our sister about 17.30 where the psychic had told them. The doctor did not want to believe it. It is true that it is unbelievable, but it's like that! "

This psychic is Jacqueline Vitré (photo CL), a resident of Villebernier aged 65. Thirty-eight years of dowsing behind her. She says: "The family gave me the dressing gown of this lady and her picture. I set my pendulum above the dressing gown and I felt that person could be at this place. I have even made a little drawing on which I stated that it was in a wood at the foot of quite a large tree, near the hospital. I advised family members to search in this direction. I also made it understood that for me, she had died. I saw her sitting at the foot of the tree. However, she was found lying down."

That is the only error for the visionary, as for the rest, her visions have proved correct. So much so that the gendarmes of Loudun, surprised at this "paranormal aid", called the psychic into the station. "They wanted details. I can not explain it. It's just a matter of feeling."

An autopsy on the body of the octogenarian revealed that "the cause of death was natural." The prosecutor further states that "any suspicious circumstances have been ruled out. The only question left is to establish the time of death to within 48 hours."

One of the brothers of the victim is struggling to explain how his sister had not been found by police during the week of their search as the place where her body was found had been searched by them. "The day before her death, I saw her," says Henri Brault. "She wasn't well. She had problems. We do not know how she left the hospital." For the visionary, Jeanne Brault wandered away from the hospital during the searchh conducted by police and then retraced her steps toward the park of the hospital where she would be be found.

jaqueline Vitré

I suppose sooner or later psychics get lucky. I have to consider some alternatives other than psychic phenomenon, because that would be a real challenge to my world view.
Logically of course the psychic new that the lady was old, sick and frail and couldn't have gone far. She is a local woman so she probably knows the hosptal and its grounds. I certainly know the hospital at Girac very well now. She would have deduced that if the woman was in the open she would have been found. That leaves either an abduction if she had reached the roads around the hospital, or she was still within the grounds but in a place with cover, like woods.


Brigade cynophile, hélicoptère, plongeurs de La Rochelle... Pendant une semaine, de très gros moyens de recherches ont été déployés pour tenter de retrouver Jeanne Brault, une femme de 82 ans sourde et muette qui avait quitté l'hôpital Renaudot à Loudun le samedi 22 novembre. Jusqu'à samedi dernier. Le corps sans vie de l'octogénaire a finalement été retrouvé par des membres de la famille dans le parc de l'hôpital de Loudun «grâce aux précieuses indications d'une voyante», d'après l'un des frères de la victime, Henri Brault. «Mon frère et mes sœurs sont allés voir samedi dernier une voyante du côté de Saumur. Cette voyante, sans se déplacer sur les lieux, leur a dit où elle se trouvait. Ils sont revenus à Loudun l'après-midi même et ils ont retrouvé notre sœur vers 17h30 là où la voyante leur avait dit. Le médecin ne voulait pas y croire. C'est vrai que c'est incroyable, mais c'est comme ça!»

Cette voyante, c'est Jacqueline Vitré (• photo CL), une habitante de Villebernier âgé de 65 ans. Trente-huit ans de radiesthésiste derrière elle. Elle témoigne: «La famille m'a apporté la robe de chambre de cette dame ainsi que sa photo. J'ai mis mon pendule au-dessus de la robe de chambre et j'ai ressenti que la personne disparue pouvait se trouver à tel endroit. Je leur ai même fait un petit dessin sur lequel je leur précisais qu'elle se trouvait dans un bois au pied d'un arbre assez gros, près de l'hôpital. J'ai conseillé aux membres de la famille de faire les recherches en ce sens. Je leur ai également fait comprendre que pour moi, elle était décédée. Je la voyais assise au pied de l'arbre. Or, elle a été retrouvée allongée.»

C'est là la seule erreur de la voyante car pour le reste, ses visions se sont avérées justes. Au point que les gendarmes de Loudun, surpris de cette «aide paranormale», ont convoqué la voyante dans leurs locaux. «Ils voulaient avoir des détails. Je ne saurais pas l'expliquer. C'est juste une question de ressenti.»

Une autopsie pratiquée sur le corps de l'octogénaire a révélé que «la cause de la mort était naturelle». Le procureur de la République précise en outre que «toute forme d'intervention extérieure est exclue. Le seul doute réside dans la fixation exacte de l'horaire du décès à 48 heures près».

L'un des frères de la victime a du mal à s'expliquer comment sa sœur n'avait pu être retrouvée par les gendarmes pendant la semaine de leurs recherches alors que l'endroit où son corps a été découvert avait déjà été fouillé par les fonctionnaires. «La veille de sa disparition, je l'avais vue, raconte Henri Brault. Elle n'allait pas bien. Elle avait des ennuis. On ne sait pas comment elle a quitté l'hôpital.» Pour la voyante, Jeanne Brault se serait éloignée de l'hôpital lors des recherches menées par les gendarmes et serait revenue ensuite sur ses pas en direction du parc de l'hôpital où elle devait être retrouvée.

Obama shits in Jesus’ manger

Do what?
In Catalonia (Spain) it is traditional to make little nativity scenes with figurines.

And you can buy the figurines of shepherds, sheep, Mary, Joseph et al at Christmas markets there.

And to add to these, little figurines of famous people having a crap.

At this link there is a slide show of the kind of stuff they do, including Obama, Merkel, Sarkozy and Brown all with their pants down

Witchcraft in the 21st cnetury

Here is a terrible story about child withches in Nigeria.

Fundie Chfristianity, merged with traditional beliefs has caused a plague of evangelical churches springing up who have wich hunt services. Children are accused and tortured until the confess. Then they are ostracised or killed.

In the midst of this horrifying tale, living proof of how religion ruins everything is this statement from Sam Itauma, a Nigerian who is helping these children, currently caring for 150 homeless outcasts.

"Christianity in the Niger Delta is seriously questionable, putting a traditional religion together with Christian religion - and it makes nonsense out of it,"


No, Sam, it is a nonsense already. I am fairly certain that everything these evil people do can be backed up by Bible verses.

Child Abuse?

This lady and I grew up in the same country, Zimbabwe. We both left that country to find better lives elsewhere. That's where the similarity ends. For she is a fundimental born again Christian. And she believes her 4 year old daughter is a wretched sinner.

Sometimes during the day or before bed, she always asks me if she has been good, and I always try to be as honest as I can with her, and I will tell her what she has done wrong if I can remember. If she has been better than usual I will praise her and tell her. I have never said to her she has been a perfect little girl who has done nothing wrong all day, If I say that to her then I am a liar and I will be doing her more harm than good. I do not believe in teaching children self esteem or that they should feel good about themselves, because they should not. My daughter is a normal 4 year old who loves to play with her dolls and dress up, but everyday she finds that she is doing things that are wrong like doing something to upset her baby brother or not doing what she is told by her mum. So we have a problem, and this is an everyday battle. The problem is sin. I never taught my daughter to sin. This is because she, and as well as the rest of the human race have inherited a sinful nature from Adam. From the moment we are conceived we are sinners, Pslam 57:5. We are born with a desire to sin. We are all born God hating and evil.


The poor wee mite then told her mother that although she tries to be good, she can't and that she knew that only Jesus could help her to be good.
Jean thinks that she has left no imprint on this child and so it must be the Holy Spirit that has revealed this to the poor tortured girl.

This is bordering on child abuse, and I told her that in the comments.

I don't know if she will delete it, probably not because she is not scared of confrontation on her blog. She took a lot of flak for a previous post on her support for slavery.

Oh Jean, I am disappointed.

That is only a step away from child abuse.

4 years old and wracked with guilt daily.

"I do not believe in teaching children self esteem"

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear.

"So we have a problem, and this is an everyday battle"

Oh my word.

"She is a wretched little girl, who knows she is a wretched sinner who needs only a good saviour to help her."

Jean, that is terrible. Terrible. It amazes me that you and I who have some things in common can be so polarised, so far apart.

This post is one of the most shocking things I have ever read. And to think that you are pleased about it and want to share it, and to think that other people have written to say they admire you for it. Your poor little girl. If I was the praying kind I'd be praying for her right now.

Atheist Muslims

More power to them.

It was bound to happen, and I hope it continues.

Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain

They have taken their lead from the Central Council of Ex-Muslims in Germany

I am not sure, but I suspect that the state of athesim in the muslim community might be where atheism in christian societies was 50 years ago.

Please encourage these bright and brave people and help reach other muslim doubters by linking to them.

The manifest is solid:
01 Universal rights and equal citizenship for all. We are opposed to cultural relativism and the tolerance of inhuman beliefs, discrimination and abuse in the name of respecting religion or culture.
02 Freedom to criticise religion. Prohibition of restrictions on unconditional freedom of criticism and expression using so-called religious 'sanctities'.
03 Freedom of religion and atheism.
04 Separation of religion from the state and legal and educational system.
05 Prohibition of religious customs, rules, ceremonies or activities that are incompatible with or infringe people's rights and freedoms.
06 Abolition of all restrictive and repressive cultural and religious customs which hinder and contradict woman's independence, free will and equality. Prohibition of segregation of sexes.
07 Prohibition of interference by any authority, family members or relatives, or official authorities in the private lives of women and men and their personal, emotional and sexual relationships and sexuality.
08 Protection of children from manipulation and abuse by religion and religious institutions.
09 Prohibition of any kind of financial, material or moral support by the state or state institutions to religion and religious activities and institutions.
10 Prohibition of all forms of religious intimidation and threats.

Stop Sylvia Browne

I've made a few posts in the past about this nasty woman, and the stirling work done by Rob Lancaster at his Stop Sylia Browne website.

It seems that while Rob has been ill, the domain for his original website had expired and GoDaddy sold it on without giving him the opportunity to renew.

Some slime bought the domain and has modified it to be full of woo and priase of the witch.

So I've updated all my links and this post is to inform and also to give Google more hits on the good address. So forgive this opportunity to use Sylvia Browne's name a few times with links to the correct domain.

Sylvia Browne is a nasty predatory woman who makes a lot of money by lying to emtionally vulnerable people. It is a shame there are no legal means of stoppping Sylvia Browne from doing this