The Gaytheist Agenda

Give them a “holy book”, they’ll give you porn in return. The premise is you’re exchanging Smut for Smut. Needless to say that has a good number of believers in a tizzy.

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A sign in the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) Humanities building reading, “Free porn: Just trade in your holy books (Bible, Koran, Vedas) for porn” has led several students to take offense, as was revealed when local television station KENS spoke with some of the students on campus.
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A third UTSA scholar was shocked upon hearing the news, asking, “Did they really do that,” and adding, “It kind of made we want to cry.” One other student simply stated, “Basically, I disagree. You know, I think that the university setting is basically for learning, and that type of stuff needs to be kept out of it.”
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But you are learning, Blanche, you are. You’re learning that some people find your Bible just as depraved as any of the magazines normally reserved for the top rack of the newsstand. It contains, and often condones, things like infanticide, genocide, rape, murder, slavery, incest, and more. It’s not the opus of purity and morality believers claim it to be. (Other “holy books”, like the Koran and Book of Mormon, are just as bad.)

Thomas Jackson, former president for the campus group The Atheist Agenda, believes the “Smut for Smut” program is a matter of fair trade, since Christians have been the most vocal opponents of pornography and because “religious texts are so appalling.”

Many area residents are contacting school officials to express their disapproval.

I find it amusing that the religious people are so agitated over this event. They hand out their “holy books” and other religious materials every day–even to children outside public schools–without a moment’s thought to the fact that others might be offended by them. They don’t consider the fact that what they see as sacred, moral and holy can be perceived by others as offensive, oppressive and even vulgar. Perhaps every campus and public square should have a Smut for Smut event so their eyes will be opened.

 

Daniel Radcliffe has been subject to OMG is he gay?!?! rumors for some time now. He’s finally come out to declare that he’s not, but he really doesn’t mind if people think he is.

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He said: “If people want to say that, they can. I’m not. I’m straight.
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Radcliffe is reported to have recently made a “major donation” to an American charity which fights intolerance of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, The Sun reported.

He has also revealed he grew up around homosexuals and last year posed on the cover of gay magazine Attitude.

In a past interview, he said: “Some people think I am gay, which I think is awesome.”
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No doubt fundagelicals will use this as yet another reason to declare him an abomination, as if starring in the Harry Potter movies (Witchcraft!!!), being an atheist and performing nude onstage weren’t already enough. But I’m sure neither he nor his legions of fans will give a darn.

And now an entirely gratuitous photo for gay men, and bisexual or straight women:

White House officials met with secularist and atheist groups for the first time in history. Of course since religious groups have lost their exclusive access to the WH they must have tantrums over the event.

 

 
The supporters of Proposition 8 realize how poorly their side argued their case in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger. So now, like monkeys, they are pulling yet more poo out of their backsides and flinging it in hopes that something will stick to the wall.

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The potential harms they cited included giving bisexuals a legal basis for pursuing group marriages and unmarried fathers an incentive to abandon their children.
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Bisexual means a person can be romantically and sexually attracted to either gender. It doesn’t mean they’re inclined to fall in love with both at the same time. Of course the bigots like to push the notion that it’s the latter because then they can also pimp their slippery slope fallacy. OMG, if we allow same-sex marriage it might lead to POLYGAMY!!! Yeah, and people might start squeezing the Charmin too. Please people, protect the toilet paper and vote NO on Gay.

As to the claim that same-sex marriage would give unmarried fathers an incentive to abandon their children…that’s pure horsecrap. There are already millions of “deadbeat dads” out there and it has absolutely nothing to do with same-sex marriage. It’s high time that heterosexual people stop blaming gay people and gay unions for the failings of heterosexual relationships.

 

 
A student in a Maryland middle school refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Her teacher mocked her and called her names on the first day, and had the school police escort her to the office on the second day. It’s a good thing the girl wasn’t doodling on her desk….

 

 
Yet another Christian is crying “persecution” and filing a lawsuit because he thinks they shouldn’t have to share public space with others, or be pestered with the opinions of those who think differently. Perhaps a secured commune would be a better place for him.

 

 
Finally, this “Christian” charity will stop providing aid to Haiti if they won’t turn from their evil Voodoo ways and convert to Christianity. This is exactly why I despise most “faith based” charities–they don’t truly want to help but only to push their religion on others. The aid they provide is only a vehicle to gain more bodies for their god. There is nothing moral about what they do.

 

An interesting study has recently been unveiled:

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Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science correlated data on these behaviors with IQ from a large national U.S. sample and found that, on average, people who identified as liberal and atheist had higher IQs. This applied also to sexual exclusivity in men, but not in women. The findings will be published in the March 2010 issue of Social Psychology Quarterly.
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The reasoning is that sexual exclusivity in men, liberalism and atheism all go against what would be expected given humans’ evolutionary past. In other words, none of these traits would have benefited our early human ancestors, but higher intelligence may be associated with them.

“The adoption of some evolutionarily novel ideas makes some sense in terms of moving the species forward,” said George Washington University leadership professor James Bailey, who was not involved in the study. “It also makes perfect sense that more intelligent people — people with, sort of, more intellectual firepower — are likely to be the ones to do that.”
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Religion, the current theory goes, did not help people survive or reproduce necessarily, but goes along the lines of helping people to be paranoid, Kanazawa said. Assuming that, for example, a noise in the distance is a signal of a threat helped early humans to prepare in case of danger.

“It helps life to be paranoid, and because humans are paranoid, they become more religious, and they see the hands of God everywhere,” Kanazawa said.
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Religion as a means of making people more paranoid? I can’t imagine what Kanazawa is referring to.

Participants who said they were atheists had an average IQ of 103 in adolescence, while adults who said they were religious averaged 97, the study found. Atheism “allows someone to move forward and speculate on life without any concern for the dogmatic structure of a religion,” Bailey said.

“Historically, anything that’s new and different can be seen as a threat in terms of the religious beliefs; almost all religious systems are about permanence,” he noted.
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The study found that young adults who said they were “very conservative” had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were “very liberal” averaged 106.
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Vegetarianism, while not strongly associated with IQ in this study, has been shown to be related to intelligence in previous research, Kanazawa said. This also fits into Bailey’s idea that unconventional preferences appeal to people with higher intelligence, and can also be a means of showing superiority.
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Is this study saying all atheists are geniuses and all religious people are idiots? Of course not. There are religious people and atheists at both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between. It does show a statistical trend, however, which is worth noting. It also reinforces the fact that religion has no significant benefits to society, unless instilling paranoia, causing divisiveness and encouraging stagnation are considered beneficial.

 
Related posts:

Once Again: “Abstinence Only” Sex-Ed and Religiosity Don’t Protect Teens From Sex or Pregnancy.

States With Bans on Same-Sex Marriage Have Higher Divorce Rates

Study: Education Levels Best Predictor of Support for Marriage Equality

Not That Some of Us Didn’t Already Know This…

 

Two Texas men have been arrested in connection with a string of church burnings. Of course if they’re guilty I hope they suffer the consequences of their actions. But it’s what we’re not seeing in most of the stories, and what we’re seeing pushed in the headlines, that raises my eyebrows.

 

Report: Church Fire Suspect Had Books on Atheism

 
These headlines imply an angry, religion-hating atheist who went on a church burning rampage. So what’s wrong with the headlines and the stories they link to? For one thing, most of them only mention the book on atheism, and neglect the book about demon possession. That may seem insignificant but the fact is that people who are atheists (with rare exceptions) do not believe in demons (evil supernatural beings) and certainly not in the concept of “demon possession”. Atheism (lack of belief in gods) and belief in demons/demon possession are two very disparate things.

Am I saying Bourque is definitely not an atheist? Of course not. I’m just noting that one atheist book does not an atheist make, despite the media spin. (Incidentally on Bourque’s MySpace page he indicates he is a Christian.)

What is more disingenuous about the reporting is the fact that most of the news headlines or stories fail to mention the three Bibles found in Jason Bourque’s home. Honest mistake? Perhaps, but I’m inclined to believe otherwise. Most likely it just didn’t fit with the picture of the suspects as renegade atheists on a rampage to persecute religious people so it was conveniently omitted from most of the stories.

Atheists face enough stigma in society already. We don’t need slanted, dishonest reporting like this to engender more of the same.

 

Hilarious and spot-on. Now for the warnings so you can’t say I didn’t provide them:

Warnings: Video contains crude humor and obscene language. It viciously lambastes religious people who think Bibles are a groovy gift idea for homeless, hungry disaster victims. It may even violate Godwin’s Law. Definitely NSFW. Do not view if you are if you are prone to having The Vapors.

We’re constantly told that religion makes people more altruistic, moral, kind, etc. We’re also told that atheists are untrustworthy, immoral, depraved, and wouldn’t think twice about committing any crime (up to and including murder) because they have no “authority” to answer to. So why is it that millions of religious signs, banners and billboards go up every day without incident, while the atheist sign and billboard campaign has been met with a barrage of vehement protests, refusals by ad companies to post the billboards, vandalism and even theft?

The latest instance involves the billboards put up in Sacramento. The day I read about those billboards going up in the Sacramento area I knew there was going to be trouble and I was right. At least one thus far has been vandalized. I wonder if “god” told someone to do it.

One or more vandals used spray paint to deface part of a billboard on Interstate 80 midway between Sacramento and Davis, California, that reads “Are you good without God? Millions are.” The words “also lost?” were added below the “Millions are.”

The billboard, which was placed by the Sacramento Area Coalition of Reason last Tuesday, is one of ten such roadway ads that have gone up in and around Sacramento. They were paid for by the United Coalition of Reason, headquartered in Washington DC.

“This shows loud and clear just how necessary our message is, because prejudice against people who don’t believe in a god remains very real in America.” said Rachael Harrington, coordinator of Sacramento CoR.
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If you want to have faith or religion that’s fine. More power to you. But if your faith/religion is so weak you lash out and even commit crimes any time it is challenged in the least you have a serious problem. Any religion or faith worth a darn can tolerate opposing opinions and challenges.

Or are you actually saying your god is so effete he needs you to defend him from billboards?

 

Various pieces from around the Internutz.

 
How the most religious states fare.

Classically Liberal dissects multiple reports and studies to show what I’ve long known, and have reported more than once–that God and religion simply aren’t the answer to society’s woes.

 
While Judge Considers Same-Sex Marriage Case, House Church Leader says the Verdict Doesn’t Matter

A church leader declares many Christians have lost their way, and turned Christianity into a crusade against others rather than an effort to bring others to Christ and seek God’s Kingdom. It’s nice to see one of them speak up since our voices go largely ignored when we say it.

 
Gay harassment, bias crimes often go unreported

This isn’t anything most of us don’t already know, but it bears repeating because it’s urgent, and because the RRRW tries fervently to ignore/deny it.

 
How the Game is Played

You probably saw the NYT article that claimed 50% of gay married men are in “open marriages”. What you didn’t see is how they distorted the study, and outright lied, to once again smear gay couples. Read the facts at Truth Wins Out.

 
Anita Bryant and Me

One person’s encounter with the original “OMG won’t somebody please think of the children?!?!” anti-gay Liar for the Lord.

 

This is good news indeed.

SALT LAKE CITY—A film distribution company has bought the rights to a documentary about the Mormon church’s role in a California ballot initiative to ban gay marriage.

Filmmaker Reed Cowan says “8: The Mormon Proposition” will hit theaters this spring and a DVD will follow. Cowan says he sold the film’s North American distribution rights to the newly formed Red Flag Releasing.
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It’s rare that we feel a movie important enough that we’ll shell out the exorbitant fees theaters are now charging for tickets–it’s been more than a year since we’ve gone–but we will be there when this movie is in our area. Of course we’ll also get the DVD when it comes out.

“I think it’s a very important issue to us, not only gay marriage, but the issue of separation of church and state,” said Federbush. “We saw it at Sundance and felt it connected with the audience.”
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“I’m pretty excited,” said Cowan, a former Mormon who is gay. “Now the film does truly go on to be seen all over the United States and people can decide for themselves.”

I’m excited too. This is a movie that needs as much exposure as possible.

 

Recently a group of Baptists from Idaho were arrested in Haiti on charges of child trafficking. They claimed they were merely rescuing the 33 children they had attempted to take across the border into the Dominican Republic from dire conditions. They told of their noble intentions to have these precious orphans adopted out once they set up a facility. Of course that wasn’t the entire story, as it never is in such cases.

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The goal, according to her written submission for funds, was to “rescue Haitian orphans” and “share God’s love with these precious children, helping them heal and find new life in Christ”.
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The basics: Steal another nation’s children and convert them to Christianity. Now why is it gay people are always accused of “recruiting children”? Oh yes, that’s called projection.

A little background on the ringleader of this operation:

Laura Silsby’s life had been unravelling fast. Her once-flourishing online shopping business was being chased through the courts for unpaid bills and the four-bedroom home where the divorcee lived with her two youngest children was reclaimed by the bank just days before Christmas.
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Even as her business affairs plunged deeper into turmoil, the church-going 40-year-old had been drawing up plans to build an orphanage for Haitian children and run an adoption programme “for loving Christian parents who would otherwise not be able to afford” the cost.

Over the last year, Mrs Silsby and her live-in nanny Charisa Coulter, 24, made several trips to Haiti and the neighbouring country of Dominican Republic, where she had ambitious plans for an orphanage with resort facilities on a north coast beach.
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Christian parents, of course. Why spend all of that time indoctrinating the children only to have some heathen parents come in and undo it? And what’s an orphanage without a luxury resort so the prospective parents can loll by the sea while they ponder which stolen child to take? I wonder if others appreciate just how much White Christian Folk do for them?

Three other worshippers from Central Valley - including a mother and her 18-year-old daughter - volunteered. So did three members of the Eastside Baptist church 140 miles away in Twin Falls - the pastor Paul Thompson and his son Silas, 18, among them - and two of Mr Thompson’s relatives from Texas and Kansas.
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The 10 were arrested after trying to cross from Haiti into the Dominican Republic with a busload of 33 children, with no paperwork or authorisation to take them out of the country. It soon became clear that most were not orphans at all, but had at least a mother or father who had been persuaded to hand the children over to the Americans on the promise they would enjoy a better life.
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(Emphasis mine)

Lying for the Lord and child trafficking to perpetuate their religion. They’re not humanitarians, they’re predators.

Since then, Silsby’s volunteers have turned on her and are claiming she duped them and they’re innocent of any wrongdoing.

THE group of 10 Americans jailed in Haiti on child abduction charges are splitting up, with eight of them signing a note saying that they had been misled by Laura Silsby, the leader of the group.

”Laura wants to control,” said the scribbled note handed to a producer for NBC News at the weekend. ”We believe lying. We’re afraid.”
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In their note, the Americans, who said they came to Haiti to rescue orphans from the earthquake, complained of general malfeasance in the case but provided no details. ”There is corruption, extortion,” they wrote.
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The note signed by the group, which is affiliated with a Baptist church in Idaho, made it clear that they were emotionally distraught and divided. ”We fear for our lives here in Haiti,” said the letter, which was signed by everyone except Silsby and Charisa Coulter, Silsby’s former nanny and co-founder of the group. ”We only came as volunteers,” the note went on. ”We had NOTHING to do with any documents and have been lied to.”
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It’s entirely possible the volunteers assumed Silsby had all of the proper documentation to take the children. It’s possible (even likely) that she lied to them in order to gain their support. But I find it difficult to find much sympathy for them. Didn’t their god give them any critical thinking skills, and if so why don’t they use them? (That is a rhetorical question, of course, as one of the main purposes of religions such as theirs is to stifle critical thought.)

These people took Silsby at her word when they dropped everything to go to a foreign nation. Then they took her at her word when she asked them to help her gather 33 children, many of whom had living parents, and head for the border. None of them asked her to produce documentation that she had legal rights to do this. None of them thought it a problem that one child was begging to be reunited with her parents, who were very much alive.

But then it all goes back to Silsby’s original plan, the one that lured them all there in the first place: Bring Orphans to Jesus. So regardless of what transpired in the meantime, none of the players in this mess are truly innocent. They’re all predators to one extent or another.

 

Hat tip: The Freethinker