Goodbye and Hello

Goodbye to my deityfree blog. I've been invited as a guest blogger on the Inherently Human blog on at http://www.atheist-r-evolution.com/blog/

Please find me there as "deityfree", and thanks for reading.

PJP II: From Self-mortification to Sainthood?

What an opener to a story:

"Pope John Paul II whipped himself with a belt, even on vacation, and slept on the floor as acts of penitence and to bring him closer to Christian perfection..."

What a trooper. Sometimes on vacation I take my laptop. Does that count for anything?

So PJP II could be ordained a saint in the near future! How exciting!
Monsignor Slawomir Oder cooked up a book on why PJP II should be ordained a saint. Pope Benedict XVI waived the normal 5-year waiting period for investigations to start, so they've already got a head start. All they need to do now is attach a miracle to him and he's in.

"The Vatican must now confirm that a miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession occurred in order for him to be beatified — a step which many Vatican watchers have suggested may come as early as October."

As early as October? Hmmm... dying faith, the Vatican does their own research, they know the month that an answer might arrive, people want to believe this crap... sounds self-fulfilling to me! I bet PJP gets it. What do you think?

P.S. Love the "natural" pope-dove picture too.

Sorry Tebow, Take A Hike (we hope)

The Superbowl is just around the corner. Go Colts, Go Saints! Who Cares?!?!?! The Superbowl is awesome enough, but could you imagine it without all the best commercials of the year? I'm a guy and I can pretty much tell you what the commercials are going to be (or should be).

Beer commercials: We need to know what American Light Lager to drink for the rest of the year. We'd be clueless otherwise.

Wireless Technology and Communication: Can you hear me now?

Food: Maybe a pizza commercial or some large food chain that serves beer and has sports on.

Insurance: Everyone needs insurance, whether you prefer the gecko or the college football fans.

Soft Drink and snacks: So what if you're already behind on your New Year's Resolution to get fit. A few more cases of pop won't hurt ya.

Sanitary napkins: Hey gents, you didn't get to Earth all by yourself, show some humility.

Anti-Abortion adds: EEEEERRRRERERRRRRRTRTTETTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!! (needle scrapes across album)

Focus on the Family, eh? Or do you mean focus on how all families in America should be, just like little Timmy Tebow's. Maybe Tebow should focus on the draft instead of controversial commercials. I hear he's not doing so hot.

Fortunately there's still people that like to keep the Superbowl from being a political platform:

"An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year—an event designed to bring Americans together," said Jemhu Greene, president of the New York-based Women’s Media Center.

As far as I know, the ad is still on, but I'm not giving up. Please thank, the folks at Women's Media Center for taking a stand.

To learn how to stop this anti-choice add, click here.

Teen Pregnancy Up After 10-Year Decline

An oldie, but goodie... teenage prego. Of course we know what causes pregnancy, we just have different means of trying to circumnavigate the issue. So what does Reuters say about it?

"There were 71 pregnancies per 1,000 U.S. girls aged 15-19. In 2006, 7 percent of all teenage girls got pregnant..."

71 out of 1000! I guess that shouldn't surprise me since my son has a daycare at his school. And what would the experts say may attribute to the rise in pregnancy?

"It's interesting to note that this flattening out of the rate and the increase in the rate is happening at the same time that we've seen substantial increases in funding for abstinence-only programs," Finer said.

"We do know that when we saw the big decline in the '90s, that a lot of that decline was due to improved contraceptive use among teens."

You mean to tell me that instead of giving them a Sunday school lesson, you can actually lower pregnancy rates by teaching about contraception? I guess social conservatives just love babies 'cause their program sure offers a better chance of making babies. Pay for abstinence-only programs... get more babies... increase the chance that you'll pay for some baby that's not your own... what a marvelous idea!

Howard Jacobson Says Dawkins Is Missing Out

Howard Jacobson, author of some book that atheists will probably not read because they've heard the rhetoric time and time again, says that atheists lack imagination. Jacobson says:

This is why I have no time for the new aggressive form of popular atheism. It lacks imagination and, worse still, it lacks curiosity

Wow! Is that a nonsensical argument if I've ever heard one. This is to say that a significant portion of the scientific community (those non-believer types) lack imagination and curiosity. I think reasons for becoming a scientist, or atheist, was because we ask a lot of questions. When we don't get the answers that satisfy our curiosity, we disbelieve claims and do our own research.

As far as aggressiveness goes, no progress comes from indifference. Should I sit on my hands and have someone tell me the way things should be based on their sky-daddy mantra? We'll end up with people who think that the spirits that they talk to actually care and can intervene somehow in their daily lives!

Jacobson continues:

It astonishes me that he (Dawkins) should suffer so little perplexity, and to be truthful I suspect he misses out on many of the pleasures of uncertainty, wonderment and even fear.

There is enough phenomena in this reality to be fascinated with that I don't feel it's necessary to entertain Jacobson's ridicule-worthy Biblical claims. Jacobson thinks that atheists are seldom perplexed, uncertain, or fearful? This is not true by far. Many atheists are perplexed, uncertain, or fearful of what religious people are up to because they base some of their decisions on the non-demonstrable. Stay safe, atheists.

The End Is Nigh (Again)

Another end of the world prediction is on us and this time no specific date was set. Mehmet Ali Agca, a failed Pope assassin of 1981, has said in a statement issued by his lawyer that every human will die this century. After his recent release from prison Agca was

...taken to a Turkish military hospital where doctors concluded that he was unfit for compulsory military service because of a “severe anti-social personality disorder,” said his lawyer, Yilmaz Abosoglu.

Aw, poor guy. He won't get to refine his assassin skills - as if he had any to begin. The Pope was hit in the stomach, left hand and right arm. What did he shoot him with, a shotgun?

Americans Admit Prejudice Against Muslims

AP reports that most Americans know little about Muslims but are more prejudice against them than Jews, Buddhists, or Christians. Why am I not surprised? I wish this pole would have included atheists so we could see how we measure up.