The Sceptical Preacher

Trying out a new blog hosting service

2006-05-21T14:38:00.000+01:00

At the moment I'm trying out a new blogging service so new content will most likely appear there. Come and visit at wordpress. It's shiny and it's got words and stuff.

A break-through in vetinary science

2006-05-21T11:10:00.000+01:00

I fully support the work being done by the good people over at The British Veterinary Voodoo Society. I only wish they were applying principles of Voodoo to human health. Based on the British Government's willingness to use tax-payer's money to fund homeopathy and other alternative treatments, I'm sure Voodoo would be available on the NHS.

Boots again - commercial secrets

2006-05-21T11:00:00.000+01:00

Imagine this conversation. Paul: 4 out of 5 people who take this medicince will get better! Sue: How did you test that to find out it was so effective? Paul: That's a secret, it's comercially sensitive information. Sue: Why is that sensitive. All I want to know is how you tested it to prove it's efficacy? Paul: I can't tell you Sue: So I just have to trust you Paul: Yes. Trust Paul. This is the kind of conversation I Just had with Boots The Chemist regards claims they make for their alternative medicine products. The full story is Trust Boots. The company slogan for Boots is Trust Boots. It seems they really do mean that you have to just trust them because you sure as hell aren't any evidence.

When fiction collides with fiction

2006-05-16T20:47:00.000+01:00

People are complaining about a work of fiction since they believe that some people take it seriously. Some have suggested that it should even carry a health warning since they think that people won't be able to separate reality from fiction. This is what a large number of us have been saying about the Bible for years but this isn't what the news article is about. It's Christians complaining about the Da Vinci Code film. Some are demanding a ban, others wanting blasphemous scenes cut. It's like Star Trek fans protesting against the new Star Wars films on the basis that it's going to make people doubt the truth of Star Trek. A man in India is on hunger strike to try to stop the film. I haven't yet quite seen a good explanation for why God is too bloody lazy to come and make his wishes known. Instead he replies on self-appointed delusional people to threaten suicide in order to get his way. Here's something odd I noticed. The story has been updated. A group taking the lead in the hunger strikes and calling on others to starve themselves to death is the Catholic Secular Forum. Joseph Dias is their general secretary and so seems to be leading this little stunt. From looking at the announcements it would look like he's been on hunger strike since around the 10th of May. He was recently quoted as saying I will continue my fast until they ban the film. India seem unlikely to ban the film. This means that within the next 60 days or so one of two things will happen. Mr Diaz will prove himself a liar and find an excuse for breaking his word and end his hunger strike or he will kill himself all because a film upset him. Bloody hell, priorities people!! I'm wondering what on earth the Catholic Secular Forum is? Wouldn't this be like forming the "Vegan Meat Eaters Forum"? Presumably they focus on non-religious topics. Going on a hunger strike because a flim offends your religious sensibilities doesn't sound very secular to me. Telling people to risk permanent damage to thier health or even death for such a cause doesn't sound terrible secular either. Based on these protests and the rather religious tone of their slightly loopy leader, I can't see how these people are secular in any way at all. They seem to be good old fashioned conservatives/fundamentalists. On a slightly more optimistic note it seems that Islam isn't going to stand alone when it comes to issuing death threats and offering rewards to the faithful assassin who can execute blasphemers. Already Dan Brown has a number of rewards on his head. Hindus have also been getting in on the fatwa game. As always, it's not God issuing these rewards. It seems to be self-appointed guardians of the faith.

Tired, very tired accusations against atheism

2006-05-11T22:28:00.000+01:00

Madeleine Bunting of the Guardian posted a response to Richard Dawkins' recent documentary series The Root of All Evil? It's an interesting piece if you ignore the bizarre claims. Let's look at these.

There's an underlying anxiety that atheist humanism has failed. Over the 20th century, atheist political regimes racked up an appalling (and unmatched) record for violence. Atheist humanism hasn't generated a compelling popular narrative and ethic of what it is to be human and our place in the cosmos; where religion has retreated, the gap has been filled with consumerism, football, Strictly Come Dancing and a mindless absorption in passing desires.

This could just as easilly have been written by an Iranian cleric. Firstly, the claim regarding atheist regimes is just plain nonsensical. What on earth is an atheist regime? Presumably she's referring to the communist countries or maybe even Nazi Germany? Neither of these were based on atheism. Communism required atheism but this doesn't make it any more an atheist regime that you could call Idi Amin's regime a 'black regime'. Note the comment about desires as I think this is where we get a further insight in to her thinking. Complaints about people giving in to 'desires' is an accusation commonly heard spewing from the mouth of the religious fundamentalist. The complaint that all humanism has offered is trivia such as football and consumerism is false. I know humanists and have seen their comittment to their fellow man. Consumerism isn't the fault of humanism. Look at the US. According to this survey, 9 out of 10 American adults surveyed said that they believed in God. America is arguably one of the most consumerism obsessed countries in the world. Why has this happened if there are so many religious folk? There are countries where religion rules and consumerism is held at bay. These places are run but strict religious rules that frown upon this corrupting western influence. Iran is a good example and quite topical. She complains about Dawkins' assertion that segregated schooling based on religion is divisive and responsible for conflict. She also argues against his belief that it's cruel to 'give' a religion to a child before they can think for themselves. In both these cases, you don't have to think much to realise that Dawkins is indeed on to something here. Consider this Education. You are taught from a very early age that your religion is the only true one. You are told that people who don't believe in your god will go to hell. You are told that if you are bad, you will be tortured for eternity in hell. Your religion teaches that unbelievers are hated by your god. All of these lessons can be found in the Bible. Raise a child based on this and how do you think they cope when faced with children taught an opposing belief? A simple question but a fair one I think. On the other hand, if the child is taught that all humans are just regular people with the same basic rights, do you think they will have a more balanced outlook? She's right that conflict is based on more than religion and that religion is simply a useful way of forming groups but you can't argue against the claim that religion is divisive. How on earth can religious leaders claim to respect the views of opposing religions when their holy texts require them to believe the complete opposite? On a slightly different note, I think the following link provides an insight in to Bunting's haphazard and poorly considered opinion pieces. Enlighten me It's a long read but I'd suggest you read what she posted originally, read the comments from readers and then the comment she finally posts. Her original posts shows either a misunderstanding or a complete willingness to revise history. When drawn on this, she doesn't respond to the specific points raised by readers. She explains how she is a poor journalist and that everyone is being mean to her.

www.msncheck.net is it legit?

2006-05-10T12:40:00.000+01:00

Someone sent me a link to MSNCheck.net. At this stage I'm not sure if it's a legit service or not. They claim to be able to scan your MSN Messenger account to find out who has deleted you from their friends list. Why you'd want to know this is beyond me but let's look at the page. First is asks for your username and password. The site itself doesn't explain why they need this or what they will do with this information. Even if they are performing the service they advertise, it's risky as hell to provide this information to an unknown third-party website. The only source of information is an email address. On the site they have this helpful text.

If you have any comments, complaints, suggestions etc. contact us at the following email address [samo at v-i-p.ca]

They have obfuscated the email address to avoid spam. This is a fairly wise idea but the method used is rather crude. It's far more professional to use one of the following methods. 1) Use a contact form built-in to the site. 2) Disguise the email address using Java Script. This way, users still have 'click to email' functionality but spammers can't easily harvest the email address. 3) Use decent spam filtering. If you're posting an email address on site then you should have decent spam filtering. Once they have your details, how do you know that they don't store them? Would you really want to allow a complete stranger access to your MSN Messenger account? Since many people have the same sign-in details for their email, you could be handing them complete access to this also. They could harvest contact details from your address book and use these for whatever purpose they wanted to. As always, the best advice is to avoid providing important information to unknown people or sites. I could set-up a site tomorrow advertising a similar service and how would you know whether or not I am genuine. If these people are providing a genuine service then I think they need to improve their site to reassure their users of their intent. I'm wondering though, why would you want to find out if people have blocked you or removed you from their friends lists? I'd suspect that not hearing from them or being unable to send them messages would be a hint.

Trust Boots? Your high-street destination for voodoo

2006-05-05T20:11:00.000+01:00

Inspired by this article on the James Randi site, I decided to try an experiment. Boots, a UK chain of stores, has a reputation in this country. They started as a chemist but have since expanded to sell just about anything. In their adverts, they play on this reputation. Their slogan is Trust Boots. Unfortunately, trusting Boots would be a very bad idea. Boots stock a rather extensive range of what can politely described as complementary medicine. If you're rational though you'd simply call it fraudulent products designed to separate the gullible from their money. Trust Boots indeed... This range includes items such as the Silent Knight Ring. A wonderful ring that works on ancient principles of acupressure. It's ancient so it must be good, right? If you still have money left after buying this junk you can treat yourself to some homeopathic medicine. I noticed this particular product. Boots Alternatives Snoring Remedy Here is what Boots say about this product.

An easy to use spray formula, helps to relieve snoring. A combination of essential oils to help stop snoring. Effective in reducing snoring for 4 out of 5 users. Spray Formula.   Please read the product packaging before use. Seek professional advice before using if you suffer from epilepsy, skin allergies, are pregnant or are using homoeopathic remedies. Asthmatics should avoid direct inhalation.

I sent Boots an email asking for advice before buying this product. I explained that since homoepathic remedies are essentially just water, is it safe for someone who consumes water on a regular basis to use this product. Here is their response.

Thank you for contacting us at boots.com regarding the Boots Alternatives Snoring Remedy. I'm afraid we can not answer questions of a medical nature due to the specialist knowledge that is needed. I suggest you speak to a local pharmacist or GP and they will be able to help you.

An understandable reply really since I am asking for some rather in-depth medical advice. In response, I've sent them this email.

Please could you answer these questions as I'm interested in this product http://www.boots.com/shop/product_details.jsp?productid=1021333&classificationid=1035989&slmRefer=000 The web site makes this claim. "An easy to use spray formula, helps to relieve snoring. A combination of essential oils to help stop snoring. Effective in reducing snoring for 4 out of 5 users. Spray Formula." Would you be able to point me in the direction of published research in a peer reviewed scientific paper that backs this up. If a paper is not specific to the product, perhaps a reference to a paper that discusses the essential oils that you use and explains how they have been tested? Research endorsed by the BMJ, Lancet or the Royal Society would be excellent since they would by quite authoritative. Ideally, have you published the research undertaken to arrive at the '4 out of 5' figure? I'd like to know who carried out the testing and also the parameters of the test. Thanks again, I appreciate your time.

== Update 21/5/2006 == I received the following response.

Thank you for contacting me regarding our Alternatives Stop Snoring Spray. I understand your concerns and I appreciate you letting me know how you feel. I have contacted our healthcare team and they have advised me that this product works by coating the back of the throat with a mixture of essential oils which then helps to stop the snoring. I am unable to provide you with details of Boots research information as this is commercially sensitive. However, I would like to reassure you that all our wording is in line with the current UK legislation and all our claims are legal. Also all of the claims are checked thoroughly by our internal legal and medical experts.

So, you can see that this reply doesn't really make sense. I asked them how they tested the product to arrive at the "Effective in reducing snoring for 4 out of 5 users" figure. They say they can't tell me because it's a trade secret? How on earth is this comercially sensitive? I'm not asking them to tell me how to make the the stuff, just how they tested it. It looks like if I want to take this any further I'll need to phone them or consult Trading Standards to find out if this is legal.

Toyah Wilcox and the scientific merits of astrology - not many it seems.

2006-05-04T13:03:00.000+01:00

Toyah Wilcox introduces us to the magic of Astrology. The article begins on a high-note.

I have studied astrology for the past 20 years and it has become a part of my lifestyle. On certain levels, it is a science. I follow a Moon diary, a Sun diary and where Mercury is throughout the year. It goes into retrograde three times a year - the last time was 2 to 25 March - and anyone working with computers or cars will experience some kind of breakdown at these times.

Astrology is no more scientific than slaughtering an animal and making a decision based on an examination of the entrails. As someone who works in tech support, I unfortunately haven't seen evidence of an increase in the rate of computer failures caused by the cheeky actions of Mercury. As someone who owns and works with quite a few computers and electrical items, you'd think I would be very likely to experience a breakdown based on her claim that "anyone working with computers or cars will experience some kind of breakdown at these times".

The phases of the Moon give tangible evidence of astrology; people with mental sensitivities and depressive people are undoubtedly affected by the full moon.

There is no evidence for this, it's an urban legend better explain by the Skeptics Dictionary. Some people may be affected by the moon, you can't dispute that. The problem is, this doesn't provide any evidence for astrology. Take this example.. A person with mental-health issues can be affected by a large number of things. If you are a nervous person, a noise heard late at night can give you a fright. Does this mean that there is evidence for ghosts or proof that there is an intruder in your house? I think not - Correlation does not prove causality. You could note that since global warming has increased while the pirate population has decreased, there is a link between the two. This clearly can't be established without evidence. You can't connect mental-health issues with astrology without sound evidence. Toyah leaves us with this advice.

"There is no way that horoscopes printed in newspapers can be totally accurate - they are too general and sometimes do not help the reputation of astrology at all. But I would recommend that anyone interested in astrology should keep a diary, noting down moods and days when they were creative or non-creative in work, and then look up the dates when Mercury was in retrograde and the dates of the full moon.

This is true. Newspaper horoscopes are proven to be nothing more than guesses. If you predict something for a large enough group of people, you will without doubt seem to score some hits. I predict that capricorns June is a good time for them to find love or a new friend. Although this will not apply to everyone, it will certainly apply to some. Those people who find love or a new friend will think "Wow, that's uncanny." Personal horoscopes are not much better. At least if someone is speaking to you, they can learn a bit about your personality and they can make predictions that fit you. Still, they're not using some supernatural powers, they are just good at reading and deceiving their audience. Her suggestion that you keep a diary almost seems plausible. After all, how can you argue with documented evidence? You can argue very easily. There are a number of ways in which you can convince yourself that astrology works. You are biased - you can't escape this fact. If you are expecting a particular day to be significant then you will notice events that would otherwise seem mundane. You will ignore facts that don't back-up your belief. This is a common mistake made when testing supernatural claims. Testing the claims of psychics is often flawed because a researcher allows their beliefs to determine what data are relevant and discard those considered unimportant. If the person being tested fails to chose the right card in 8 attempts but succeeds with 2, you can claim that there was an external influence affected the psychic. Good researchers recognise this fact and take steps to compensate for this. Toyah's test does not and will lead to nothing better than comforting anecdotes that will simply confirm what you want to believe. Toyah is free to believe that horoscopes work but it's pretty silly to claim a scientific basis. By making such claims, she joins the ranks of the Intelligent Design crowd, flat earthers and others who seem to revel in their scientific ignorance.

Is this really a basis for moral education

2006-04-18T12:37:00.000+01:00

Despite what Christians may say about the Old Testament, it's still part of the Bible and it still describes the same God that they worship. This article takes a look at this and asks whether it's sensible for children to be exposed to it. Also, they question whether it's wise for the president of a modern western nation to admit that he draws guidance from it. Butterflies and Wheels. Is it logical to worship and glorify a genocidal lunatic who advocates the murder of woman and children when an army is at war.

The future?

2006-04-15T12:10:00.000+01:00

Ever wondered what the future could be like if the new-age/religious people have their way? This short story is an amusing yet strangely plausible account of a court case. Condemned to Repeat It. If you read this story but find it far fetched then look at recent events. In the UK, the government has tried to pass a law that would effectively make it illegal to criticise religion. In the US, there is a battle being fought to try to keep religious beliefs like Intelligent Design out of the science classroom. In some schools, teachers are afraid to teach about evolution because of the negative reaction they'll receive from religious parents. In the UK, Homeopathy is considered to ligitimate medical treatment. The government (with tax-payer's money) actually funds several homeopathy treatment centres. Remember that there is no scientific basis for homeopathy. Death threats issued because of cartoons. Remember that it wasn't just religious fanatics in some dirt-poor backwards country that were up in arms. Muslims who had been born in Europe were making threats of violence. Christians and members of western governments jumped on the condemnation bandwagon. Approximately 45% of Americans surveyed believing that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years. Some government agencies continue to rely on the polygraph test (otherwise known as the lie detector). This despite the fact that the polygraph is as scientific as trying to determine the truth but looking someone in the eye. Sure, you may be able to get an idea as to whether they are being honest or not but it's hardly evidence. Thankfully, most countries do not consider polygraph tests to be admissible in court. Some companies in the US however do use polygraph tests on their employees. Pyschics and mediums continue to ply their trade. This despite the fact that no psychic has every passed a proper scientific test of their ability. Tony Blair's UK government seems happy to allow young-earth creationists to run schools that are funded by the tax payer. The school's score well in testing so Mr Blair believes that it's okay for these schools to teach intelligent design alongside evolution in science classes. The principle of one of these schools was quoted as saying that "the Bible says clearly that homosexual activity is against God's design. I would indicate that to young folk." The Bible also considers mixed-race marriages to be sinful. Will he also be explaining this to children? Due to the noisy evangelical movement, the Royal Society felt the need to issue a statement endorsing evolution and dismissing intelligent design. Why such a prestigious body should even need to get involved in refuting religious belief disguised as science is beyond belief. Maybe his story isn't as far fetched as you'd think. I found this little gem in the James Randi SWIFT newsletter.

Miracle Man: John of God

2006-04-14T12:24:00.000+01:00

Discovery channel in the UK are advertising a show called "Miracle Man: John of God". It's the story of a chap in South America who conducts a variation on Psychic Surgery. In some cases he scrapes the patients eye balls (for some unknown reason). In others he slashes their skin or sticks forceps up their noses (again, for some unknown reason). Like all faith healers, he has a devoted band of followers who believe that John of God, as he's known, is some kind of miracle worker. I haven't had the chance to see this documentary yet but I have seen the adverts. These adverts are sickening in the way that they present his healing feats as fact. There's not the slightest trace of scepticism. In a case where such claims are made, you'd think the documentary would be pitched as an investigation rather than a slavish puff-piece for this quack. I found a review of this show. Since I've not seen the show I can't be certain that this is an accurate review but there is one striking observation here. The review notes that there was very little scepticism shown. I hope Discovery aren't going to fall in to the same trap as Discovery Civilisation. Discovery Civilisation has been taken over by the woowoo brigade. They seem happy to focus in pseudo-science and endless programmes about psychics or ghosts. Is the glorification of faith healers harmless entertainment? No, it's very damaging. If you are very ill, you can't be expected to think straight. Imagine the amount of people who ignore gods all their lives but pray when they are really in trouble, i.e. when they think they could die. Consider people in this state of mind and consider the effect that this kind of documentary can have. People get false hope. They abandon medical treatment, they travel to this charlatan. It's not simply harmless fun, it gives credibility to these ghouls who prey on the gullible and desperate.

Another edition of Alive slithers through the letterbox

2006-04-12T18:11:00.000+01:00

Yep, the latest edition of Alive, the insanely right wing 'burn the witch' Catholica newspaper has come through my door. We have quite a dreary selection on the cover. We have our family values story about women being discouraged from having children. This is a recurring theme since Alive seem concerned that there is too much use of contraception and not enough women being married and pregnant. Alive have managed to come to one amazing conclusion though. It seems that the 'new age' movement is in decline. How do they know this? Well, it's based on the number of people who attended the recent 'Body Mind Spirit' fair in Dublin. 'Body Mind Spirit' seems like the usual mish-mash of crystals, energy and beads. However, there is a problem with the claim made by Alive. They don't state any figures. They don't even say if the attendance is lower this year compared to any other year. That aside, there isn't much of interest. Their 'comedy' feature, Dumbag writes, criticises those who would try to interpret the Bible in a nice way. For example, people who claim that Slavery isn't actually a nice thing or perhaps those who believe that innocent people shouldn't be murdered on a whim. It's hell-fire and brimstone all the way with Alive. None of this touchy-feely 'live a good life and go to heaven' crap. You better follow those bloody rules to the letter or you're screwed. This article seems linked to a story in the paper that complained about Catholic organisations losing their identity. For example, aid agencies who commit the sin of providing contraceptives in third-world countries to try to halt the spread of AIDS. This newspaper may seem light-hearted at times but it's a damn sinister read at times. I'd suggest visiting their web site so you can see what I'm talking about here. I've contacted the Alive staff to ask them how they justify calling themselves a Newspaper when they run crap like this on their front page?

Thank God for his plan

2006-04-09T12:45:00.000+01:00

A house is on fire, there are children at the window screaming for help. A man walks past, he does nothing to help. All the occupants of the house die. After some investigation, the police locate this man. At a press conference, the police announce that the man is not to blame since this could be part of his plan that we can't understand. A serial killer is going around killing good and bad people at random. In some cases he kills them quickly, other people die slowly and in pain. Police find the culprit but allow him to go free as they think that this is part of God's plan. After all, he has used men as his tool to kill millions in the past. Bizarre but similar to what some people use to defend the Christian god when asked why he does nothing to prevent terrible suffering? Some would argue that that this god does help, there are testimonies to amazing cures and people gaining strength from him. These miracle cures though are nothing of the sort. Some people got better simply because it was possible. If miracle cures are possible (remember that Jesus cured leprosy and raised the dead) then why doesn't won't this god cure something simple as a missing limb?. You will hear a great deal about miracle cures in the media. What you don't hear about are the other 99.99% of cases where people didn't get cured. It's common to explain that bad things happen to good people because it's all part of God's plan, a plan that we can't understand since we're just mortals. Of course it's a useless answer, it doesn't help us at all. In the above example of the serial killer, should the police have accepted this as an explanation? I saw something amusing on TV last night. It was a fairly grim account of the rugby team who's plan crashed in the Andes, forcing them to eat the bodies of their dead fellow passengers to survive. It's what the film Alive was based on. This was a pretty tragic event as you can imagine. However, this doesn't stop some from feeling that this was a miracle of God that some people survived. The survival was highly improbable but difficult to see why God should be thanked even if he does exist. Look at the circumstances. 1) They were in a plane crash (not good) 2) The plan crashed in the icy mountains (also not good) 3) Many were killed during the crash of shortly afterwards (not good) 4) The survivors lived by eating the dead bodies (not good) 5) A small number of the passengers were eventually rescued (good) Notice the sequence of events here and the number of 'not good' facts. Although the survivors are correct to fell good about surviving, it seems odd to thank God. Wouldn't it have been easier for him to simply stop the plan from crashing in the first place? If God did intervene then why did he intervene in such an unpleasant way? Could he not have just ensured that a rescue team found them earlier or something? The answer to this is "We can't understand how God thinks, big plan blah blah blah".

The Pyramid continues..

2006-03-15T18:00:00.000Z

The 'Liberty' pyramid scheme continues to rage on in Cork, Ireland. I saw an advert in a shop window advertising a meeting for the group in a local pub. Considering around 12 million euro has been 'invested' in this scheme, it's going to bloody hurt when it finally collapses. So far the scheme has been running since last September which is an unusually long time but it's collapse is inevitable and once the 'investors' realise that 90% of them have lost their money or made nowhere near what they expected, it will be interesting to see how they react. For some this wake-up call will be a particularly cruel one since local financial institutions have reported a disturbing amount of borrowing going on, believed to be linked to this scheme. Although most people see this for what it is, there are still an alarming number of people in local forums considering investing. They'd be better off just taking their money to the local pub fruit machine.

Creationism at the tax-payers' expense.

2006-03-11T17:46:00.000Z

Tony Blair seems happy for tax-payer funded education establishments in the UK to teach evolution as a 'faith-based' decision on par with creationism. Here is an extract from The British Humanist Association.

In March 02 Alice Mahon MP’s Early Day Motion on the teaching of creationism in schools attracted 48 signatures. When Jenny Tonge MP, on 13/3/02, asked the Prime Minister whether he was "happy to allow the teaching of creationism alongside Darwin's theory of evolution in state schools, Tony Blair replied that he was happy and that "it would be unfortunate if concerns about that issue were seen to remove the very strong incentive to ensure we get as diverse a school system as we properly can..." (Hansard, 13 Mar 2002, Column 886-7)

If diversity is the goal here then surely these schools should teach that the following theories are faith-based. Heliocentrism The theory of gravity Plate tectoncs The curriculum allows the teaching of creationism but it should be taught where it belongs, in a philosphy class, where it can be examined alongside the ideas of Descartes, Machiavelli and Plato. It has no place in a science class and it certainly should not be considered to be on a par with evolution. There is no scientific evidence for creationism, the vast majority of the scientific community believes in evolution (although areas of evolution are open to debate). The only people who flatly deny the theory of evolution are religious fundamentalists who read their holy texts literally. Based on a literal reading of the Bible, heliocentrism is untrue and spiders have four legs. One of the establishments in question has received glowing reports from the inspectors. This does not change the fact that their teaching of creationism is anti-science and intellectually stunting. Should we accept a Catholic-run school that has excellent maths results yet teaches children that the use of contraceptives is a sin? How about a school that has remarkable results in geography yet teaches that people who leave their religion are aspostates and so should be killed according to God's laws?

Chain letters

2006-03-09T13:35:00.000Z

This kind of follows on from the previous post about Pyramid Schemes. I've been fortunate to have not seen a chain letter for a long time now. Chain letters are those annoying emails you receive, asking you to forward them to as many people as you can to keep the chain going. Some are for financial gain. They ask you to add your name to the list in the email, forward it to 10 people and then post a dollar to the names that were already on the list. The idea is a simple one. You send money to the existing names on the list and after you forward it to other people, they send you money. The idea of course runs in to the same problem as a pyramid scheme - there are a finite number of people on the planet. In order for everyone to profit, there must be a infinite number of recruits available for the scheme to continue. Some chain letters are not of a financial nature and are arguably more annoying. Some chain letters take the form of religious or new-age notions of good luck coming to all who forward this letter. Many also suggest that misfortune will come to those who break the chain. Here's an example of a Judeo-Christian orientated version of a chain letter taken from the homepage ofDonald Watrous, someone who does a great service by providing information regarding these schemes.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and HE will acknowledge and HE will light your way. This prayer has been sent to you for good luck. The original copy is from the Netherlands. It has been around the world nine times. The luck has now been brought to you. You will receive good luck within four days of receiving this letter, provided in turn, you send it back out. DO NOT SEND MONEY, FOR FAITH HAS NO PRICE. Do not keep this letter. It must leave your hands within 96 hours after you receive it. An RAF officer received $70,000. Joe Ellito received $450,000 and lost it because he broke the chain. While in the Phillipines, General Welch lost his wife four days after he received this letter. He failed to circulate the prayer.

Based on this, we can assume that God has little else better to do than write a crude letter and reward people who forward it while seriously punishing those who break the chain. Seems that God decided to kill the wife of General Welch because he failed to forward the letter. Bizarre as this may seem, it is inline with the Old Testament and indeed some of the more rabid Christian responses you see to controversial web sites. They follow the reasoning of "God loves you but will torture you for eternity if you don't repent. You deserve to burn for eternity for this, I will pray for you". There are many variations some of which include angels and other strangeness. Other chain letters claim to be part of a competition. There was on notorious chain claiming that Microsoft were conducting research and would pay you for forwarding the letter - despite the fact that there was no way that Microsoft would even know about you forwarding the mail. Others can be a bit more sinister. The sick child is a good example of this. A letter tells the story of a sick (or dying) child and asks you do to something to help her. In one case, people are asked to send their unwanted AOL floppy disks to an address provided since this dying child has a rather bizarre wish. Her wish is to have the largest number of AOL floppy disks in the world. You'd think this to be a slightly strange wish for a dying child but it seems that some believed it. Not all chain letters began with malicious intent. Some people genuinally believe that people like to receive junk about angels and luck. Others thought that they could bolster a worthy cause by asking millions of strangers to send emails to one-another or a specific email address. In the case of petitions, this site has this to say.

Even for those completed petitions returned within the relevant time period, there is no realistic way of validating the names and addresses they contain. Therefore they are almost certain to be disregarded by whoever they are intended to influence.

So even if your cause is a good one and you manage to somehow receive an email back containing thousands of names it means nothing. Arguably it would be more productive to simply write a shell script that generates random names and addres them to an email - it would be just as useful. Some of these campaigns actually cause harm. Firstly, they generate unnecessary traffic on the web. They waste people's time. Sometimes they can be incredibly counter-productive. At least one person had their email account cancelled when they circulated a letter asking people to send them their letters of protest regarding an issue. Others have found themselves being spammed by well-intentioned people because someone circulated a chain letter advising people to send emails to a specific email address. Some petitions are also out of date but continue to circulate because people don't check the facts for themselves, they simply add their name and forward it. As with all chain letters you can ignore them but personally I find it most effective to report them as spam if I don't know the person sending it. If I do know the person who sent it then I reply asking them not to send me anything like this again. This method seems to have worked since I haven't received chain letters for a long time since they all came from the same well-meaning person.

Pyramid scheme spreads through Cork

2006-03-09T13:11:00.000Z

Over the past few weeks a range of pyramid schemes have been springing up around Cork in Ireland. The Skeptic's Dictionary has a particularly good definition of what a Pyramid Scheme is. Essentially it comes down to this idea. You hand your money to a complete stranger and then you recruit people who in turn hand their money to you. In some schemes you would keep all the money you collect. In others, you pass a percentage of the cash you receive back up the line to the person who recruited you. For example, for every 1000 euro you receive, you would then give 100 euro to your recruiter. It's a completely unsustainable scheme since it relies on the assumption that everyone will be able to recruit people to pay them money. After a very short series of steps (10 people all recruiting 10 people), the you exhausted the population of the planet. It's impossible to maintain. 90 percent of the people participating in the scheme have to lose so that 10 percent will make good money. The trick is to avoid the scheme or make sure you get in early and so become one of the lucky ones. Even if you are a lucky one, you have to remember that the people you recruit will probably lose their money. Assuming you will be recruiting friends and family then you can imagine that they will not be too happy with you and will almost certainly blame you. A number of these idiotic schemes are running in the Cork area. Local reports would suggest that people are actually taking out loans in order to throw money in to this scheme. Not only are they losing their own money, they are losing money that they didn't have in the first place. i think this boils down to the same reason why people respond to spam emails from 'Nigerian bank managers' promising millions of Dollars in exchange for their assistance. It's greed and stupidity. People hear promises of quick riches and don't stop to think about how ludicrous the situation is. Pyramid schemes are not simply a trivial way for idiots to give their money away to strangers, they have a very real and damaging affect on communities. Imagine the aftermath when people realise that they've been fleeced by the people they live alongside? In Albania a civil war broke out as a result of people losing money in pyramid schemes. I'd hope after this little fiasco in Cork explodes that the government will introduce legislation to effectively deal with these scams. Pyramid schemes are illegal in many countries and for good reason. Further reading: The Kingdom reports on the Cork pyramid schemes

Alive.ie. Christian fundamentalist attacks on fact

2006-03-05T12:48:00.000Z

Alive is a remarkably conservative Catholic newspaper that is distributed free in Ireland. My regular copy has come through the door so it's time to take another journey in to the land of paranoid irrational religious journalism. Let's look at some of the articles. First we'll start with an attack on evolution. The article opens with this text.

THE real driving power behind the theory of evolution is not science but hatred for religion, a leading US sociologist of religion has claimed. Professor Rodney Stark has argued that Darwin’s theory of evolution is bad science, with virtually no fossil evidence to back it up.

The aim of a rebuttal should be to attack the material, not the writer but since we have some credentials here, let's look at them. Mentioning that Mr Rodney Stark is a professor seems to be an attempt to lend some authority to his article. Mr Stark's area of expertise appears to be the social sciences. Although he is perfectly entitled to his views, to use this article to debunk evolution is like having a biologist debunk the theory of gravity. A grounding in the scientific method helps but you can see that the social sciences are not biology. Would you trust a dentist to comment on the composition of Jupiter simply because they are a professor of dentistry? The article provides a quote from the late Stephen Jay Gould regards his doubt about the fossil record. Also, it mentions Thomas Huxley and his view that you had to choose between Bible literalism and Darwin. Even if true, these do nothing to disprove the theory of evolution. The theory does not depend on the actions of two men. It depends on the accumulated evidence. Despite the fact that fundamentalists have found hundreds of scientists who dispute parts (or in some cases all) of the theory of evolution, there are thousands more who accept the the evidence strongly points to evolution as being a fact. Some elements of the theory of evolution are indeed up for debate, for example, the gradualistic model and punctured unctured equilibrium but no serious scientist rejects evolution outright. The most important element of this article is it's claim that the goal of evolutionists is to destroy religion, a completely untrue claim. You might as well claim (and indeed many did) that the theory of heliocentrism is an atheist plot against religion. Fact is nothing but an attack on untruths. Christians are entitled to their views but cannot reasonably cry foul when fact contradicts what their ancient book tells them. The theory of evolution and Christianity can co-exist quite happily. The Catholic Church itself has accepted that evolution is compatible with Christian faith. The only religious people who deny this are Bible literalists who, if being honest to themselves must surely argue that spiders have four legs and that the world is only thousands of years old. As always, we have the regular attacks on atheists. Professor David McConnell of Trinity College, Dublin comes under attack. He argued that humans are simply self-replicating electrochemical machines. They go on to suggest that since machines are mere tools, this leads to an endorsement of slavery. Suggesting that this view-point leads to people being becoming disposable, the idea that the people who are no longer useful can be put to death. I think the text used to open the article really sums things up.

AN ATHEIST IS someone who does not believe in man, who has a materialistic view of human dignity. He usually diverts attention from his dreary view by proclaiming his disbelief in God.

Let's look at the definition of the word 'dreary' as I think this is an interesting choice of words. Dreary is defined as dismal, bleak, boring or dull. You could argue that a belief that AIDS can lead to death is bleak but that doesn't change the fact that it's true. You can argue that studying history is dull and boring (for some people) but there is a clear benefit. The view that atheists don't hold life to be special is an alarmingly common view expressed in fundamentalist religious writing. The opposite is true. Since we expect a small amount of time we don't believe in eternal life, we have to strive to make the most of our years. Just because man is a biological machine does not mean that he isn't unique. As the professor stated, "man is a machine capable of writing and reading Shakespeare." The atheist view is one that is distorted by religious fundamentalists. Atheist is a not a life-guiding set of rules like religion. Atheism is the simple belief that there are no supernatural gods watching over us. Atheists can be good, evil and everything in between just like Christians. Some atheists believe that people are precious, some believe that people are there to be used. It's the height of arrogance to believe that Atheists are automatically negative and hold life in contempt yet some Christians continue to push this untruth. Regards slavery, it is worth noting that the Bible itself provides guidance for how slaves should be treated. This itself is an endorsement of slavery. Christians are entitled to hold their views, no matter how delusion they may seem, but this kind of paranoid and insulting journalism does little to help their cause.

Mohammed compared to the holocaust

2006-02-10T11:18:00.000Z

It seems that some are trying to draw a parallel between insulting Mohammed and the holocaust. Some have argued that since it's illegal to say nasty things about eh holocaust in some European countries, the same rule should apply to Mohammed and religion in general. This argument doesn't really make sense when you look at what Mohammed is and what the holocaust was. Mohammed is certainly important to adherents of Islam. Based on my limited understanding of Islam, he is revered and see as an example of how a man should live his life. To secular minded people though he is just another character in a holy book. The holocaust was the mass-murder of millions of people. It has been argued that the reason that the holocaust is considered 'out of bounds' is because Jews will become upset if something nasty is said about it. This is untrue. Anyone who places any value on life sees the holocaust for what it was. It wasn't Jews dying, it was people. This is why the holocaust continues to have a special place. It's a reminder of the depths that man can sink to. I'm hoping at this point you can see the difference between making fun of a character in a book and insulting the memory of millions of ordinary people who were murdered. Amusingly, an Iranian newspaper is running a competition to find a cartoon about the holocaust. This is seen as some kind of revenge for the recent Mohammed cartoons. It's a nice demonstration of freedom of speech really. The most important thing will be to see what happens after they publish the cartoon. Will we see protests around the world? Will death threats be issues against the newspaper and the cartoonist? Will the Iranian embassy be attacked in multiple countries? 12 people dead so far because of cartoons.

Revenge for the Mohammed cartoons

2006-02-08T19:23:00.000Z

Seems that some media outlets in the Muslim world are taking revenge on Denmark (and Europe as a whole) by publishing cartoons of their own. A web site has posted anti-semitic cartoons as their response. A newspaper is running a competition to find a suitably insulting cartoon based around the holocaust. There are two responses to this. 1) What difference does it make? The media in some of the Arab countries have a reputation for doing this anyway so what difference does it make. Some highlights include some wonderful cartoons depicting Jews dressed as Nazis (complete with swatikas). 2) What does this have to do with the price of fish? Seriously, think about this. A Spanish man insults me so I go home and post a dog turd to some poor sod in France. It doesn't make sense does it? Neither is this bizarre Arab media approach. An anti-semitic or even insulting holocaust cartoons aren't exactly relevant to the majority of Europeans. I presume they attack the Jews because as everyone knows, at least in the Arab media, the world is run by a Jewish banker conspiracy. Our elected governments are simply servants of our true Jewish overlords. 9 people are dead so far, all protestors to the best of my knowledge.

Why wasn't Abu Hamza arrested earlier?

2006-02-08T09:18:00.000Z

Abu Hamza, an extremist muslim preacher who has enjoyed the hospitality of the UK for the best part of 20 years while calling for non-muslims to be killed, has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for inciting murder among amongst other things. Abu Hamza jailed for seven years Here is a quote from a Muslim Labour MP Shahid Malik. "But we've got to ask ourselves, we've got a legal system that has allowed this man to say what he's been saying for the best part of 10 years." "One thing is clear, we need tougher legislation, that will enable the police to work quicker." This is crap. Asking for tougher legislation is a terrible idea. What we need is for the existing laws to be enforced. It's widely believed that Abu Hamza has been allowed to get away with inciting murder for so long simply because the police didn't want to risk offending Islam. When he asks for tougher legislation, does he perhaps mean something along the lines of the recently rejected 'Religious Hatred Bill' which anyone with any sense considered to be a ludicrous eroding of freedom?

An apology for these insulting cartoons?

2006-02-05T19:12:00.000Z

I wonder when the Egyptian government will apologise for these cartoons. Jews as Nazis. These crude cartoons depicting Jews as Nazis (complete with Swastikas) seem to be considered acceptable to the Egyptian government despite it's recent sensitivity to cartoons. The people who violently protest against the Danish cartoons aren't asking for respect. They expect our culture to accommodate their own religious sensibilities while they offer nothing in return. Do as we say, not as we do. I just heard that a sausage vendor in Copenhagen was violently beaten by two chaps - at this time claimed to be Turks. It's claimed that they accused him on selling unclean meat and gave him a concussion to prove their point. I figure that this incident has two possible motivations. 1) The two men are complete and utter idiots who have to hide in a religion since that's the only place their lack of brain power can be hidden. 2) This was planned to stir-up anti-muslim feeling and so bring about the 'clash of civilisations' that so many fundamentalist Christians and Muslims seem to want. == update 8 February == Looks like there may be a 3rd explanation for the hot dog attack story. According to some surfing, it looks like this story may be a hoax.

Raise a glass to the normal people

2006-02-04T21:36:00.000Z

An idea, a theory, a life or a belief unchallenged will become feeble and die. Without questions and criticism, and idea will stagnate, be left behind and if lucky simply become an obscure entry in a history book. Radical Muslims, like radicals of any religion or any discipline, are dooming their own belief system. Science survives because every idea can be questioned and be discarded if proven to be incorrect. Fundamentalist belief cannot and is doomed. This isn't just Islam, this is any religion where someone is happy to live their lives strictly according to what their priest reads from a book written hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The amusing thing is that the text of these books is typically interpreted different by various factions and so even the religion itself doesn't agree on the meaning. It's a game of chinese whispers that's been running now for over 2000 years and there's no sign of it stopping. The decision by the Jyllansposten to post the cartoons that have caused many in the Muslim world to swap reason for insanity was a poor one but the had the right to do this. It's the same right that allows they Egyptian media to publish anti-Jewish television programmes. it's the same right that allows newspapers in the Arab world to publish anti-Jewish articles. It's the rule of law. The people who have taken part in the recent violent attacks on innocent Europeans simply because of these cartoons are beneath contempt. The protesters in the UK who threaten 'another 7/7' (in reference to the attacks on London last year) are empty-headed fools. The Muslim world should not expect European governments to break their own laws. Remember that the Danish newspaper concerned has already issued an apology for this incident. I'm repeating what I've already said in a previous post but should we demand an apology from Muslim countries for the atrocities committed by lunatics who believe that 'Allah' wants them to blow up men, women and children who did nothing more than go shopping? I say no. Most people just want to live their lives and do the best they can. These people are not to blame for the actions of a minority who's lives are so empty they try to fill the void with murder. This situation is getting pretty bizarre now. With two European embassies in Syria destroyed, it's getting moving beyond simple street protests. If this should escalate any further, the blame must lie with the extremists, not with the ordinary person in the street whether he be Danish or Iranian. I'd say raise a glass to the normal people who are getting shit on from a great height by the extremists here and hope that the crazies manage to kill more of themselves than they do us.

Danish and Norwegian embassies burnt to the ground

2006-02-04T17:11:00.000Z

Following the saga of protests against the Danish people, some bright sparks in Syria have burnt the Danish and Norwegian embassies to the ground. Embassies burn in Syrian protest I heard that this incident was sparked by text messages claiming them that copies of the Koran were burt in Denmark. One thing I'm wondering though is where the protestors are buying the Danish flags that they are burning during the protests. I can understand American flags being in large supply since those seem to torched on a regular basis but surely Danish flags aren't quite as easy to find. == 5 February 2006 == And now the Danish embassy in Beirut has been burnt to the ground. If these protests are being organised in defence of Islam, where are these people when Islam is used to justify murder?

Is this really the most important thing right now?

2006-02-02T18:31:00.000Z

This is just following on from the previous post regarding the frantic reaction from some Muslims regarding the recent publication of cartoons that were 'offensive to Islam'. This site has a very interesting write-up of the situation. It seems to be a moderate Muslim site and it's reassuring to see something sensible coming from the Muslim world regarding this farce. A Mountain Out of a Molehill Over Danish Cartoons The article makes some interesting points about double-standards. The Danish government a short while ago took action against a radio station that was encouraging hatred against Muslims yet they are now being demonised. Also, it's acceptable for the Middle-Eastern press to print terrible anti-Jewish articles. I'd say that, based on the reaction from the Middle-East, this is a serious issue here. If this is the most serious problem they have then they're doing pretty well. I think if the Muslim world wants to be taken seriously, it really has to respond slightly better to situations like this. Bomb threats and armed gunmen threatening Europeans is hardly a civilised or reasonable response to such a petty issue.

Denmark offends Islam

2006-02-01T18:03:00.000Z

You'd think that a religious group, when motivated sufficiently, could use its followers to resolve some of the serious issues in our world. You would be wrong in this case. A Danish newspaper printed a cartoon featuring Mohammed (of Islam fame) wearing a bomb-shaped hat. Seems like a silly little thing however the way parts of the Islamic world reacted to this show how large the gap between us has grown. Syria and Saudi Arabia recalled their ambassadors. Libya is closing it's embassy in Copenhagen. We have three countries who are effectively ending political contact simply because of a cartoon. Also, there have been bomb threats and an attack on an EU office in Palestine - not to mention people taking to the street to protest against this 'offence to Islam'. Of course Danish flags were burnt in the streets as is traditional when someone gets upset. In this BBC news article, the theologian Sohaib Bencheikh is quoted as follows.

one must find the borders between freedom of expression and freedom to protect the sacred". "Unfortunately, the West has lost its sense of the sacred,"

Absolute rubbish. If the west has 'lost its sense of the sacred' then this surely can only be a good thing. Superstition and bronze-age laws are generally not considered to be a plus point in modern secular societies. One does not need to find the borders between freedom of expression and freedom to protect the sacred. If 'the sacred' is so important, surely it is above such petty mortal criticism. The is the irony. Although God created the universe and everything, it seems that he is incapable of taking criticism but curiously never answers the criticism personally. Instead he relies on self-appointed, self-important followers to moan and threaten on his behalf. Danes in Saudi Arabia have been warned by their government to be careful. Welcome to the 14th century courtesy of fundamentalism.

The miracle of wood

2006-01-29T23:01:00.000Z

(This article is now the second highest ranked in a google search for Alexis Cartwright. Woot!) I noticed at work that someone has been circulating adverts for new-age spiritual bullshit designed to separate 'spiritual' people from their money. Alexis Cartwright, according to the pamphlet is the one behind this little 'spiritual' business venture. I couldn't remove them since everyone has the right to free speech - even if what they have to say is a ridiculous mish-mash of Judeo-Christian beliefs, pseudo-scientific buzz words and cliched new-age crap. I did the next best thing. In the spirit of free enterprise, I created a leaflet to compete with hers. You see, while sitting around playing with my pen collection, I hit upon a divine revelation. Perhaps I was channelling Ramtha? Maybe one of the demi-gods of Atlantis was providing me with divine inspiration? Possibly I was just bored and fancied having some fun. I realised that the only path to true spiritual healing lies in the forest - it's the trees of course! Anyway, trees are not convenient to carry around. Few of them fit comfortably in to your pocket or bag. The solution was obvious. A way to carry the healing power of trees was needed. Planks of wood are the answer. Here's the advert (click it for the larger 200kb image)
I am not as experienced as Ms Cartwright is. My idea is simple. She manages to combine all the major religions with scientific sounding words (that in reality are laughable from a scientific point of view).

Ignorance in the name of religion.

2006-01-19T09:22:00.000Z

This article on the NCSE web site is a particularly depressing one. Is Evolution Arkansas's "Hidden" Curriculum Imagine a situation where a museum removes an exhibit about evolution because 'concerned parents' have complained. Imagine biology classes where teachers avoid mentioning evolution because they are warned that it will be 'good for their careers' to do so. Quoting some figures from a survey of Arkansas, 50% of teachers avoid discussing evolution because they fell intimidated to do so. This is classic religious fundamentalism and tolerance gone mad. What happens if Evangelical Christians decide that vowels offend their religious beliefs? Will all vowels be removed from school textbooks? Continuing with this survey, 20% teach evolution. 10% teach creationism. 1 in 10 teachers are teaching creationism, now that is just plain bizarre. These teachers are specifically pushing an outmoded religious fiction on to their pupils and considering it to be educational. Surely it can't be long before fairies, astrology and crystal healing creep in to the curriculum.

Evolution and its role in genocide

2006-01-05T12:51:00.000Z

This is more for comedy really. I came across this article that is simply bizarre. The main thrust of this is to claim that atheists and people who believe in evolution are quite simply, evil monsters. Here's an example.

The theory of evolution, which is taught as a fact in our public school textbooks, tax-supported parks, museums, and public television programs, is actually not a harmless theory but a dangerous religious belief. I have dedicated my life to helping people learn the truth needed to expose evolutionism as being largely responsible for molding the thinking of hosts of people like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot of the Khmer in Cambodia, Margaret Sanger, and Karl Marx, who have caused untold suffering in our world. Evolution as it is being taught is dangerous for several reasons.

So, evolution was 'largely responsible' for the great monsters of history? As always with these crazy religious rants, there are no sources provided for this claim, we simply have to accept it as truth. This is simply a rehash of the insulting idea that only Christians can be good people. If you're an atheist or a worshiper of a different god, you're simply not a nice person. After this, the article goes on to claim that evolution is actually a religion, not science. Here's an example

Evolution is positively anti-science. Science deals with things that are testable, observable, and demonstrable and evolution has none of those qualities. To call evolution "science" Is to confuse fairy tales with facts. True, evolution has been mixed with science for the last thirty years, but that does not mean that it is the same as science. Beer is often advertised during sporting events but the two subjects have no logical connection, and evolution has no more to do with science than beer has to do with sports.

Okay, how can I be diplomatic about this you Christian nut-job? We have evidence that strongly suggests that evolution has taken place and continues. We have the fossil record for one. There is not one single piece of evidence that would refute evolution. The geographical placement of species is more evidence. The shared genetic characteristics of different species is another. Evolution is science, much of the biology sciences are based on the theory that evolution happens. To deny it is to deny the existence of gravity. We can argue over what actually causes gravity since we don't actually know for certain but it would be foolish to claim that gravity doesn't exist and that is what this article is claiming regards evolution. Scientists who study evolution follow a scientific methodology. They hypothesize, they test, they observe. Of course since evolution takes time, it's difficult to set-up a lab experiment whereby we watch a species change in to another - I think this is what the creationist is asking for.

The Discovery Institute and a 'theistic understanding of nature'

2006-01-04T09:38:00.000Z

The Discovery Institute are an organisation that has been a staunch advocate of Intelligent Design. Intelligent Design being the pseudo-scientific theory that life is too complicated to have evolved and so was designed by an intelligent creator. This theory is a slightly updated version of creationism and is just as silly. There is no evidence for intelligent design, indeed it's been widely discredited and is considered to be a religious belief rather than science. In their own words, this is the goal of the Discovery Institute. "Discovery Institute’s Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture seeks nothing less than the overthrow of materialism and its cultural legacies. Bringing together leading scholars from the natural sciences and those from the humanities and social sciences, the Center explores how new developments in biology, physics and cognitive science raise serious doubts about scientific materialism and have re-opened the case for a broadly theistic understanding of nature." A theistic understanding of nature has nothing to do with science. Lets look at what happens when you take a theistic approach to nature. In the best case scenario, you will gather and confirm scientific knowledge about this world of ours. Facts that conflict with your religious beliefs will be ignored or disregarded. For example, you know that the Earth is flat because it says so in the Bible. Any evidence that says otherwise is simply wrong . The only theories allowed to survive are those that are compatible with your religious beliefs. Although there is scientific evidence to suggest that heat will cause ice to melt, the real reason it melts is because that is God's will. God has designed ice to melt when it's heated. In the worst case scenario you will reject all scientific explanations. Why would we even need science since we know that God created all and he does not like to be tested. Lightning comes when God is angry. Rain will only come when God is appeased. This is what a theistic understanding of nature has given us in the past. Think of the primitive people in the developing world who still believe that their god is punishing them whent the rains don't come. Do we really want to head back in that direction? Intelligent Design is religious fundamentalism, there's not better explanation for it. The vast majority of scientists reject it (since there is no evidence for it) and the majority of mainstream Christian churches reject it also. This article explains why these Christian fundamentalists are not just a bunch of fringe nutters with some quaint notions, they are a threat to society itself as well as their fellow Christians.

Proof that I'm psychic

2005-12-22T19:51:00.000Z

Today while walking home from work, I was listening to my iPod Shuffle. As you probably know, the iPod shuffle has a random play feature so you don't know what track is coming next. A song began playing and I thought, hmmm, sounds like the Ramones. It wasn't it was Green Day. Then the magical thing happened! I accidentally skipped to the next track and that one was the Ramones. Surely proof of psychic ability. That's not all though. A few times in the past, my girlfriend has phoned me just around the time when I was thinking of phoning her. Again, pretty good proof of my powers. Going back to reality, there's an important thing I've done here that other self-professed psychics have done. I'm only focussing on the times when I was actually right. For these coincidences, there will be an insanely large number of times when I made a guess and was wrong. Of course, getting a guess wrong isn't a memorable moment. Getting it right is.

Why does God hate amputees?

2005-12-02T19:34:00.000Z

This web site contains an online book that attempts to explain why God doesn't exist by answering this question. It's very well written and shows a lot of research. If you're looking for arguments to use in a discussion with a Christian (or anyone labouring under the egotisical delusion that they were created by an all powerful being), pay it a visit. The forums are quite lively also with some well written posts from Christians and athiests alike. Unlike quite a few other forums, this one provides a very civilised environment for discussion. Whydoesgodhateamputees.com

The human stun gun

2005-10-23T11:10:00.000+01:00

This is an interesting example perhaps of when martial arts merge with religion. This is the story of martial arts expert who claims he can knock people out without touching them. He uses 'energy' to disrupt their bodily systems. Note again how the word energy is so often used in pseudo-science and alternative therapies. Fox news tested his claim and it seemed to be quite convincing initially. He would use this technique on his students and one by one, they would simply collapse. A strange thing happened after this though. When he was asked to demonstrate this skills on people who were not his students, suddenly it stopped working. He explained that only 40% of people can be affected by his deadly powers. Odd that all of his students, at least the ones used in his demo, fit in to that 40% and the non-students all seem to fit in to the remaining 60%. Here's a link to the news report. Knock out without Touching you. This seems a familiar situation to me. I've seen footage of Christians who seem to go limp and collapse when their preacher lays his hands on them. Some of the US televangelists use this. Now if you ask these people why they collapse, they will say that they felt the holy spirit in them. In reality, they collapse because they are expecting to. It's like hypnotism and exorcisms. The subject plays the role expected of them. Also, if you don't collapse, then your fellow church-goers will perhaps think less of you. Visit James Randi's site for more information. If you've never visited his site, I strongly recommend that you have a look. There's a wealth of information for the sceptical reader and a few good laughs as well.

The power of well, maybe it might maybe do something if you believe

2005-10-22T02:00:00.000+01:00

I found a link to this site from the James Randi site. His site already provides a very concise summary of this but here's my interpretion to help you. BrynaHerb provide an array of products that (may) heal or (may) help you balance you energy. Here is some text taken from their site It has long been known that negative states of mind and emotion can affect physical health. No shit Sherlock. If people are upset, they don't feel good. Thanks for that revelation, already I feel enriched. It is recognised that when we feel happier with life and ourselves then our sense of well-being increases. Essences aim to bring the mind and emotions to positive state of balance so that we can experience a fulfilled, happy life. This in turn may affect vitality and physical well-being. Sounds like it might work but they're not quite certain. Notice that there isn't a single direct statement here. "It is recognised". Recognised by who? A doctor? A reputable scientist? An unemployed carpet fitter? Mr T? Assuming that we assume that at least someone in the world recognises this fact then we get to the second sentence, essences aim. I aim to live to the age of 250 but I'm unlikely to do so. Assuming that they succeed in their aim then this may actually have some kind of positive effects. This sounds like it was written by someone who is a lawyer by day and a voodoo new-age witch doctor by night. With the consent of the individual, essences help to bring about positive changes. They work on the subtle energy system of the etheric, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. Healing and transformation takes place as the energy system starts to release any negative patterns present on these levels. This will only happen if the individual is willing to allow this process to take place. Now most of this is gibberish and absolutely impossible to prove. The only part that makes sense is the last sentence which is essentially a get out clause. The treatment can only work if the recepient really believes in it. Presumably then if the treatment fails it is because you didn't believe enough. The same situation as when psychics, rather predicably, fail a scientific test and then blame it on bad vibes from the scientists. BrynaHerb Essences make available energies of various herbs, trees and fungi to help individuals to feel empowered and to promote self-healing. They can also be used to connect to and explore individual plant spirits. They have been created with knowledge and respect of the natural world to provide you with a simple yet effective way to unblock energies on all levels and to restore balance. These essences will provide help for those who wish to heal themselves, and give you the opportunity to do so in a safe and holistic way. Keeping you in control of your own healing processes. New-age gibberish. How many times can you use words like 'balance' and 'energies' and keep a straight face. From their point of view, hopefully untill you've given them your credit card details. Throughout this whole site, there is not a single claim I could see that could be tested. There is no simple phrase like "This herb will cure dandruff". It's all meridians, chakras and energy. Because of this, you simply can't sue them because how do you prove that a product didn't improve your meridians when you can't even prove they exist? It's like saying that if you buy a product then an angel will be happier. For more laughs, look at the quality of the English also. This site is a hobby and so you can expect some typos. They are selling supernatural products that will have amazing effects on your life! Surely you'd expect them to spell-check their own site?

Better to be safe than sorry

2005-09-27T14:36:00.000+01:00

it's nice to read feedback that religious types have sent to websites that they disagree with. This comment was sent to Venganza.org (Home of the Flying Spaghetti Monster). The FSM has upset quite a few Christians who fail to see that the FSM is just as logically plausible as their God. Here's an exceprt from one of the emails.

I believe in God. You obviously don't. If your view is correct, when I die, I'll never know it. If my view is correct, when you die, YOU SURE WILL.

This is an arguement I've heard used before. Essentially it boils down to, it's better to believe in God in case he exists and if he doesn't exist then you've not lost anything. It's a childlike reasoning really. He (Brian Gable in this case) is happy to go to his grave ignorant just in case there is a God. In the remainder of his email, he makes quite a few unsubstantiated comments about top scientists increasingly believing in Intelligent Design. A quick visit to the NCSE proves this to a typical lie being used by creationists. Also, Brian uses the famous Arguement from Ignorance to justify creationism. Arguing that since we don't understand how everything universe works, it must have been created by God. Creationists must have dull lives. This is why Creationion science often doesn't require the kind of education normal science would. Normal scientists have to try to find evidence to explain their theories. Creation scientists simply invoke their Deus Ex Machina whenever they encounter a gap in their knowledge.

Iran's war against girls

2005-08-30T15:03:00.000+01:00

Iran continues to keep their God happy by executing girls for "Offences against chastity". Generally, the men involved will be lashed while the girls - in one case as young as 13 would be executed. A little while ago this would have involved burying them up to the chest and executing them by hurling stones at them. Of course the stones were deliberately chosen so as to not simply kill with one blow. These days, civilisation has arrived in some cases. Now the the girls, if lucky, will be hanged rather than stoned to death. Divine Justice. I decided to post this after hearing of a recent case where on the 16th of August 2004, a 16 year old girl was hanged for "acts incompatible with chastity". The judge in this case put the noose around her neck personally. After the execution, he ordered that her body be left hanging for some hours as a warning to others. Remember here, this isn't a crime against any individual. All she did was allegedly have sex with a man outside of marriage, thus offending the religious rulers, and so earned herself a death penalty. The stories of these girls being routinely raped by their guards prior to execution to ensure that they do not go to heaven just add to the insanity of the whole situation. Any country that executes it's citizens is barbaric and cruel but in this case, to murder people for such trivial reasons is truly the work of god. For a society to have such a bizarre approach to their female population is utterly backward. The fact that a man can rape a girl and then get lashes while she is executed is bizarre but tells us how much value they place on women. They are stuck in the idea that women are the tempters and that men who give in to this temptation are merely the victims. It's similar to the Christian idea of Eve being the one who tempted Adam with an Apple and so condemned the whole human race. The preachers in Iran have the people by the balls in the same way that the Christians used to in Europe. This should be a warning that religion has no place today. It's a hopeless relic of the past.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster

2005-08-26T13:05:00.000+01:00

Was the universe and all the life within created by the Christian God or the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Both options seems likely as the other. The Kansas School Board continue their battle to ensure that evolution is undermined and that children are forced to learn about the creation of life from the Biblical point of view. The Kansas School Board of course want to ensure that children in their district learn about Intelligent Design (a poorly disguised form of Christian creationism) but luckilly Bobby Henderson is trying to make sure that The Flying Spaghetti Monster is no forgotten by these heathens. Followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster seem to be luckier than those of most other religions. Unlike the Chrisitian obsession with misery, guilt and judgement, followers of this exciting new religion will receive these benefits. 1) Fridays will be religious holidays 2) Loose moral code 3) Heaven contains a stripper factory and a beer volcano Although it's common to paint George Bush as an incoherent simple minded buffoon, this may or may not be fair. It's interesting though that in a Gallup Survey, it seemed that people with less education were more likely to doubt evolution preferring to believe that God created us.

One step closer to theocracy

2005-08-17T10:19:00.000+01:00

George Bush with his belief that Intelligent Design should be taught alongside evolution theory seems to confirm that theocracy will be the future of the US if he can get his way. As long as they're going to be fair to all sides, I hope that he'll be encouraging teachers to give these theories equal billing. 1) The universe doesn't exist, we're all living in a giant alien video game 2) The universe was created by the Invisible Pink Unicorn 3) The universe was created by accident when a supernatural being vomited

Do religious people value life more than atheists?

2005-08-05T19:11:00.000+01:00

I arrived home from work today to find a new issue of Alive, an Irish Catholic newspaper. As always, this newspaper brings a wealth of topics for new blog entries. In the editorial, they have an article entitled "An atheist is someone who does not believe in man". We start off with a high point as you'll see from this quote.

"Of course there are 'good' and 'bad' atheists, just as there are 'good' and 'bad Catholics. But fortunately most atheists are bad atheists. That is, they don't live in keeping with their beliefs."

Seems a rather odd statement doesn't it? They go on to justify this by saying that since atheists don't believe in a supernatural happy-ever-afterlife (Heaven), then they are cynical and see no point in doing anything worthwhile since it's all going to end when they die. This line of reasoning is not just faulty. It's been out of order for three weeks and leaking coffee all over the carpet. I would counter this by saying that atheists put more in to their lives than Catholics. Catholics believe in a happy-ever-afterlife where they'll get to meet all the nice people that died and quite possibly their childhood pets. If a Catholic dies in the service of his God, then he will certainly get a decent seat in heaven. This life is nothing but a test, a relatively short test at that. The results they get will decide whether eternity is spent in heaven or hell. For an atheist, this life is all they have. One short life in a world that's indifferent towards them. Atheists believe that there is no supernatural after-life and so want to get the most out of this one. We don't have some kind of supernatural father who's going to make everything turn out right. If we screw up our lives or this world, then that's it, we're screwed. I can't speak for all atheists because we are a diverse group. I personally think I make a good contribution to the world. I have a decent job, I try to help those around me, I am planning to be married next year and look forward to starting a family. Does this sound like someone who is cynical and sees no future? They go on to use the analogy of building a sand castle. Why build it when you know the tide is coming in to wash it away? The answer is, because I want to. Who cares that it's going to be gone tomorrow? I'm here today. The article finishes by saying that athiests who are nice and act as if they have a future are behaving as if there is a God. Therefore, atheists who are nice are not really atheists, they are just God worshippers in denial. This would suggest that you can't be a good person and not believe in God! So, there we have it. Most atheists are in fact in denial - only the nasty ones are truly atheists. All Catholics are good because they believe in God. == Updated 22nd of October == Just one last point to add here. Some Christians seem to insist that without religion we have no morality, that society needs religion. This Religions Value In Questionarticle may suggest otherwise. This is a write-up of a study where it was found that religious democracies actually tend to have higher murder rates, more abortions and crime in general. Like the article says, this doesn't mean specifically that religion is a factor however it deoes seem a bit odd doesn't it? Maybe the pressure of being forced to live-up to impossible standards and observe rules and practices for no good reason has a negative effect on people?

Christianity - The Buffet Religion

2005-07-30T12:20:00.000+01:00

Ron Dotson makes some good points in this article. One point in particular is that there is no such thing as a true Christian. I've mentioned this before, that Christianity is a buffet religion. People come and take what they like from the Bible and ignore the bits they don't like. Often, Christians haven't even made these decision for themselves - they simply accept the guidance of their preacher and don't bother investigating things for themselves. How many Christians do you think have sat down and read the Bible cover to cover? Ron's article also has a list of some of the more notable attrocities committed or ordered by God. This is the funny thing about Christian faith. The good Christians would, I imagine, accept that they worship God because they fear and love him. This is definitely the message of the old testament. God wants to be loved and feared in equal measure. Mainstream Christians will not mention the fear side of things, they tend to prefer to tell you how Jesus loves you. It's silly and not being honest to their religion. As always, if you're looking for confirmation of the darker side of Christianity, pay a visit to Evilbible.com.

My holy book is better than yours!

2005-07-29T19:15:00.000+01:00

Funny really. I've been reading Muslim web sites that point out the errors in the Christian Bible that prove that the Koran is the true holy book. Also, have been reading Christian web sites pointing out the errors in the Koran. Amusing really. It's like children arguing over which one of them really has monsters under their bed. I found this most amusing. It's an article on a Christian site that points out the historical errors in the Koran. It seems to ignore the irony that the Bible itself is known to be full of inaccuracies and contradictions. Amusingly, they go on to point out examples where Mohammed and his minions dished out extreme punishments for minor slights. A quick trip to Evilbible.com shows that the Christian religion is no different. Both Christianity and Islam are religions based on flimsy texts and a large sheep-like congregation that don't stop to consider the underlying barbarity of their religion.

Giants: The Myth and the Mystery

2005-07-19T09:16:00.000+01:00

I watched a documentary called Giants: The Myth and the Mystery on Discovery Civilization last night and what a documentary it was. I think you'd struggle to call it a documentary. The were investigating reports of giants in ancient times but not really letting science slow them down. Most of the evidence for these giants came from the Bible. If there wasn't any biblical evidence however, then it was blamed on aliens from outer-space. To help with the whole 'Aliens built our civilization theory, they had the esteemed Erich von Däniken tell us why this is true. Interestingly, the whole alien thing was being pushed so hard that you'd almost forget that the documentary was about giants. The link above provides some background on this man but here's the short version. Based on his books and interviews, he seems to believe that ancient man was incapable doing anything advanced without needing the intervention of aliens from space. For example, the monuments of ancient Egypt were only possible with assistance from aliens. This is the same man who presented photos of illustrated pottery as proof of alien intervention. These photos were later found to be a forgery and his was response was that the deception was justified because people won't believe without seeing evidence. If they were going to seek his comments, why didn't they just say to hell with it and invite children to tell us about ancient giants. The children's comments would surely be just as useful. During this show, there was just a complete lack of sceptical thinking. For example, it was taken as fact that the Biblical flood happened. It wasn't so much a documentary, more a very boring X-Files episode but without the benefit of Scully's scepticism. Sure enough, after this show had finished, they aired one their usual ghost story documentarys. You'd learn more watching Buck Rogers than you would watching Discovery Civilization in the evening.

Christians crucify a nun

2005-07-09T19:27:00.000+01:00

Yep, Islam doesn't have a monopoly on medieval thinking. According to BBC News, a nun was crucified by a priest and some other nuns in a botched attempt at an exorcism. This isn't the first death caused by Christians trying to exorcise the devil. Exorcisms have been linked to child abuse, physical injury and death. Now, people must be deranged to believe that someone could be possessed by the devil? Not really. If Christians are already ready to accept that the world was created 6000 years ago by an all powerful God who's son rose from the grave then it's not really a stretch to believe that someone or even a computer can be possessed by the devil. Maybe if Christianity had just spread a little better in the Middle East then we might be engaged in a war on terror against the Christian Taliban.

Another success for religion

2005-07-07T18:30:00.000+01:00

This was meant to be a fairly nice day. Just finishing off a three week project and everything is going well. Then, those lunatics bomb London. Let's make something clear here. I'm not anti-muslim, I'm anti-every-fucking-religion. Think of a Nuclear missile. In the right hands, it stops wars from happening because most people don't want to be obliterated. In the wrong hands, people get obliterated but luckily, Nuclear missiles aren't easy to come by and there's a high price for using one. Religion can bring comfort to people and try to make them think that they have some kind of higher purpose. In the wrong hands though, it allows the mentally ill and fanatics to justify terrible crimes. Also, it helps the evil bastards to get others to do their dirty work. Here's a quote from the statement that is meant to be Al Qaeda's way of claiming credit for these bombings.

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and undaunted fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him.

I can imagine the sick little cock-jockeys laughing their heads off as they wrote this. Either that, or they were actually being sincere when they wrote this. It's hard to how compassion comes in to this. These idiots are trying to absolve themselves of responsibility for their actions yet doing the opposite of what they say their god would do. I sincerely hope over the coming months that people react responsibly and don't blame the poor sods who happen to share the same religion as these nutters. It's pretty clear that they are not on the same side since these bombings were pretty indiscriminate. Particularly indiscriminate since some of the areas hit are known to have high Muslim populations. They're just as much victims as everyone else. Ah, what can you do? I think we have to just press-on and show them that we are the good guys here. We should continue to provide aid to poor countries, continue to allow immigrants to join us and enjoy the society we've built together. Luckily no-one I know was caught up in this mess today but it was not fun this morning having to try to phone as many people as I could to make sure that they were safe. Whatever people say, Islam and Christianity are not religions of peace. They are whatever you want them to be. I've read the bible from cover to cover along with sections of the Koran and there is good and bad in both. The problem is that fundamentalists can pick and chose what they want to believe from the great buffet of self-delusion that is religion. I sincerely hope one day we can leave this bronze-age shit behind and actually build a society based on the needs of people, not this ancient gibberish. One ironic point though. This happens within days of the Live 8 concert which brought the international community together to fight poverty. Also, it coincides with the G8 conference, again bringing people together to help the poor. Terrorists have only one purpose and that is to keep their fight going. Clearly, bombings like this will not help the poor bastards of Iraq. It will only prolong the hassle. Governments cannot give in to terrorists, the longer the bombings go on, the stronger the government must be. The reason the troops are in Iraq is to provide security for the people. As long as the bombings continue, the troops are obliged to stay.

The Invisible Pink Unicorn

2005-07-05T17:30:00.000+01:00

At last, a religion I can relate to. Institute for Unicorn Research All those crazy religions from the middle-est have lied to you for so long but, they were right about one thing. Proof is not a pre-requisite to belief. I haven't see the Invisible Pink Unicorn yet but I know that she watches over us all. Stupid people try to say that she doesn't exist because no-one has seen here. Like, duh, she's *invisible*.

The world hasn't ended

2005-07-05T16:00:00.000+01:00

Isn't it embarrassing when you predict the end of the world and it doesn't happen? You'd think that your followers would wise-up, maybe even you would think twice. Nah.. This is taken from Mary's Message to the World. They offer advice and a range of merchandise based around the messages that Annie Kirkwood has been receiving from Mary (as in Jesus' mum). This is taken from their FAQ.

Why have some of the predicted events not happened? If you've read Mary Message or followed some of the people making predictions, you may recognize that many of the major things that were predicted haven't happened. First of all--that's GOOD! We don't really need to have a major disaster happen and a couple hundred thousand people die, just so we can tell everyone "I told you so!" But now for the explanation we received from Mary. In the June 1996 issue #28 of our newsletter, Mother Mary tells us that we are in a grace period of ten years or more. But that natural disasters will still happen and there will still be loss of life. This part of the newsletter (June 1996) is on the web page, so if you are interested I suggest you read it.

Let's simplify this..

Why have some of the predicted events not happened? The stuff we said would happen didn't happen. We were wrong. The world as we know it will last 10 years or more (perhaps 33 billion years more?). During this time, natural disasters will occur.

Assuming that the world survives until June 2006, they will finally have predicted something correctly. This is most impressive. If you are twat enough to believe this, please contact me as I am in direct communication with God (screw Mary, she's the middle-man), and I will do you a prophesy for half of what they will charge.

How to be a fundamentalist

2005-07-05T15:14:00.000+01:00

No-more confusion, sitting around at home wondering how on earth to get that dynamite strapped on. No more depression as those athiests wear you down with their so called 'facts', 'reason' and 'logic'. This helpful page explains it all. How to be a fundamentalist It's a wonderful piece of writing. Very entertaining and very true. This is one of my favourite bits.

Whether you are talking about evolution, the origins of the universe, basic human anatomy, or the structure of the solar system, there is no need to concern yourself with learning anything at all about the issue. See "1 Inerrancy". By definition, those who disagree with you are wrong, deluded and possibly perverts, so it is a bad idea to pollute your mind with their religious beliefs. All the evidence in the world is no match for a single grain of the True Faith.

Christian Ken Hutcherson versus Microsoft, human rights and common sense

2005-05-06T21:08:00.000+01:00

Imagine a man who has grown up with the racial discrimination that was epidemic in the deep south of America. According to this article, he took up football (the American kind) over baseball because he could legally hurt white people. After injuring his legs in a motorbike crash, he needed surgery but insisted on only having a local anaesthetic because he didn't trust the white surgeon. You'd hope that someone who had to live with this shameful treatment would be sensitive towards minorities. You'd be disappointed. Some Christians used to believe that blacks were inferior to whites - that they were sub-human soulless things. This belief still survives today. Pastor Ken Hutcherson does not believe that gays have the same rights as other people. He met with Microsoft to ask them to withdraw their support for a bill that would outlaw discrimination based on sexual-orientation. This bill was later defeated by a narrow majority. According to this article, he also asked Microsoft to fire two of it's employees who has testified in support of the bill. As we know, Christianity is a buffet religion. Each denomination takes what it wants from the Bible and ignores the passages that it disagrees with. If someone claims that a group should be discriminated against because it's God's will, I say bullshit. These people are just using their religion to justify their insane beliefs in much the same way a suicide bomber claims to be doing the will of Allah. The Bible is so full of contradictions that no-one can honestly claim to be doing the will of God because no-one can work out what the mad bastard actually wants. Should we forgive, should we take an eye for an eye? Does Jesus want us to be peaceful? If so, why does he also tell us to take up our swords? To quote the man himself..

Matt. 10:34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Ken's stance is disappointing but not unexpected. At least this serves as yet more proof that Christianity is not the caring religion many try to portray it as being. Although most main-stream Christians appear to be nice enough (and certainly are nice people), they are still part of a belief system that oppresses people, drives it's followers to murder and lives of misery. Which of the two acts below do you think the Bible, and so all good Christians would endorse? 1) Two men getting it on. 2) A father, offering his two daughters to a mob so they could be gang raped. He did this to save two male visitors (complete strangers) from the same fate. Later, when drunk, the father went on to have sex with both of his daughters and get them pregnant. I don't think I'd like to take part in either of these scenarios but I know which one is morally disgusting. In case you didn't know, the second scenario is taken from Genesis. Wonderful man that Lot was. And this is one of the good guys?

Alive newspaper. Hypocrisy delivered straight to my door

2005-04-29T20:39:00.000+01:00

Two copies of Alive, a Catholic Irish newspaper arrived today. I was considering writing to them and ask that they stop sending me this crap but I'm finding that it gives me an excuse to blog more. The Alive 'journalists still remain unhappy that governments in Europe lean towards secularism. In an editorial comment, they explained why.

"The new constitution being proposed for Europe refuses to recognise that Christianity played a decisive role in forming European culture and civilisation."

As did monarchies, world war 2 and the black death. Does this mean that they should all get a mention? Perhaps a rousing paragraph thanking Hitler for sparking the war then led to the union we now enjoy? Christianity is part of European history, like the Nazis. This does not mean they are entitled to a mention in the EU constitution. Why just include Christianity? What about the other faiths? How about Judaism? What about Islam? The constitution has to be secular. If Christianity is given a top billing, how is this fair to other religions. How can we move in to the future, accepting others in to our societies while pledging allegiance to the Christian god?

From Beijing to Berlin, the past century showed repeatedly that "politics without God" led inevitably to tyranny and horrific suffering.

Presumably, they refer to the Nazi regime. Hitler began as a Christian, indeed was a Catholic like the good people at Alive. He turned away from Christianity though but certainly did not become an atheist. He still believed in a God, just one though that worked better with his extreme views. As the head of the Nazi regime, arguably, Nazi Germany was the mix of politics and god that Alive want. I think they are upset that he didn't chose their god. Have a look at Hitler's religious beliefs. Beijing, yes nasty regime. That's communism for you but you can hardly say that the reason why they do these things is because they are atheists. Here are some examples of past and present countries that mixed religion with politics. Iran Afghanistan Germany (under the Nazis) Malaysia * * Curiously, Alive also complains that Catholics are being subjected to harsh Islamic Sharia law. Interestingly, this illustrates the point that the only way you can have religious freedom is under a secular government. Most of the examples above are or were Islamic regimes. Examples of modern day Christian governments are difficult to find since Christianity to a great extend has matured and mellowed in it's old age. Now, life in an Islamic theocracy (or even a country that is guided by Islamic law) can be fine if you're a Muslim. You're not so luck if you're a Christian. Look at the example above where Alive newspaper highlights the plight of Christians in Malaysia. Now, if Christianity were to play a serious role in government, how can they possibly protect those who they are violently opposed to? Finally, the editorial complained about the fact that Rocco Buttiglione was rejected as an EU Commissioner. See BBC News for a write-up. Now, he did say that he would not let his beliefs affect him professionally, but if you were a woman or homosexual, how could you have confidence in this man? Yes, the EU did discriminate against his Catholic beliefs but for good reason. They are crazy and incompatible with modern human rights. Christians hide behind their precious scriptures, have hateful beliefs and then wonder why people call them monsters? Some links Christianity and the Nazis (This article also discusses Martin Luther. The founder of Protestantism and someone who believed that Jews should have their houses and places of worship burnt to the ground. He would also like to see the Jews mutilated. Nice guy.) The Catholic Church offers a partial apology for it's brutal history Lebanese civil war

God wants you to kill

2005-04-21T13:23:00.000+01:00

This is an entertaining site for you. It explains how God is guilty of genocide, has driven his followers to mass murder, rape and other nasties. evilbible.com This is the side of the Bible that your average blurry-eyed Christian doesn't really want to think about. I read the Old Testament myself about a year back and how anyone can read that and still think that the Christian God is a loving god is beyond me.

Mary appears in the underpass

2005-04-20T16:14:00.000+01:00

This is one of those stories that really has you wondering. What is the difference between the modern Christian and the man in animal furs who hides in fear of his god when there's an eclipse? Not much if this article is anything to go by. Mary appears in the underpass It seems that her miraculous career went downhill after the immaculate conception. Now, the mother of the son of God is reduced to appearing as a salt stain on the wall of an underpass in the US. Prior to this, she has been appearing as a stain on a window and most famously, as a piece of melted cheese. Why God's mum would want to appear in this fashion isn't explained. You'd think she cold simply manifest in a human form and lead us to salvation. God works in mysterious ways but his followers brain's are even stranger.

New pope, business as usual

2005-04-20T11:35:00.000+01:00

The Catholic Church was, is and probably always will be a violent, evil organisation. You could argue that it's attrocities in the past were a reflection of the time. Just in the same way you could say that a medieval king was just a man of his time when he had people torn to pieces. This arguement doesn't work for the Catholic Church though. This church claims to be the only way to God. It's head, is claimed to be God's representative on Earth. You'd think then, that this organisation should have always been a shining beacon of light. Quite the opposite. At best, the church has been a mirror of the terrible things happening in the world. At worst, the church itself has driven evil acts.

Excommunication please?

2005-04-12T16:34:00.000+01:00

Interestingly, I should be ex-communicated by the Catholic church. Also, anyone befriends me should receive the same treatment. Catholic Encyclopedia : Apostasy I was reading this account of someone's attempts to be ex-communicated. Quite an entertaining read. Kind of wish I could be excommunicated as well but it does look like it's a lot of hassle. Suppose I can kind of excommunicate myself by saying "I renounce God, Jesus, the donkey and all of god's little goblin helpers". Still, there is probably a record somewhere that says "He's a Catholic". Doesn't really affect me in every day life but it is a bit annoying to know that somewhere, there is a document linking me with this evil organisation. It's kind of like accidentally joining a fascist group (like, say... the BNP), when you were young and then being unable to get them to remove your name from their membership list. I'm not saying here that all Catholics are evil. It's just he organisation itself and their belief system that is evil.

Gods and bombs

2005-04-12T15:40:00.000+01:00

I came across this nice site of Richard Dawkins quotes. Dawkins quotes. This on in particular caught my eye.

If death is final, a rational agent can be expected to value his life highly and be reluctant to risk it. This makes the world a safer place, just as a plane is safer if its hijacker wants to survive. At the other extreme, if a significant number of people convince themselves, or are convinced by their priests, that a martyr's death is equivalent to pressing the hyperspace button and zooming through a wormhole to another universe, it can make the world a very dangerous place. Especially if they also believe that that other universe is a paradisical escape from the tribulations of the real world. Top it off with sincerely believed, if ludicrous and degrading to women, sexual promises, and is it any wonder that naïve and frustrated young men are clamouring to be selected for suicide missions? -- Richard Dawkins, "Religion's Misguided Missiles" (September 15, 2001)

I remember the article this is taken from and it makes a major point. Faith in a god or afterlife may provide comfort to some people. This has perhaps been a reason for many to tolerate it. The problem is, it also makes some people think themselves indestructible in that they have an immortal soul. It gets more disturbing when they are compelled by their priests or holy books to go and kill. However anyone tries to dress it up, Christianity and Islam do encourage people to kill, they do encourage intollerance. It's impossible to describe either as a religion of peace unless you are willing to disregard seriously large amounts of the text that is the basis of their faiths. The only answer is to have rational thought. If someone really thinks that God will reward them with immortal life, they are then ready to die and will commit terrible acts of violence. On a smaller scale, Christianity compells it's followers to observer certain rules. Even if these rules run contrary to human rights, they must be obeyed. This is why rational laws and behaviour decided by a human society make so much more sense. Laws are created by the people and evolve with society. 100 years ago, sodomy would have had you arrested, nowadays, it's mainly legal. 100 years ago, the Bible endorsed the killing of women, children and men. Today, it still does. Although some of it's followers try to gloss-over these facts, they can't be ignored. Either the Bible is the infallible word of God or it is a book made by men. If the Bible is wrong in any way, then it must be possible for it be wrong in many other ways. For help with this kind of thing, I'd suggest The Heirophant's Proselytizer Questionnaire

Test those Christians

2005-04-04T17:24:00.000+01:00

This article is take from Pagan Library. The author has been kind enough to allow it to be reproduced as long as the credits remain intact so here it is. Test Those Christians A Non-believer's Guide For Testing The True Christian. Ammond Shadowcraft 10-Dec-89 The Event There I was busily working at my desk when the interruption occurred. "Hi, are you Ammond?" "Yeah," I replied. "What can I do for you?" "I'm Hezikah Brown, and I'd like a couple minutes of your time." Being the nice guy that I am I agreed to a few minutes. It seems Hezikah is a Born Again Christian with a mission from God. He told me how he believed that Jesus was his personal Lord and Savior, how his life had been changed for the better, how he spoke in tongues and that he heard I was a witch. "The rumor in the office is that you're a witch." "It's true," I answered. "How can that be," he retorted. "Don't you know that witches are going to hell." And off we went... The Question So what is a non-believer to do today with all these seemingly dizzy people claiming to be Christians. It seems you meet these people everywhere. You just can't get away from them. They are in the office, swinging through the restaurant, on your computer network, cruising the beach and parading in that crowded john. Just when you get home for a private, intimate interlude with your lover comes the event stopping knock, knock of the True Christian. What the hell is a normal sane person to do? Go crazy, scream, defecate nude on the floor while in full view of the True Christian? No. We test them. As I presume that like me you are a non-believer too we can have a little fun. Jesus says "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves." Matt 7:15 and "Then if any man shall say to you Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the very elect." Matt. 24:23-24 John says "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1st John 4:1 There are many different types of Christian you know. And they all claim to be True Christians. How is the non-believer to know which is which? After all we want the real thing, a True Christian, not a demon from hell disguised as an angel of light. No Jim Bakkers or Jimmy Swaggarts will do. We want a real fool for Christ. How do we tell the True Christian from the disguised demon? The real fool from the money grabbers? We can do that with a little help. And this help comes from a very unexpected source. You see these Christian critters have a role model they follow. And they can't deviate from the model too much and hope to get to the heavenly entertainment park. Jesus, their role model has stated... "Therefore by their fruits shall you know them. Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by your name and by your name cast out demons, and by your name do many mighty works? And I will profess to them, I never knew you. Go away from me you who work evil." Matt 7:22-23 So you can see that not every person who claims to be Christian will make it to that starry, wonder filled entertainment park they call heaven. True Christians tell me that only 10 percent of those who claim to be True Christians are Christians at all. There's just a little rivalry. It seems they are all in competition with each other for that last 144,000 condos-in-paradise. Now God knows how much real estate He has and how much it costs. Overpopulation being what it is today He has to oust some. Otherwise garbage over runs the golden streets, airborne pollution covers the crystal walls and the sewers back up. Yech! As our volunteer testee saunters up visually apprise them. Do they look serious? Are their clothes nice? Do they look like they own property? Good. We're ready to start, but don't rush. We don't want the testee to suspect our motives. Much of the Christian religion is emotional. As the conversation starts let the testee know just where you stand. You don't want to be duped. You want to talk to a true Christian. None other than a true Christian will do. Ask our testee if they are a Christian? Are they a True Christian? Do they love Jesus? Is Jesus their Personal Lord and Savior? Yes? Good. Ask them how much they love Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit. Are they Spirit filled? Do they display any of the fruits, love, joy, peace, happiness, etc. of the Spirit as described in Gal. 5:22-23? Next we have to verify that they believe in the Bible. Without this we won't have any fun. Ask our volunteer if they believe in the Bible. Do they believe that it is the Word of God? Is it infallible? Is the Bible as appropriate for today as it was two thousand years ago? If the answer is yes, even if not infallible, fun is to be had in short order. The Money Test Here's how we start... Our trick is to confront the testee with moral absolutes and performance tests. Here is the first performance test that we can enjoy. "Give to everyone that asketh thee; and from him that taketh away thy goods ask not again." Luke 6:30 "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." Matt. 5:42 Luke 6:35 sums it all up... "But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be Sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil." True Christians are so fond of moral absolutes that I think we should give them every opportunity to experience those absolutes as real, upfront and personal events. In your next testing session, when you hear the True Christian extolling the Rock of Moral Absolutes upon which they stand, go for the cash. It has a nice sobering effect that should in the long run benefit the True Christian. Ask for their money, all of it. Just ask for their wallet. Have them show it to you. Any money inside? Good. Ask for it. You don't want their credit cards. That would be a crime. If there's no money, ask for an article of clothing. Coats and cloaks are good. How about car keys? Do they have a big cross with them? Ask for it. When they refuse have them reread the previous verses, then ask again. Should they still refuse call them a fraud, for that's exactly what they are. Just like Jesus send them away into darkness. They aren't a True Christian. Now should they give you everything in their wallet, the cloak on their back and the cross too, we get to have more fun... The Swill Test Next we proceed with more subjective questions. One of their obsessive traits is to compare their past performance with the actions of those in the Bible. How is their walk with their Lord? Do they follow Jesus closely? Do they want to follow more closely? Yes? Good. Now we start with the serious tests. In Matthew 10:18 Jesus sends out his True Disciples with the commandments to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils." Take a skeptical attitude about their status as a True Christian. Again let them know that you want only the real thing. No substitutes will be allowed. "And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name they shall cast out demons, they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Mark 16:17-18 On this you gotta' be a little careful not to let the cat out of the bag. Ask your friend if they have cast out demons. Do they speak with tongues? Have they laid their hands on sick persons who were healed? If so take a bottle from storage prepared especially for the test. It should be filled with (non)toxic, pukey looking stuff that smells to high heaven. Urine and excrement should do. Cap the bottle tightly while in storage. And for heavens sake wrap it in something to hide the mess from sight. In the Bible read Mark 16:17-18 which says that True Christians can pick up serpents and drink harmful things without suffering. Ask our unsuspecting testee to chug the whole bottle. If they object saying "thou shalt not test God" respond by saying that you are testing them, not God. God is not around to be tested anyway. If they don't chug-the-jug you can safely assume they are not a True Christian, only a fraud. Send them away. A note of warning... Be sure to inform the True Christian the drink is toxic. Let them pick up the bottle for themselves. If they drink the potion they take the test of their own free will. Now some might protest that the last part of Mark is a 'late addition' not found in the earlier texts. Perhaps they have confessed to you previously that the Bible is the word of God and is infallible. What happened? Didn't the believe the Bible? Tell them they aren't a True Christian; they are frauds. Send them home with their tails between their legs. Conclusion As we can readily see it's not healthy to be a True Christian. A True Christian is equivalent to being a Bibliolater--one who worships the Bible. Now being a Christian is ok. But being a Bibliolater is a form of mental illness. And it's great fun to let the Bibliolater know of their problem when they interrupt your day. I have about ten other performance tests but the aforementioned are the most exciting. Please feel free to experiment with Jesus' moral absolutes and performance tests. You may find some that are just a much fun as these. Copyright Dec. 1989. Ammond Shadowcraft Permission is given to reproduce or retransmitt this article providing the article is complete, and with the author's name and copyright notice fully intact. --- * Origin: SMARTNet - Silly Origin Lines 'R' Us (Opus 1:128/23)

What have Grand Theft Auto and the Bible got in common?

2005-04-04T17:23:00.000+01:00

I applaud Hilary and the right-wing groups who are concerned that video games are causing moral damage to children. They want a study to be conducted, which is certainly a sensible step. As well as this, there is another pastime that has been responsible for terrible crimes, has torn families apart and actively encourages hatred against minority groups. This has been around for a long time now but perhaps not been tackled before because it's so pervasive in society. Join me in petitioning our governments to investigate Bible usage. Prolonged exposure to the Bible, has turned seemingly normal people in to homophobic crazies. It has sparked wars and terrible human rights abuses. People who believe the Bible also disregard know scientific truths and behave in irrational ways. People have claimed to hear the voice of God driving them to kill. Come on Hillary, lend your support to removing this evil influence from our society!

The miracle of stickers (or one born every minute)

2005-03-20T20:59:00.000Z

Never underestimate the power of a sticker - even if claims made by the manufacturers read like something from a low-budget 1950s sci-fi film. For example, you have those amazing stickers that block the radiation from your mobile phone. You can tell they work because they light up when the phone is in use. Although these stickers, based on proper scientific analysis and common sense, appear ineffective, there is a more amusing aspect to them. Mobile phones, if unable to communicate with a cell network will actually increase their broadcasting power. If a device is blocking the signal, you may actually find your phone's power output increasing and so increasing your microwave radiation exposure. This one is excellent. Just by applying the sticker to the fuel tank on your car, you not only reduce pollution, but you also increase your fuel-efficiency. For just under 300 dollars, you too can experience this amazing device. MPT Smog Buster. Personally I think it's going to as effective as hanging a St. Christopher medal from your rear-view mirror. There's this other amazing sticker. You put it on your batteries and it makes them last longer and charge faster. Strictly speaking, it's something to do with it creating ions, somehow without needing a power source. In reality, it may have more to do with your belief in it. Just like all good psychic, health and pseudo-scientific cults and fads, it will only work for you if you believe. Here's a nice write up regarding this battery miracle. dansdata.com. Slashdot currently have an amusing discussion regarding this battery life breakthrough. Battery life booster

How can you have too much God?

2005-03-05T16:22:00.000Z

George Bush's speeches are well known for including lots of 'aspirations' and religious references. The example being while trying to convince Muslims that they were not the enemy, he uses the the word 'crusade'. Some Muslims are still rather touchy about that and it's hardly the best word to use when trying to convince them that whitey is not coming over convert them to the true path of Christianity. Personal belief is one thing, but allowing these beliefs to interfere with your position as a head of a democratic state is quite another. This article has a typical take on this God references. renewamerica.us The writer is a Christian conservative and argues that, there can never be too much God. Yes, this is true if you are Grand Ayatollah, leader of a theocracy. As the elected leader of a democracy though, God has no place in official speeches. God references play well to people who believe in this kind of junk. To the rest of us, it makes us nervous. When someone is in a position to send the most heavilly funded army to invade a country, when this person has a large nuclear arsenal, how do you want them to be making decisions? Do you want them to make a rational decision, or do you want them to rely on what a voice in their head is telling them? Do you want them to base their decisions on some cryptic guidelines written by long-dead zealots? How about if I became president and then filled my speeches with references to the Ferengi Rules of Aquisition? Would you be worried? You should be. Some people feel the need for God. Whether this is because they need to feel that they are more than a mortal being, or because they are afraid of taking responsibility for their actions and accepting that 'shit happens', I'm not sure. The important thing is that these beliefs cannot be imposed on others. In the same way that a head of state should not attempt to stop people following their own relgious beliefs as long as they are lawful and respectful of others. To encourage Bush to continue to wear God on his sleeve, is detrimental to all religious people. If this continues, what happens if you don't follow his particular sect? What if your religion is different to his?

Integrated Energy Therapy - people will buy anything

2005-02-07T11:19:00.000Z

At work, someone put up an advert for classes in Integrated Energy Therapy (IET) on the notice board. For under 300 euro, you can become a basic level practitioner of this ancient art. To attain advanced level, it will cost approximately 600 euro. IET, appears to be a clumsy mishmash of Christianity, eastern metaphysical beliefs, and pseudo-science. Curiously, it seems to involve channelling the energy from angels. It also states that a specific area of the human body correlates to a particular human emotion. Of course there is no scientific evidence of this. You just have to trust the therapist in the same way that L Ron Hubbard (Of Scientology fame), expects you to just trust his assertion that we are infested by the ancient spirits of dead aliens. The advert talks of 'Spiritual DNA' and helping you to activate particular pairs. Of course. Again, there is no evidence for the existence of this particular type of DNA. This sounds like new-age spiritualists latching on to a cool scientific word and using it to try to lend some kind of respectability to their irrational ideas. They also speak of Cellular Memory. This idea has been used by pseudo-scientists for a long time now. The idea is that cells in the body, somehow retain memories of events. This memory cannot be measured by conventional science. The IET web site says the following about cellular memory.

Clearing Cellular Memory: you will learn about the nine cellular memory areas where we can unconsciously store “issues in our tissues” that can negatively affect our life.

Why are there nine types? Like most pseudo-science, we are seem to have to just accept that this information is correct. On their site, they do information on a study carried out to investigate the effectiveness of their therapy. The study was conducted by an IET master instructor so it doesn't appear terribly impartial. The patients were 'primed' before the treatment and there was no control group or double blind testing. This was not a scientific study IET, like other alternative therapies talks of energy that can be unblocked and channelled. Again, this energy cannot be detected by conventional science, this doesn't stop IET practitioners from manipulating it for the good of their patients. If you become an advanced practitioner, you will be able to "Unlock the 5th DNA pair and activated the energy of your soul's purpose". What this is meant to mean is unclear to me. It's absolute babble. What soul? What energy of the soul? What is the 5th DNA pair and why should it be locked or unlocked? Presumably they are referring to the spritual DNA they mentiond earlier. You may as well talk of unlocking the spiritual liver. Personally I've no idea why anyone would waste money on this kind of junk but if you insist on throwing your money away, maybe you should try my system. I'll charge 100 euro for the whole course (including a rather nice certificate). Here's what you'll be able to do once you've completed my course. You will learn to unlock the orgone energy and direct it through the meridians of your body. Absorb prana. Focus the universal life-force for healing. contact me at icl051@[NOJUNK]mac.com if you'd like to enroll (remove [NOJUNK] from the address). For an extra 50 euro, I'll give you your own personal mantra and membership of the Supernatural Holistic Institute of Tijuana. If you are considering spending money on this kind of thing, please don't bother. If you really want to help people with your hands, take an evening course in massage at your local college. You'll have the same effects but at least you're being honest to yourself and others. I'm not saying that IET practitioners are all frauds, no doubt some are but most probably believe they have supernatural powers. It's interested that, when tested and found to be 'powerless', people are often genuinely confused. They believe they have supernatural abilities and don't understand why they did not pass the scientific tests. Finally, consider this. James Randi is offering a 1 million dollar prize to anyone who can demonstrate supernatural powers. If IET works, then surely the teacher of this should speak to James Randi, claim the prize, and then open her own dedicated college of IET. If you'd like to read more of the IET, please visit http://learniet.com/ You can even get IET for your pets. Incidentally, Integrated Energy Therapy appears to be a registered trademark of someone.

A former sceptic gives a testimonial

2005-02-07T10:33:00.000Z

After seeing someone had put up an advert at work for Integrated Energy Therapy, I went looking for a decent article I could print and put up to try to stop people paying good money for this crap. I came across this article which interested me for other reasons. The web site is by a man who makes a big thing of the fact that he sued to be a sceptic, but now has seen the light. Here's how he is described on the site

BOB OLSON is a former skeptic and private investigator who has researched evidence of life after death for approximately five years. He now shares the spiritual insights, extraordinary experiences and gifted individuals he has met along his journey in order to bring hope, comfort and peace to the grieving. Bob is the author of Win The Battle, co-author of Understanding Spirit, Understanding Yourself and editor of GriefAndBelief.com, OfSpirit.com Magazine, & BestPsychicMediums.com.

Doesn't sound like he is very sceptical at all these days. The quote from Richard Dawkins about not being so open minded that your brain falls out comes to mind. I invite you to read this article. Energy Healing Benefits Of A Massage Alternative Put To The Test... Results Surprisingly Positive! Some parts stick out for me.

My skepticism stemmed from my suspicion that the benefits of bodywork, or any kind of energy healing, resulted more from a placebo effect than anything physiological (boy, was I misguided). So I walked into the bodywork room like a cop begins an interrogation—suspicious and safeguarded. De Costanza wasn’t shaken. She is one of those people who is grateful for rain because the flowers and plants need the water—eternally optimistic. I couldn’t help but to feel my energy lift just being in her presence.

This shows the scepticism of a cult member. I'm sure police aren't so easily swayed by a smile. It's interested what he says about the placebo effect. Later on, after the treatment he writes.

The next few days following my first energy healing with De proved to have a lingering effect. This is when I discovered that my placebo effect theory was wrong. If the benefits I felt from De’s bodywork were simply a result of my expectations, I doubt I could have awakened the next morning feeling so alive and energetic—long before I remembered the previous day’s session. Plus, my expectations of bodywork had me believing that it only felt good while you were having the session. It never occurred to me that the effects would last several days.

Sounds like the placebo effect to me. Either that, or it was just a pretty good back-rub. This is in no way objective. Just because he wakes up feeling great, he assumes that it can't be the placebo effect. He reasons that when he first wakes up, he can't have remembered that he had the massage. Cobblers. I book a holiday to Greece and for the next few days, I'll wake up feeling good. I get a good night's sleep and I'll wake up feeling good. This article stinks of testimonial. Testimonials are the only real 'evidence' that practitioners of pseudo-medicine have. Although scientific testing reveals no evidence of the 'energy channels' they claim to be able to manipulate, their customers say that it works for them. For a decent write-up of what a testimonial is, please visit this site. Testimonials on skepdic.com Finally, if a scientist says that something is true, should you believe him? No, not unless he can present evidence. If an person writes as a former athiest who has seen the light, does that make his insight any more valid? No. Does someone claiming to be a former sceptic automatically suggest that he has some basis in reality for what he claims? No.

Be nice to Jesus in the UK

2005-02-06T13:26:00.000Z

It's hard to believe that such a thing exists, but the United Kingdom does indeed have a law against blasphemy. You'd think you'd need to travel to somewhere like Iran or Washington to find such a bizarre anachronism. The law itself protects on the Church of England. Catholics, Muslims and the rest are fair-game. There have been attempts by Muslims to have the law extended to protect their faith. Unsurprisingly, the Church of England backed them, rather than risk the law be repealed. This law is lunacy and shows the Christian/Muslim mentality at it's worst. If your god is right, if your religion is true, why does it need to be protected by the man-made institution of law. Can it not stand up to some criticism? Theists have to accept that many of us simply to not see their gods as being any more important, or in need of protection than any other ancient character. Here is a quote from the Christian Voice in response to attempts to remove the law.

It said: "If the committee decides not to keep the law against blasphemy it will be saying, "We do not want the United Kingdom to enjoy the blessing of God, if such exists. We are not God-fearing folk. We care nothing for God or his blessing."

This is cobblers. Why should religious belief be protected in such a way from free speech. We already have sufficient laws to deal with people inciting hatred or attempting to cause a breach of the peace. God is not special enough to warranty his own personal anti-libel law. Personally I care nothing for God or his blessing. Any time I see a Christian, I can't help but think of a hunched man, covered in mud, wearing a loin-cloth, sacrificing an animal to ensure a good harvest. Same idea, just a different implementation. If Christians want to see how well religious laws can work, they should visit Saudi Arabia and begin publicly discussing their beliefs. Assuming they aren't arrested or attacked, stop-overs in Iran and Pakistan should be enlightening. Muslims wanting such protection should ask themselves, how is it that they are able to pursue their religion in Europe? The reason why is because Europe is generally governed in a secular way. If, the traditionally Christian Europe, were to be governed in a similar way to some Islamic states, it's unlikely Muslims would enjoy the freedom they currently have. Secular government ensures freedom from Atheists and those among us who choose to live their lives according to an old book. Q & A: Blasphemy law Religious intollerance

Regulation of alterntative medicine

2005-02-06T11:49:00.000Z

This is an interesting article on bbc news. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4228903.stm I can understand why some people opt for 'alternative' therapies when they are diagnosed with something as serious as cancer. The drugs used to treat cancer often have unpleasant side-effects. The problem is that there are people, who are either deluded or downright malicious, that offer false-hope in the form of alternative medicine. The most common defence of alternative therapy is that, it just works. This is the same reasoning that leads us to thank rain-gods when the rain comes in time to ensure a good harvest. Without proper study and regulation, fraudsters can continue to offer false hope and play with the lives of their patients. Luckily many people continue to receive conventional medical treatment in parallel to their alternative voodoo. Some however don't, and so severally reduce their chances of survival. Regulation of alternative medicine is very much needed. If a claim is made, this claim must be tested under scientific conditions. If a homeopath claims to able to cure disease using what is essentially, just regular water, they should be tested. If a therapist claims to be able to interact with invisible energy in your body, this should be measured. Health is too important to be left in the hands of this unregulated group of fraudsters.

Audiophile voodoo

2005-02-03T11:00:00.000Z

This take's audio-voodoo to the ultimate extreme. Silver Rock Signature Knob It seems that, for the small price of $485, you get a wooden knob to replace the existing one on your stereo. Here's what they say

The beech wood is coated several times with C37 lacquer for best sound as pointed out by Dieter Ennemoser. How can this make a difference??? Well, hearing is believing as we always say. The sound becomes much more open and free flowing with a nice improvement in resolution. Dynamics are better and overall naturalness is improved. Here is a test for all you Silver Rock owners. Try removing the bakelite knobs and listen. You will be shocked by this! The signature knobs will have an even greater effect…really amazing! The point here is the micro vibrations created by the volume pots and knobs find their way into the delicate signal path and cause degradation (Bad vibrations equal bad sound). With the signature knobs micro vibrations from the C37 concept of wood, bronze and the lacquer itself compensate for the volume pots and provide (Good Vibrations) our ear/brain combination like to hear…way better sound!!

An audophile and his money are easily parted. Why not just draw a pentagram on the back of the stereo or dangle crystals from the treble dial? It's cheaper and just as effective.

God save us from Biblical quotes!

2005-01-31T16:34:00.000Z

If you're familiar with slashdot, you'll relate to this. The trolls are a pain. I think the whole Gay Niggers Association of America thing has worn a bit thin. Evidently some idiots don't think so. Grammar/English Nazis are a pain. They work on the principle of 'My argument is incredibly weak or I have nothing to say, therefore I will criticise your spelling/grammar'. Now there are some cases where a mention of spelling is worthwhile. For example.

"Hax0r 0wn my b0xen. Wht cn I do?"

I think it would be fair to ask this person to rephrase their question so you can understand it. Most grammar nazis don't need anything this extreme. No matter how valid your points are, if you use 'you're', instead of 'your', they'll leap on that to the exclusion of everything else. The only thing worse than either of these two would have to be the Biblical quote machines. For anyone who feels the need to just post Biblical quotes to justify their point (or their existence), please bear this in mind. Many people lead perfectly good lives without needing to kneel before your God. We have no need for your ancient incomprehensible quotes. Besides, Biblical quotes are like car analogies. If you've worked in a call centre, you'll understand this. You should never use a car analogy as there is always a come-back to it. You'll go around in circles. Biblical quotes are the same. For every meaningful quote, there's another that contradicts it. Here are some examples from American Athiests that refute anything that says that Jesus was the prince of peace.

"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I [Jesus] tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three." (Luke 12:51-2) "Think not that I [Jesus] have come to send peace on earth: I come not to send peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34) "...for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." (Matthew 26:52) "...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one." (Luke 22:36)

For your average atheist or non-Christian, these quotes are all semi-comprehensible ramblings. The Bible may be important to you but not to me. Your quotes are meaningless. If you're interested, here is the Slashdot comment that annoyed me. Blasphemy. This comment was made in response to a user who's username is 'Jesus IS the Devil'.

You have the most ignorant, most blasphemous nickname I have ever seen. Please change it. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" Philippians 2:12

My response to this was..

I consider Biblical quotes offensive. In a free society though, it's your right to issue freaky quotes from the Bible. I won't ask you to refrain from doing so.

(BTW. My Slashdot username is MysteriousPreacher if you're interested).

Scientology and Nazis continued

2005-01-19T20:37:00.000Z

This is a very interesting article that compares the beginnings of the Nazi party in Germany with the Church of Scientologist. There are some interesting parallels, in particular, with the way Scientology treats it's critics. The article provides an interesting insight in to why the German government has responded so decisively to keep Scientology out of Germany. Why Scientology calls its critics "Nazi's"

Scientology and Nazis continued

2005-01-19T19:47:00.000Z

Scientology and the Nazis

2005-01-11T01:08:00.000Z

Andreas Heldal-Lund has been one of the most prominent critics of the Church of Scientology (CoS). For more information on Andreas, you can visit his Operation Clambake web site. Alternatively, you can view his profile on Religious Freedom Watch. His profile makes him look like a pretty nasty character doesn't it? Death threats, consorting with terrorists. Blimey. Seems pretty bad until you consider the fact that this web site is run by Scientologists. Here's something odd. Have a look at their full list of anti-religious extremists Based on the profiles, this list seems to consist entirely of people who'd pissed of the CoS. For a multi-denominational web site, they sure seem to be concentrating on the enemies of one particular cult. Ursula Caberta is one of the lucky ones on the list. Ms Caberta works (or did work, I'm not sure) for the Ministry for the Interior in Hamburg, Germany. Here is an article describing her visit to the US. As you'll see, she had an interesting reception. According to this article, she was greeted by Scientologists with chants of "Nazi go home". Are Scientologists being treated the way the Nazis treated the Jews? It would appear that way based on this article published by the CoS. The Nazi Policy that will not die It's quite possible that the German government has been unfair. Even if that is the case, who would be insane enough to back this shameful comparison? Celebrities would! I seriously doubt that the German people are about to start gassing and incinerating Scientologists anytime soon. Interestingly though, here are some articles comparing Scientology (and it's glorious founder) to the Nazis and Stalin. Made for Propaganda Just like Hitler and Stalin Sorry, I rambled a bit there.

Uri Geller, Scientology and what they do for us

2005-01-10T23:59:00.000Z

Sky are showing a television series, Uri's Haunted Venice where Uri Geller investigates ghostly hauntings. This is like asking the Pope to find out if God really exists. I remember Uri's antics over the years. If memory serves, a UK tabloid, The Sun, printed a picture of Uri's eyes. The reader was meant to stare in to the eyes at a certain time of day. Presumably this would create some kind of psychic web as Sun readers and Uri joined together to fix broken clocks. Probably something similar to the time when he did his bit for world peace. Back in 2002, if you wrote the date and time in a particular way (and you were in the GMT time zone), you would get the palindrome, 20:02, 20/02/2002. This was at 8:02pm on the 20th of February 2002. According to Geller, "The date 20/02/2002 is very, very rare. Palindromic dates have always had very supernatural auras about them," He went on to encourage his followers to think positive thoughts at various 'palindromic' times on that day so that..

"For two to three minutes there will be a massive surge of positive consciousness. It will be a moment to bring healing, a moment to bring peace,"

It's a nice sentiment, encouraging people to think happy thoughts. This in itself was admirable. Unfortunately the reasoning behind it was absolute cobblers. For one, the Gregorian calendar is not the only calendar we use. If I am using the Jewish calendar, will I experience the same positive consciousness? What if I'm using an American date format? This mystical number becomes 20:02 02/20/2002. What if I don't use the twenty four hour clock? This shows the silliness of this whole numerological exercise. Does the cosmos somehow know that British time, at this moment in time is somehow special? Palindromic dates are not more mystical than the name Gandalf. For more background on numerology, visit this link. numerology (Skeptics Dictionary) This isn't the first time that supernatural powers have been used to advance the cause of peace. Whatever reasons you have for the Berlin Wall finally falling, you can't doubt that the Church of Scientology played it's part. Despite this, the German government have refused to allow the church to have tax-free status. They don't recognise it as a religion. How ungrateful. If you'd like to learn more about the antics of the Scientologists, I strongly recommend Operation Clambake.

God gave rock and roll (and science) to you.

2005-01-07T16:22:00.000Z

More fun with the Answers in Genesis gang. I'd just like to refute one more point made on their site.

Many historians (of many different religious persuasions—including atheistic) have shown that modern science started to flourish only in largely Christian Europe. These historians point out that the basis of modern science depends on the assumption that the universe was made by a rational creator. An orderly universe makes perfect sense only if it were made by an orderly Creator. But if there is no creator, or if Zeus and his gang were in charge, why should there be any order at all? So, not only is a strong Christian belief not an obstacle to science, such a belief was its very foundation.

I wouldn't doubt that modern science kicked in after the dark ages ended. There have been notable Christians who have significantly advanced science. Gregor Mendel is an excellent example. Trying to twist this around to say that somehow christianity is the foundation of science though is a fallacy. During the dark ages, much of the science from the ancient world disappeared from Europe. The arabs reintroduced many important concepts to 'Christian' Europe. If anything, should we not consider Islam to be the foundation of modern science? You could argue this. Iran is a theocracy thinly disguised as a democracy. There are some in Iran who yearn for a proper functioning democracy. Could we then argue that the Islamic theocracy in Iran is the foundation of the Iranian democratic movement? No. The first studies of the cosmos possibly arose from religion and astrology, so you could argue that the basis of astronomy is astrology. There is some truth here but would you expect astronomers to reject what the evidence is telling them purely because it conflicts with ancient astrological beliefs? Does mercury rising or the age of aquarius have a bearing on the work of modern astronomers? No.

Some scientists believe in creation so it must be true!

2005-01-07T16:00:00.000Z

Staying with Answers in Genesis, yet more information from the people who put the fun in to fundamentalism. A common creationist tactic is to produce a list of scientists who believe in creation. Somehow they feel this discredits evolution and provides some kind of rational backing to creation. Of course this proves absolutely nothing. Just because some scientists believe that a supernatural being (like God, Santa or Yoda) created the universe, this does not mean they have sound scientific reasons for believing this. I'm sure you will find scientists who suffer from agoraphobia. Does this mean that there is a good scientific reason for us to all stay in our homes and fear open spaces? Believing in creation is based on faith. Faith in a god that exists because the Bible tls us so or because we get a fuzzy feeling inside when we think of Jesus. This is not science. You can question evolution and argue against theories such as the big bang, this is a good idea as long as you're providing a logical alternative. Asking sound questions serves to disprove a bad theories and strengthen the good ones. It's natural selection in action. Claiming that the world was created in seven days because a bronze-age scribe tells us so, is not a sound refutation of any scientific theory. Scientists are just as fallible as anyone else. It's the argument they present that matters, not the letters after their names. As luck would have it, the creatists aren't the only ones who can play silly buggers. The NCSE have compiled a list of scientists called Steve who back evolution. See Project Steve

No answers in Genesis

2005-01-07T15:57:00.000Z

Answers in Genesis is truly entertaining. I believe it's a genuine site but these fundamentalists don't make it easy to differentiate between their sites and parodies. Here are some quotes taken from the link above.

However, after the rise of old-age beliefs, some scientists caved in and ‘re-interpreted’ the Bible to fit them. For example, some claimed that the days in Genesis 1 were really ages, and that Noah’s Flood was one of many catastrophes. For proof that such ‘re-interpretions’ are fallacious, see Q&A Genesis and Noah’s Flood Covered the Whole Earth.

This is actually quite interesting. I was asking myself this question last night. Should followers of 'ancient' religions adapt with the times or continue to accept the writings of their ancient texts as being the word of God, even if these writings are contradicted by modern knowledge or ethics.? It's a tricky one. Obvious the Answers in Genesis crowd are not budging. The word of the Bible is the word of God. If God says that wood is metal, no matter what science or common sense tells us, it must be metal. By following this line of thinking, you will most likely be labelled as an absolute idiot. You are also likely to be a very nasty, judgemental, psychopathic and unpredictable person. If you are this kind of person, without wanting to sound too nasty, I really hope you die soon. Both so you can be with your God and further away from me. Most Christians are slightly more sensible that this. They are willing to accept the the Bible is not necessarily the infallible word of God. They take what they personally believe is God's will. Of course, this has the side-effect of watering down the message. Who decides which rules God was serious about and which ones did he dictate for shits and giggles? The fundamentalists above can continue to use their Bible as their central arguement for the existence of their God. These moderates though cannot as their sect is effectively denying the divine origins of the Bible. I went of track a little there. I'll leave you with one more quote from this page.

his should be a lesson for those today who teach that Christians should compromise the plain meaning of the Bible to fit with ‘science’. Aside from placing fallible human opinion as an authority above the infallible Word of God, it just doesn’t work and paves the way for more departure from Scripture.

As you can see, our fundamentalists are absolutely convinced of the infallibility of their Bible. I assume they observe these rules then. Don't trim the hair around your temples. No shell-fish Hate fig trees Turn the other cheek An eye for an eye Love your God Fear your God Smite not ye fellow man* *Unless your jealous loving perfect indecisive psychotic egomaniac bronze-age god of war tells you to. Maybe the story of pass-over gets around this rule by simply concentrating on killing women and children - maybe he left the men alive?

Who is Richard Dawkins?

2005-01-06T13:08:00.000Z

Personally I owe a great debt to Richard Dawkins. I remembered bits and pieces of evolution from school (we're actually allowed to study that in the UK), but hadn't really thought about it a great deal in later life. A friend suggested I pick-up The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. It's an amazing book. Incredibly in-depth but accessible to all. I'm reading The Blind Watchmaker, also by Richard Dawkins, at the moment and it too is an incredible read. If you're at all interested in evolution (or athiesm to a certain extent), I would seriously recommend any of his books. Here's a nice write-up on his life so far. RICHARD DAWKINS'S EVOLUTION An irascible don becomes a surprising celebrity. If you see one of his books in the bookshop, stop to have a browse. Sure as hell beats anything you'll find in the new-age section.

Fatal flaws in Creationism

2005-01-04T14:56:00.000Z

I just stumbled across this classic example of creationist self-contradicting cobblers. The title of the article is Three fatal flaws in evolution. Here is what it boils down to. Fatal problem No. 1 There is no scientific law that allows something to evolve from nothing. Okay, then let's apply this to creationism. Where did God come from? Does the creator have a creator? Presumably the answer is yes! Why are you worshipping the creator when you could worship their creator - cut out the middle-man. Hey, what about the creator's creator's creator? Fair enough, this is a valid question. How did this all start? Where did the universe come from? How did life first spring from inorganic substances? The difference between science and creationism is that science is asking this question. Creationism is happy to accept the the scribbling of the ancients. Fatal problem No. 2 No scientific law can account for non-living things’ coming to life. This is pretty much a re-hash of problem 1. There are certainly scientific theories but no definite answer. Again though, science is actively searching for answers. Remember that life (by some estimates) took 1 to 2 billion years to appear after Earth formed. I am not surprised if any scientist has been able to receive enough funding to run a billion year experiment. It is fair to question the scientific theories but completely unreasonable to ignore them. Fatal problem No. 3 There is no known scientific law that would allow one kind of creature to turn naturally into a completely different kind. The writer goes on to state that gradual evolution through genetic mutation is not possible since it produces handicapped life-forms. Yes, a mutation of an important gene could be fatal for it's host but this is natural selection for you. If the gene is 'bad', it's host will die and the gene will not be passed on, thus removing it from the gene pool. If the mutation is good or very minor, it may be passed on. Gradual cumulative change is how the species evolves. If evolution is false, why did God create so many species over the past 6000 years only to allow them to go extinct? Why did he keep tweaking his designs? If he is perfect, he would know the optimal configuration for each species and just build them that way to begin with. Why do we have so many design flaws if we were created by God?

The Grand Canyon. Evidence of Noah's flood?

2005-01-04T14:32:00.000Z

Let's start by comparing God to our bronze-age ancestors. I think it would be fair to compare the relationship between an omnipotent creator and the life-forms he created as being similar to that between a parent and a child. If your children displeased you, would you commit genocide? If the old testament is to be believed, this is what happened. The all-loving, perfect, jealous, indecisive, peaceful god of war decided to wipe the slate clean and wash all his 'children' away except for a chosen group. I remember discussing the flood and the grand canyon with a Christian friend some time ago. Unfortunately I wasn't in a great position to argue against his geological 'evidence'. This web site has an excellent critique of the book 'A Review of "Grand Canyon: a Different View'. The book itself seems to have been cobbled together by some of the great names in creationism. Bibliolatry Revisited: A Review of "Grand Canyon: a Different View" the strange thing is, even if these people believe the Bible provides a literal history of the world, why the hell would they want to worship this monster of a God? It's reassuring that these fundamentalists are a small minority in this world, just like the people who run their lives according to their horoscope.

Dawkins on tsunamis

2005-01-03T14:31:00.000Z

Here's an interesting letter from Richard Dawkins, published by The Guardian. Science saves. It's some commentary on the religious responses, and indeed a pretty odd response from a scientist, in relation to the disaster over in Asia. Here's a small quote I particularly like.

If a small fraction of the tax breaks handed out to churches, mosques and synagogues had been diverted into an early warning system, tens of thousands of people, now dead, would have been moved to safety.

The need for scepticism in science

2004-12-28T13:33:00.000Z

This is an interesting lecture by Michael Crichton. It discusses the need for scepticism in science and ways in which faith and political interests have been disguised as science. Aliens Cause Global Warming Bjorn Lomborg is mentioned here and is a good example. His book "The Skeptical Environmentalist" attracted a lot of criticism since it argues that the environment isn't in as bad shape as media pundit scientists would have us believe. The Economist have a good write-up on this. The litany and the heretic

Religion and the state

2004-12-14T11:33:00.000Z

Following on from my last post, here's some more amusing comments from Alive! - the christian newspaper someone decided to put in my letterbox. Continuing with the topic of religion and the state, Archibishop Martin (in Ireland) makes a number of arguements. I'd like to answer his comments. "In a society which cherishes diversity, a school cannot be imagined as a neutral space where all beliefs and values are left at the door." Yes it can. Religion perhaps has a place in a history lesson. Without a doubt, religion is linked with some pretty major events of the past. However, this does not justify teaching religion itself. It's up to parents and non-state funded organisations to indoctrinate children with mystical beliefs, not the job of school. He rejects the view that religion is divisive or doctrinaire. Nonsense. Perhaps there are some non-Judeo-Christian religions that tolerate other beliefs but Christianity certainly does not. No matter how often church leaders meet with leaders of other religions, you can't escape the essential fact that their religion says that all others are wrong and will burn in hell. A monotheistic religion cannot accept the existence of another religion. Richard Dawkins discusses the topic of religion and conflict as a follow-on from his Religion's Misguided Missiles essay. I agree with him that religion is not strictly speaking the cause of some of these issues but it's a bloody nice excuse to kill someone. Look at less developed countries right now. People attack others because they believe they are witches or demons. Christians and Muslims murder and claim to be working for their God. Having the belief that you are one of the chosen, appointed by your God to carry out his will is a very powerful weapon. How can you expect reasonable thought and compromise and conciliation when your enemy is the great Satan or a heretic? "Young people have to be lifted out of the closed measurable world in to the world of mystery in the best sense of that word." So why not teach astrology, reiki, spirit channelling, voodoo, past-life regression and UFO spotting in schools? Surely these topics are mysterious and unmeasurable enough. No, children do not need fake mystery. There is enough mystery in the world without teaching them about the supernatural, The sciences, nature, great literature. Why do you need to invent an adult version of Santa. Do you want the children cowering in a dark cave fearing that the jealous loving vengeful blood God of the bronze-age will punish them for not loving him? A secular state is as necessary for Christians as it is for athiests. A secular state respects the freedom of people to follow what they believe. Imagine living as a catholic in Iran. How about living as a Muslim in a strongly Hindu area of India? Sure it's possible but I doubt it would be terrible easy when the state itself is standing in the way of your self-determination.

Evolution, creationism and the good folk of Cobb County

2004-12-10T20:19:00.000Z

The battle of rational though versus faith continues in US schools. A school board in somewhere called 'Cobb County', has caused problems by insisting that warning labels be added to books discussing evolution. Here's an example. "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered." This article describes the issue. It seems that they want students to be taught the other theories. Of course, the main competing theory would have to be Creationism. Of course, the article refers to Intelligent Design. Essentially, Intelligent Design tells us that the world is just to complicated to have evolved, there had to be a creator. This creator would of course have to be God (unless she outsourced it). If these religionists insist that we keep an open mind, why don't we teach children all the theories. Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy theorises that the world was created by mice as a giant computer to discover the meaning of life. The Raelians believe aliens were involved. The Scientologists have some amazing theory involving an alien super fiend called Xenu. Star Trek has some theory about a bunch of aliens who seeded various worlds with humans and their alien cousins. Of course there is one interesting difference between evolution and these 'alternative' suggestions. Evolution is a theory, yes. Intelligent Design aka Creation Science is not. Evolution can indeed be proven wrong. Darwin has been proven wrong in some respects, as was Einstein, as was Newton. No matter how great the theory or the scientist, they can be proven wrong. Faith based explanations cannot. Even if Shiva were to materialise above the dome of the rock and announce that they had it all wrong, Christians would still find some way to explain it away. Faith is like that. It's like trying to convince a parent that their child is evil. Some rather talented people have put together warning labels of themselves. The Descent of Dissent Textbook Disclaimers

Introduction

2004-12-10T20:13:00.000Z

This blog is to try and spread the idea of critical thinking, science and believing in the power of people to accomplish the amazing without needing a God. The information and opions I post are based on time spent reading critical web sites and books. I owe a great debt to Robert T Carroll, Martin Gardner and Richard Dawkins. These are people who ensure that the flickering candle of science continues to burn and shed some light, where the theists would have us otherwise sitting in a dark room waiting for a God or bronze-age text to tell us what to see. Personally I have no scientific or theological background other than personal study. I attended a Catholic School where I was introduced at an early age to the sheer hypocrisy of theism. Generally we tend to tolerate these bizarre beliefs. We accept that Ronald Reagan consulted an astrologer. We accept that our tax money funds religious organisations. We allow charlatans to make crazy claims about 'alternative' medicine. As well as religion, I'll be writing about some other bizarre beliefs and proving links to useful books and web sites.