When you see the term Gender Ideology, alarm bells should ring in your head!
Here we go again. Gender ideology. Gender. Ideology. Do you think you know what it means? It’s currently in vogue in the Americas. Bolsonaro put it back in style in … Continue reading
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
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 Elegant Atheist: Keeping away the Jehova’s Witnesses and the Mormons
I finally decided to get a sign having been woken up today by the doorbell and the consequent dog barking. I ran downstairs flustered, stopped at the inter-phone to say … Continue reading
Chris Hayes: What ‘Law and Order’ Means to Trump – The New York Times
“… In this view, crime is not defined by a specific offense. Crime is defined by who commits it. If a young black man grabs a white woman by the … 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
Big-nosed Jesus and God as a second-rate Santa: the worst Christian art | Art and design | The Guardian
“… Instead, Kermani does something both refreshingly cheeky and philosophically instructive. As he wonders what Christian art says about Christianity, he meditates on works ranging from Old Masters (Leonardo, Caravaggio, … 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
(Translation) Tradução: 40 Anos do Movimento Anti-Gay
Versão original in English: aqui. Em 2005 a SPLC publicou um cronograma da história do movimento anti-gay nos Estados Unidos. Usando aquele trabalho como base criei uma versão alternativa, mais detalhada, … 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
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
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
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
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
Books, Food & 10 Year Plans
We left Spain 2 years ago today. What you see above is my last bloody mary at the marina. I loved the marina in winter, barely a tourist in sight. … 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
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
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
Jesus, the brownish dwarf
Very amusing article by Candida Moss: “Historically speaking, it is likely that the average first-century male from Roman Palestine would have had dark hair, brown eyes, and dark skin tone. … Continue reading
New Feminism – via Unapologetics
by Agrudzinsky “Based on the newest French initiative, I propose a new way to eliminate oppression of the women in our civilized society. Oppressed women shall be fined. There must … 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
#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
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
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
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
Isms and Obias
This is more a question than a post- what responsibility does an individual have in overcoming the isms and obias of the world? I think it’s interesting because people … 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
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
Irish referendum results to be announced at 4pm
Meanwhile, here’s an outstanding article by David Robert Grimes for The Guardian: “This perhaps isn’t surprising – religious conservatives have a long and ignoble history of distorting research to fit … Continue reading
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