I BLESS YOU WITH THIS POO...

As if all of the craziness of Catholicism weren't already enough, now you can know you are getting sprayed with poo at every Mass. How lovely.

But it's the poo of Christ, so it's holy poo.

That's right along the lines with "urine mints," which are the free mints in a bowl by the door when you are leaving restaurants that have been touched by so many people, usually men, who do not wash their hands when they use the bathroom and have been found to be covered in urine. (Granted, so is every door handle and touchable surface because of such lazy folks with no concept of microbiology.)

Since this story has appeared in satirical publications and is treated somewhat as a joke in this video, I include this link to The Washington Times about the official study. And, honestly, everyone touching anything, especially something both moist and kept at room temperature, is going to mean some pretty nasty germs running rampant. E. coli can be found in frightening numbers in nearly everyone's sponges and towels and sinks, for instance, especially that kitchen sponge you wipe over every surface.

By the way, I had to chuckle at CNN for their embed code. YouTube videos include about one line of code, but this one has twelve. And that's without even including centering the frame on the page.

RIGHT-WING CHRISTIANS

Because of a book written under questionable circumstances by people with a very primitive worldview and proven to often be mistranslated and full of outright errors--never mind the obvious impossibility of the myths it contains or the many books excluded by the editors in political power along the way--Christians feel they have the right, no, the obligation, to inflict their beliefs on everyone else.

When someone has an imaginary friend whom they believe is always with them, talks to them, and grants their wishes, the person is schizophrenic and not someone we should drop all sanity and follow blindly. 

HITCHENS VS GOD

Here is Hitchens giving a speech disproving any existence of God:

A BELOVED FAMOUS CHEF ON MORALITY WITHOUT RELIGION

WELL SAID, RICKY

PRESCRIPTION STRENGTH RELIGION

Yeah, some of those diets and all of that anal retention could definitely lead to constipation, and the other side effects are pretty self evident. 

ATHEISTS HAVE HIGHER IQ

Click on the image to read the whole article. 

Now, I realize the statistics of higher income and such are based on England's progressively agnostic society, which is decidedly different from that in America, but the IQ stats being made public like this are highly encouraging. I mean, it is quite refreshing to have scientific evidence for saying only stupid people have imaginary friends in the sky, even if it seems quite self evident.

ATHEIST JESUS ON FACEBOOK

I came across the Facebook page "Atheist Jesus" today, and it contained the following:

There was then a request for videos of advice or personal experiences to help folks in Melissa's situation. (Click on the graphic to participate.) 

I made the following comment:

To Melissa, I would remind her less-than-loving-and-accepting loved ones that Jesus told them not to throw stones (or sandals) or judge. Violence in the name of religion (aka who someone chooses as his or her imaginary friend) seriously makes me sick.
I think the issue here is that no amount of physical or emotional torture your loved ones could do to you seems like a drop in the bucket to the eternal torture you are supposedly going to receive in Hell, and parents are told in many religions they are obligated to save your soul or can be damned themselves for your actions.

There is also the rather typical Mormon response to believe you must be kept away from the rest of the family in order to both show you the seriousness of your actions and to keep impressionable younger siblings away from your evil influence--being gay or being an atheist is treated pretty similarly in this state, and we have the highest rate of teen suicide in the nation to show for just how common kicking out homosexuals for the sake of the rest of the family is. (Legal age and parental obligations be damned, apparently.)

My conclusion on this is that we need to both show that atheists aren't "evil" people and teach the younger generation that religion is brainwashing crap so that, much like discrimination against women and blacks and now homosexuals, it becomes progressively a moot point and the haters are slowly getting shut out and dying off.

Living in Utah, it seems like quite the uphill battle, but I stand for truth and rightness. (Trust me, if you're formerly LDS, that's hilarious.)

CARLIN DECONTRUCTS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

George Carlin has an interesting take on the Ten Commandments and how we really only need one or two of them.

I found the differences between the Roman Catholic version he knows and the King James version used by Mormons to be interesting, especially for something supposedly to be so important to all mankind.

For the curious, the relate to coveting being all-inclusive in one commandment and not separated into differences between coveting things and wives (which were property, anyway) and to including a ban on graven images and taking God's name in vain, which are things with which I guess you really don't see Roman Catholics overly concerning themselves. I mean, imagine Catholic churches without statues!

Anyway, Carlin was always amusing, and this bit is no exception.

A SINGLE GIRL IN UTAH

Extremely high intelligence has always been important to me, but you can imagine how I feel when someone is discussing literal rocket science and then goes on about his fairy godfather in the sky.

Group delusion may become "normal" when perpetuated for thousands of years, but it's still a stupid delusion of ignorant minds.

I realize that living in Utah and thinking I can date someone who is smart enough to have gotten past his upbringing to no longer believe in God is problematic, but I am finding atheist groups on Facebook to join.

There is Utah Atheists, which is a group that you just need to ask and be allowed into. And there is Utah Postmormons, which is not atheist, per se, but is at least not LDS (Mormon). They, however, are a secret group requiring invitation. ("Secret" on Facebook means the membership is not public.)

I am more than happy to help anyone find such new friends who is also suffering from too much LDS.

THE POPE MAKING ME FACEPALM

The Pope has gone on a bit of a rampage against atheism, and his reasoning is highly flawed. Not that any of us expect someone with that level of power for believing and enforcing something so obviously fake to do anything but try to get more money, er, uh, I mean followers to Jesus.

TYSON ON SCIENCE VERSUS RELIGION

Neil deGrasse Tyson's explanation of why knowing only a small percentage of all things doesn't mean to throw your hands in the air and declare it all must just have been done by God. My father was a prominent physicist and made sense with science and his religion by believing God to be a brilliant scientist as well, thus following physical laws (many of which we have yet to comprehend) to create what we perceived as miracles.

While I obviously disagree with a belief in God, I can, at least, agree better with those who associate scientific discovery and the gaining of knowledge to be the ideal--even if I don't, necessarily, see it as becoming "godlike."

MINCHIN ON SAVING MY FATHER (AND SAM'S MOM)

I found out yesterday that part of why my family is such devout LDS (Mormon) is that my father was born with Cerebral Palsy and blindness and, despite surely given treatment of some kind, was prayed over and cured.

The idea that these severe health problems could only possibly have a divine reason for becoming healed is best responded to by the beloved Tim Minchin. 

Yeah, Heysoos sounds not at all like a creepy, stalkery ex-boyfriend...

THEISTIC IDIOCY PERPETUATED ON FACEBOOK

A friend of mine posted this today, and it saddens me to have such delusional behavior glorified like this. Here is the post:

This is beautiful!

She jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: 'How is my little boy? Is he going to be all right? When can I see him?'

The surgeon said, 'I'm sorry. We did all we could, but your boy didn't make it.'

Sally said, 'Why do little children get cancer? Doesn't God care any more? Where were you, God, when my son needed you?'

The surgeon asked, 'Would you like some time alone with your son? One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes, before he's transported to the university..'

Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said good bye to son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair. 'Would you like a lock of his hair?' the nurse asked.. Sally nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally.

The mother said, 'It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body to the University for Study. He said it might help somebody else..... 'I said no at first, but Jimmy said, 'Mom, I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom..' She went on, 'My Jimmy had a heart of gold. Always thinking of someone else. Always wanting to help others if he could..


Sally walked out of Children's Mercy Hospital for the last time, after spending most of the last six months there. She put the bag with Jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car.

The drive home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house. She carried Jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his hair to her son's room.

She started placing the model cars and other personal things back in his room exactly where he had always kept them She lay down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to sleep.

It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Lying beside her on the bed was a folded letter. The letter said:

'Dear Mom,

I know you're going to miss me; but don't think that I will ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause I'm not around to say 'I Love You'. I will always love you, Mom, even more with each day.. Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me... He can have my room and old stuff to play with. But, if you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do. You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, you know

Don't be sad thinking about me.. This really is a neat place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything. The angels are so cool. I love to watch them fly. And, you know what? Jesus doesn't look like any of his pictures. Yet, when I saw Him, I knew it was Him. Jesus himself took me to see GOD! And guess what, Mom? I got to sit on God's knee and talk to Him, like I was somebody important. That's when I told Him that I wanted to write you a letter, to tell you good bye and everything. But I already knew that wasn't allowed. Well, you know what Mom? God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter I think Gabriel is the name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him 'where was He when I needed him?' 'God said He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as He always is with all His children.

Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written except you... To everyone else this is just a blank piece of paper. Isn't that cool? I have to give God His pen back now He needs it to write some more names in the Book of Life. Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. I'm sure the food will be great.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I don't hurt anymore the cancer is all gone.. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore and God couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either. That's when He sent The Angel of Mercy to come get me. The Angel said I was a Special Delivery! How about that?
Signed with Love from God, Jesus & Me

.
Repost this, within the hour, you will have caused a multitude of believers to pray to God for each other. Then sit back and feel the Holy Spirit work in your life for doing what you know God loves 'When you're down to nothing, God is up to something'

It is, of course, too bad that God's pen didn't have some sort of grammar check.  ;-)

*heavy sigh* These sorts of stories where someone looks at a blank page and hallucinates from such overwhelming grief are just a little more intense than the "I saw angels around him" style of hallucinations too often experienced by the emotionally overwhelmed who expect to see such things.

Now, if only these beings could be seen by everyone in the room, or their presence quantified by scanning for all of the energy in that space at such moments, but the testing brings back only an Emperor's New Clothes effect.

The circulation of this nonsense is a lot of why America is stuck in theistic idiocy.