Category: Religion

Adrastos, Malakatude, Propaganda, Religion8 Comments

Malaka Of The Week: Ron Ramsey

Peter Adrastos Athas

I’m an atheist but around religious people, I soften it to agnostic because for some reason they mind it less. I’m not sure why but, hey, I’m a tolerant person but one thing that I’m intolerant of is intolerance. That brings me to this week’s “honoree.” Ron Ramsey is running for Governor of Tennessee as a Republican. He’s the Lt. Gov and, apparently, his campaign was stuck in the mud. So, instead of spinning his wheels, he decided to take action and trot out a boogieman for the voters to beat on.Mr. Ramsey’s choice was Muslims: Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Ron Ramsey

Adrastos, Current Affairs, Religion5 Comments

The Ministry of Silly Memos

Peter Adrastos Athas

Pope Benny the Ratzinger is visiting the U.K. soon. Some bright young staffers wrote a Pythonesque memo for internal consumption only. It was leaked to the Right Wing press. Foreign Secretary David Miliband had to apologize to the Pope for thisvery silly memo. An internal Foreign Office memo about September’s papal visit to Britain, born of a Friday afternoon brainstorming session involving a group of junior civil servants, resulted yesterday in the demotion of a young official and a formal government apology to the Vatican. The memorandum, apparently written by staff planning events for the four-day visit byPope Benedict XVI, … Continue reading The Ministry of Silly Memos

Adrastos, Political Crack, Religion7 Comments

More Gret Stet Weirdness

Peter Adrastos Athas

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro is a pious dude. He takes his religion so seriously that he seems to be confusing himself with Jesus; either that or he has a foot fetish. Whatever the case this is deeply creepy. I’m about to do something I *never* do and cut and paste the entirePicayune article in its sublime weirdness: The ritual of washing feet has a deep-seated tie to Holy Week, a symbol of the humility Jesus Christ showed in performing the act for his 12 disciples the day before his death. St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffarotook that custom … Continue reading More Gret Stet Weirdness

Adrastos, Current Affairs, Law/Justice, Malakatude, Religion6 Comments

Malaka Of The Week: Joseph Ratzinger

Peter Adrastos Athas

It seems to be kick Pope Benedict week and as much as I hate to be a conformist he’s the obvious choice for this week’s “honor.” I even enjoyedMaureen Dowd’s column on Pope Malaka yesterday: she sprayed her bile on a deserving target this time. This scans like one of her best screeds about President Beavis: It doesn’t seem right that the Catholic Church is spending Holy Week practicing the unholy art of spin. Complete with crown-of-thorns imagery, the church has started an Easter public relations blitz defending a pope who went along with the perverse culture of protecting molesters … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Joseph Ratzinger

Adrastos, Congress, Current Affairs, Religion4 Comments

Stupak’s Nunsense

Peter Adrastos Athas

I love to quote Joan Walsh so I’ll do it again: Stupak’s entitled to his opinion on the issue. But he went beyond what was necessary, yesterday and today, in disrespecting the 60 Catholic nuns representing 59,000 sisters who bucked the Catholic bishops and came out for the bill Wednesday, declaring it “the real pro-life position.” “When I’m drafting right-to-life language, I don’t call up the nuns,”Stupak told Fox News. Instead he said he consulted “leading bishops, Focus on the Family, and the National Right to Life Committee.” <SNIP> There was a way for Stupak to say he disagreed with … Continue reading Stupak’s Nunsense

Adrastos, Malakatude, Nature is Scary, Religion5 Comments

Malaka Of The Week: Pat Robertson

Peter Adrastos Athas

There was a lot of egregious malakatude this week but in the end I had to pick the evil, senile and faux avuncular Pat Robertson. I hesitated to do so because my colleagues have done such a good job hitting the Bad Reverend upside the headhere, here andhere. Jude’s comments on the first post, in particular, are *impossible* to top. But even if predictable coming from this well seasoned douchebag, claiming that Haiti was hit by a record setting earthquake was because of a pact with the devil hits 100 on the malakatude scale. Why would a deal with Satan … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Pat Robertson

Religion, Stupid Republican Tricks, VirgoTex5 Comments

The Weight

This sketch, the beginning of it anyway, is the first thing I thought of when I heard Brit Hume’s comments on the superiority of Christianity over other spiritual paths. As for the rest of the sketch, I think we can agree that the preacher character is as useful to politics as it is to stand up comedy, no? p align=”center” class=”asset asset-video” style=”margin: 0pt auto; display: block;”> Continue reading The Weight

Adrastos, Religion, Television5 Comments

Faith Healer, Heal Thyself?

Peter Adrastos Athas

I was raised not to speak ill of the dead but I’ve always been convinced that there is a loophole for mockery. I hereby exercise that loophole.Oral Roberts died yesterday at the age of 91. He was an important albeit unfortunate person in American history: the first full-tilt televangelist. Roberts brought old timey, tent show revival Pentecostal bible banging into the modern era. I wish he’d left it back in the days of outhouses and spittoons where it belongs. Roberts was not as overtly political as the next wave of televangelists such as Robertson, Swaggart and Falwell BUT he created … Continue reading Faith Healer, Heal Thyself?

Immoral Values, Law/Justice, Religion, Science, VirgoTex8 Comments

“I’m reading it from your book, dude.”

This interview with prominent ex-gayRichard Cohen is bound to get a lot of play in the coming weeks, and if you haven’t seen it, I gotta say it’s fairly epic. Maddow takes him apart. Watch his body language get twitchier by the minute. He definitelyneeds a hug by the end. Side note: Last night @maddow live-twitter denizens (think Crack Van on estrogen) were primed for this like a pay-for-view boxing match. Watching it as it aired, though, I felt myself getting weirdly uncomfortable as Maddow pressed on toward the takedown. Now, this might get taken out of context but bear … Continue reading “I’m reading it from your book, dude.”

Jude, Religion6 Comments

Holy Ghost Power

Almost persuaded. But not quite. In a post about the Christian right, DougJ at Balloon Juiceposes an interesting question: I don’t understand modern Christianity. As I’ve said before, Jesus has always seemed like a hippie to me, and I don’t think there’s so much in the New Testament that resemblesMein Kampf. So, seriously, what is up with so many Christian leaders wanting to emulate Hitler, Stalin, Lenin Mao, Genghis Kahn, etc? Is there a simple explanation for this? Well, there’s no easy answer. A lot of his commenters go for the “power” answer, but it’s not that simple. Evangelical Christianity … Continue reading Holy Ghost Power

Jude, Religion11 Comments

In Which I Come Through And Solve A Seemingly Intractable Problem. Yet Again.

Leave December to me & this guy. I had a great idea yesterday. Trust me. Great. I was thinking about Christmas, and how unhappy some people are that it starts in, oh, September. Then I thought about how unhappy some people are that there’s not enough religious crap attached to Christmas. Here comes the great idea. I think that the anti-choice crowd should celebrate their religious Christmas in March, and leave December to those of us who want to enjoy free shit, televised sporting events, and gluttony. Bear with me here. You see, it’s one of the tenets of many … Continue reading In Which I Come Through And Solve A Seemingly Intractable Problem. Yet Again.

Immoral Values, Law/Justice, Marriage Equality, Religion, VirgoTex9 Comments

Beyond mere homophobia: a sad day for Rhode Island

Yesterday, Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri, vetoed 25 bills passed by the State Assembly. One of those bills would have changed existing state law to add “domestic partners” to those authorized by law to make funeral arrangements for each other. That’s right. The Governor says if you are gay, and your partner dies, you can’t claim their body and you can’t arrange for their funeral or cremation. Not just because you’re gay but because … wait for it: it would threaten traditional marriage. In hisveto message, Republican Carcieri said: “This bill represents a disturbing trend over the past few years … Continue reading Beyond mere homophobia: a sad day for Rhode Island

Doc, Marriage Equality, Religion13 Comments

Quiet hate hurts

A few months ago, I found myself in one of those Disneyland-style lines at the airport as we attempted to pass through security. Just behind me in the line was a beefy, muscular guy, about six feet tall, who had a shaved head and a ton of tattoos. At a certain point in the weaving line, I managed to get a good look at him. His arms were adorned with swastikas and pit bulls. Down the back of each of his triceps was a single word: “WHITE” on the left and “POWER” on the right. When he got to the … Continue reading Quiet hate hurts

Current Affairs, Doc, Law/Justice, Religion, So Called Liberal Media4 Comments

The best money they didn’t spend

I ran across this while trolling some student media sites and found myself wondering if Joseph Heller ever considered writing about student newspapers. The gist of the story is that a pro-life group tried to run a 12-page insert in a number of college papers around the state of Wisconsin. A number of them ran the insert while two papers decided against it. In looking at what ad rates tend to be for inserts in these types of papers, the papers were likely to make about $200-$600 if the group bought inserts for their whole press run, depending on the … Continue reading The best money they didn’t spend

Religion, Science, VirgoTex14 Comments

Science is real. Just ask one of those nice atheists over there with the dinosaur bones

First there was this: Five things that would make atheists seem nicer linked to byPZ, who of course quite gracefully pissed all over it: I especially appreciate the word “seem,” because Lord knows there’s nothing that could make usactually nice, and obviously we need the suggestions of a Christian, since we’re all such not-nice people. I should make a counter-list of “five things that would make Christians seem intelligent” That begatthis. All of which I can only reply to with this: And don’t missthis. Orthis. H/T toforgetomori for the post on TMBG’s newHere Comes Science. —– Continue reading Science is real. Just ask one of those nice atheists over there with the dinosaur bones

Immoral Values, Political Crack, Religion, VirgoTex6 Comments

Maybe you should just set those tax dollars on fire, Senator Hatch

Not content with afull morning of carnage, the Senate Finance Committee apparently had a bit of time on its hands after throwing the Public Option under the bus Tuesday. So they stayed late and passed a measure by Orrin Fucking Hatch to restore funding for abstinence fucking only education. How much money? How much of our tax dollars do 12 committee members want to spend on something thatEVEN TEXAS finally admits doesn’t work? Fifty million. Annually. Yeah, vote down substantive change that would help tens of thousands of people get comprehensive health care but by all fucking means, let’s approve … Continue reading Maybe you should just set those tax dollars on fire, Senator Hatch

Food and Drink, Religion, Science17 Comments

Grave philosophical questions, or Having a Dark Night of the Gumbo

I need your help folks. I supplicate myself to your experience and wisdom, particularly our friends from Lousiana. I seek your feedback for help dealing with a failure, of imagination, of technique, of logistics, I know not what else. Here’s my confession: I don’t know what I did with the gumbo recipe but I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it. It was on a stained index card that I’d kept for 20 years, through moves between residences, crosscountry from south to east and back again. That’s really where things first went off the rails, was losing the recipe. It was … Continue reading Grave philosophical questions, or Having a Dark Night of the Gumbo

Do Something, Propaganda, Religion, Science3 Comments

Two sides to the fight

The Texas State Board of Education enjoyed its fair share of bad press lately, and rightly so. Strike 1: In Friday night’sWorst Person in the World segment, Keith gave the finger to Goodhair for considering Cynthia Dunbar as a leading candidate to head up the SBOE. Not just any old run-of-the mill religious conservative, Dunbar is in the Obama-is-Hitler cult and also thinks (when she thinks at all) that public school is a “tool of perversion,” “unconstitutional,” and “tyrannical,” choosing to homeschool her own offspring rather than subject them to actual education. So naturally, our august governor thought she’d be … Continue reading Two sides to the fight

Immoral Values, Law/Justice, Religion13 Comments

“I used to tell God I hated him.”

When they sent me to the sisters For the way men looked at me Branded as a jezebel I knew I was not bound for heaven I’d be cast in shame into the Magdalene laundries. -Joni Mitchell, The Magdalene Laundries /span>Irish Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse released a long-awaited report today. The report, in five volumes of 2,500 pages, took a decade of investigation to produce, and catalogues 70 years of systemic child abuse by Catholic religious orders, of at least 35,000 victims. Sadly, that estimate is likely too low. Many of the victims, as well as their abusers, … Continue reading “I used to tell God I hated him.”