Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Blogroll Update: Berto: Philosophy Monkey

Philosophy Monkey has joined are esteemed community of Atheist and Agnostic bloggers. Please stop by and welcome him to the team.  He provided an introduction:

The natural world is a wonderful and fascinating place, and we should strive to embrace and understand it through the power of skepticism, scientific thinking, philosophical discourse and humor. Subscribe to my blog for daily updates that'll leave you thinking about just how great it is to be a part of the universe.

Here is a random sample entry of a speech given by Jane Goodall:

I like monkeys, and chimpanzees too. Welcome aboard!

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Things that piss me off

I have always had a thing for bumper stickers. The people who put them on their cars are making a statement. Usually in direct opposition to the values I hold dear. I carry a camera to record the worst examples. I get no end of shit from my family for this odd habit. But what the hell, I'm a little odd. I'm ok with it.

I read about M. Reza Salami who protested a bumper sticker posted inside a patrol car. It read "Jesus is your savior". Salami read it while waiting for a police officer to search his car during a sobriety checkpoint (don't get me started).

The police do not even understand why Salami would have been offended by a brazed attempt at Christian indoctrination.

Sheriff BJ Barnes said Salami asked him to apologize for offending him.

"Personally, I hate that this gentleman was offended," Barnes said. "If he is offended by that, then he should choose to ignore it."

Source: Patrol car Jesus raises legal hackles" : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina

Rather than apologize the police choose the "screw you" approach to public relations. If poor Mr. Salami don't like it, he can appeal to the boss. Oh wait, I am the boss. Screw you Salami.

Barnes goes on to explain that the sticker is not against policy policy.

Barnes said the sheriff's office doesn't have a formal policy on what personal effects deputies are allowed to keep in their patrol cars, but he supports deputies displaying anything that gives them comfort for 12-hour shifts on a dangerous job.

Using this idiotic rational a police officer could post graphic images of transsexual midget sex acts and it would be OK because the officers need it to pass time on a dangerous job.  Never mind that the car is government property and that the police are agents of the state. They should be able to post whatever propaganda they choose. If it seems stupid, that's because it is stupid.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Gillian Gibbons is spared the lash

Gibbons was found guilty. She was spared the lash after apologizing to the court for any offence she had caused. She will spend the next 15 days in a Sudanese prison. Her friends will need to bring her food and water, because in a Muslim culture like Sudan, western standards of human decency do not exist.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said he was “extremely disappointed” with the sentence and summoned Omer Siddig, the Sudanese Ambassador, to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to explain the decision. Mr Miliband said: “We are extremely disappointed that the charges against Gillian Gibbons were not dismissed. Our clear view is that this is an innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher. Our priority now is to ensure Ms Gibbons’s welfare.” He said he wanted to discuss “the next steps” with his Sudanese counterpart.

Source: Mohamed teddy bear teacher, Gillian Gibbons, is spared lash but gets 15 days in jail - Times Online

You know, I'm pissed about this case too. I don't have the power of the British government behind me, but I can take action. I shall protest in a useless manner. I propose naming something entirely inappropriate after Mohamed. In my case, a part my anatomy that I refer to as "George W." will be renamed  "Mohamed".  It's fitting.

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Leonard Smith goes to prison

50 people showed up to support pastor Smith at his sentencing. It was better that he deserved. Of course it was 50 completely deluded hypocrites....

The Rev. Charles Mosley said he still sees Smith as a Christian man who has done good things in the church and the community.

“He is still needed in the church,” Mosley said. “He is still needed with the young people. He is still needed with the senior adults.”

Source: CITIZEN-TIMES.com: Church leader goes to prison. By Leslie Boyd

Smith molested 6 boys. What the hell is wrong with these people? Why do other pastors feel the need to tell the court that an admitted pedophile is "still needed with the young people...".

The pastors preach forgives, but what they are really saying is that they exist as a class above those they serve and are therefor no subject to the same laws (and penalties).

Another Baptist Pastor arrested

This time for rape and sodomy of a 15 year old girl.

The pastor of a small Washington County Baptist Church was arrested and charged with second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy in connection with a nearly 10-year-old incident involving a 15-year-old girl, authorities said.

The Rev. Leonard Frazier, 55, of Stonewall Baptist Church near Chatom, was booked into Mobile County Metro Jail on Tuesday on the basis of a grand jury indictment. He was released on bail totaling $15,000, according to jail records.

Source: Pastor of Washington County church charged with sex crimes. By Susan Dakar and Ron Colquitt. 

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

A teddy bear named 'Mohamed'

Is it possible to classify a whole country as nutballs? After reading this article, Sudan now officially qualifies for nutball status.

A British teacher jailed in Sudan for letting her class of seven-year-olds name a teddy bear Mohamed, has been charged with insulting religion and inciting hatred.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, was also charged with showing contempt for religious beliefs and could face up to 40 lashes and six months imprisonment under Sudan's sharia law.

Source: Sudan charges Briton with inciting hatred over 'Mohamed' teddy bear. By Amol Rajan

Gillian Gibbons is going to have the snot beat out of her because she taught Muslim children how to think. In the process of thinking, they named a teddy bear Mohamed. What the hell? Religion blows. Islam blows, sharia blows, the Sudan blows, it all blows.

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From pastor to pedophile

This one comes from the U.K. The son of a vicar found his father's stash of nasty child porn. His son turned the movies over to the local police. Now Paul Battersby is a disgraced former pastor. How does one go from a pastor to a pedophile? How does one do both at the same time?

A Lancashire vicar's facing jail after admitting watching an Internet clip of a schoolgirl being tied up and raped by a pedophile.

Reverend Paul Battersby, who worked at St Ambrose Church in Leyland was arrested in April - and had his computer seized.. after his son spotted the shocking images.

There were pictures of a 12 year old girl naked - the worst though - a 10 year old being tied up and attacked. That's classed as level five -the most serious of child porn offences.

Source: Rock FM: Vicar admits child porn offences

Battersby faces some serious jail time. He will have to wait until January to find out how long.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Priest arrested for sex abuse returns to preach

It is one of those things that makes me pull my graying beard and ask, how stupid are these people? Take Elizabeth Culverson, she attended the Thanksgiving morning service conducted by pastor Dale Fushek for what seem like a compelling reason. She thinks he is innocent.

More than 500 of his followers attended. One of them was Elizabeth Culverson.

She believes Fushek was falsely accused and continues to support him.

She said he is a Godly man in a profession he was called to.

Source: ABC15.com. Priest arrested for sex abuse returns to preach. By Christina Boomer.

She believes Fushek was falsely accused. Why? Fushek has been accused of heinous crimes against children. Her logic is faulty. We do not know if he committed the crimes. I trial will clear the issue up. However, she does not know he is innocent either. Her position is illogical.

More importantly, why is Fushek preaching. And why did 500 people attend his service? Ego is my guess.

A tale of monkey meat

Mamie Manneh, currently in prison for attempting to run down a woman she suspected of sleeping with her husband, claims that eating monkey meat is a key part of her Christian rituals. She claims it is a sacrament, unfortunately, we all know she eats it because she did not have butterball turkeys in Africa.

The U.S Customs department found a desiccated monkey arm in her garage after finding bush meat in an international shipment of dried fish from Africa. Besides the obvious creep factor here, there are heath concerns.

A criminal complaint cited evidence that the illegal importation of bushmeat encourages the slaughter of protected wild animals.

More ominously, the complaint warned of "the potential health risks to humans linking bushmeat to diseases like Lassa fever, Ebola, HIV, SARS and monkeypox."

Source: Monkey Meat at Center of NYC Court Case

I eat just about anything (except for lima beans!), I would even eat monkey meat if I needed it to live; But I do not need it to live, nor does Mamie Manneh. She lives in America now, monkey meat, even if is to celibate a religious ritual, is no longer a necessity.

Baptisms, Easter, Christmas, weddings, football game— all are occasions for eating monkey, Manneh's supporters said in a sworn statement filed with the court

OK, I added football games... If we take Dawkins views into account here, her practice of religion endangers society by subjecting society to Ebola. It is criminally irresponsible for anyone, let along a Christian, to subject the public to this level of risk, all so she can enjoy monkey butt stew to celibate the marriage of her one of her nine children. Lets keep this religious nutball in jail, she might import white rhino horn as a treatment for her bunions if we let her off.

Blogroll Update: #500 - Trifling Ideas

Well... our little Atheist blogroll is all grown up now. We hit the 500 blog milestone when I added Trifling Ideas a few minutes ago. Please stop by and welcome her to the atheist blogging community.

Splendid Elles (#497)

The Psycho Atheist (#498)

Polypyloctomy (#499)

Woo Hoo! Trifling Ideas (#500) Woo Hoo!

A Division by Zero (#501)

The Mutt's Nuts (#502)

Yet Another Atheist Blog (#503)

Excursions into the mundane and the revealing (#504)

Kellym78's Blog (#505)

State of Protest (#506)

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Pastor Arrested for Making Terroristic Threat

Via Onanite onlne: Pastor Arrested for Making Terroristic Threat

Birmingham Police Sgt. Cory Hardiman said Wanda Radford was arrested November 9th for making a terroristic threat against a person in public administration. Another police officer told FOX6 News the public official was a circuit court judge

A friend tells me the best way to spot a drunk is the clean and sober bumper sticker they sport on their car. Perhaps this rules applies to pastors too?

Friday, November 23, 2007

Who was Peter Barton?

Peter Barton was the pastor of the New LIfe Christian Fellowship Church in Concord. Now he is a disgraced convicted child molester. His story is sad but typical. Barton was molesting an 8-year-old girl when his wife walked in on him. He had molested the girl for months.

Barton pled guilty earlier this months. The rest of his life will be spent in prison. His assets... well now the victim has a chance for compensation. The girls family is suing.

With the criminal case against Barton resolved, the civil lawsuit brought by the parents of his victim, who his now 9, will move forward.

In that case, the parents have accused Barton of assault and battery, sexual abuse, infliction of emotional abuse, false imprisonment and invasion of privacy against their daughter. They have asked the court to award them and the girl the maximum damages allowed.

Source: Concord Monitor - Parents of sex abuse victim sue. By Annmarie Timmings.

The damage these pastors cause never really goes away.

Leaving the Catholic Church

I posted on my disgust at the Catholic Church's decision to promote a priest who was arrested for lewd behavior in a public park. Rev. Padraig Green is set to become the Pastor at St. Augustine in Pleasanton. I received a few emails suggesting I should mind my own business because "god has a plan". If god had a plan, it is a bad one - because long time Catholics like the Aimar family are leaving the church as a result of this idiotic decision.

This is what got the Catholic Church in trouble,'' Piscitelli said. ``This attitude that a man who has committed a sexual offense is fine to go back and oversee a ministry.

-

If my mother had had a flier like this one, she may have not let the pastor pull my brother out of his faith formation class to see how well he knew his Rosary

 Source: Inside Bay Area - Family leaves Catholic faith after news of reverend's former arrest for lewd act

The Aimar family would be well advised to stay away from the local Baptist churches, because we all know how well the Baptist church protects its own.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Pastor Peter Kim arrested again

Fresh off of his mistrial for sexual assault,  Youth pastor Peter Kim has been arrested again for violating the terms of a court order baring him from being around children.

Police on Saturday arrested a former Longmont church official on suspicion of violating bond conditions that prohibit him from contact with children.

That marked Peter Kim’s fourth arrest related to a bond violation.

It came less than one week after his trial on child sex assault charges ended in a mistrial in Boulder District Court.

Kim’s bond conditions forbid him from having contact with anyone younger than 18, except for his own children.

Lafayette Police Sgt. Fred Palmer said Kim was at Flatirons Community Church on Saturday when another person in the church noticed he was sitting with an acquaintance and her children.

The witness called an attorney, who called police, Palmer said.

A Lafayette police officer stopped Kim as he drove away from the church. His children were with him in the car, Palmer said. The acquaintance and her children stopped behind the officer, who arrested Kim on suspicion of violating the terms of his bail bond.

Source: Ex-church leader is arrested a 4th time - The Longmont Daily Times-Call. By Pierrette J. Shields.

I am counting the days until this man in behind bars.

Other posts on Pastor Kim can be found here.

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Disc Golf, the FBI, and Soccer

I started this Thanksgiving with a round of early morning disc golf. I played with a few friends. As we started the game, 20 cars pulled into the empty part parking lot adjacent to the course. It was a loud spectacle, complete with mariachi music, thumping bases, and coolers of beer.  A group of Latinos had arrived for a thanksgiving day match.

I smiled and waved, eventually greeting them in both English and Spanish. Everyone seemed happy.

One of our golfers threw a disc poorly. It hit the door of one of newly arrived cars. After he picked up his disc, the entire parking lot full of soccer players mobilized at once. They scrambled into cars and out of the parking lot. The scene was like something out of a well choreographed movie. One person stood up and whistled, moving his index finger in the global recognized circular motion interpreted as "lets get the hell out of here". Another pointed towards his care with a white soccer ball while loudly saying F.B.I. to a small knot of his friends. Within a minute, the parking lot was clear and we were alone again.

I looked around for a clue to their actions. The park was empty besides my group of six golfers. I realized that my friend who had hit one of the cars with his disc was wearing an FBI hat and matching sweatshirt. The soccer team had interpreted his attire as a threat and fled. He is a police officer, or more accurately, will be a police officer when he finishes his training. Today, he was just a disc golfer.