Christianity and the Strong Arm of the Law: Do the religious not trust themselves?
This was from the former Pink Agendist Blog posted in January of 2014, but happens to unfortunately be relevant yet again. “Christianity has had, since its inception, an obsession with … Continue reading
Medical Fraud: Misleading Coronavirus Video Spreads Online
In a video posted Monday online, a group of people calling themselves “America’s Frontline Doctors” and wearing white medical coats spoke against the backdrop of the Supreme Court in Washington, … Continue reading
Denialism: what drives people to reject the truth by Keith Kahn-Harris
“In recent years, the term has been used to describe a number of fields of “scholarship”, whose scholars engage in audacious projects to hold back, against seemingly insurmountable odds, the … Continue reading
Of ridiculous things to say
Yes, Richard, it must be cultural. Either that or senility. Church bells are an absolute invasion of people’s right to reasonable peace and quiet. I make an effort not to be … Continue reading
For Brexiters, truth is what you believe – even if it’s a lie | Opinion | The Guardian
“… It was shameless, a degradation of our public life. But sealed in the bubble of her ideology, protected by a right-wing press locked in the same bubble, she was … Continue reading
Religion as a Tool in Social Dominance Theory
“Social dominance theory was put forth by two researchers, Jim Sidanius and Felicia Pratto, in 1999. Specifically, Sidanius and Pratto attempted to explain how, and why, social structures seemed to … Continue reading
The Magnificent Hannah Gadsby Monologue
” … because I still have shame. You learn from the part of the story you focus on. I need to tell my story properly. Because the closet, for me, … Continue reading
Former inmates of Good Shepherd homes want compensation for forced labour – DutchNews.nl
“In the Netherlands at least 15,000 young girls and women were forced to work in the laundries and sewing rooms of the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Good … Continue reading
The “Governor’s Residency” at Tel ‘Eton, The United Monarchy, and the Impact of the Old-House Effect on Large-Scale Archaeological Reconstructions
“… This has bearings on the date in which social complexity evolved in Judah, on the debate regarding the historicity of the kingdom of David and Solomon, and it also … Continue reading
The Paranoid Style in American Politics | Harper’s Magazine – 1964
Richard Hofstadter was DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. His book “Anti-intellectualism in American Life” was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1964. This essay … Continue reading
Sophisticated Theology™ in Group Structures (and politics)
Something absolutely fascinating happened to me yesterday. D.P. Monahan, who sometimes comments here, pointed me to a blog by someone called Hoyt who’d written a post on Matriarchy/Patriarchy. She (and … Continue reading
If Goodness Is Represented by X
Last night I couldn’t sleep and I was thinking about that tired line on how can there be goodness without “god”… But – what is goodness really? Isn’t the very … Continue reading
The value of ancient religions in life today
So now it’s even the nice little Buddhists! Seeeeeeeeeeeee! See why I keep saying creating a hierarchy of which religion is least rubbish is pointless? All it does is give … Continue reading
Rulers, Religion and Riches by Jared Rubin – why the west got rich | Books | The Guardian
“Why are some parts of the world rich, and other parts poor? In the west many of us live in conditions almost unimaginably more comfortable than billions of people in … Continue reading
Why Are Americans So Afraid? | Class Warfare Blog
“I was reading an article over at AlterNet with the title above. The subtitle is “Facts Take a Backseat to Deeply Ingrained Fears.” That article takes a fact-based approach in … Continue reading
The ecology of human fear: survival optimization and the nervous system | Neuroscience
“In this article, we gather ecological theories and empirical data from a variety of related fields in an attempt to create a unified model of how humans predict, respond to, … Continue reading
Update: Ten Types of Human by Dexter Dias
Absolutely worth the time! The title may be off-putting because it’s gimmicky- but the contents of the book are not. He uses the Ten Types format as an outline to … Continue reading
From the Rescuer to the Aggressor – understanding the 10 types of human | Science | The Guardian
“Dias tells the story of human behaviour through 10 tropes. The Kinsman will protect his or her own gene pool at the expense of any other. It’s illustrated in the … Continue reading
Our Very Own Honour Killings: 15enne uccide l’amico per un like su Facebook – Corriere.it
Un like di troppo e un commento, poco appropriato, sotto la foto di una ragazzina postata sul suo profilo Facebook, ha convinto Alex, 15 anni, che quello era uno sgarbo … Continue reading
The wonderful world of Herbert Spencer
“The presumption that any current opinion is not wholly false gains in strength according to the number of its adherents. Admitting, as we must, that life is impossible unless through … Continue reading
From Denying to the Grave
From Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us by Sara E. Gorman, Jack M. Gorman, M.d., Jack M. Gorman, Oxford University Press Rabbit Feet and … Continue reading
Does Revenge Serve an Evolutionary Purpose? – Scientific American
“Why all the celebration after the killing of Osama bin Laden? A psychologist who studies evolution and human behavior explains the complex desire for vengeance” Source: Does Revenge Serve an … Continue reading
The Secret Life of the Mind: How Your Brain Thinks, Feels, and Decides by Dr. Mariano Sigman
“Where do our thoughts come from? How do we make choices and trust our judgments? What is the role of the unconscious? Can we manipulate our dreams? In this mind-bending … Continue reading
In the land of zeros and ones- there are questions
Curiosity, hope and the constant impulse to compare ourselves- all part of the human evolutionary strategy. Doesn’t that mean we can whittle everything down into those terms? What follows is that most … Continue reading
Heuristics & Biases (borrowed from GSU)
I love graphs and tables 😀 This one is amusing. The more I look through comments on newspapers and blogs, the more I notice the extent to which people rely … Continue reading
The Butchering of the Age of Reason – via TDB
“Our country is in a crisis that threatens to set us back 400 years. I know this sounds dramatic, and I am not talking about politics, I’m talking about reversing … Continue reading
The Last Straw Fallacy: Another Causal Fallacy and Its Harmful Effects
by Carolyn Cusick & Mark Peter November 2015 Argumentation; Nov. 2015, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p. 457 “We have noticed a pattern of arguments that exhibit a type of irrationality … Continue reading
The David Irving Method & Wanker Theory
One of the less talked about films of last year was Denial. Not as cheerful as La La Land or dramatic as Fences, it tells the story of the libel … Continue reading
Clickbait title: Is rape imaginary?
…“The dissociation of labor and disintegration of society, which liberty and free competition occasion, is especially injurious to the poorer class; for besides the labor necessary to support the family, … Continue reading
The Mother of All Muckrakers
“… Tarbell was the nemesis of John D. Rockefeller, the creator of Standard Oil, precursor of ExxonMobil. But she was a lot more than that — as a journalist she … Continue reading
Lessons in Ethics: The Moral of Annie
The moral of Annie is that there was a time when it really didn’t matter how talented your child was and/or how well they could sing, if it was a Ginger, … Continue reading
Wishful thinking: from Proxylane to Dedifferentiated Rose Cells
I can’t tell you how annoying I find advertisements for cosmetics. What’s most irritating is that they work. The world’s wealthiest woman is, after all, Liliane Bettencourt the owner of L’Oreal. What … Continue reading
Darwin, Bonaparte & the Samaritan (starting the year on a good note!)
That’s the title of Michel Serre’s new book. Unfortunately I think it’s not yet available in English (but it is in French & Spanish.) He’s one of the great minds … Continue reading
When The New York Times Defended Putting a Black Man in the Bronx Zoo – TDB
Just as the late Stephen Jay Gould updated Charles Darwin by arguing that humans evolved through fits and starts—“punctuated equilibrium”—social progress also is less steady than we would like. Even … Continue reading
What Gamergate should have taught us about the ‘alt-right’ + Let’s talk about language.
“It’s understandable that the world didn’t much care about Gamergate. The 2014 hashtag campaign, ostensibly founded to protest about perceived ethical failures in games journalism, clearly thrived on hate – … Continue reading
Viviane Amsalem & Body Ritual Among the Nacirema
Last night we watched Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem. Everything about it is superb. Watch the trailer because it gives a very good idea of how the film plays … Continue reading
Religious radicalisation before there was ISIS: Reports of the West’s Enlightenment have been greatly exaggerated.
Catholic seminarians in late 1930’s Pamplona taking up arms for what the church itself called a Crusade. The crusade involved overthrowing the democratically elected 2nd Republic. Catholicism became omnipresent in … Continue reading
White nationalists? Alt-right? If you see a Nazi, say Nazi | Lindy West | The Guardian
“What does it take to call a Nazi a Nazi? In the interminable fortnight since the election of Donald Trump, the US press has been floundering in a gyre of … Continue reading
History – Attention Must Be Paid | Envisioning The American Dream
“In my constant field of vision, are a series of framed vintage Vanity Fair magazine covers from 1933 that powerfully illustrate that most tumultuous year, a year that would have … Continue reading
Lord Haw-Haw: How a Little Liar Sold the Biggest One – The Daily Beast
“While studying at the University of London in the early 1920s, Joyce became virulently anti-Semitic. Some say that when a leftist slashed his face from the edge of his lip … Continue reading
What Trump Exposed About the G.O.P. – The New York Times
Best analysis yet. By a mile! By MARK SCHMITT NOV. 11, 2016 The election of 2016 is the culmination of this ideological era, but ironically reveals its hollowness. The … Continue reading
My Very Own Question Time: On shame, guilt & victimhood
This has been on my mind for a while: How do the anthropological notions of Shame Society and Guilt Society – and the newer term (for a very old behaviour) Victimhood … Continue reading
Must Read: Resisting Resentment Politics Down Under, Paul Tyson
How owning our Resentment can save Australian Politics In this piece, Paul Tyson, honorary Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, outlines his take on the rise of right wing … Continue reading
After the election we will not mourn. We will organize | Gloria Steinem | Opinion | The Guardian
“In my country, the white-lash and the man-lash have just created President Donald Trump, an unqualified candidate who came up not through politics, but through inheriting money, a gift for … Continue reading
The Curious Cases of Nawaz & Ali
In case you haven’t yet heard, The SPLC has published a list of what they call Islamophobes. I prefer the traditional term, which is simply racist. Or in this precise … Continue reading
How do we combat flawed thinking?
SANE ASYLUM The Swiss Know How to Beat Wingnuts Flavia Kleiner and Operation Libero handed the anti-immigrant right a major defeat last spring. Now they’re building their ‘rebellion of the … Continue reading
The brain adapts to dishonesty : Nature Neuroscience : Nature Research
“Dishonesty is an integral part of our social world, influencing domains ranging from finance and politics to personal relationships. Anecdotally, digressions from a moral code are often described as a … Continue reading
Bakers, the KKK and the False Dilemma – Meerkat Musings
Interesting discussion via Darth Timon: “Let me start by saying that I have a measure of respect for anyone who puts their name to their posts and bares their soul … Continue reading
Christopher Biggins and the fall of civilisation
“Suppose you’d invited me round to dinner to celebrate my engagement to your daughter, which do you think would be more offensive? If a) I got violently drunk, threatened all … Continue reading
Racism Thwarted Thanks to Social Media – Cloak Unfurled
Burbank, CA – Thanks to a cadre of people on Twitter Monday, racist Ellen Degeneres was thwarted from spreading her divisive, white privilege message to the world when she tweeted … Continue reading
The problem with narratives.
In the context of the recent troubles of race/religion/violence a couple of analysts doing the rounds on 24 hour news channels are going with the story that France stands apart … Continue reading
Death of a Matador – and religion
Extraordinary picture, isn’t it? For the first time in decades a Matador in Spain was killed while “performing”. The bull gored him through the heart. His name was Victor Barrio. Spain … Continue reading
Exercises in Sophisticated Theology™: Is Gin a Girly Drink? A Refutation of The Pink Agendist | Truth and Tolerance
The following is an excerpt from Refutatio et Exscidium Hereticorum by St Remy of Aquitaine (1150? – 1205). Book Four is De Spiritus which concerns itself with Angels, Demons, and Alcohol. In Question 14, … Continue reading
The Josiah Effect: How Moderate Religion Fuels Fundamentalism | Quillette
“In both Islam and Christianity, it is easy to dismiss fundamentalist doctrines as perversions of scripture. But the fundamentalists have a ready defense against this charge. When Curtis suggested that … Continue reading
Is it really Christians who are under attack? The story of a prolonged aggression.
In 2005 the SPLC published a timeline of the history of the anti-gay movement in America. Using that as a basis I’ve created an alternate, more detailed, international and up … Continue reading
Free Speech vs Hate Speech Part II
Yesterday someone re-blogged the previous post on free speech vs. hate speech with a critique. The critique itself wasn’t unreasonable, although the author basically relied on the slippery slope fallacy. His … Continue reading
Catholics vs. Evangelicals. Have you chosen to be chosen (correctly)?
The more I read comments by American Evangelicals online- the more I’m mystified by their organogram of beliefs. You see, a Catholic can at least say to himself that his … Continue reading
Hate Speech vs. Free Speech
After a discussion this week with an American blogger regarding free speech, I decided to do a little research. Apparently the US is the only developed nation which does not … Continue reading
Otherization (Othering) Part II: of religion, race and sexual orientation
Otherization is not done casually or accidentally. It exists in one context and one context alone. It’s designed to afford one’s self privileges that were not earned. It’s an attack … Continue reading
From Cardinal Cañizares to Donald Trump to Brexit: The Objective of Othering.
“Social identities are relational; groups typically define themselves in relation to others. This is because identity has little meaning without the “other”. So, by defining itself a group defines others. … Continue reading
Man in dress and funny hat says gender equality is biggest threat to civilization in all human history.
Mithra help us all! Cardinal Cañizares of Valencia, sporting his white muumuu and a hat which doubles as a lightning rod, has been bestowing his senility on anyone willing to listen. His current bugbears are … Continue reading
Did the Devil Really Write This Bible? Candida Moss on the Codex Gigas
“It’s not just the scale of the book that make it unusual, but also its contents. In addition to the Vulgate (the Latin version of the Bible), it contains a … Continue reading
Almost as difficult to get rid of as the super-gonorrhea her husband got at ex-gay camp!
The title is a joke, obviously; I say this for legal reasons 🙂 She’s baa-aack. Yesterday I was given the news that Katy Faust of Grace Church Seattle was back … Continue reading
The Hilarious Story of the Palmarian Church
Origins: “In March 1968, four Spanish schoolgirls (only known as Ana, Josefa, Rafaela and Ana María) stated they saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary by a little tree on … Continue reading
Of religion and successful marketing: The doctrine of finding solutions to nonexistent problems
If you follow American politics, by now you’re privy to the case of the many bathroom bills introduced by religious conservatives in various states. The recent, rather unsurprising revelation that all … Continue reading
Exasperating: Hijab Day
“The Hijab Day event was held (last week) in the wake of Prime Minister Manuel Valls’ statement that he wished to ban all forms of religious headscarves at French universities.” … Continue reading
One True Ideologies: Sectarianism. I think she just said white supremacist.
The way my encounter with the TERF group began was bad enough- but trust me, it’s been all downhill from there. People who don’t embrace their discriminatory ideology aren’t just alleged supporters … Continue reading
The pseudo-feminists: TERF’s. This is how cults work.
I must admit I hadn’t heard of this movement until very recently- and what an unpleasant surprise it has been. They represent, for all intents and purposes, the opposite of … Continue reading
Cardinal George Pell dismissed complaints about pedophile priest as being of ‘not much interest’
“Cardinal Pell continued to deny knowledge of Ridsdale having molested children, despite attending meetings agreeing to move him numerous times, and the widespread nature of complaints about the pedophile’s activities … Continue reading
Anti-lgbt C-Fam’s Tax Return
Amusing reading: C-fam 2013 Tax Return This is how to make homophobia and opposition to women’s rights into a lucrative business: Austin Ruse, who started and heads this anti-gay group, pockets over … Continue reading
French Anti-lgbt Icon Writes Book, Sells 38 Whole Copies!!!
Christine Boutin the crazy Catholic, aka Mrs. Homosexuality is an Abomination, aka George Bush plotted 9/11, aka mastectomy in the case of breast cancer is sex reassignment surgery (yes, she … Continue reading
Twiddlings
Have you ever considered you’re just twiddling? I went to a gallery opening earlier. Some beautiful things there (more on that tomorrow.) I saw a painting I intend to buy … Continue reading
Door to door religious opportunism
Yesterday was a mostly productive day. I spent the morning in the greenhouse cleaning up, removing dead plants and planning. I also planted baby bok choy and various lettuces where … Continue reading
So your qualification to speak on this topic is… sexism?
Goodness gracious; the garbage that’s out there is truly, truly appalling. Just when you think you’ve already seen the worst of it, you hear of something called a Milo Yiannopoulos. A promoter … Continue reading
Lesser Known Bible Passages by Modern Jesus
I have no idea who this guy is, but he’s brilliantly funny. My two favourites of the day: And
The Myth of the Neronian Persecution – Cambridge Journals Online
Exceptionally well researched piece! The Myth of the Neronian Persecution Brent D. Shaw Department of Classics, Princeton University ABSTRACT: A conventional certainty is that the first state-driven persecution of Christians happened … Continue reading
The face that launched 1000 women running across the street
… in fear of being raped. In case you’ve never heard of him, he’s part of the anti-gay & anti-women’s rights Faust/Lopez/Edelman circle. He also happens to be the man … Continue reading
Acceptance Of Profound-Sounding “Bullsh*t” Linked To Lower Intelligence | IFLScience
As Marcello Truzzi, a renowned skeptic and professor of sociology in the United States, once said: “An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof.” This notion unfortunately doesn’t stop people the world … Continue reading
Atheism’s primordial problem
Atheism’s primordial problem: time. Especially when we arrive at atheism at an early age. I did pretend I wasn’t an atheist until I was 15 or 16, but in my … Continue reading
#21h20 Paris time turn on your lights and play loud music
“Around the world, French artists and cultural figures are calling for people to mark a week since the start of the attacks with an outpouring of ‘noise and light.’ The … Continue reading
Study: Religious Kids Are Jerks – The Daily Beast
Study: Religious Kids Are Jerks A study published in the journal Current Biology testing the behavior of Christian, Muslim, and atheist children has found that religious kids are meaner and … Continue reading
Schadenfreude-Wagen. The power of the social myth.
I can’t deny it, I’m finding the VW scandal de-licious. It’s a fantastic lesson on the power of mythology and social manipulation. Most countries I’ve been to have some variety … Continue reading
Must Read: How to Get Rich Suing For Jesus – The Daily Beast
“While ACLJ’s 2014 tax returns suggest Jay Sekulow does not receive a salary from the organization, the ACLJ did pay $3,323,414 for “legal” services to the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy … Continue reading
Family Values Activist Josh Duggar Had a Paid Ashley Madison Account
“In 2013, conservative reality TV star Josh Duggar—of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting fame—was named the executive director of the Family Research Council, a conservative lobbying group in D.C. which … Continue reading
The Great Australian Gay Cake Frosting Wars of 2015
Brendan O’Neill said gay marriage represents a grave danger to society because of the cake frosting industry (the Katy Faust bobblehead doll bobbled enthusiastically as he said so.) According to him it … Continue reading
Katy Faust & the Scott Lively Playbook
If you listened to Faust carefully there were some words that stood out. They were telling because they sounded like they were pulled verbatim from this document. That’s a strategy guide by Scott … Continue reading
Grace Church Seattle: Ryan Faust’s Defence of Katy Faust
When I exposed Katy Faust/Askthebigot’s identity , her husband, the pastor Ryan Faust responded. I noticed he recently deleted it from his page, but I think it’s important his attack … Continue reading
Katy Faust’s Cult: The Membership Covenant at Grace Church Seattle
It’s not just that it’s an anti-gay church, it’s that dissent is simply not permitted. The document in its entirety is available here. Note how they put homosexuality in … Continue reading
My Sincere Apologies to the People of Australia for Inflicting Katy Faust Upon You
It’s not every day that one gets blamed on national television for subjecting an entire country to veiled bigotry. Apparently the reason Mrs. Faust got on an aeroplane and flew to … Continue reading
Ideological Poison; A side note on the propaganda and deceptive practices of Grace Church Seattle & Askthebigot
Before getting to part II I think it’s important to make something crystal clear about the anti-lgbt campaign carried out at Askthebigot, and that’s the underlying implication of their arguments and propaganda. … Continue reading
Ideological Poison Part I: Grace Church Seattle & Askthebigot
As promised I’ve been preparing various posts on the internet branch of the anti-gay Grace Church Seattle. If you’re late to the party and want some background, you can find it … Continue reading
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Announcing a series on religious hate groups & their methods.
There’s no other way to begin this than with an apology to fellow bloggers VW, CF and RSM. They were right, I was wrong. Here is my public mea-culpa. In the … Continue reading
Religious Methods: thimblerig , sophistry, legerdemain, chicanery
If we look at the current crop of religious anti-human rights websites we find a very amusing recurring argument that goes something like this; They start with the false … Continue reading
Hiding behind the children: the current tactics of the anti-gay brigade
Some of them are appalling individuals. Creators and fomenters of social apartheid. Others are ordinary people, caught up in the storm, parroting the discredited propaganda of old. Propaganda that’s been … Continue reading
Must Read: Let’s talk about cults
From the Daily Beast: Megachurch: Stay With Your Kiddie Porn-Watching Husband—or Face ‘Discipline’
Have you heard of Les Lapins Crétins? Fill in the blank
Just noticed the existence of this French cartoon today: Cretin Rabbits. I couldn’t help but think it would would make the perfect template for bi-bowl says memes. So have at it … Continue reading
Arguing religion at face value and why it’s a waste of time
“It is the law of the brothel. This type of marriage will never be anything but an immoral and scandalous concubinage. A form of incest.”— Spokesman for Catholic Bishops (El Pais archive) … Continue reading
A victory for secularism and a lesson to the world
“That generosity the Yes Equality campaign was depending on came through. The decency of the Irish people was not limited to the liberal leafy suburbs of Dublin, nor the solidarity … Continue reading
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