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.

 

I’ll be enjoying some much needed quality time with my wife. Hopefully most of you will be doing something similar with your partner today. Enjoy!

While neither death was unexpected they’re both being mourned in this household. I have a very worn copy of The Catcher in the Rye, and a newer, less-worn copy of A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.). Both are treasured items in my collection.

Howard Zinn, the Boston University historian and political activist who was an early opponent of US involvement in Vietnam and whose books, such as “A People’s History of the United States,” inspired young and old to rethink the way textbooks present the American experience, died today in Santa Monica, Calif, where he was traveling. He was 87.

His daughter, Myla Kabat-Zinn of Lexington, said he suffered a heart attack.
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As he wrote in his autobiography, “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train” (1994), “From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than ‘objectivity’; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble.”
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“Howard had a great mind and was one of the great voices in the American political life,” Ben Affleck, also a family friend growing up and Damon’s co-star in “Good Will Hunting,” said in a statement. “He taught me how valuable — how necessary — dissent was to democracy and to America itself. He taught that history was made by the everyman, not the elites. I was lucky enough to know him personally and I will carry with me what I learned from him — and try to impart it to my own children — in his memory.”
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J.D. Salinger, the famously reclusive author whose 1951 novel, “The Catcher in the Rye,” became a touchstone for generations of readers, has died. He was 91.

The author died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire, according to a family statement that his literary agent, Phyllis Westberg, provided Thursday.
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Jerome David Salinger was born January 1, 1919, in New York City, the son of Sol — a wealthy meat importer — and Miriam Salinger. He attended Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania and spent time at three colleges. He published his first stories in the early 1940s.

In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army. He fought in the D-Day invasion at Normandy as well as the Battle of the Bulge, but suffered a nervous breakdown and checked himself into an Army hospital in Germany in 1945. In December of that year, “I’m Crazy,” the first story featuring Caulfield, was published in Collier’s.
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“Salinger had remarked that he was in this world but not of it. His body is gone but the family hopes that he is still with those he loves, whether they are religious or historical figures, personal friends or fictional characters,” the statement said.
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May they both rest in peace.

 

Judge Vaughn Walker is considering whether or not to allow television cameras in the courtroom for the upcoming Proposition 8 trial. The anti-gay faction, who originally complained that marriage equality came about via “backroom deals” with “activist judges”, is now demanding they be shielded from the light of scrutiny. What is needed is for their bigotry, which is the only basis for Proposition 8 and other bans on marriage equality, to be exposed to the nation, in hopes that we can end this vicious trend of anti-gay legislation once and for all.

If you agree, please sign the petition encouraging Judge Walker to allow the proceedings to be televised. The deadline is 9am PST Friday.

 

It’s not just New Years Eve. We’re having a Blue Moon (the first to fall on New Years Eve in nearly 20 years). What’s more, there will be a partial lunar eclipse, though it won’t be visible everywhere.

I wish you all a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year!

 

Sad news. As it turns out, while Raymond (the movie character) had Autism, Peek did not.

Kim Peek , the inspiration for the movie “Rain Man “, has died. The 1988 film, about an autistic savant (Dustin Hoffman) and his hustler brother (Tom Cruise) won several Oscars. Kim Peek was 58, and died of an apparent heart attack.

“Rain Man” is what many people think of when they think of autism. In reality, it was discovered later that Kim Peek, although the inspiration for Hoffman’s character, was not autistic at all.

Instead, Kim Peek was born without connective tissue to bring the left and right sides of his brain together. As such, he was unable to filter information. He often had to twist a cord or hum to himself so he could block out distractions. However, autistic people are unable to integrate sensory information, which is a somewhat different problem.

However, while what scientists called a mega-savant, having phenomenal knowledge in 15 broad categories, simple tasks like dressing himself or setting the table eluded him. Scientists determined that Kim Peek was able to read the left page of a book with his left eye, and the right page of a book with his right eye, simultaneously, which would once again be something an autistic person cannot do.
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The Winter Solstice is the shortest day, and longest night, of the year. Coincidentally this is also when Wiccans and other Neo-Pagans celebrate Yule. (Cue AFA screeching about “evil” and “abominations” but where do you think they got their precious Christmas traditions from in the first place?)

So light a Yule log and some candles, hunker down for that extra-long night, and enjoy yourself. If you’re anything like me you’ll be celebrating the fact that the days only get longer from here on out.

To learn more:

Winter Solstice

Celebrate the Winter Solstice

The Celebration of Yule,
Winter Solstice and Christmas

A number of radical anti-gay wingnuts showed up in D.C. on Monday to preach anti-gay twaddle from the Bible under the premise that the recently passed Matthew Shepard Act was going to lead to widespread arrests of clergy who were merely “preaching the Bible”. They came, they grandstanded, they preached the Bible, and…..not a whole lot more. Well, at least not the big publicity stunt they were likely hoping for–that being them being dragged off in handcuffs by the police so they could be martyrs for their hateful “faith”. The tables were turned on them in an amusing way, however:

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Anything other than sex “between a male and his wedded wife,” announced the Rev. Paul Blair, “is a perversion, and the Bible says that homosexuality is in fact an abomination.”

No arrest was made.

The Rev. Rick Scarborough, quoting Scripture, listed “homosexual offenders” along with thieves, drunkards, swindlers and idolators as those unwelcome in the kingdom of God. “To fail to call homosexuals to repent of their sin and come to Jesus is the highest form of cowardice and sin,” he said.

No charges were filed.

“Had people listened to our plea, there would be tens of thousands of people who had not died of a dreaded disease,” contributed the Rev. Jim Garlow. “This breaks our heart to see people die of AIDS.”

No hands were cuffed. In fact, the few cops in attendance were paying no attention to the speakers, instead talking among themselves and checking their BlackBerrys.
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Instead of getting arrested, the ministers got something else: A couple of dozen gay activists, surrounding them with rainbow flags and signs announcing “Gaga for Gay Rights” and “I Am a Love Warrior.” By the end, the gay rights activists had taken over the lectern and the sound system and were holding their own news conference denouncing the ministers.
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Cass turned angrily to the AV guy. “We’re not on the clock, are we?” He turned with equal anger to Valk. “You guys gonna help us pay for the microphones?”

The gay activist smiled. “God,” he said, “works in mysterious ways.”

In this case, God took the form of Chuck Fazio, from DC Podiums. Fazio was hired by the religious conservatives to provide the sound system for the event, but upon learning of their cause, he decided to donate his proceeds to the gay rights activists and to give them a chance at the microphone before shutting down the amplifiers. “I don’t want bad karma,” he explained, noting with some pride that the lectern they were using was the same one used by Borat on a recent Washington visit.
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“Preachers will soon be targeted for prosecution, and their speech will be monitored,” Scarborough warned.
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But there was no evidence of persecution at the corner of 10th and Pennsylvania. In fact, the cops at one point intervened to help the ministers, by ordering the gay rights activists to move away.
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So I guess the Matthew Shepard Act didn’t outlaw the Bible or Christianity after all. Could it be the RRRWers were…lying?

 

The anti-gay bigots screamed, tantrumed and rended their garments for the longest time before the Matthew Shepard Act passed. The notion that people might suffer a stiffer penalty for targeting a person because of their gender, sexual orientation (be it heterosexual or homosexual), gender identity (transgender or cisgender) or disability appears to conflict with the “religious values” of some. In fact, there’s going to be a rally over it on November 16th.

Some people are so agitated over the Matthew Shepard Act that they’re going to hold a “Rally for Religious Freedom”.

The Rally for Religious Freedom is meant to raise alarm over the nation’s new Federal “hate crimes” law just passed by Congress and signed last month by President Obama. The intention of the rally is to assert the freedom of speech of ministers and Christians in general to declare biblical truth in the public square.

They’ve been doing that for years. Do we really need another rally over this nonsense? No pastor has ever been arrested for preaching the Bible and none ever will. The Matthew Shepard Act is about violent actions, not speech. When will these nitwits get that through their heads?

Ministers from various denominations will preach from the Bible, especially those parts that speak to the sin of homosexuality. This will serve to reassure ministers and Christians that they are free to do the same.

In other words, this rally is just another excuse to engage in anti-gay speech and grandstanding while pretending “Christians” are being persecuted. Par for the course. But here’s a little pre-rally experiment. I’ll post those Clobber Verses right here.

Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Deuteronomy 23:17 : “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.”

Romans 1:26-27: “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”

1 Corithians 6:9-10: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [makakoi], nor abusers of themselves with mankind [arsenokoitai] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

1 Timothy 1:9-10: “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.”

Jude 1:7: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

I won’t be holding my breath waiting for the law enforcement officials to knock down my door to arrest me for a Hate Crime. Despite what the whiny bigots like to claim, the law does not address speech/words. It addresses actions. They could stand and read the entire Bible if they wanted and nothing would happen to them under the MSA. But that fact won’t stop them from pretending they’ve been thrown in a gulag and sentenced to bread crusts and tainted water for the rest of their lives by this law.

As to the bigots and their little rally, are they really going to just stand around reading anti-gay Bible verses and whining about how “persecuted” they are because Teh Gays now have hate crimes protections just like they do? Or are they going to really push things to the limit–even engage in violent acts against LGBT people–so they can really play the martyrs? Only time will tell. One thing I hope is that there are plenty of video cameras at this event so we don’t have to take their word for anything, because they are notorious liars.

 

I shall now blaspheme. If you are faint of mind or otherwise feel you cannot handle it, please do not read on.

 
Gods, all 2,850+ of them, including Apollo, Ra, Thor, Zeus, Uranus, Loki, Eshu, Yaweh, Inti, Allah and Bacchus, are human inventions. They were created by ancient men to explain the unknown and control the credulous.