God mistakenly called the wrong Scott Walker

Read more at God Abandons Scott Walker’s Presidential Bid

I hear Rick Santorum is next.

Lefties are evil

I knew it! Lefties are evil and if you don’t believe me just ask the Pre-K teacher at Oakes Elementary school in Okemah, Oklahoma.

A 4-year-old was allegedly forced by his teacher to write with his right hand, even though he’s left-handed.

The child was sent home with a letter about how left-handedness is often associated with evil and the devil.
- via KFOR.com

The devil is often depicted as left-handed, therefor, I am forcing all left-handed children to use their right hand to write, said the worst excuse for a teacher ever.

So Dawkins is an idiot

I don’t pay much attention to big name atheist. I’m just not interested, except for when they do something stupid. Richard Dawkins did something stupid.

Dawkins did not dispute that Mohamed should not have been arrested, but questioned whether the boy had truly “invented” the clock, as has been reported. He tweeted : “If this is true, what was his motive? Whether or not he wanted the police to arrest him, they shouldn’t have done so[.]”
- via www.rawstory.com

Who actually thought that Ahmed Mohamed invented anything? We all winked, thought it was cute and then dismissed it with a good laugh while shaking our heads and saying, “Kids.” We’ve all been there. I invented a paper airplane back in middle school. The school even allowed me to patent it. Of course Ahmed did not invent anything, but who needs to point that out? Only the idiots among us it seems.

Attending church does not make one holy

If one is unfortunate, it can lead to bullet holes.

A man is in custody after he allegedly shot his girlfriend, his baby boy and a preacher at a church in Alabama this morning, police said.

The alleged shooter, identified as 26-year-old James Junior Minter, entered the Oasis Tabernacle Church in East Selma and sat between a woman and an infant in the front row, according to the Selma Police Department.

- via ABC7 Chicago

Over visitation rights… James Minter shot his baby in church. Who does that?

Ben Carson is a no

Nor would I advocate voting for a Republican at this point.

Another clown down

I think Scott Walker is done.

The CNN/ORC poll released Sunday shows there were five candidates who received less than one percent of support from likely Republican voters. Walker was among them, joined by former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and former New York Governor George Pataki. Less than one percent equates to zero percent, statistically. 
- via www.wkow.com

I hope this is the last we hear of this lowbrow tool.

Boy takes down hate preacher in the most Scottish way possible

My new hero.

Rutting religious scumbags

Hey, my choice of titles of deliberate. What else do you call two Christian Republican Party elected politicians who cover up an affair with a vicious lie? They are rutting, they are Christians, they are elected officials and most notably, they are lying scumbags. Michigan state Rep. Todd Courser (R) and Rep. Cinday Gamrat (R) are no longer elected officials. Courser resigned and Gamrat was expelled. I say good riddance to both of them.

Courser's alleged extramarital affair with Gamrat was exposed by the Detroit News in August after Courser reportedly asked one of his aides to leak that Courser was spotted with a male prostitute. Courser later claimed that he faked the gay sex scandal to expose blackmailers.

The Michigan House disciplinary committee recommended on Thursday that both Courser and Gamrat be expelled for their roles in the affair and cover-up, prompting a lengthy debate on the state House floor.
- via Talking Points Memo

It is justice of sorts. I’m sure they’ve asked for forgiveness though, so it’s all good. Gamrat is still in a state of denial though. As a Christian who ran on social conservative platform, how can she think that having an affair (she is married and her Christian lover is also married), plus lying about the affair in a vicious an horrible way, makes her qualified to represent her conservative Christian constituents? She failed the trust test. The fact that she does not see that is mystifying on one level and expected on another. She is more interested in making sure other people do what she thinks is the moral thing. Those rules do not apply to her.

Don’t get me started on Courser… what an ass.

The Christian Republican Party

I’ve come to think of the Republican Party as a rebranded entity known as the Christian Republican Party. All 2016 presidential candidates run on a campaign where Christianity and American Conservative Christian values are the main points of the campaign. Be it social agenda items like marriage equity or immigration or foreign policy, a warped sense of Christian values are ever-present.

It’s warped my thinking about politics. I think of the presidential candidates as pastors now and we are their flock. It’s one of the many reasons I do not go to ‘church'.

I listen to my liberal Christian friends and as usual, there is no sense of us (liberal Christians) against them (conservative Christians). Assuming that the Democratic Party represents liberal Christians is simply wrong. They conflate electing Hillary Clinton with defeating the conservative social agenda. My friends ally themselves with some of the conservative causes, like abortion, and some liberal causes like a social safety net. It’s not an us against them situation, it is an us against liberal Christian enablers.

It’s also hypocrisy. I think it is time to dip my toe in politics. Left or Right… It does not matter. I’m calling you out for the bad ideas and the faith-based solutions that perpetuate hate. We all should do the same.

And Subway fails

We hope the corporations act responsibly. With Jared Fogle and Subway, I think we can assume that acting responsibly was not a factor.

Subway spokeswoman Kristen McMahon said the company received the "serious" complaint in 2011 from Rochelle Herman-Walrond, a former journalist from Florida who revealed publicly to WWSB-TV in Sarasota last month that she also took her concerns to the FBI and secretly recorded her phone conversations with Fogle for more than four years to assist the agency's investigation.
- via kansascity

In business it’s all about process can consistency. Did Subway have a process to investigate these types of allegations and if the answer is yes, then why did they neglect to follow it? When I run a few possible scenarios through my mind where Subway ‘handles’ the allegations, the voice in my head sounds like Mr. Burns.

Sin is sin, except when it’s not

One of the most frustrating aspects of posting on clergy sexual abuse is attitudes towards sin found among some believers. The typical statue equates a pastor’s sin, like chid rape, with some small sin on the part of the person criticizing the pastor. In other words, deliberately speeding is the same as child rape, or worse, coveting thy neighbor’s wife, a thought crime, is the same as child rape. How does this make any sense?

Take this comment from the arrest of Memphis pastor Demarcus Smith. How does it make any sense?

Rosa Sunshine read your Bible ma'am in God eyes SIN IS SIN! You can put it in whatever cateogory you want too. But the Bible says that it stinks (SIN) in His nosterils! Please understand that I am not taking up for this man, and what he did was wrong and, no - I would not trust him around my child, but the fact is, we need to quit acting as if we are soooo squeaky clean! If only we all lived in a glass house, so the world could see all of our secrets 24/7, and let them judge if your sins hurt other people or not. LOL...The fact is ALL OF OUR SINS HURT GOD!! That's what matter Ms. Rosa. - Edwin Williams

We hurt God how exactly? Our thought crimes hurt just as much as a pastor’s child rape? It is horrible logic and makes no sense. It’s like talking to children about Santa. The rules are fluid.

I don’t even understand why people make the argument. There are real victims in this case. Real children were hurt. Real crimes were allegedly committed that require justice. What does it matter what I say in comparison to the alleged crimes of this would be monster? Am I to remain silent? Of course. I don’t believe in the concept of sin, but there are a lot of people out there who do and to whom this argument makes some kind of perverse sense. This thinking is nonsense that leads to the next argument, one that says only God can judge and punish. We can judge. We can punish. I am comforted by the knowledge that we will do so in this case.

The state of atheist blogging

Evan, at On the way to Ithaca, the blog of a Greek atheist, wrote an article on the state of atheist blogging. The stats break down to active (ενεργά),  inactive (ανενεργά) and no longer existent (ανύπαρκτα). I do not think the results paint a healthy picture. 

Evan says the work took in about four hours. I am grateful for the effort. Thank Evan! I have not updated The Atheist Blogroll since Jan 26, 2014. With my professional obligations, I do not have the time to dedicate to the task. 

If a few interested atheists would like to join me in an effort to revitalize the list, drop me a email. I would be happy to get it going again; even if we just list all active atheist blogs as a resource for the community. 

Chronicles of Hypocrisy # 19

I took a two-week break from blogging about religious hypocrisy, but unfortunately, it is time to start documenting the cases again. I hesitate to open Google though, I already know there are a lot of new cases, at least 25. I’m skipping the new cases from Africa in this issue. I just don’t have the time to write them up.

My wife asked me if I was anti-Muslim. I said, “No, I’m anti-hypocrite.”

Pastor Mickey Kirkland was arrested for domestic violence. I’m sure he plans a biblical defense. Kirkland is the pastor of the Lighthouse Church in Montgomery, Al., and a former gubernatorial candidate.

Pastor David Donaldson, 78, was arrested for molesting a child in Sandia, Tx. He was arrested by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force as he had been on the run.

Pastor Stephen Pohl was arrested for possession of child pornography. Pohl worked as a priest for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky. The priest took child erotica photos of St. Margaret Mary students.

Baptist pastor Vitaly Korchevsky was arrested for insider trading. His church supports him though, cause he could not possibly have been involved. Korchevsky is the pastor at the Slavic Evangelical Baptist Church in Brookhaven, Pa, He allegedly pocketed 17.5 million dollars.

Baptist youth pastor Donald Dewyne Ramsey was arrested for raping a teen girl. He was the youth pastor at Peace Baptist Church in Castle Hyde, Nc., is when the alleged rape occurred. They church is shocked, of course they game Ramsey unsupervised control of children…

Pastor Suler Acosta of City Church York in York City, Pa., was arrested for soliciting prostitution. Shame! Shame! Acosta resigned over the scandal.

Baptist pastor George Kieth Hall and his wife were arrested for embezzlement. Hall was the pastor at Journey Church in Triad, Nc. The Halls had helped ‘plant’ the church, then allegedly misappropriated $40k in cash.

Pastor James Robert Smith, was arrested a second time for child molestation. Smith worked at the Morningstar House of Prayer in Ridgeview, in W.Va. Smith, also known as “J.R.” was originally arrested in 2014 for the rape of a ten-year-old boy. His church stood by him at the time, but not so much now.

Baptist pastor Timothy Williams was arrested for possession of child pornography. Williams was the pastor at Heritage Baptist Church in Greenwood, IL. Williams was removed from the church website when the police searched his home. All records of him are gone and the church makes no mention of the scandal. This is typical.

Pastor Gene Emerson, the founding pastor of KingsWay Church in Richmond, Va., was convicted of trying to plant his seed in a prostitute. Emerson resigned and his church is moving on and doing so publicly. Good for them.

Baptist youth pastor Willam C. Lewis was arrested for child molestation. Lewis was the youth pastor at First Jordan Grove Baptist Church in Brunswick, Ga.

Baptist youth pastor Demarcus Smith of Oak Hill Missionary Baptist Church in South Memphis, Tn., was arrested on child pornography charges. Smith allegedly coerced a boy into taking indecent photos of himself and then send him the pictures. Did I mention Smith is a member of the Baptist Ministerial Association and a snappy dresser?

Pastor Gregory Hawkins was sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. Hawkins was the pastor at Zion Plaza Church in Tulsa, Ok. Hawkins was originally arrested in 2013.

Joseph H. Patterson, a 22-year member of the Boulevard Baptist Church in N.C., was denied bond over a series of child exploitation incidents, some of which took place at the church. The church pastor, John McKinnely, was shocked by the allegations. I would be too.

Pastor Juan Gomez, already arrested on sexual battery charges, faces more charges because new victims have come forward. The DA intends to file charges that will result in life in prison if convicted. Gomez was the pastor at Iglesia De Dios Church in Wimauma, Fl.

Pastor Samuel McCullough, 84, was arrested for the attempted rape of a child. McCullough is pastor of the misnamed Caring and Sharing Christian Ministry, in Rochester, Ny.

I’ve hit my limit… I’ll build a new list for tomorrow.

Link to Chronicles of Hypocrisy #18.

Is India civilized?

India is the world’s largest democracy, but is it civilized? I ask because of stories from India that seem like the people live in the 10th century. They sit atop the global slavery index with 14 million adults and children trapped in modern slavery. Poverty is endemic and institutionalized. Plus, Indian’s still fight over the caste system, which is illegal by statute, but still practiced by custom. And, the caste system is still used to justify horrific punishments for violating antiquated social norms.

Is it really permissible to punish two innocent sisters for the actions of their brother simply because they are members of the lowest caste in their village? The news this week is full of outrage over two sisters from a village near Delhi who were sentenced to be raped for ‘crimes’ committed by their brother who ran off with a married woman from a higher caste. Is that even a crime? It’s a caste issue, which feels a lot like our American racist BS.

Is India civilized? I think its fair to ask the question. I ask the same questions about America too. Are you listening Kentucky?

So Jared Fogle is a freak

Jared Fogle will go away for a few years. It turns out he is a freak. I know that it is hard to miss the news. He’s all over the headlines as he’s admitted to child porn and having sex with underage girls. The charges do not include the word rape, which I find repugnant. Fogle cut a deal with the charges and will only do a few years in prison, but even five years will be enough to assure that he returns to civilian life a changed man. Prison is tough on child molesters. He’s in for some hard time.

I am pleased to learn that a porn sniffing dog helped bring this bastard down. I hear the pouch is rentable… You listening churches?

And Subway is looking at its own execs to see if anybody knew or suspected. There is evidence that allegations were reported to Subway. If true, this could get complicated.

I also learned that Fogle Child Obesity Foundation has never issued a grant. It appears the foundation was designed to build and image and possible get him access to kids.

Is there anything to learn from this case? The Huffington Post thinks so. The author reminds us that pedophilia is a clinical disorder. I don’t really care about that. What I learned is that powerful people are enabled by those around them, be it a large corporation or the people he associates with. Money hides many sins.