Vatican Offers Heaven For Twitter Follows

I've seen some interesting ways people have attempted to get more Twitter followers^[1].  And I've seen all kinds of bullshit by religion^[2].  Now I've seen them together^[3].

In its latest attempt to keep up with the times the Vatican has married one of its oldest traditions to the world of social media by offering "indulgences" to followers of Pope Francis' tweets.

The church's granted indulgences reduce the time Catholics believe they will have to spend in purgatory after they have confessed and been absolved of their sins.

The remissions got a bad name in the Middle Ages because unscrupulous churchmen sold them for large sums of money. But now indulgences are being applied to the 21st century.

It's immoral enough to tell people they'll be punished after they die.  It's even more immoral to tell them they'll still be so punished if they follow all the rules of the religion.  These so called "indulgences" aren't indulgences.  It's not like they're ways for people to indulge in things they wouldn't otherwise.  They're just bread crumbs to throw to your religion's followers to get them to do things you want them to.

And now the Vatican is using them for something as petty as getting followers for the Pope on Twitter^[4].  What the fuck, Vatican?  You've stooped to using the power of your massive church to get a bigger Klout^[5] score?

I'm on Twitter^[6] too, but I promise nothing to people for following me.  Not even a follow back, even though it's likely to happen as long as you're a real person and not a douchebag.  As a side note, the article states he's got more than 7 million followers, but it's only 2.6 million.

But back to this bullshit about indulgences.  They offer these things for a variety of things^[7].  As far as I can tell, turning in a priest for molesting a child isn't among them.  Apparently their god is more concerned about getting the Pope more followers than Bieber^[8] & Gaga^[9] than protecting children from being raped or punishing the sick fucks who raped children.

If evil exists, the Vatican is it.

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1.  http://gawker.com/5826960/update-only-92-of-newt-gingrichs-twitter-followers-are-fake
2.  Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless
3.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/16/vatican-indulgences-pope-francis-tweets
4.  https://twitter.com/Pontiffex
5.  http://klout.com/#/Pontifex
6.  https://twitter.com/aparticularA
7.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgence#Actions_for_which_indulgences_are_granted
8.  https://twitter.com/justinbieber
9.  https://twitter.com/ladygaga

Morning Joe Addresses Declining Faith By Promoting Catholicism

Yesterday morning, Morning Joe was discussing the recent poll[^[1] that had 77% saying they think the influence of religion declining in America^[2].

Immediately prior to this segment, they had encountered some technical difficulties with their guest's sound, giving Scarborough the opportunity to joke about it being caused by demons and accuse their sound their sound guy of not loving Jesus enough.  They went to an unplanned break, with Scarborough exclaiming "Can we get someone who loves Jesus in here!?"^[3].  I bring this up both because it was offensive and because it puts the opening comments of this video into context.  

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The hosts, both Catholics, wanted someone to ask about why faith is declining in America.  So, they brought in a priest.  A priest who, when asked why people are leaving religion, barely mentioned the protection of child rapists that's happened by his employer.  You know, that thing that's often cited as the number one reason people leave the Catholic Church^[4].

@ 0:48^[5]

yeah. or the christian churches. i think the people feel sometimes alienated from religious institutions as they do from governmental institutions. when we get too fixated on ideological division i think in the churches we have seen some, certainly in the catholic church the sexual abuse scandal has disaffected many. and what the churches and the synagogues and mosques need to do is get back to the basics. in our case to preach the gospel. to focus on what we're most deeply about. i think people yearn for meet i -- meaning. they are yearning for some answers to very human, very deep questions.

Apparently, the key to getting people to stop leaving the church is for them to even further ignore the fact that the Catholic Church has made the protection rapists from prosecution a standard practice and simply preach the gospel.  A gospel, by the way, that teaches that we're all inherently evil and in need of the savior they say Jesus is.  Of course, the priest left that bit out.

@ 3:50

absolutely. i mean, you're right. that is the pew form of survey from last december. a fifth of all americans say they are not affiliated with any religious institution. i mean, a small portion of those are agnostic or atheist but most describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. that is they're seeking some answers. they're longing for something to touch their heart. they're longing for god and not finding it in any one particular religious institution. i think for anyone in the religion business like myself that it is a call to us to above all listen to that longing. they are longing for god. i think we do better when we listen first to what that longing is about and then share our tradition. let me go back to st. francis of assisi, the pope's patron saint. listen, i'm a jesuit priest. i'm proud to be a jesuit. he took the name of st. francis and it was st. francis who said, preach the gospel and only if necessary use words. to the extent that we are --

People aren't longing for god.  They're longing for answers.  God is simply something religion attempts to convince people is a legitimate answer to those questions.  It doesn't actually give real answers to those questions.  It just gives people an excuse to stop asking.

There's nothing particularly special or new about what this priest was saying.  It was all the standard stuff you would expect to see from a guy attempting to sell his religion.  I don't fault the guy for doing his preaching where he had the chance, as that's his job.

I fault this network, that calls itself news, for giving him that platform and free airtime to sell his scam, with no opportunity for any other viewpoint.  Not only did they give him that platform, they assisted him with the questions they asked.

@ 1:25

i'll ask you if you were a politician what are you about? what is the church mainly about? what is your mission that has been lost over the past 30 years?

@ 3:13

yes. i think like many catholics i watched the scandal unfold with great disappointment and discouragement as a catholic. but i still hold my faith very tightly. yet, father, you look at the numbers of americans who have no faith at all. i believe it's growing rapidly and it's one in five. one in five people in the american public. and a third of adults under 30 are religiously unaffiliated. how would you explain that? and is there room for the catholic church to do some work?

@ 5:23

it is so intimidating. i'm jewish and you are in an interfaith relationship but all the people in my sort of band are spiritual but not religious. that's the line they get all the time that father o'brien just said. they are so either intimidated by the church or the synagogue because they don't want to be part of some rote rhythm that doesn't feel like it has a real soul to it some people say. what do you say to the people that are searching but are so intimidated or don't really respect the contemporary approach of these institutions? i don't know how you get them back.

Here's  few other issues I have with this segment.

@ 4:58

steve large ent one time told me, steve is a very devout christian but he didn't go around, you know, he didn't wear it on his sleeve and he said his favorite saying was along these lines. he said, it came from mother teresa, which was, work as if there is no such thing as prayer. and pray as if there is no such thing as work. and that's the line -- lead by your example.

In other words, actually do shit because you are safe assuming prayer doesn't fucking work.  But pray anyway.  It would be good advice, if only it had stopped at behaving as if prayer doesn't work and not advised people to waste their time^[6].

@ 6:58

it's interesting, father, the pope said something the other day about, that i think addresses what brian was talking about. he said atheists can meet the church and where they will meet the church is in good works. he said atheists actually can be, can find grace, which was a remarkable thing for a pope to say.

No.  Through my good works, I do not "meet the church".  And fuck you for saying so.  I do good works on my own.  Without a god.  Without a church.  You don't get to try give credit for my good works to your religion.  And I especially don't want credit for my good works to go the Catholic Church, an organization that protects child rapists from prosecution.

@ 7:14

absolutely. and, you know, other popes and religious leaders in the catholic church have said sometimes those nonbelievers or seekers do a better job at their faith rather than those who just go about speaking their religion but not living it out. those actions have got to be coupled with belief for us to truly be examples of faith.

I don't have faith.   Maybe that's why I, and the other atheists without any faith, do a better job of actually getting shit done instead of merely preaching or praying.  That sentiment might have actually been expressed on air if they had had an atheist on air for this segment about people losing faith.  I don't think that's an unreasonable request^[7].

The entire segment reeked of an infomercial for Catholicism and their new Pope.  The only thing more offensive than a supposed news network aired this infomercial for the Vatican is how casually they mentioned the fact that the organization they were promoting has protected child rapists.

Are we really so desensitized to the issue of the rape of children that it has become a sidenote and an organization that facilitates is given a national platform?  I can't be the only one this confused about this.

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1.  http://video.msnbc.msn.com/morning-joe/52055712
2.  http://www.gallup.com/poll/162803/americans-say-religion-losing-influence.aspx
3.  This is paraphrased from memory, so it's not necessarily a direct quote.  But the message conveyed remains intact.
4.  http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/30/7-reasons-catholics-leave-church-in-trenton-1-is-sex-abuse-crisis/
5.  Quotations look the way they do because I copied them directly from MSNBC's transcript.  The only editing I did was some selective bolding.
6.  http://youtu.be/bv9o25k4e64
7.  https://twitter.com/aparticularA/status/340488918153715712

Sunday Morning Shares - 05-26-2013

Here's the links & tweets to share from the last week.  It's a day later than normal, but I suspect that didn't traumatize anyone.  Most were also shared on this Facebook page or retweeted.  Please add any fun or informative stories I missed in the comments.

Random Stuff:

(via @mashable)

(via No Hope For the Human Race)

(via I Must Geek Out)

Has Photoshop Gone Too Far? (via Zach)

10 Life Lessons from Calvin & Hobbes (via Sarah & Ivy)

(via Ivy & The Dangers of Baby Training)

(via @mashable)

(via @mashable)

Religion Stuff:

‘I’m Actually An Atheist’ Shirts Being Sold to Help Out Atheist Who Spoke to Wolf Blitzer (via @hemantmehta)

The abusive theology of “deserved” tragedy… (via New York City Atheists)

(via Atheist Mingle)

Gay Stuff:

Kids in the Hall Alum Scott Thompson on Hannibal and Why Being Gay Is Now Boring (via Kids in the Hall)

Political Stuff:

Maddow: Real Benghazi scandal is how media got played by GOP ‘sources’ (via Ken)

Pope blames tyranny of capitalism for making people miserable

(via @GoAngelo)

Ron Lindsay & Women in Secularism 2:

An Open Letter to Ron Lindsay

An Open Letter to the Center for Inquiry

The Silencing of Men

Tone Policing Only Goes One Way (via Vyckie)

Statement of Objection to Center for Inquiry CEO Ron Lindsay's Actions Regarding Feminism

Secular Coalition of America's Weekly Update:

National Secular Movement Update Call (05/23/2013)

Asshole Of The Week:

I'm not worried about my son becoming gay. I'm worried about him living in a society that doesn't recognize it as a sin.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) May 23, 2013

Reddit Porn:

(via /r/MilitaryPorn)

Louis CK Learns About The Catholic Church

My favorite bit on religion was done by Louis CK, who I've never seen identify himself as atheist.  I've barely even seen him say or do anything that suggested he might be atheist.  I know a few people who've never seen this video, even though it's at least 5 years old.  So I thought it was worth sharing here^[1].

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1.  http://youtu.be/VABSoHYQr6k

Saturday Morning Shares - 04-13-2013

Here's the links & tweets to share from the last week.  Most were also shared on this Facebook page or retweeted.  Please add any fun or informative stories I missed in the comments.

Random Stuff:

What's in a Nickname? The Origins of All 30 MLB Team Names (via @Alyssa_Milano)

Kermit the Frog's Kickass Vacation in 15 Epic Photos (via @mashable)

Science!:

'The Dumbest Generation' by Mark Bauerlein

Why Smart People Do Stupid Things (via Reddit)

Religion Stuff:

Atheists plan large national convention in Utah next Easter weekend

Logs reveal someone in Vatican is illegally downloading porn

Secular Coalition of America's Weekly Update:

National Secular Movement Update Call (04/11/2013)

Asshole Of The Week:

Apparently MSNBC doesn't think your children belong to you. Unflippingbelievable. youtu.be/Oa9temz_Cxw
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) April 7, 2013

Funniness:

(via @thinkgeek)

Saturday Morning Shares - 03-23-2013

Here's the links & tweets to share from the last week.  Most were also shared on this Facebook page or retweeted.  Please add any fun or informative stories I missed in the comments.

Random Stuff:

(via George Takei)

Science!:

There Are Whales Alive Today Who Were Born Before Moby Dick Was Written (via Sarah)

Two ships passing in the night: neuroscience and social media (via @Alyssa_Milano)

Shorter-winged swallows evolve around highways (via Mark)

Secular Coalition of America's Weekly Update:

National Secular Movement Update Call (03/21/2013)

Religion Stuff:

The High School Performing a Play About ‘Adam and Steve’ Isn’t Being Anti-Christian (via @hemantmehta)

(via Atheism)

Cardinal asserts that child raping priests shouldn’t be punished. (via @jteberhard)

Frans de Waal's Bottom-Up Morality: We're Not Good Because Of God (via Omaha Coalition of Reason)

(via @tsh1118)

An Increasing Number of Atheist and Agnostic Alcoholics Anonymous Groups Are Altering the Twelve Steps (via @hemantmehta)

Digital Bible Reaches 100 Million Listeners (via @mashable)

Atheist Student Questioned By Police For Being an Atheist (via Kansas City Atheist Coalition (KCAC))

Expert: Gay Rights Opponents Misrepresenting Religious Liberty

(via @jteberhard)

ACT NOW:  Tell your Senators not to use your taxpayer money to fund religious schools! (via @OmahaCoR)

Pope Stuff:

Geography of the Conclave: Where Do the Cardinals Come From? (via @ZacharyNelson)

(via Rational Hub)

Asshole Of The Week:

Christians Defending The Bible Tend To Fail

I like Penn Jillette, but I do often find myself disagreeing with him.  Particularly when he's espousing especially libertarian views or defending Glenn Beck^[1] When I saw the title of this article, "Atheist Penn Jillette Defends the Pope and Catholic Orthodoxy"^[2], I was expecting to disagree with him once again.

Disagreement with Jillette is far from what I found, because defense for the Pope isn't really what he was doing.  He took one of my favorite stances in regards to the bad behavior of Christians.  By pointing out that such reprehensible behavior is actually in line with the Bible, it puts Christians in the awkward position of choosing between defending the despicable and admitting that the Bible is flawed.

Either way, the opposition to Christianity wins.  That's the funny thing about defending an incorrect position.  It's quite difficult to do without looking like a fool and hurting the very thing you were attempting to protect.

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1.

2.  http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/03/07/atheist-penn-jillette-defends-the-pope-and-catholic-orthodoxy/

No Shit - Mother Teresa Edition

One of the things that made Christopher Hitchens awesome^[1] was his bluntly honest stance on Mother Teresa.  I think he would have approved of today's news about her^[2].

A new study by Canadian academics says Mother Teresa was a product of hype who housed the poor and sick in shoddy conditions, despite her access to a fortune.

The Times of India, reporting on the controversial essay, wrote that the authors asserted Mother Teresa saw beauty in the downtrodden's suffering and was far more willing to pray for them than provide practical medical care. Meanwhile, researchers say, the Vatican engaged in a PR ploy as it threw aside concerns about her suspicious financial dealings and contacts to forgo the five-year waiting period to beatify her.

And not just because the article mentions he was a source for the study.  It's a shame he's not still around to see it or to respond.

I wonder what bullshit Catholics & The Vatican will have to say in response to it.

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1.  Twelve Apostates - Christopher Hitchens
2.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/mother-teresa-myth_n_2805697.html

Science vs Religion - HIV Edition

Science and religion are at odds with other on a regular basis^[1][2].  Science explains how old the universe is^[3], how old our planet is^[4], and how we evolved over millions of years^[5].  Religion pretends science is not real^[6].  Science says to use condoms to reduce the spread of HIV & AIDS^[7].  Religion spreads lies about condoms^[8].

On the subject of HIV, science may have just made an incredible advancement.  By curing it^[9].

Doctors announced on Sunday that a baby had been cured of an H.I.V. infection for the first time, a startling development that could change how infected newborns are treated and sharply reduce the number of children living with the virus that causes AIDS.

 Even in rural Mississippi, science can help people.  I'm sure religion will come along shortly to try to undo this progress.  Probably also from rural Mississippi.

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1.  http://www.iep.utm.edu/s-rel/
2.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_between_religion_and_science
3.  http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_age.html
4.  http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dalrymple/scientific_age_earth.html
5.  http://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html
6.  http://www.missiontoamerica.com/genesis/six-thousand-years.html
7.  http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/byAudience/ForPatientAdvocates/HIVandAIDSActivities/ucm126372.htm
8.  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june11/vatican_05-30.html
9.  http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/health/for-first-time-baby-cured-of-hiv-doctors-say.xml

Saturday Morning Shares 02-23-2013

Here's what I found to share during the last week:

Not At All About Religion:

5 Creative Uses for Old USB Flash Drives on.mash.to/Xn7sl2

— Pete Cashmore (@mashable) February 20, 2013

Calvin and Hobbes Photoshopped Into Photographs of Real

On Religion:

Police called to DMV after man refuses to remove pasta strainer from head | The Raw Story

 How To Suck At Your Religion - The Oatmeal

Zack Kopplin, The 19-Year-Old Face of the Anti-Creationist Movement (From Atheist Youth)

Godless Groups Just Get Together To Do Shit dlvr.it/2yp3GS
— BibleName (@BibleName) February 18, 2013

You could have the best atheist career ever: working for @campquest! bit.ly/UMVu7z
— JT Eberhard (@jteberhard) February 21, 2013

And some about our friends at the Vatican:

Vatican raises possibility of breaking tradition and starting papal election much earlier huff.to/XccoMG
— HuffPost Religion (@HuffPostRelig) February 16, 2013

Benedict, in apparent fear of legal prosecution, will remain in the Vatican indefinitely: ow.ly/hLXFL
— KC Atheist Coalition (@KCAtheists) February 16, 2013

Cardinal Roger Mahony: I Forgive Those Who Are Angry at Me for Covering Up Child Rape bit.ly/WEmPr5
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) February 18, 2013

Catholic School Administrator Fired for Supporting Marriage Equality in Blog Post bit.ly/XONcvA
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) February 16, 2013

 Papal resignation linked to inquiry into 'Vatican gay officials', says paper

Progress From The Vatican

My response to the announcement of the Pope's resignation^[1] was not optimistic.  But then I saw a post^[2] showing that they might be nominating the first Black Pope^[3].

He's responded to the problems the Vatican faces.

Pope Benedict's eight-year papacy saw controversies over paedophile priests, a tense relationship with the Muslim world, and the conviction of his butler for stealing documents that revealed corruption at the top of the Vatican.

"[We need] to relevantly address issues and the credibility of our own ministry and leadership," said Cardinal Turkson. "The Church, if you adopt the imagery of a boat, is going through quite a bit of a storm and it does not appear to be over yet," he said.

"In Europe, churches are getting empty, the population appears not to relate much to the Church and to religion and all of that –that is an issue to deal with. In the new churches, Latin America, Africa and Asia, where the Church appears to be growing there is also the challenge of being able to maintain membership. Whoever succeeds Benedict will not lack challenges and they are an invitation to creativity and innovation."

He's addressed anti-gay bills in Africa^[4], like, Uganda's controversial "Kill the gays" bill, . .

Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said some of the sanctions imposed on homosexuals in Africa are an “exaggeration,” but argued that the “intensity of the reaction is probably commensurate with tradition.”

Referring to the issue of stigma surrounding homosexuality in Africa, the cardinal said it is important to understand the reasons behind it. “Just as there’s a sense of a call for rights, there’s also a call to respect culture, of all kinds of people,” he said. “So, if it’s being stigmatized, in fairness, it’s probably right to find out why it is being stigmatized.”

Moreover, the cardinal called for a distinction to be made between moral issues and human rights.

“We [the Church] push for the rights of prisoners, the rights of others; and the last thing we want to do is infringe upon the rights of anyone. But when you’re talking about what’s called ‘an alternative lifestyle,’ are those human rights?” the cardinal said. “He [Ban ki-moon] needs to recognize there’s a subtle distinction between morality and human rights, and that’s what needs to be clarified.”

 . . by suggesting that making being gay a crime punishable by death isn't a violation of human rights.

So what if a man they're considering for Pope thinks the problems the Catholic Church faces are the declining membership, not the epidemic of pedophiles in their priesthood; and it's a possibility the next Pope doesn't think it's a human right to not be killed for being gay.  But at least he's not another white guy.  Progress for the Vatican is a tricky thing.

Maybe the Pope after next will be someone who's not a hateful piece of shit.  Or maybe at least sometime before the 22nd Century.

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1.  Same Shit, New Pope
2.  Found on Hammer the Gods
3.  Cardinal Peter Turkson, Possible Pope Successor, Has Defended Legislation Like Uganda's 'Kill The Gays' Bill
4.  Cardinal Responds to U.N.'s Criticism of Africa's Social Policies

Same Shit, New Pope

I share JT Eberhard's disdain for Joseph Ratzinger^[1]. He's a terrible person who's done the world terrible harm. He's probably the only person in the world who's done the world more harm after being a Nazi than while he was.

I hold no optimism that his resignation^[2] will improve the Catholic Church. Their hate, lies about condoms^[3][4][5][6], protection of pedophiles^{[7][8][9][10][11]}, and shitty treatment of women^[12][13][14] aren't limited to just that one man. It's institutional. At best, the next Pope will be marginally better than this one.

The Vatican will continue getting Africans killed, and its members will continue to defend that despicable behavior^[15]. It will continue its efforts to suppress women's rights^[16]. It will continue to protect those who rape children.  It will continue to be bigoted toward homosexuals^[17][18][19], Jews^{[20][21][22][23]}, and sometimes both at once^[24].

It will continue to be the kind of organization who had a questionable relationship with the Nazis^{[25][26][27][28][29]}, was later led by one^[30], and has done more harm to world than even they did.

It will continue being one of the most evil organizations^[31] in the history of the world.  Just with a different monster running it, pretending to be infallible while pushing clearly fallible nonsense.

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1.  The Pope is resigning. Good.
2.  Pope Benedict XVI to resign citing poor health
3.  Pope claims condoms could make African Aids crisis worse
4.  Vatican renews condom criticism
5.  Vatican newspaper article says condom campaigns increase AIDS risk
6.  The Catholic Church versus HIV/AIDS in Africa
7.  Catholic order had 'pedophile ring' in Vic
8.  Head of Catholic Bishops Paid Pedophiles to Disappear
9.  The Catholic church really is full of pedophiles.
10.  Catholic sex abuse cases - Wikipedia
11.  A smoking gun letter reveals Vatican directly ordered pedophiles be protected
12.  Proper Dress and Behavior for Catholic Women
13.  The Vatican's War on Women
14.  Vatican Reaffirms: Women's Ordination Invalid
15.  What Impact Does Catholic Teaching Have on AIDS in Africa?
16.  Vatican Crackdown On Nuns Over Social Justice Issues, Women Ordination
17.  The Vatican hates gays
18.  Vatican article likens gay marriage to communism
19.  Vatican Launches 'Anti-Gay Media Blitz,' Compares Gay Marriage To Polygamy, Polyandry
20.  Jewish outrage greets Vatican 'anti-Semitism' remarks
21.  Vatican embracing anti-Semitism?
22.  The Vatican's Shameful Secret
23.  Cables: Anti-semitism in the Vatican
24.  Vatican: Homosexuality And Jews Caused Pedophilia Scandal
25.  Red Cross and Vatican helped thousands of Nazis to escape
26.  Catholic Church and Nazi Germany
27.  Vatican City during World War II
28.  The Vatican Made Nazism Possible in Germany and Croatia
29.  Archbishop Orsenigo Celebrates Hitler’s Birthday
30.  Was Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) A Nazi? Why Join the Hitler Youth?
31.  Richard Dawkins on the Catholic Church

Twelve Apostates - Tim Minchin

People who know me know I appreciate sarcasm.  I probably couldn't get through my day without it.  So, of course, I appreciate Tim Minchin.

Sound check before the Reason Rally

I was aware of Tim Minchin before the Reason Rally and already a huge fan of The Pope Song^[1] because it illustrates precisely how I feel about the Pope and the Vatican.

That song hits a complicated issue right in the face with how simple it is.  If you protect pedophiles, you're culpable in their crimes.  In other words, fuck the Pope.  I've encountered Catholics who see that song and only respond with complaints about the language, completely missing the point and further highlighting why the message of the song is spot on.

Before the Reason Rally, I hadn't yet heard his song "Thank You God"^[2], but it resonated with me like nothing had since I first encountered George Carlin's take on religion.  That moment was the closest I've ever come to knowing what religious people feel when they think they're feeling the Holy Spirit.  The song mocks the notion that prayer works, while highlighting some of the errors people make in thinking it does.

He's also used comedy to give the Bible itself some due criticism.

This song shows quite well how Christian Bible is a terrible book that should absolutely not be upheld as a source of morality.

New age woo woo, as James Randi puts it, has not escaped either.

I'm sure we've all met someone like Storm and wanted to rant at them like that.  Silly beliefs aren't restricted to religious beliefs and should not be immune to criticism.  Also similar to Randi, he's offered a reward for anyone who can prove claims such as Storm's.

On top of that, he's handled, better than most, one of the most talked about topics in the debate between religion and atheism.  Evolution.

And after all that entirely appropriate criticism of religion, he managed to create a beautiful song about celebrating Christmas.

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1.  It was rainy that day, and this picture is of the sign language interpreter, who spent much of that day in the rain signing diligently, during the Pope Song.

2.  This is probably because my exposure to Minchin had been primarily on YouTube and it's not up there.  Although, a decent cover has posted since.  It's still the only version of the song on YouTube, while I've seen some others get posted and later removed.

An Open Letter To Leah Libresco

The following is an open letter in response to the recent conversion from atheism to Catholicism by atheist blogger Leah Libresco.

I had never heard of you until your recent conversion went viral within the religion vs atheist community online.  I do not mean that as an attack.  I haven't heard of a lot of people and a lot more have not heard of me.  I only say so to be more clear about where I'm coming from.

Your conversion has left me with some questions.  You owe me nothing, obviously, but I need to ask these things anyway.  I'm aware that I'm only one of many currently asking you questions, and you'll likely never even see this, let alone respond, but I would feel negligent in my devotion to truth if I left this unwritten.  I've been able to do some reading on this, including some of what you've written in response to other inquiries, but I have been unable to find satisfactory answers to some issues.

While I do not personally experience confusion about morality such as you described, I do get that many do.  The confusion I have is how that can lead one to believe a deity exists.  Did you witness some sort of evidence for this deity?  Or was this revelation entirely internal within your own mind?

More specifically, how did your experience lead you to believe the Catholic god is the right one?  Other than your issues with the source of morality, what did you consider when choosing Catholicism over all the other religions?  Was the Vatican's tacit approval of child rape a factor?  How about their misinformation campaign in Africa regarding the effectiveness of condoms in preventing the spread of HIV?

You mentioned uneasiness regarding their stance on homosexuality.  Was this a factor in your decision or was it not considered until afterward?  Are you okay with supporting a Church with such discriminatory stances?

Do you believe the Christian Bible is the word of God?  Do you have issues with any other parts of that book?  Are you okay with getting your morality from a god that supports/commits genocide, rape, child abuse, & slavery?  Are you okay with saying your morality comes from an institution that protects pedophiles & lies to millions about the effectiveness of condoms?  Did you have any morality issues with the Vatican while you were still atheist?  If so, how have those issues changed with the conversion?

Do you pray now?  If so, have any of prayers been answered?

Is the Pope infallible?

And finally, when the priest blesses the wafer & wine, do they become literal flesh & blood of Jesus Christ?

These questions of mine are related to things I wonder about Christians & Catholics in general.  Seeing someone, confident enough in their atheism to write a blog about it, become a Catholic makes me wonder even more about you.  I look forward to reading more about your rationalization for your new-found faith, because for me, it is incredibly mind boggling.