The Hazards of Belief

Delirium

Gay Boy Scout denied his Eagle Scout award

Back in the Summer, I told you about a movement among Eagle Scouts, some of whom have been sending back their awards — in effect, resigning — in protest of The Boys Scouts of America's discriminatory policy banning gay, bi, and trans scouts and troop leaders, as well as atheists.

Here's a great example of the people those men are trying to stick up for: Ryan Andresen is 17, he's been in Boy Scouts for over a decade and has completed all the Eagle Scout requirements, including working with younger kids on a tolerance/anti-bullying project for his community service requirement.

But Andresen isn't going to get to be an Eagle Scout, because he's openly gay.

The Boy Scouts of America sent a statement to several news organizations, including ABC, in which they say they didn't inquire about Ryan's sexual orientation.

"This scout proactively notified his unit leadership and Eagle Scout counselor that he does not agree to scouting's principle of 'Duty to God' and does not meet scouting's membership standard on sexual orientation," Deron Smith, a spokesman for the organization said in a statement. "Agreeing to do one's 'Duty to God' is a part of the scout Oath and Law and a requirement of achieving the Eagle Scout rank."

In an interview with Yahoo! News Ryan said that his scoutmaster knew he was gay.

"He had been telling me all along that we'd get by the gay thing," Ryan told Yahoo News. "It was by far the biggest goal of my life. It's totally devastating."

Source

Hotblack Desiato

koth wrote: »

Here's a great example of the people those men are trying to stick up for

Was that an intentional double-entendre they just slipped in there? (oops)

Mark Hamill

koth wrote: »

Ryan Andresen is 17, he's been in Boy Scouts for over a decade and has completed all the Eagle Scout requirements, including working with younger kids on a tolerance/anti-bullying project for his community service requirement.

But Andresen isn't going to get to be an Eagle Scout, because he's openly gay.

So one requirement of being an Eagle Scout involves working with younger kids on a tolerance/ant-bullying project, but he can't be an Eagle Scout because the Eagle Scouts don't tolerate gays? Do the Eagle Scouts give out irony badges or something?

kylith

does not meet scouting's membership standard on sexual orientation,

That sentence makes me want to smash my laptop to bits, I'm so angry. Preferably over the head of Deron Smith-Arsehole.

muppeteer

Exploiting a legal loophole, evangelicals are using children to spread their message in schools.

The constitution and the law prohibits adults from, say, establishing ministries within public schools aimed at proselytizing to the children during school hours. But a growing number of religious activists have come to realize that it's technically legal if they get the kids to do their work for them.

http://www.alternet.org/education/littlest-missionaries-new-christian-plot-invade-public-schools

Nodin

A Republican congressman who sits on the science committee of the House of Representatives has dismissed evolution, the Big Bang theory and embryology as "lies straight from the pit of hell".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/06/republican-congressman-paul-broun-evolution-video

Beyond satire at this stage, it really is.

shizz

Nodin wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/06/republican-congressman-paul-broun-evolution-video

Beyond satire at this stage, it really is.

Euuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh......:mad:

The Mad Hatter

Nodin wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/06/republican-congressman-paul-broun-evolution-video

Beyond satire at this stage, it really is.

This would be another time to post that "I don't want to live on this planet any more" image, but it's become so frequent as to have lost all its impact. It makes you despair; it really does.

kylith

How about America just gives them (religious fundies) a few states, builds a big fence around them and leaves them to it? Let them have their religious utopia, well away from the rest of us.

5uspect

kylith wrote: »

How about America just gives them (religious fundies) a few states, builds a big fence around them and leaves them to it? Let them have their religious utopia, well away from the rest of us.

Isn't that how it all began?

For some reason the North didn't like the idea of that 150 years ago either.

recedite

It that just wallpaper behind him, or a whole herd of slaughtered deer?
Pity you can't see the audience in the video clip.
I'm getting a mental image of a room full of all white denim-dungaree-wearing, gun totin', slack jawed yokels.

shizz

Why do I hate religion?

Very large picture so here's a link.

Dades

Nodin wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/06/republican-congressman-paul-broun-evolution-video

Beyond satire at this stage, it really is.

I checked him out on wiki... LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Broun

In case it's edited in the interim:

Wikipedia wrote:

Paul Collins Broun, Jr. (born May 14, 1946)[2] is the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district, serving since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party, the Tea Party Caucus and a confirmed idiot.

Nodin

Dades wrote: »

I checked him out on wiki... LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Broun

In case it's edited in the interim:

I couldn't figure out why/how/wtff he meant when he said he didn't believe in "embryology". A search reveals that he may have meant this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recapitulation_theory

From the detailed discussion in the comments here
http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/russellsaunders/2012/10/briefly-noted-the-idiocy-of-paul-broun/

robindch

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/08/contraception-makes-unattractive-turns-men-gay-bestiality-and-murder-_n_1947457.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#slide=more255395

Remember all those stirring stories a few months back about nuns in the US bravely standing up against the pink-suited, cossetted homophobes in the Vatican; refusing to toe the line when it comes to stirring the pot, encouraging prejudice and generally refusing to kowtow to clowns?

Well, some nuns have sat down, had a serious think, then seen the wisdom of the Vatican's position:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auv6c0-FsjU

Some Nuns wrote:

Contraception 'Makes You Unattractive, Turns Men Gay And Is Responsible For Bestiality And Murder'

You deserve to know the truth about contraception! The truth being that it makes women unattractive! That it turns men gay! That it makes men have sex with dogs and turns women into murderers! Well that's according to a sect of Catholic nuns in Ohio, who have released a 13 minute video ominously entitled "You deserve to know the truth about contraception."

The clip warns of decreased desirability being one of the main side effects of using contraception, with the voiceover gravely informing us that men are "far more attracted to average fertile women, then they are even to supermodels." "Contracepting", it continues, sees women "degrade themselves through immodest dress and action in an attempt to attract men who are confused from the lack of fertile women."

It cites a study from the 70s in which a male chimp rejected his sexual partners after they were injected with contraceptives, eventually turning to other males in the group, such was his "confusion". Released by Come Unity In Truth, the video cites the deaths of between 7-12 million babies' deaths a year in the US, from a paper entitled "infant homicides through contraceptives".

It bemoans the levels of oestrogen in the water supply that are rendering fish infertile and warns we are "contracepting ourselves out of existence", before adding the entire population of the world could comfortably fit in the state of Texas. Contracepting, it says, is the reason why people allow their passions to take over their reason, and behave more like animals than humans.

It is, the video says, the reason why one man on trial for bestiality claims his relationships with his dogs are equivalent to a marriage type relationship and should be legal. The tape ends with the stark warning: "If someone you know is contracepting, tell them to stop. It will destroy them." As Jezebel points out: “Only once in a generation does a social awareness ad reach the heights of hyperbole-murdering crazy reached by this anti-contraception spot.”

The advert went live just before a new study revealed that the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions among women drops dramatically when they are given access to free birth control. The findings, published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, come during the run up to the US elections and as a number of conservatives in politics and public care policy are opposing the Obama administration's contraception mandate under the Affordable Care Act, which requires most employers and insurers to cover birth control at no cost to women.

Moreover, a number of states have voted to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood - one of the nation's leading providers of contraception to low-income and uninsured women - because some of the organisation's clinics also offer abortions.

"I would think if you were against abortions, you would be 100 percent for contraception access," Dr. James T. Breeden, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said of the results.

PopePalpatine

"Come Unity In Truth"? Feck's sake, I had to double-check to make sure I wasn't reading The Onion! :pac:

Bannasidhe

That can't be real. It just can't!!

Obliq

"Contracepting, it says, is the reason why people allow their passions to take over their reason, and behave more like animals than humans."

Well, I agree with that bit. Works for me anyway

robindch

Bannasidhe wrote: »

[...] can't be real [...]

Poe notwithstanding, I believe it's real.

The convent's website is here -- nice-looking place, I have to say (though the picture of the kid hugging a statue is predictably weird).

recedite

Reading up on the nuns who produced that, I think they need to get out more.
Their claimed daily schedule doesn't really square with people who obsess about chimpanzee sex and bestiality involving dogs.
But I do note that there are two opportunities for "work" during the day; one at 10.15 am and another at 3.30 pm, so maybe that's when they do the research.

Sarky

Well the website isn't garishly awful like so many other religious sites I've looked at, but it's still covered from header to footer in batsh*t crazy.

Nodin

The former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, has accused David Cameron of "plundering" the institution of heterosexual marriage to promote same-sex marriage rights. Allowing gay marriage would cause deep divisions in society "without giving gays a single right they do not have in civil partnership", he said.

Yes, there will be trenches and fighting in the street.....

Carey claimed that in some countries where same-sex marriage had been made legal – including Mexico, Brazil and the Netherlands – it had led to unforeseen consequences such as three-person marriages.

O Noes!!!!!!!!!!

And the piece de resistance

Asked about opponents of gay marriage being described as "bigots" – on one occasion by Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister – Carey said: "Let us remember the Jews in Nazi Germany. What started against them was when they started to be called names.
"And that was the first stage towards that totalitarian state. We have to resist them. We treasure democracy. We treasure our Christian inheritance and we want to debate this in a fair way."

(my bold)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/oct/08/archbishop-canterbury-gay-marriage-tory

....showing that he's a man who has a sense of proportion there.

Obliq

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/2012-election/republican-charlie-fuqua-supports-parental-death-penalty-kids

"The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellious children is not something to be taken lightly. The guidelines for administering the death penalty to rebellious children are given in Deut 21:18-21..."

Oh wow. Or just "Oh". Or just "Wow". One of those. :eek:

pauldla

Obliq wrote: »

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/2012-election/republican-charlie-fuqua-supports-parental-death-penalty-kids

"The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellious children is not something to be taken lightly. The guidelines for administering the death penalty to rebellious children are given in Deut 21:18-21..."

Oh wow. Or just "Oh". Or just "Wow". One of those. :eek:

Obliq, I mentioned before (rather pompously) that, as atheists, we do not condone bodily harm to those who hold views that differ from ours.

But after reading that, I must say, I'm considering changing my mind. 'FFS' is blazing letters, fifty feet high.

PopePalpatine

Obliq wrote: »

"Contracepting, it says, is the reason why people allow their passions to take over their reason, and behave more like animals than humans."

Nuns...talking about reason.

Anyone see the irony here?

ShooterSF

Obliq wrote: »

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/2012-election/republican-charlie-fuqua-supports-parental-death-penalty-kids

"The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellious children is not something to be taken lightly. The guidelines for administering the death penalty to rebellious children are given in Deut 21:18-21..."

Oh wow. Or just "Oh". Or just "Wow". One of those. :eek:

Only weirder when you realise he's pro-life! Ha.

Links234

seamus

Apparently defending one's faith includes attempted assassinations on such dangerous individuals as 14 year old girls.

Is it just me or is Pakistan's tentative grip on some form of civil order crumbling in recent months?

Aenaes

14 year old female activist in Pakistan? Fair fcuks to her.

FouxDaFaFa

The bus was about to leave the school grounds in the city of Mingora when a bearded man approached it and asked which one of the girls was Malala, said police. Another girl pointed to Malala, but the activist denied it was her and the gunmen then shot both of the girls. Both are in hospital.

Jesus Christ.

It's kind of funny (in a horribly twisted way) that the Taliban is so perturbed by a lone child that they will take out a hit on her.

I mean, wtf?

Aenaes

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

Jesus Christ.

It's kind of funny (in a horribly twisted way) that the Taliban is so perturbed by a lone child that they will take out a hit on her.

I mean, wtf?

Real Terminator style too. We're not sure which one is her, so kill all the Sarah Connors.

Galvasean

seamus wrote: »

Is it just me or is Pakistan's tentative grip on some form of civil order crumbling in recent months?

That country really does give me the heebie-jeebies. It sounds like one hell of a scary place to live.

Sulla Felix

Really seems to be going off the deep end. Next stop civil war I'm guessing.

Obliq

Yeah, and with big fcuk off bombs. Oh joy.

Banbh

Has there been any condemnation from any Muslim group? Anything?
Has the Dublin mosque called for a special bums-in-air prayer meeting?
A letter to the Times? A post on boards? Anything?

pauldla

Banbh wrote: »

Has there been any condemnation from any Muslim group? Anything?
Has the Dublin mosque called for a special bums-in-air prayer meeting?
A letter to the Times? A post on boards? Anything?

Apparently the Pakistani PM and President have condemned the shooting. Other than that, I haven't read of anything. Shooting a 14 year old girl is not as diabolical as drawing a cartoon, it seems.

recedite

10 minute documentary about the girl and her father, who is a teacher. I think they expected that he would be the target, not her. They seem like great people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbSO2akmKtM

Nodin

Banbh wrote: »

Has there been any condemnation from any Muslim group? Anything?
Has the Dublin mosque called for a special bums-in-air prayer meeting?
A letter to the Times? A post on boards? Anything?

I'm reminded of the Daily Mail and Express, who were outraged that every shooting by the RA didn't have the country out protesting and handing in the culprits.

Banbh

I'm reminded of the riots in Pakistan and elsewhere in which several people lost their lives at the hands of these zealots over a video made in the US.

FouxDaFaFa

Apparently, there were protests and vigils across Pakistan for Malala, with several schools being closed for the day as a mark of respect.
Nothing of the scale that a cartoon of Mohammed would inspire, of course.

The militants say that if she recovers, she "will not be spared".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19893309

I'd say she'll have to leave the country.

Galvasean

I wouldn't read the seeming lack of a great many people coming out in protest of teh attack. I would imagine many sympathizers would want to keep quiet for fear of becoming the next victim.

Nodin

Banbh wrote: »

I'm reminded of the riots in Pakistan and elsewhere in which several people lost their lives at the hands of these zealots over a video made in the US.

The taleban were rioting outside pakistan....?

DB21

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

Apparently, there were protests and vigils across Pakistan for Malala, with several schools being closed for the day as a mark of respect.
Nothing of the scale that a cartoon of Mohammed would inspire, of course.

The militants say that if she recovers, she "will not be spared".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19893309

I'd say she'll have to leave the country.

Any Government worth their salt will be offering her and her family refuge.

DB21

DB21 wrote: »

Any Government worth their salt will be offering her and her family refuge.

Hopefully but leaving would be admitting defeat too. If it wasn't a young girl I dunno if it'd be the case, most of the west has lost even more guts over the last 20 years when faced with these scumbags and look at how Salman Rushdie was treated for so long.

Sulla Felix

Galvasean wrote: »

I wouldn't read the seeming lack of a great many people coming out in protest of teh attack. I would imagine many sympathizers would want to keep quiet for fear of becoming the next victim.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Easy for me to say, sitting in a chair in the west however. I imagine this won't be the straw that breaks the good men's back though. I think Pakistan is in for another few decades of this before an attempt is made to right itself, albeit in a paroxym of violence.

Bannasidhe

DB21 wrote: »

Any Government worth their salt will be offering her and her family refuge.

Well that rules us out so.

swampgas

Well, if the CIA wanted to smuggle her and her family out of Pakistan to somewhere via Shannon, I'm sure the Irish government would be able to help.

Bannasidhe

swampgas wrote: »

Well, if the CIA wanted to smuggle her and her family out of Pakistan to somewhere via Shannon, I'm sure the Irish government would be able to help.

By pretending it didn't happen?

swampgas

Bannasidhe wrote: »

By pretending it didn't happen?

As long as we had the right assurances that it didn't happen, why we wouldn't even have to check the plane. In fact, it would be rude to do so!