Herman Cain: We can ban Mosques

In order to be a viable Presidential candidate you should need to have a basic understanding of the constitution.  Based on Herman Cain's comments, in the following interview, it is clear that he doesn't understand the constitution or Islam.



I am afraid these comments will actually get him more votes in some circles of the Republican party, but in a general election this would be used by Obama to obliterate him. There are also plenty of stronger candidates running against him so there is a very slim chance that he will be the Republican parties candidate for President. However, he might find another position to run for or use the publicity of running for financial gain. Which is why these comments shouldn't be ignored. A person that is this bigoted has no business profiting from his stupidity and insulting rhetoric.

The Vatican on The Today Show

Image via Travelers Journal

I was catching up on some podcasts and was surprised to see that the Today Show did a couple of episodes from Vatican City recently. Vatican City, depending on who you ask, can bring up a wide variety of emotions thoughts. My first thought, was WTF then I grabbed my notebook and began writing about the church, Pope, and city. Most of the time when I begin jotting down my thoughts on a topic I write down a few bullet points and then turn it into a tweet or a Facebook status, but these notes quickly filled several pages in my notebook and could have filled much more of it if I hadn't decided that I should switch to my computer for the rest of my notes on this frustrating topic.

Even as a believer the catholic church angered me for the obvious reasons which include, but aren't limited to, their stance against the use of condoms, the lies that they spread about AIDS, the sex abuse that they allowed to go unpunished and tried to cover-up, and their extreme wealth that could help so many worthy causes. The biggest problem that I have with the catholic church is the lies that they have spread about how condoms aren't effective in stopping the transmission of the AIDS virus. In developed countries we know that condoms are effective in stopping the spread of AIDS, but in developing countries where sex education is very poor these lies are deadly and unconscionable. For years scientists have known that condoms can prohibit the spreading AIDS, but because the church is opposed to any form of birth control they have stooped to lying about condoms and have therefore caused many more people to contract AIDS than would have if the church had only been truthful.

The Today show could have focused on many more worthier topics, but because there are so many catholics in this is a place that would interest many of their viewers. Even so, they could have just stuck to the facts and didn't need to make such an effort to show the pope so much undeserved respect. They were making such an effort to paint the pope as such a holy person, I was actually surprised that they even brought up the fact that there was a sex abuse scandal. However, they didn't go into how the church has done everything that they can do to cover-up the scandal which led to more children being abused. In closing, I know that the Today Show has covered the scandal quite throughly in the past and that they probably didn't want to make these episodes a rehash of the information that they and other news programs have reported before or upset the Vatican after they had been given so much access to the pope and the city.

Atheist In Good Times and Bad!

Image by LeoLondon via Flickr

When I saw this cartoon I remembered how I used to pray that God would bring trials to the lives of those that didn't believe in Him. So, they would lean on Him and realize how powerful He is. Now I am very happy that their lives didn't get worse because of my prayers. I can't believe that I used to think that trials would make anyone become a Christian.

As an atheist I would never turn to a deity during a tough time. Instead, I am going to do things that are going to solve the problem. Praying or going to church would be a waste of time. Nor would I give my hard earned money to a church in hope of getting help from a god.

If you are a Christian and think that tough times will make an atheist turn to your deity think about what you are saying. You think that your god, who is all powerful and all knowing, needs to bully nonbelievers into believing in him. If a human acted like that we would call him a psycho. Why can't he sit on the couch with me and answer my questions? If that was to happen, after I asked lots of questions and performed tests to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, I would consider believing in him.

Let Your Heart Lead the Way

I have debated a long list of Christians. Some of the debates took place through e-mails, others were on Facebook and more recently they have been on Twitter. The debates can be as short as a few Twitter messages or as long as a few months of lengthy e-mails. While the beginning and middle of the debates vary the end is usually the same. They will explain to me that they understood my points, but that they know in their heart that God is real.

The idea of letting your feelings make big decisions is crazy. A scientist couldn't get his new medication pass the FDA by only saying, "I know in my heart that his medication will work great and isn't dangerous." The FDA would ask for evidence to back up this statement. A lawyer couldn't free his client by simply stating, "I know my client is not guilty because I can feel it in my heart." The judge, like the FDA in the previous example, would also require evidence. Our lives should be based on evidence not the warm and fuzzy feelings that we experience.

When the Bible was written people didn't know much about the brain which is why the Bible is filled with the idea that you think and believe things with your heart. This lack of knowledge has also lead to phrases like "I love you with all of my heart" to be part of our language. An all knowing god would have known about the brain and would not have misled his followers about the body he created. Although, there are so many things wrong with our bodies I can see why an all-powerful god wouldn't want to brag.

I know that many Christians say that everything around us proves God exists. However, through scientific discoveries we can explain how our earth came to be and shows that God isn't necessary for any of it. I know this doesn't mean that we can say with 100% certainty that there is not a god. However, there is enough evidence to feel comfortable living as if there isn't. Just as Christians live as if the all the other gods don't exist.

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours" -- Stephen Roberts

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due!

Try and wrap your mind around this insane cycle: God creates a problem, sends someone to fix that problem, and then demands that he is praised for that problem, which he created, being solved. If your brain hasn't exploded here is another thing to think about which god should be thanked? If you are thinking that is a stupid question because your god is the only true god, you need to realize that almost every religion believes that. You can't all be right, but you can all be wrong.

Growing up when I would do well on a test I usually wouldn't share it with anyone at church, because it irritated me when they would say "praise the Lord!" Each time I heard that I had to remind myself to smile and agree with them, because I really wanted to tell them how hard I worked to do well on that test. Also, I would think about how God has so many other problems to work on that are far greater than my exam. There were even times that I prayed to ask God to help those in 3rd world countries instead of helping me with my test, because I knew that I had studied really hard and was going to be fine. I had been taught that God could do an infinite number of things at a time, but I guess I figured that if he didn't have to help me he could do the rest of the things he had to do just a little better.

When I was a Christian I always made a point of thanking people for the things that they did before I thanked God for sending them to help me. I did that because I knew how much I hated when people would pray out loud and thank God for fixing problems that I fixed or someone I knew fixed. As an atheist I wonder if there are religious people that have really low self-esteem because they hear others thanking God for things that they did leading them to think that everything they do is just God working through them and that they are incapable of doing anything on their own.

I remember hearing sermons about how if we didn't thank God he might think that we don't appreciate him and he might just stop helping us to teach us how much we really do need him. Jealousy, anger, and spitefulness are all basic human emotions. These however, are not emotions that an all powerful god should have.

What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You

Many teens think it is cool to be ignorant. They don't see the need to go to school because they have no desire to go to college or get a job that requires a college education. They also make fun of the students that take their education seriously. Unfortunately though, this isn't just limited to teens there are many adults that are knowingly ignorant. I feel that everyone should be lifetime learners. There are always new discoveries being unveiled and everyone should want to know as much as they can about each one.

When I told my friends and family that I was an atheist I e-mailed them information that explained why I no longer believed in God. I knew that none of them would deconvert, but I wanted them to understand my position better. I was disappointed though when almost all of them told me that they weren't going to read the information that I sent them because reading it could poison their minds and hurt their relationship with God. Their explanation didn't really shock me, I grew up in the very conservative church that my mom and sister still attend and I knew first hand what the church said about atheists and atheistic literature

Evolution is a topic that most conservative Christians just write off as false, without actually learning anything about it. After I became an atheist the first thing I wanted to learn about was evolution. Now I cant get enough of evolution, biology, and zoology. I have talked to a few young earth creationists recently and have told them about various animals and how they have evolved into the animal they are today. Except, I didn't use any evolution buzz words (for example: evolved, natural selection, or a specific time table). Then when they were interested the the animal and thought it was pretty cool how it adapted for its environment I would explain that what I just told them about is an example of evolution. They would then answer back that it can't be since evolution is false, so God did that. I hope though that I have gotten them thinking about evolution in a whole new light and maybe they will do some research on their own.

Since becoming an atheist I have been learning as much as I can to make up for all the lies I was told growing up. I know that the leaders of the church weren't intentionally lying to me, they were just repeating what they had been told. I am here to break the cycle of ignorance, are you?

When Tragedy Strikes

I have never understood how people facing a horrible tragedy, such as a death of a family member or a terrible car accident, could say "this is all part of God's plan." If God is all-powerful and all-knowing couldn't he get his plan accomplished without killing or hurting people? In kindergarten I was taught that you can't kick and scream until you get your way, instead you have to use your words. So, today I am going to use my words to explain how there isn't a deity that is controlling all the tragedies that happen to everyone.

Growing up I heard over and over that God places obstacles in our life to test us and to bring us closer to him. Think about that statement for a second, this all-knowing all-powerful deity places problems in our lives to make our relationship with him stronger. Doesn't this sound a lot like how seven year old boys treat the girls that they like? If an adult tried to strengthen his relationship with another person this way they would either be in a mental institution or prison. So, why would a God that is supposed to be so much smarter than we are act this way?

One reason why some think that God allows tragedies to happen is because of the fall of man in the garden of Eden. The fall of man doesn't make any sense though when you really look at it. Let's say today a man robbed a bank we would just arrest the man involved in the robbery and not his son, who had nothing to do with the robbery. This idea of punishing children for the sins of the father however was normal when the Bible was written, but an all-knowing God should realize that this is absurd.

The idea that a tragedy is all part of God's perfect plan is echoed through out the Christian community quite a bit. This idea is back by the idea that God is omniscient. If you take one look at the Bible, that says God wrote it through men, it is clear that God isn't omniscient at all. The Bible is riddled with contradictions (http://tinyurl.com/2u9dljw), inaccurate scientific information (http://tinyurl.com/37zk4aw), and absurdities (http://tinyurl.com/6xvpgw).

With all of this information and more I feel that everyone goes through hard times just because accidents happen, people get sick, and so forth, but with the help of our families and friends we will get through hard times.

New Cat

We adopted another cat from the Humane Society. This time it was a 1 year old female and we named her Phoenix (thanks to dreid for the name suggestion). She is very playful and her and Apollo are getting along great. I know that isn't the greatest picture, but she will barely sit still for a moment. We now have 3 cats which I am being told by my husband that means I am on the border of becoming "the crazy cat lady". I don't really mind the title, but we are going to be giving Gemini to my brother-in-law because when we took her there on vacation she seemed to really like being the only cat in the place. It will be sad to see her go, but I know that she will be happier.

Now for a bit of advertisement for the Humane Society. If you are ever looking for a new pet go to the humane society. Depending on your location they may have more than just cats and dogs so keep that in mind if you are in the mood for a more exotic pet. Now more than ever the shelters need your help. Most of them are over populated because of the economy which just puts more stress on the animals. So please if you can afford to take in just one animal do it, every single animal deserves to have a home.

The War on Supidity

Image via Wikipedia"if there were no god, there would be no atheists" That is the quote that I woke up to yesturday morning. I spent most of the day thinking about it and reading tweets in reply to that comment.

The stupidity behind that comment is very evident and can be shown if you just replace the word "god" with "Santa" and "atheist" with "people who don't believe in Santa" as StyxMaker on twitter did.

This however is not the reason for this post, it is just the back story. I am writing because I hate stupidity. I realize that everyone in their lifetime is going to have a stupid moment, that isn't what I am talking about. I am talking about people that even after they are shown a heaping pile of evidence they stick their fingers in their ears and close their eyes. These kind of people will never change their minds about what they believe and they are just dragging down anyone that is willing to listen to them. If it were just adults that were in danger of being stupid it would be one thing, but they are teaching children. At first it is just ignorance on the part of the children that they follow in the footsteps of their parent, but later on when they are presented with the facts of reality they turn and head in to the black hole of stupidity and that is when it is dangerous. Problems like this one occur or this one and pretty soon you realize that your living in a place controlled by stupid people with no immediate future of changing. This is why stupidity much be combated every time it shows itself.

AFA Takes On Pepsi

Pepsi upsets the American Family Association (AFA). The saga begins with Pepsi donating $500,000 to Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. AFA counters with the following letter:

Recently we noticed that PepsiCo gave a $500,000 donation to Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. We were indeed surprised by PepsiCo’s support of the homosexual group. It would appear to us that PepsiCo would not involve itself in a political and culture war, especially supporting an organization seeking to redefine marriage and family.

We ask PepsiCo to remain neutral in this culture war, neither supporting nor opposing the homosexual agenda.

We would like to discuss this matter with PepsiCo. Would you have a representative of PepsiCo contact us?

Pepsi then put the AFA in their place with their response:

I’m responding to your letter to our Chairman. In 2008, the PepsiCo Foundation awarded a grant to Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to support a national program specifically designed for workplace environments.

The initiative seeks to promote further understanding and equality in the places where people spend much of their time at work.

Among the values promoted by the PepsiCo Foundation is ensuring a work environment that is respectful and where associates are valued for their contributions. I hope this helps clarify this grant by the PepsiCo Foundation.

Now the AFA is asking their sheep herds to boycott Pepsi as well as call Pepsi to inform them of their decision. I sure hope that Pepsi is just having them leave a message so they don't have to really listen to the hoards of religious anti-gay nuts.

We all know that the AFA really doesn't want Pepsi to remain neutral in this cultural war that they are constantly fueling, but if they said that then their true bigot stripes would show. I also like how the AFA called this a "condescending letter" nothing that Pepsi said was condescending they just supported their position and stood up the the AFA.

Christians Leaving Public Schools

One News Now is reporting that Christians are being urged to leave the public school system.

This sounds like a pretty good idea for a variety of reasons. First off, we might actually be able to teach real science in the classroom without them butting in and wanting their pseudoscience Intelligent Design BS given equal time.

Second, there might actually be a real sex ed section in health class that hasn't been watered down by the religious nuts who think that abstinence only education actually works. It is about time that public schools taught teens about STDs and how to protect themselves. This education is critical because, as all of us rational people know, many teens are having sex.

Third, classes could have honest discussions about social issues such as homosexuality, assisted suicide, and abortion, among others, without it turning into a argument of what each students invisible friend thinks about the issue.

There are only a few draw backs that I am seeing to this whole plan. First, the fact that public schools wouldn't get as much money because their student population would decrease. Also, since there wouldn't be as much money or student there would be a lot of teachers out of jobs. Although, many of the Christian teachers may go to Christian school since they would be in need of more brainwashers so maybe it would all sort of even out.

What do you think?

Put on Your Kid Gloves

The city of Rancho Cucamonga had the "Imagine No Religion" billboard taken down. The billboard was put up by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

I am so sick of this country treating those who are brainwashed by religion with kid gloves. It seems that every time that they are offended and complain everyone scrambles to make them happy because they are afraid of a lawsuit. This kind of special treatment needs to end. There are thousands of people in this country that aren't religious and we deserve to have our ideas heard and to not have our freedom of speech squashed because religious people don't approve. I have seen numerous billboards that were put up by churches advocating their particular brand of religion These billboards don't offended me, they have every right to put of their billboards. Most of the time I get a good chuckle by reading them, or some blog fuel if they are particularly zany.

I am Being Persecuted! *grin*

I just received an AFA action alert about the Michigan Senate hate crimes bill. Which increases the punishment by 50% if it is found that a person committed a crime against someone based on any of the following: (a) Disability. (b) Gender, gender identity, or expression of gender.(c) National origin or ancestry.(d) Race, color, or ethnicity.(e) Religion.(f) Sexual orientation.(g) Veterans. The AFA is claiming that if this bill passes it will suppress their religious free speech rights. I have read the bill a few times and this bill only applies to people who have committed a crime it says nothing about prosecuting people for protesting or speaking out agaist groups that they don't like. So, unless they are planning on committing crimes against gays rather than just talk about how immoral and awful they are not going to be prosecuted under this bill.

The AFA's outrage over this bill is nothing more than them claiming persecution when there really isn't any. This annoying persecution complex is fueled, in part, by the fact that their "holy" book claims that there will be more rewards in heaven for those that persevere through the persecution that they will encounter. Christians need to open up their eyes and look around they are not being persecuted! They enjoy many more freedoms than any other religion in America. What other religion has their dusty book in just about every hotel room? What other religion has their god mentioned on the currency and in the pledge? No one is stopping you from going to church any time you want. You can go door-to-door witnessing without fear of getting arrested. Your Church even gets to claim tax-exemption. I fail to see how you are being persecuted in any way shape or form, but feel free to comment on this post if you feel that you are persecuted.

The Bigots are Celebrating

I am on the e-mail list for the Right-Wing Patriarchal Cult to provide blog fuel and to keep up with what the extreme fundies are whining about. Here is the latest e-mail that I received.

Dear Friend,

No doubt, it was a disappointing night with overwhelmingly bad news. But there was some good news for those who support traditional marriage. In the states of Arizona, Florida and California voters said no to homosexual “marriage.” In fact, in the Sunshine State, 60% of the vote was needed to keep marriage only between a man and a woman, and our side was able to garner 62% of the vote.

We won in Arizona, too! This is significant because a couple of years ago the marriage amendment was defeated when the pro-homosexual marriage advocates played the fear card with senior citizens.

Finally, in California, our country’s largest and most liberal state, the citizens voted 52% to 48% to overturn the state Supreme Court’s decision to allow same-sex marriage. This is BIG news! Radical homosexual groups, Hollywood celebrities and the liberal media came together to try and defeat Proposition 8, yet the pro-family and pro-marriage citizens of California won a huge victory and, if I might add, put the arrogant California Supreme Court in its place.

Your American Family Association was deeply involved in all three challenges. We kept the people of those states informed and encouraged. In fact, AFA contributed $500,000 to help achieve the victory in California. We had been saving the money over a period of years because we knew that one day it would be needed for a fight like the one we had in California. Of course, these funds came from people like you.

So despite some discouraging news on the national front, 30 states have adopted a state constitutional amendment preserving traditional marriage since the legalization of same-sex “marriage” in Massachusetts. That is due to the hard work of people like you.

Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue?
Sincerely,

Don

Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

If you read my last post I am sure you can imagine my reaction to this e-mail. From the word marriage being placed in quotes at the beginning of the letter to his request for more funds to support this despicable discrimination I was furious. I hate how they advertise that by supporting this bigotry you are protecting marriage. That is completely backwards with the passing of this proposal the joy of marriage is being withheld from people.

The part about the pro-homosexuality movement playing the fear card with senior citizens I think that they were talking about telling people that in the hospital their partner might not be allowed in the hospital room or able to make the important decisions for their partner that they should have the right to make. This is true because even if they have appointed their partner to make those decisions that can be contested in court.

I can't wait until this country doesn't discriminate against anyone, but I don't think that will ever happen with the extreme religious nuts that fell everyone should adopt their "values".

Religion Hurts People!

I have heard the phrase "Religion doesn't hurt anyone, so just let us/them believe what we/they want". Today I cry out "BULLSHIT!".

As it looks now, Proposition 8 in California is going to pass and therefore make thousands of same-sex marriages in the state invalid. Please explain to me how same-sex couples marrying affects heterosexual marriages in any way. It doesn't! Plain and simply, those who voted "Yes" on Proposition 8 are ignorant, bigoted scum. Those who vote based on an ancient, dusty, outdated religious book need to stop pushing their bullshit on the rest of society. I don't care if you believe in an invisible man as long as you don't try and push him or your idiotic "values" on anyone else. That is when you cross the line.

Some reading this post may say that my words are too strong. I don't think so. If this goes through, thousands are going to lose their right to be married or get married. There are no words that are strong enough to state how horrible the passing of this proposition is. I really hope that in the future, this country will get past this stupid discriminating mindset and realize that everyone has the right to get married to whomever they want.

Back Again!

I have been really busy with work and family, but a church sign that I saw has made me feel compelled to rant.

The sign reads "Trust yourself less and God more".

This sign points to one of the biggest problems that I have with religions. Religions teach people that they need to rely on God for everything. So, instead of relying on themselves or their community to help them through a problem they turn to God. Then when their family or community solve the problem rather than being truly thankful to them they praise god for working through those people to solve the issue. Through this thinking pattern the religious person doesn't actually think that the people that helped them would do it unless god was working through them. This state of mind really upsets me.

Also, along the same line is the thought that god gives us all the talents that we have and that we should be thankful to him. That irritates me too. If a person practices a musical instrument everyday for hours and becomes very skilled that person should credit their own hard work and effort as the reason that they are so good, or credit their teacher or those that encouraged them to continue when they wanted to give up.

People need to believe in themselves and their community to move forward. Believing in things that can't be proven to even exist only delays the process or leaves people feeling unappreciated for their efforts.