The Hazards of Belief

robindch

koth wrote: »

Benny with the Magic Hat has said that gay marriage is a threat to the future of humanity.

Says the allegedly sexless man in a while dress lecturing a bunch of allegedly sexless men in black dresses.

Otherwise? Benny. Well:

Sarky

Pope in saying something retarded shocker.

Galvasean

Galvasean

^^I was quite tempted to slip a T into the word 'immoral'....

muppeteer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16443556
Article which makes for sorry reading about the state of Pakistan.
Some selective quotes for those on mobiles.

In January 2011, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was killed by one of his own bodyguards, who was subsequently sentenced to death. Now Mumtaz Qadri is appealing against his sentence and some people believe he could yet hold office himself.

After a week in Pakistan asking people about the Taseer case, I left believing that more Pakistanis have sympathy for the murderer Mumtaz Qadri than for his victim Salman Taseer.

This is what he told me: "No lawyer would do it. My name was suggested. When I told my friends they said, 'Don't do it! Don't do it!' If the religious people here are annoyed with somebody they do not let them live.

"But Qadri's death sentence has to be maintained. If it is reduced to life, I tell you he will end up being released.

"And then he will become a member of parliament or even a minister because he is a hero, not only of the normal people but also very well read people, including ex-judges and serving judges. Very, very highly placed people are making him out to be a hero."

"You can't imagine what my brother has done," Qadri's eldest brother said. "People who before used to refuse to even shake our hands now come up to us and kiss our hands.

"We are just grateful that God chose a member of our family to protect the reputation of the Prophet."

Delirium

I definitely didn't think I'd be posting a story that had Mickey Mouse and blasphemy in the title when I woke up this morning.

Concerns that the Egyptian uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarek may lead to less freedom rather than more were given added weight on Monday following reports that the country’s richest man, telecommunications mogul Naguib Sawiris, will be forced to stand trial for blasphemy after he posted pictures of Mickey Mouse and Minnie wearing conservative Islamic garb (Mickey was also bearded), seeming to suggest that that the two characters would be required to wear such dress if radical Islamists take over. After the picture ignited an uproar on social network sites (one imam called for him to be killed), Sawiris, a Christian, took to Twitter to apologize, saying “I just thought it was a funny picture; no disrespect meant. I am sorry.” Human rights lawyer Gamal Eid told today’s (Tuesday) Washington Post that the court case raises the issue of censorship in the country. Bringing Sawiris to trial is evidence, he said, that “there is no rule of law in Egypt.

Source

Turtwig

Christian Right getting their knickers in a twist over transgender girl scouts.

Galvasean

How is letting a transgender 7 year old into the girl scouts 'pro abortion'?

Sometimes I think America should split into two nations, one on the left, the other on the right. But then the right would probably bomb the living daylights out of the left.

Turtwig

Galvasean wrote: »

How is letting a transgender 7 year old into the girl scouts 'pro abortion'?

Sometimes I think America should split into two nations, one on the left, the other on the right. But then the right would probably bomb the living daylights out of the left.

If the extreme right had absolute control of any nation with a nuclear stockpile the world would be f**ked.:(

amacachi

Jernal wrote: »

If the extreme right had absolute control of any nation with a nuclear stockpile the world would be f**ked.:(

Aye, the Republicans have used nuclear weapons in warfare way more than the Democrats.

GLaDOS

Saw this on my facebook, sickening. Don't think it was posted before. Seems to be people being burnt alive for witchcraft....

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT

The Mad Hatter

amacachi wrote: »

Jernal wrote: »

If the extreme right had absolute control of any nation with a nuclear stockpile the world would be f**ked.:(

Aye, the Republicans have used nuclear weapons in warfare way more than the Democrats.

Keyword: "absolute"

amacachi

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

Keyword: "absolute"

Good thing the left never had that then, if they did that with "some" power imagine what they'd be like with absolute power.

Who was in power from 1980-1992 when the USSR finally broke up? Who escalated the Vietnam War? Just sayin'. I guess correlation isn't causation but in politics that's a line that doesn't really exist. Then again I keep forgetting that not being an uber "liberal" (I really wish there were treble inverted commas in common usage) isn't seen as coo'.

Pompey Magnus

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Saw this on my facebook, sickening. Don't think it was posted before. Seems to be people being burnt alive for witchcraft....

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT

Wow.

Of course Christians no doubt will argue that those people were not acting as true Christians, because every real Christian knows that such acts are completely wrong and immoral...except when the perpetrator is God and the torture continues for eternity when there isn't even the tiny consolation of the merciful release of death, in that case it is perfectly okay of course.

robindch

News in from Poland where a girl was fined around €1,200 for saying "it's hard to believe in something that was written by someone drunk on wine and smoking some herbs" in 2009.

Remember -- Jesus is love.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/6269061/Poland-fines-singer-for-bashing-Bible

Stuff.co.nz wrote:

A Polish court slapped a fine on a popular singer who bad-mouthed the Bible - the latest episode in which authorities grapple with religious defamation in a traditionally Catholic country that is growing increasingly secular.

Dorota Rabczewska, a singer who uses the stage name Doda, said in a 2009 interview that she doubted the Bible "because it's hard to believe in something that was written by someone drunk on wine and smoking some herbs."

A Warsaw court ordered her Monday to pay a fine of 5000 zlotys (NZ$1827) for offending religious feelings.

The case comes months after another Polish court let off a death metal performer, Adam Darski, who tore a Bible during a 2007 performance. It deemed his act artistic expression.

Darski and Rabczewska once dated.

sensibleken

amacachi wrote: »

Good thing the left never had that then, if they did that with "some" power imagine what they'd be like with absolute power.

Who was in power from 1980-1992 when the USSR finally broke up? Who escalated the Vietnam War? Just sayin'. I guess correlation isn't causation but in politics that's a line that doesn't really exist. Then again I keep forgetting that not being an uber "liberal" (I really wish there were treble inverted commas in common usage) isn't seen as coo'.

lol

kylith

robindch wrote: »

News in from Poland where a girl was fined around €1,200 for saying "it's hard to believe in something that was written by someone drunk on wine and smoking some herbs" in 2009.

Remember -- Jesus is love.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/6269061/Poland-fines-singer-for-bashing-Bible

And that's why the blasphemy law worries me.

Galvasean

Messed up that in a first world country in the 21st Century someone could be fined for saying something 'offensive' like that.

Turtwig

As pathetic as that is, at least she wasn't flogged or stoned to death.:(

muppeteer

Image too long to post directly.

Yoinked from reddit

Genghiz Cohen

muppeteer wrote: »

Image too long to post directly.

Yoinked from reddit

Made it half way before depression stopped me...

amacachi

sensibleken wrote: »

lol

Well done.

Penn

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Made it half way before depression stopped me...

Although 99.99% of that image is really unsettling... I did get a laugh out of a bumper sticker which said something like "The Big Bang is wrong... An explosion in a print shop wouldn't create a dictionary"

Galvasean

Wait, how does McDonalds promote same sex marriage?

fitz0

Ronald McDonald wears make-up. A flaming homosexual if ever I saw one.

Dades

Galvasean wrote: »

Wait, how does McDonalds promote same sex marriage?

*Obviously* you've never had a Civil Union Meal Deal.

stick girl

It's called culling the herd. Plain and simple

Delirium

Indonesian atheist faces jail after Facebook post

An Indonesian civil servant who declared himself an atheist on Facebook was arrested and is now facing jail for blasphemy after being attacked by an angry mob, police said Friday.

Alexander An, 30, who wrote "God doesn't exist" on his Facebook page, was beaten by a mob of dozens on Wednesday in his hometown in Pulau Punjung, West Sumatra province.

"He is suspected of having blasphemed against Islam," local police chief Chairul Aziz told AFP.

"The man told police investigators that if God really exists and has absolute power, why didn't he prevent bad things from happening in this world."

An said on his Facebook page that he was brought up as a Muslim, like the vast majority in Indonesia, where blasphemy is a punishable crime carrying a maximum five-year prison term.

Dozens of locals stormed into his office after a heated debate with them on Facebook over religion, police said.

An was also an administrator of a Facebook group promoting atheism with 1,243 followers. His postings no longer appeared online following his arrest.

Source

Penn

"He is suspected of having blasphemed against Islam," local police chief Chairul Aziz told AFP.

I just can't understand it. I can't understand how it can be a law, anywhere, to believe something and be forced to keep your opinions to yourself. Can't understand it. You cannot believe in something you don't believe in. It's not a choice. How is that punishable, by a law enforcer?

I admire his courage. I only wish he moved somewhere that this sort of thing is not tolerated and where people are allowed to express an opinion.

Galvasean

Penn wrote: »

I just can't understand it. I can't understand how it can be a law, anywhere, to believe something and be forced to keep your opinions to yourself.

Shut up!

Sarky

I'd take religion a bit more seriously if they had gun clerics.

Mark Hamill

Galvasean wrote: »

Shut up!

Thats like a double-entendre because he's Christian Bale :pac:

Genghiz Cohen

Please ban Mark.

dmw07

Note: Sarcastic Onion-esque headline. Or just poorly formed....

I've noticed the pope and spain have been sharing media headlines together a lot recently.

Here is a link to an article in which the Cardinal Archbishop Antonio Rouco Varela claims to a catholic gathering titled "Christian Family: the hope of Europe" that it is UNESCO's plan to turn half the population in the world, gay. Along with and old and overused theme; "The family is under attack in Spain".

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Abortion/bigger/problem/than/joblessness/says/Catholic/Church/elpepueng/20120101elpeng_3/Ten

robindch

dmw07 wrote: »

Gay populous will hit 50% by 2015 if Evil Atheists have their way

What with those simply frightful gays reproducing like little bunny rabbits all the time.

Stands to reason it does.

CiaranMT

Bishop flapping lips article^^^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0U6zJ_rm3g

Ellis Dee

As it happens, there was a very interesting documentary on TV (Viasat Explorer) yesterday evening. It was all about the Heaven's Gate cult, some 40 or so members of which committed suicide in 1997. They were all well-educated, some with postgraduate qualifications, had no prior history of substance abuse, serious mental health or some such problems, but they fell under the influence of a charismatic man who fed them a mixture of messianic nonsense, pseudo-science and Star Trek. He was called Marshall Applewhite, aka Bo, and his partner was Bonnie nettles, aka Peep. She died of cancer, despite the group's firm belief that they would be able to overcome death.:rolleyes:

As with most all cults, they had to cut themselves off totally from their earlier lives, have no contact with former friends or family, dress androgynously, live without sex (even to the extent of undergoing castration) and so on.:eek:

Finally, when the Hale-Bopp comet appeared, their leader convinced them a spaceship that would take them to God was sheltering behind it and that they would be beamed aboard it when they "exited their vehicles" (i.e. topped themselves). That is what they did as well.:rolleyes:

I remember it being reported extensively in the media at the time, but the documentary was very interesting in that it featured video footage that had been taken in the course of many years prior to the mass-suicide.

In my book, anyone who believes in any kind of supernatural being is unwise to say the least, but the Heaven's Gate documentary shows what total whack-jobs some people can be without giving much visible indication of it at all.:cool:

Of course, those of you who believe in the sky fairy are probably looking forward to having a good laugh at my expense when the rapture happens.:pac:

MrPudding

Ellis Dee wrote: »

As it happens, there was a very interesting documentary on TV (Viasat Explorer) yesterday evening. It was all about the Heaven's Gate cult, some 40 or so members of which committed suicide in 1997. They were all well-educated, some with postgraduate qualifications, had no prior history of substance abuse, serious mental health or some such problems, but they fell under the influence of a charismatic man who fed them a mixture of messianic nonsense, pseudo-science and Star Trek. He was called Marshall Applewhite, aka Bo, and his partner was Bonnie nettles, aka Peep. She died of cancer, despite the group's firm belief that they would be able to overcome death.:rolleyes:

As with most all cults, they had to cut themselves off totally from their earlier lives, have no contact with former friends or family, dress androgynously, live without sex (even to the extent of undergoing castration) and so on.:eek:

Finally, when the Hale-Bopp comet appeared, their leader convinced them a spaceship that would take them to God was sheltering behind it and that they would be beamed aboard it when they "exited their vehicles" (i.e. topped themselves). That is what they did as well.:rolleyes:

I remember it being reported extensively in the media at the time, but the documentary was very interesting in that it featured video footage that had been taken in the course of many years prior to the mass-suicide.

In my book, anyone who believes in any kind of supernatural being is unwise to say the least, but the Heaven's Gate documentary shows what total whack-jobs some people can be without giving much visible indication of it at all.:cool:

Of course, those of you who believe in the sky fairy are probably looking forward to having a good laugh at my expense when the rapture happens.:pac:

But can you actually prove they are not on the spaceship now?

MrP

recedite

dmw07 wrote: »

UNESCO's plan to turn half the population in the world, gay.

"The Minister for Family of the Papal Government, Cardinal Antonelli, told me a few days ago in Zaragoza that UNESCO has a program for the next 20 years to make half the world population homosexual. To do this they have distinct programs, and will continue to implant the ideology that is already present in our schools."

This a a prime example of why we should never have closed the Irish diplomatic mission to the Papal Government. Now we are only getting this vital information from the Vatican's Minister for Family second hand. Who knows what additional info relating to this plan to convert half the world to gayness we are missing out on.
I have suspected for a while now that UNESCO are building a massive Gay Ray at a secret mountaintop facility in Switzerland. I believe this program involves a master plan to bounce the Gay Ray off satellites, thereby irradiating the whole world in one fell swoop.

biko

A 35-year-old Iranian web programmer is facing imminent execution in connection with developing and promoting porn websites, charges that his family insist are trumped up.

Saeed Malekpour, a permanent resident of Canada who was arrested in October 2008 after his arrival in Tehran, is convicted of designing and moderating adult content websites, acting against the national security, insulting and desecrating the principles of Islam, and agitating the public mind.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/09/iranian-death-sentence-pornography

Penn

biko wrote: »

A 35-year-old Iranian web programmer is facing imminent execution in connection with developing and promoting porn websites, charges that his family insist are trumped up.

Saeed Malekpour, a permanent resident of Canada who was arrested in October 2008 after his arrival in Tehran, is convicted of designing and moderating adult content websites, acting against the national security, insulting and desecrating the principles of Islam, and agitating the public mind.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/09/iranian-death-sentence-pornography

"He insulted and desecrated the principles of Islam, and agitated the public mind... So let's execute him!"

Delirium

could someone clear something up for me about that story? it says that the programmer is a permanent resident of Canada.

So is Iran going to execute him for crimes he didn't commit in Iran. Granted the web is global, but if he's in Canada surely he isn't under Irans jurisdiction?

Turtwig

koth wrote: »

could someone clear something up for me about that story? it says that the programmer is a permanent resident of Canada.

So is Iran going to execute him for crimes he didn't commit in Iran. Granted the web is global, but if he's in Canada surely he isn't under Irans jurisdiction?

Yup. The web is seen as the West's way of attempting to corrupt the youth of Iran. So it's very much an Iranian issue in their eyes. What a f**ked up nation.

seamus

As he's an Iranian citizen, presumably Iran believe they have jurisdiction over his brain, so any thought-crimes he commits are punishable in Iran.

Penn

koth wrote: »

could someone clear something up for me about that story? it says that the programmer is a permanent resident of Canada.

So is Iran going to execute him for crimes he didn't commit in Iran. Granted the web is global, but if he's in Canada surely he isn't under Irans jurisdiction?

"...acting against the national security..."

Whatever the hell that means, I guess. But while the crimes, or should I say "crimes", were committed in Canada, the article says "a permanent resident of Canada who was arrested in October 2008 after his arrival in Tehran", so I'm guessing he went to Tehran by his own choice, but was then arrested, rather than being arrested in Canada and taken to Tehran

Delirium

Jernal wrote: »

Yup. The web is seen as the West's way of attempting to corrupt the youth of Iran. So it's very much an Iranian issue in their eyes. What a f**ked up nation.

so it seems that the story is as screwed up as I thought.

So people that upload anything to the web need to be aware they're breaking Iranian law, regardless of where they are in the world? Crazy stuff :eek::eek:

Mark Hamill

koth wrote: »

so it seems that the story is as screwed up as I thought.

Its even more screwed up when you read the third paragraph:

Speaking from Toronto, Malekpour's wife, Fatemeh Eftekhari, said her husband has been informed of the verdict and has been transferred to solitary confinement for the sentence to be administered if the supreme court sanctions it. She says her husband was a web programmer who had written photo uploading software that was used in a porn website without his knowledge.

The accused wrote software for uploading pictures to the net, which was then used by a pornographic site without his knowledge, and he will be executed for it. Under that logic the creators of Google could be executed in Iran for the same thing.

Delirium

Mark Hamill wrote: »

Its even more screwed up when you read the third paragraph:


The accused wrote software for uploading pictures to the net, which was then used by a pornographic site without his knowledge, and he will be executed for it. Under that logic the creators of Google could be executed in Iran for the same thing.

And people at Microsoft, whatever company manufactured the computer and the telecoms company that supplies his interweb connection. The list is endless.

recedite

koth wrote: »

if he's in Canada surely he isn't under Irans jurisdiction?

"Malekpour, who is a permanent Canadian resident on the path the citizenship there, returned to his native Iran in 2008 to visit his dying grandfather.
He was picked up off the street by plainclothes Iranian policemen and taken to Evin Prison"


Here's another one for the chop; former US marine Amir Hekmati from Flint, Michigan (wasn't that Michael Moore's hometown in Bowling for Columbine)
who is accused of designing a computer game called "Assault on Iran"

Makes you wonder why these guys don't make more use of Skype to stay in touch with the relatives back in Iran.

MrPudding

recedite wrote: »

"Malekpour, who is a permanent Canadian resident on the path the citizenship there, returned to his native Iran in 2008 to visit his dying grandfather.
He was picked up off the street by plainclothes Iranian policemen and taken to Evin Prison"

I would have though that the Canadian authorities might have something to say about this...

MrP