When you think of the word courage, what’s the first thing to cross your mind? If you happen to be gay and a catholic living in Connecticut, that word is about to take on a disturbing new meaning:

The Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, this month is beginning a program that ministers to gays and lesbians…The Vatican-endorsed program, called Courage…was started in 1980 by the late Terence Cardinal Cooke in Manhattan “to form a spiritual support system which would assist men and women with same-sex attractions in living chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love.”

It’s basically an organization that emotionally tortures gays and lesbians into giving up their joy of sex and intimacy because it doesn’t conform with what the Vatican wants.

“These are people in the Roman Catholic Church who need our care and love,” Deacon Robert Pallotti, director of the Office of the Diaconate, told the Hartford TV station. “In some cases, they have been rejected by society. They need to be accepted, affirmed and supported as Roman Catholics trying to remain faithful to church teachings.

Rejected by society, eh? Could that have anything to do with the fact that your organization continues to support the bigoted idea that what they are doing is inherently bad? Remaining “faithful” to Roman Catholic teachings is just a nice way of saying that they don’t want gay dudes fucking each other in the ass anymore.

Honestly, there is no one on this planet that needs the Vatican getting involved in their sex life. They’ve already proven that their sexual philosophies are diseased. While they condemn homosexuality, the Vatican has provided an unprecedented level of financial, legal and emotional support to child rapists. This alone should bare them from the conversation.

The program, ironically called “Courage”, is just another way for a bunch of creepy celibate dudes in robes to try and tell everyone else how to live. I’ll tell you what Courage is: it’s not putting up with deluded assholes who care more about their money, power and interests than they care about human suffering (remember, they actually think that suffering makes you closer to God). Courage is rejecting old dogmas in favor of scientific truth, even when everyone around you still cling to these ancient superstitions. And above all else, Courage is staying true to yourself, no matter what.

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Secular organizations in this country have the tendency to implode. Although it’s not clear exactly why this happens, it my have something to do with the fact that people tend not to agree on the best strategy to garner new members. Should we be in everyone’s face? Should we employ a more gentle approach that doesn’t alienate certain groups? While we may not argue over dogma like our religious counterparts, our common disbelief is usually not enough to create a powerful consensus among members. More than likely our differing opinions often polarizes people in two basic camps: Accommodation, and Confrontation.

As the former National Director of the Center for Inquiry Canada,  Justin Trottier clearly fell into the Confrontationalist camp. From his early days as a student activist at the University of Toronto, Justin was instrumental in breathing life into CFI. In it’s early days, his personality and vision allowed the organization to grow. His management style, unfortunately, tended to make him few friends. Still, one of the main reason why the organization has been so successful as of late is because of his relentless activism and his ability to “get the job done”. The whole reason CFI even exists in Canada is largely his doing. Say what you will about him: Justin has drive, and the growth of the organization would have been impossible without his passion.

A few months ago, Justin took a leave of absence to run as the Green Party candidate, and it was understood that during his time away, the Board was to find someone who could manage the day to day operation in a way Justin could not. This would have allowed him to concentrate more on activism and on gaining visibility in the media while the organization would have a friendly face managing volunteers (the man does have serpentine qualities, I’ll admit). What occurred instead was a witch-hunt against Justin; it was clear that recent additions to the Board disliked Justin intensely and wanted to try and implement a new strategy or the organization.  It took little effort to further alienate Justin from disenfranchised Members, and without any due process, he was effectively terminated from his position before returning from his leave of absence.  The repercussions of this witch-hunt can still be felt; even as I write this, various members continue to email one another with poisonous accusations against Justin of corrupting or poisoning members, the childishness of which cannot be overstated.

While Justin has remained silent to avoid sparking panic among the members, there are a number of high profile individuals within the organization – including Board members who wish to remain silent – that have expressed their concerns over the way Justin was fired. Since he was on leave when he was terminated, it’s not even clear if what the Board did was actually legal or not. In any case, something fishy was going on, and an email sent by Board Chair Carol Parlow did little to ease concerns:

Since CFI Canada became a registered charity, it has been managed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The Board’s priority is to guide CFI to a position of national significance, but we must also ensure that the legal requirements of our charitable status are carefully respected…The Board of CFI Canada recognizes Justin Trottier’s tremendous contribution to the establishment of CFI Canada. We also look forward to the exciting times ahead as CFI Canada grows into the prominent and respected organization it will become.

The email is simply a whitewash for members who express surprise or discontentment in the sudden change of leadership, or anyone for that matter who questions their new “direction”. In the interim of Justin departure, the organization had managed to spend over $20,000 attempting to revamp their mission statement. It was a move the Board felt would help attract important and new members with deep pockets. Their current strategy aims to give CFI a more professional and corporate images, but their gambit has so far failed to pay off. Justin’s departure means that a number of significant contributors have vanished a well, and CFI’s big American brother – suffering economically from the recession- is threatening to pull their funding as well. Their new Director, Derek Pert, is admittedly not an activist; he’s a friendly enough guy with good management skills, but this isn’t JCPenny.  If they cannot find new members with deep pockets, then with the added pressure of lost funding, its hard to imagine how they could survive.

Not one of these concerns have been expressed to members. Instead, we get a white-wash from the Board Chair and this false narrative that Justin left on his own accord. We were also given the impression that the decision was unanimous, when there were a number of absences and one member who abstained from vote (presumably a diplomatic way to express doubt over the new direction). In any case, to claim that there is no conflict currently brewing within the ranks is a lie. The Board shows deep fragmentation, and it’s my opinion that due to this issue, it cannot function effectively in its current form.

I don’t want to suggest that Justin should be re-instated, or even that CFI’s new strategy is wrong. It’s simply my opinion that the Board is fractured; not only over the decision to let Justin go, but also whether or not the new focus of the organization is the right one. That members have been given absolutely no information on these recent developments is a sign of impropriety, and it’ time for them to knock on the board’s door and demand some answers. The process needs to be more open, so that the people who actually pay the bills can decide for themselves if they like this new direction.

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Who else but Fox and Friends would be willing to report on this “non-story”. It turns out that a 1998 biology textbook entitled “Asking About Life” has some pretty honest words concerning creationism and it’s religious roots. Unsurprisingly, some Christians are feeling singled out. While it’s true that they aren’t the only morons who think that something complex can’t possibly be the result of natural forces, there’s no denying where the dogma is originating from.

Taking a page out of the Catholic Church and its long history of censorship, some idiot parent is attempting to have the book banned (if you can’t beat em, ban em’). Here’s a pretty basic question: What else is a science book supposed to write on creationism? Maybe the dictionary can be of some help:

a traditional or legendary story…with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

Uh oh, you better ban the dictionary too; I think it has a bias against those who make shit up too…

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If you were hoping that China would be immune from faith-pimps because of their long history of non-belief, then I apologize in advance for shattering your delusion. Not only is there a strong tendency for superstition in the country, they also appear just as vulnerable as the rest of us to religious nonsense. How else can you explain the rise of Christianity in the East?

It is impossible to say how many Christians there are in China today, but no-one denies the numbers are exploding.

The government says 25 million, 18 million Protestants and six million Catholics. Independent estimates all agree this is a vast underestimate. A conservative figure is 60 million. There are already more Chinese at church on a Sunday than in the whole of Europe.

Keep in mind that everything in China is just “larger” because of their huge population difference, so while 60 million sounds like an impressive figure to us, it still represents a tiny fraction of their population. Still, I won’t deny that the religion is growing, and that this may have more to do with a lost sense of community than anything else. In countries with a lot of corruption, it’s difficult to trust any institution. Religions have always done a good job of providing that assurance and trust where none exists. Why should we be surprised that the poor and indigent -increasingly ignored by their government- would turn to the comfort of religious dogma to escape their sorrow and to connect with others like them?

What can our rational unbelief offer these people? We need to do more if we’re to win the hearts and minds of people. Merely disproving the tenants of faith doesn’t diminish the feelings of community, hope and certainty that religion offers. If we had to debate which side had the better argument to win over people, then we’d be all set. Unfortunately for us, humans aren’t rational. They don’t make up their minds after careful consideration of all the facts. Instead, they rely on intuition, feelings, and emotions to make their decisions for them, and only later intellectually justify these beliefs (we still want to THINK we’re rational, after all).

Education isn’t enough. We need to stop being gigantic pussies about it and take the “institutional” plunge. We need to develop international support networks of the same complexity and devotion as our religious counterparts. We need to offer more than cold comfort, and we certainly can’t ignore all the roles filled by religion. If we truly want religion gone, then we’ll need to stop ignoring what works well for them, and instead embrace the positive attribute and appropriate them for ourselves (with a rational twist, of course).

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I do like the effort by this priest to ridicule creationism in the light of modern science. But while he ridicules these beliefs, he seems completely oblivious to the stupidity of his own dogma. Hey pal, there are some people who believe that a 2000 year old failed Jewish carpenter is actually a God too, and the rest of us think that’s just stupid. We’re glad that you exposed the utter inanity of creationism, but I can see by that collar on your neck that you still have a lot to learn about objective reality (not to mention the fun stuff you haven’t done yet, like shagging).

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About 40% of adults in America believe that Adam and Eve existed. This means that almost half of your population is functionally retarded. And you wonder why your economy is tanking…

In an effort not to ignore scientific truth forever, some evangelicals are starting to question the existence of Adam and Eve in order to finally catch up to the rest of us who have embraced the methodology of science. They naively believe -as Francis Collins does- that science and faith are compatible. I’m sure it appears to them this way, but only so long as their cognitive dissonance is in full swing. The twisted logic at work trying to rectify religious believe and the evidence of our evolution is astounding. It’s a step in the right direction, perhaps:

[Brian] Venema is part of a growing cadre of Christian scholars who say they want their faith to come into the 21st century. Another one is John Schneider, who taught theology at Calvin College in Michigan until recently. He says it’s time to face facts: There was no historical Adam and Eve, no serpent, no apple, no fall that toppled man from a state of innocence.

Yeah, if you do that, you have a major problem: without the fall, Jesus’ sacrifice is pointless (well, it was always pointless, but now more so). Original sin is of paramount importance to the faith. Don’t get me wrong; I love the idea of these people starting to accept that our species evolved from other primates. The problem is that they’ve simply refused to accept the conclusion of evolution. Of course, most evangelicals realize that abandoning this dogma would have serious repercussions to their belief:

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, says that rebellious choice infected all of humankind.

“When Adam sinned, he sinned for us,” Mohler says. “And it’s that very sinfulness that sets up our understanding of our need for a savior.”

Humanity “infected” by sin? That’s the Christianity we know and despise. As far as Jesus-lovers are concerned, humanity is a filthy pile of sin that’s barely worthy of God’s love. Only those slavish enough in their devotion to ignore reality can enter super-magic-fun-playland-in-the-clouds when they die. The rest, those unbelievers, will be tortured forever in a lake of fire for denying the divinity of someone who, if they existed today, would be put in a sanatorium. Christianity isn’t really a “people first” doctrine. As far as they are concerned, we’re all pieces of shit that disobeyed God at one time or another and have been punished ever since.

Let me put this another way: if Adam and Eve didn’t exist, then according to a bunch of very sexist Bible-belt assholes, there would be no justification for men ruling over the lives of women. That means that ladies would be able to control not only their own lives, but their reproductive cycles as well. Do you have any idea how terrifying that prospect is for an old white guy?

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When you’re busy fighting against the forces of superstition, dogma and pseudoscience, you can often forget about the smaller doses of idiocy that goes almost completely ignored. Take Flat-Earthers. I mean, no one even bothers to debunk these clowns anymore. It’s gotten so bad that they end up doing most of the hard work of calling them on their retarded shit for you.

Take the FAQ for the Flat Earth Society. It attempts to lay out all the arguments against their wacky belief, and by doing so, instantly arms anyone with the ability to debunk this garbage. Take a look at these hilarious claims:

• Satellites are a lie. Sustained spaceflight is impossible, and all signals are broadcast from towers or ground based satellites.
• The Sun and moon are 32 miles in diameter and are suspended above the earth via Dark Energy [NOTE: oh look, they learned a scientific term!]
• The Earth is constantly accelerating, thereby providing the experience of gravity. [NOTE: presumably without end]
• A vast “Icewall” protects the worlds oceans from falling off the sides.
• The atmosphere is actually an Atmolayer [NOTE: whatever the fuck that means]
• The sun and the moon have gravity, but the Earth does not, because it’s special.
• The North pole is cold because the 32 mile wide sun circles around the equator.
• Time zones exists because the sun doesn’t emit light in all directions, but rather is like a spotlight.
• Eclipses are caused by the “antimoon”, a mysterious moon shaped black body.
• If you drive directly southward, you will eventually fall off the edge [NOTE: none of their "scientists" have yet attempted this daring scientific experiment]
• The Coriolis Effect is a lie.
• All space-based organizations are involved in a global conspiracy to keep the truth of the earth’s flatness hidden.
• The giant “Icewall” is guarded by a government agents to prevent people from exploring it. No one has survived the attempt.

Where does one even begin? The antimoon? Government conspiracies to prevent people from realizing their are living on a constantly accelerating disk orbited (somehow) by a 32 mile wide spotlight and it’s glowing cousin? Yes, it all makes sense now! America is going bankrupt trying to pay off everyone to keep the Icewall a secret. Can you imagine what’ll happen if it melts away?

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I have to say I strongly disagree with Dan regarding this idea that Christianity is being “hijacked” by conservatives. Progressive Christianity is a fairly recent phenomenon. I doubt the thousands of witches burned at the stake would disagree (the last trial for sorcery took place in 1783 in Poland. Hardly ancient history). Religions are all conservative by nature. They demand adherence to strict dogma and tradition. The history of homophobia in Christianity is too ancient to trace. To pretend somehow that the religion is accepting is to ignore the fact that most religious people simply pick and choose their morality, rather than extracting any hard lessons from the Bible.

As far as the idea that the growth in Non-belief is somehow partially due to embarrassed Christians, I think it only demonstrates how impossible it has become to defend this belief. Their best line of defense is still “faith”. Try defending any other argument with that bullshit answer. I don’t image it’ll go very far.

If you’re a liberal Christian and you want to scream in the faces of your religious counterparts, then go nuts. Just remember that as far as they are concerned, you’re just as bad as the non-believers. Your opinions and values mean nothing to them. You’ve obviously strayed away from the “core” faith in their eyes, and there’s really no point in trying to use your sophisticated nonsense to try and debate with them. They follow scripture, while you follow the morality of a post-Enlightenment society. Guess which one has more weight to these clowns?

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Gary Smith was a friendly and popular religion teacher with a promising career, until four thugs, incensed by their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, decided to beat him to within an inch of his life for having the audacity to teach him a “lesson” for educating women about their nonsense religion.

Gary Smith, 38, was beaten as he walked to Central Foundation Girls’ School in Bow, east London, last July.

The gang left him unconscious after attacking him with a metal rod and a brick, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

The attackers, Azad Hussain, Akmol Hussein, Sheikh Rashid, and Simon Alam were each given a mandatory 5 year jail sentence for the attack. The Judge was also quick to reprimand these psychos for having been motivated by religious dogma, believing (not unreasonably) that they would continue their life of crime if they continued down this path.

The court heard how the men were only caught because Hussein’s car was being bugged on an unrelated matter.

Normally I might be a little freaked out at the idea of citizens being “bugged”, but it looks as though this was the right call with these psychos. If you read the amount of emotional and physical trauma the victim had to go through, you realize that these guys weren’t fucking around. Turns out they were terrorism suspects, and considering the fact that they were willing to attack an innocent man guilty only of educating young women, that doesn’t seem too far fetched.

The Security Service had placed a listening device in a car driven by one of the men as part of an investigation into a suspected terrorist network in East London, sources told the Daily Telegraph.

Evidently these morons have a problem living in a society where women are treated as equals. Luckily for them, they’ll be in an environment of only men now. Wonder how that’ll work out…

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Saturday is just about to roll around, and as many of you know, the failed prophet Harold Camping has been gathering a following of unbelievably gullible idiots, all of whom look forward to being teleported up into the clouds. Since his beliefs are so fringe, it’s invariably lead to family members having strained relationships. This one story, about a Mom losing her fucking mind and dragging her teenage kids all around to tell others about their make-believe bullshit, mad me particularly angry.

The three teenagers have been struggling to make sense of their shifting world, which started changing nearly two years ago when their mother, Abby Haddad Carson, left her job as a nurse to “sound the trumpet” on mission trips with her husband, Robert, handing out tracts. They stopped working on their house and saving for college.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to have a parent turn all “fundy” on you., ignoring your future in the hopes that the End of the World will take care of all their problems.

My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven,” Grace Haddad, 16, said. “At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.”

It should still be upsetting, girl! You’ve just done what everyone else in your position would have done: you decided to ignore the hateful and stupid beliefs of your mother in order to save the relationship. you’re braver than I am, I’ll tell you what.
I love my parents to death, but if they suddenly turned extremely religious, dragged me all over the country trying to “spread” the message about Armageddon, we would invariably have to part our separate ways. Religious dogma is so incompatible with my life. I have no time for such ignorance and blatant stupidity, and have no interest in watching my loved ones get caught up in this kind of dangerous nonsense.

Kevin Brown, a Family Radio representative, said conflict with other family members was part of the test of whether a person truly believed. “They’re going through the fiery trial each day,” he said.

Yeah, don’t forget that Jesus preached that you should abandon your family and friends if they failed to believe that he was in fact a God, so this whole “family division” is something christians are more than familiar with. After this whole mess is over and a new “End Times” date shows up, will this family again experience more insanity? Let’s hope not…

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