Religion
Category archives for Religion
The Nightmare That Was Christmas (Death Never Dies)
Posted by Greg Laden on December 22, 2012 
I remember it as clearly as if it was yesterday, even though it happened years ago, even before you were born. I screamed silently, pinned on my back by the massive weight of a cotton blanket, legs frozen, the dark lights flickering as the human-like form approached, its arms raised in front like The Mummy…
The Salvation Army, GLBT Rights, Harry Potter, and Your Spare Change
Posted by Greg Laden on November 17, 2012 And a little bit of separation of church and state to go along with this. Next time you go to the grocery store or some other place which has the Salvation Army out front with its bell and its bucket, there are two, not one, but two things you should do. The first thing you…
The War on Science: Interview
Posted by Greg Laden on November 5, 2012 This is an interview at Atheists Talk (TV), an update on the war on science, and a rare opportunity to see me wearing a suit. The first few seconds are sound free; do not adjust your television set. I mentioned the NCSE, here’s their web site. Here’s a couple of books related to the topic:…
Would you like a copy of Einstein’s Famous Religion Letter?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 16, 2012 Or even better yet, how about the original? It’s going up for sale on ebay. Here’s my copy of the letter: And the ebay site is here. The letter was written to the author of Choose Life The Biblical Call To Revolt, and includes this famous comment: … The word God is for me nothing…
Tradition!!!!
Posted by Greg Laden on November 18, 2011 Tradition. Not just a song from Fiddler on the Roof. You know the refrain: “The Papa, the Papa! Tradition.” It’s a great play but it is firmly rooted in the patriarchy, as “tradition” often is. There are many ways to define “tradition” and we can look it up somewhere and have a flameware over dictionary…
Our home grown racists show up at town hall to protest bedroom-community terrorists
Posted by Greg Laden on August 18, 2011 Plymouth, Minnesota plays a fairly important role in my life. It is a big suburb to the west of Minneapolis, a mainly liberal or progressive middle class bedroom community linked to first ring extra-urban commercial development based mainly on corn. Kellogs, Cargill, Mosaic, other companies that grow corn, use corn in making products, sell corn…
Spare the rod, save the child
Posted by Greg Laden on August 17, 2011 “Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” -Proverbs 22:6 This is a report of a Fundamentalist Christian couple who beat thier 7 year old child to death as part of the practice of corporal punishment to which they subscribed as…
Exorcisms are Affordable because of Michele Bachmann’s Generosity
Posted by Greg Laden on July 14, 2011 This is not new but it is current. In 2009, Michele Bachmann donated several thousand dollars to an organization that carries out exorcisms mainly on teenagers who have bee posessed by multiple demons. This has become increasingly popular among Christians … the idea that demons posses people on a regular basis. Right now, at least…
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I’ll write you a Rapture-check
Posted by Greg Laden on May 24, 2011 It didn’t really occur to me that anyone actually believed that the world was going to end the other day. Honestly. I had assumed that some crazy preacher made the claim, that it was being used to scam the gullible here and there, but that almost no one was really taking it seriously. But, in…
The Apocalypse really is happening and the Rapture went off without a hitch
Posted by Greg Laden on May 22, 2011 It’s all just a matter of calibration. Let me ‘splain.
Outrageous and shameful: Anti-Gay Preacher in the Minnesota Legislature
Posted by Greg Laden on May 20, 2011 Bradlee Dean (photo source) is the infamous Minnesota preacher who has called for the execution of gay and lesbian people. Today the Republican controlled Minnesota house planned to take up legislation that would call for a constitutional ban on gay marriage, and Bradlee Dean was called on to provide the opening prayer for the session.…
“Where’s Hillary-Gate” as a cautionary tale for religious accommodation
Posted by Greg Laden on May 10, 2011 You’ve all seen the photograph. Here’s a closeup: On the right is a bunch of people in the Sitch Room at the White House watching in-house coverage of the Navy Seals taking out O-b-L. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Counter Intel Adviser Audrey Tomason are, notably, the only women in the room. There are…
Happy Birthday Clarence Darrow
Posted by Greg Laden on April 18, 2011 Darrow was born this day in 1857. He was a lawyer and a prominent member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). We know him as the defender of John Scopes in the Monkey Trial of 1925. Darrow and Scopes lost that trial, which was the first of many court cases regarding the teaching of…
Faith Healing Deaths in Oregon: New Law will Lift Protection of Religious Child Abusers
Posted by Greg Laden on February 21, 2011 A child who is killed by an abusive parent is, in a sense, avenged by the law which seeks to identify, charge, try, convict, sentence and punish such a parent. Abuse might include something obvious like striking a child with a weapon, but it can also include starving the child to death or other forms…
Religion crossing the line: “God is not so silly to allow people to perish” from floods and storms
Posted by Greg Laden on February 16, 2011 How do you separate harmless belief in religion or superstition and … well, harmful belief in religion or superstition? We have been having a bit of a go-round* between some of my regular blog readers, including my Catholic but not anti-Evolution niece whose daughter recently acted in a commercial for the Creation Museum in Kentucky.…
“Anglicans counter “New atheism” with new online resource”
Posted by Greg Laden on January 17, 2011 How can there be a God when people are suffering through floods and fires? How can God sit back and allow bad things to happen to good people? A new online resource from the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne offers answers to these and other difficult questions as the Church seeks to engage directly with the…
Game Show Will Pit Religious Leaders Against Atheists
Posted by Greg Laden on January 15, 2011 In Turkey, there is a game show in which representatives of several religious cults (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism) attempt to convert one or more of a group of ten atheists to their religion. The atheists are pre-certified by a panel of experts and any converts are traced for a period of time to ensure…
Today’s Bible Lesson…
Posted by Greg Laden on December 26, 2010 … will focus on Christmas.
Study shows prayer helps
Posted by Greg Laden on December 20, 2010 But the method must be adjusted if you happen to be an atheist. OMG. As it were. WARNING: your irony meter may break just after 2 minutes 10 seconds. Adjust your irony meters now. Do not drink coffee while watching this video.
War on Hanuka Update
Posted by Greg Laden on December 12, 2010 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c The Daily Show on Facebook
Religion gives you a pass to break whatever rules seem to not apply to you
Posted by Greg Laden on December 9, 2010 Which is very handy if you are a Department of Motor Vehicles desk clerk who hates Teh Gay. Or a Senator.
Christians fear werewolves and wizardry.
Posted by Greg Laden on December 8, 2010 Christians fear werewolves and wizardry. Oh, and vampires. A Canadian Salvation Army center throws away Harry Potter and Twilight toys that are donated to them, rather than passing them out to kids for Christmas or even giving them to a different charity with less hypocritical standards. “The Salvation Army is based on Christian principles, so…
Bringing the War on Christmas Into your Very Living Room
Posted by Greg Laden on December 7, 2010 I did a little (very little, very short) newsroom debate on Fox 9 with a guy named Tom who appears to represent conservative Christians regarding the question of “Does Christmas have place in schools?” I quickly add that even though that was the planned focus of the discussion, it was quickly revised to be “Oh,…
Pearl Harbor and the War on Christmas
Posted by Greg Laden on December 7, 2010 Yes, there is a connection …
Rape, Deer Hunting and the War on Christmas
Posted by Greg Laden on December 6, 2010 Is this thing on? Hello? Hello? …. Ah, thats better. Comcast, which every day seems to do something to piss me off, had a major sub-regional outage for the last several hours, it would seem. So, we’ve been floating free of the Internet and a few things have accumulated. First, this: Remember the rape charges…
Is religion a good or evil force in society?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2010 Americans and citizens of some of the most Islamic countries tend to agree that it is a force acting on the side of good. Many Europeans say the opposite. There is a rough correlation between the religiosity of a country and how much religion is revered (duh) as a primarily good thing.
Actor Michael Brea Murders Mom in Religious Conniption, Police May Have Contributed to Death
Posted by Greg Laden on November 23, 2010 This is interesting at so many levels, but I thought you might find it pertinent to the ongoing discussion of whether or not we should assume that a person is good because they are very very religious, or check our wallets frequently and wear body armor when near them because they are very very religious.…
How Christians Do Education
Posted by Greg Laden on November 22, 2010 Morals, values, and integrity. And sex-for-tuition. Parkway Christian School 307 Sawdust Rd The Woodlands, TX 77380 281-367-4674 Click here to apply for admission.
Muslim vs. Moslem
Posted by Greg Laden on November 14, 2010 The question recently came up as to whether the term “Moslem” (as opposed to “Muslim”) is considered insulting or somehow anti-Moslem*. More specifically, I made the claim (though I did not put it this way exactly at the time) that “Moslem” was a dogwhistle signifying teabagging anti-Obama racist scumpuppies. I have since been told by…
CNN: Unbelief More Common
Posted by Greg Laden on November 10, 2010 … in 48 states.
, which is now available for the 
