Motherboard: What do you think is wrong with the conversation around atheism today, the conversation that’s already been popularized by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.
I am an atheist, but a gentle one. I don’t feel the need to mock anyone who believes. I really disagree with the hard tone of some atheists who approach religion like a silly fairy tale. I am deeply respectful of religion, but I believe none of its supernatural aspects. So my position is perhaps unusual: I am at once very respectful and completely impious.
The problem of the man without religion is that he forgets. We all know in theory what we should do to be good. The problem is that in practice, we forget. And we forget because the modern secular world always thinks that it is enough to tell someone something once (be good, remember the poor etc.) But all religions disagree here: they insist that if anyone is to stand a chance of remembering anything, they need reminders on a daily, perhaps even hourly basis.

A Christian pastor who converted from Islam is to be put to death for leaving Islam following the ruling of an Iranian trial court, it was reported today.Youcef Nadarkhani, 34, was arrested over two years ago on charges of apostasy, and has now been put to death by an Iranian court for refusing to renounce his Christianty, according to the pastor's legal team.The father-of-two had defied a request by the Gilan provincial court, in Rasht, Iran, to repent, and now faces death by hanging.

Croatia: Forced Conversions and Genocide under the Ustaše
Not many people know about the Ustaše and its leader, Ante Pavelić. Before 1941, the organization was a radical fascist terrorist group. But when Axis powers invaded, it was given control of Croatia by the Nazis. They shared Hitler's goal of ethnic cleansing.
Their plan, which they began enacting in 1941, decreed that one third of the Serbs in Croatia would be killed. They specifically targeted the Intelligentsia, all non-catholic religious leaders, all businessmen, all master tradesmen, all figures of cultural importance such as musicians and authors, and anyone else who might have some importance. Another third of the Serbs were to be expelled to aid in ethnic cleansing. The final third would be converted to Catholicism at gunpoint.
The Ustaše were radically catholic, and their leader had personally received a blessing and audience from Pope Pius in Rome

Join critically-acclaimed author and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and world-renowned theoretical physicist and author Lawrence Krauss as they discuss biology, cosmology, religion, and a host of other topics.

The authors will also discuss their new books. Dawkins recently published The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True, an exploration of the magic of discovery embodied in the practice of science. Written for all age groups, the book moves forward from historical examples of supernatural explanations of natural phenomena to focus on the actual science behind how the world works.

It sounds like you lost your faith in the process of becoming a minister—or did you go back and forth for some years? How long did you serve as a minister, and how much of this time was spent riven by doubt?
I didn’t lose faith entirely during the ministerial process, although a simmering struggle between faith and doubt was clearly evident. This simmering would boil occasionally throughout my seventeen-year career, but any vacillations I experienced were easily suppressed, and faith would triumph, albeit, for non-religious reasons. Besides the money, time, and energy I had invested during the process, familial responsibilities deterred any decisions to alter course. These faithful triumphs were ephemeral and I found myself living in constant intellectual and emotional turmoil. By not repudiating my career, I could not escape the feeling I was living a lie. I continued to juggle this stressful dichotomy to the point of being totally miserable. Only recently have I succumbed to the doubt that has always undergirded my faith journey.

Shakila, 8 at the time, was drifting off to sleep when a group of men carrying AK-47s barged in through the door. She recalls them complaining, as they dragged her off into the darkness, about how their family had been dishonored and about how they had not been paid.
It turns out that Shakila, who was abducted along with her cousin as part of a traditional Afghan form of justice known as “baad,” was the payment.
Although baad (also known as baadi) is illegal under Afghan and, most religious scholars say, Islamic law, the taking of girls as payment for misdeeds committed by their elders still appears to be flourishing. Shakila, because one of her uncles had run away with the wife of a district strongman, was taken and held for about a year. It was the district leader, furious at the dishonor that had been done to him, who sent his men to abduct her.

#8 Pat Robertson ~

He’s worse than the previous two because he doesn’t even know how to lie convincingly. He swears that “the spirit of God comes mightily upon [him]” and enables him to leg press 2,000 pounds, though he is 79 years old. This claim has been thoroughly debunked by weightlifting experts, and yet he persists in claiming and not proving it.

He has claimed to be able to deflect hurricanes by praying to God, and stated that Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for abortion throughout America (not for Mardi Gras, which would be a little more understandable), thus showing that he did not pray for Katrina’s deflection. He believes that 9/11 and Katrina might be divinely connected.

Most recently, he denounced Haiti after the January 12, 2010 earthquake, stating that Haiti deserved what it was getting because it swore a pact with the Devil back in 1791, in order to drive out the French.

Wow, it's another disgusting story of a girl raped by a Muslim who then is blamed and put to death. In a giant bout of blaming the victim, somehow it is this girl's fault for being raped and she needs to be punished. And, her family is now under protection because they are getting others in trouble for carrying out such a heinous act. Where is the sanity?

And, closer to home, we find this charming video. To be honest, I'm not seeing much difference between what the narrator is advocating here and the behavior in Bangladesh. The narrator sounds like a rapist in waiting, and further, he'd be fully prepared to blame the girl/woman for being too provocative.

It's time for these religious [expletive deleted] to grow up and start taking responsibility for their own lives and urges. Yes, you may be attracted to a woman on the street. Deal with it and join the human race.

She was a 12-year-old girl, with fiery green eyes and defiance on her face. Her father had promised her hand to a stranger from Helmand province who didn't speak her language, was more than 30 years her senior, and already had eight children. Her father had borrowed the man's money for his poppy venture. And now it was up to her to repay that debt.
Darya, as she was called in a new book by Fariba Nawa, Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman's Journey Through Afghanistan, represents a growing trend in Afghanistan, a trend in which families marry off their daughters to settle debts originating from the opium trade. "Opium brides," they called them.

Photos of a stadium being built on the site of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - led by convicted paedophile Warren Jeffs - have emerged, raising concerns about its purpose.
The pictures, taken by a local resident in Eldorado, Texas, have sparked fears that the concrete building could be used for a mass suicide, like that led by Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple in 1978.Another theory is that the concrete building - measuring 30 feet high and 289 feet across - will house a large statue of polygamist leader Jeffs, who is serving a life sentence for raping two underage girls.

The issue of free speech versus blasphemy is currently subject to much debate in the atheist community. While attempts by various UK student unions to restrict the free speech of atheist groups demands a serious response, the danger faced by those who question religion in the Western world is mild compared to that faced by individuals living under theocratic governments, and none more so than those living in majority Islamic regimes. The recent arrest of Indonesian atheist Alexander Aan and the nine-month jail sentence served by Palestinian atheist Walid Husayin—both for “insulting Islam”—happened in countries on the liberal end of the Islamic religious spectrum.
In the more conservative Islamic states, things are taken altogether more seriously. It is not even necessary to declare yourself an atheist to bring down the wrath of the righteous—merely posing questions about religion can be sufficient.
One such incident currently hitting the news involves Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgiri, who is a Muslim, but one who made the fatal mistake of not showing enough deference to his religion in some Twitter posts.

The U.S. Air Force has provoked outrage by removing a Latin reference to God on one of its logos after complaints from a military atheist group.The Rapid Capabilities Office patch included a motto until several weeks ago in Latin saying: ‘Doing God’s Work with Other People’s Money’.But this was altered to ‘Doing Miracles with Other People’s Money’ after the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers kicked up a fuss.

Christianity is misogynistic. Misogyny is fundamental to the basic writings of Christianity. In passage after passage, women are encouraged—no, commanded—to accept an inferior role, and to be ashamed of themselves for the simple fact that they are women. Misogynistic biblical passages are so common that it’s difficult to know which to cite. From the New Testament we find "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. . . ." (Ephesians 5:22–23) and "These [redeemed] are they which were not defiled with women; . . ." (Revelation 14:4); and from the Old Testament we find "How then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?" (Job 25:4) Other relevant New Testament passages include Colossians 3:18; 1 Peter 3:7; 1 Corinthians 11:3, 11:9, and 14:34; and 1 Timothy 2:11–12 and 5:5–6. Other Old Testament passages include Numbers 5:20–22 and Leviticus 12:2–5 and 15:17–33.

America is the well-known exception to the rule that the wealthier and better-educated a country is, the less religious its population. As a Pew Research Center report put it, when it comes to religiosity, “the US is closer to considerably less developed nations, such as India, Brazil and Lebanon than to other western nations.” But what is less discussed is what this means for the minority who are not just apathetic about their faith, but have actively rejected it.
The issue is somewhat neglected because it’s not usually perceptible on the coasts and in the larger cities, but the almost complete absence of overt atheism is striking at all levels of US public life, even in cosmopolitan areas.

Prominent Catholic leaders across the country have deepened their fight against the Obama administration.The fight is over a provision of the health reform law announced on January 20 that would require health insurance plans -- including those offered by institutions such as Catholic-affiliated hospitals and universities -- to offer free birth control including sterilization.According to estimates, there are some 70 million Catholic voters – and many could be posed to vote against the president in the crucial upcoming election.

A website with close ties to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has outlined why it would be acceptable to kill all Jews and annihilate Israel.Conservative site Alef has published a doctrine detailing why the destruction of the nation and the slaughter of all its people would be legally and morally justified.It warned that the chance to remove the 'corrupting material' of Israel must not be lost - and that it would only take nine minutes to wipe it out.And it said it was a 'jurisprudential justification' for Iran's Islamic government to then take the helm.The article, written by Khamenei's strategy specialist Alireza Forghani, is now being run on most state-owned conservative sites, indicating it has the regime's support.

Dawkins is usually willing to accommodate debates with the “other side.” But he had serious misgivings about the premise of this one because Craig had set out an especially hard and brutal defense of the genocide of the Amalekites. In general, we of the “Four Horseman” faction avoid direct engagement with Holocaust deniers, lest the idea of denial become insidiously more acceptable. And, cloaked as it is in biblical rhetoric, Craig’s defense of the exterminationist view expressed in the Pentateuch is as close to denial as makes damn little difference. Indeed, as I try to point out, it is considerably more like Holocaust affirmation. The whole project of extirpation is approved, right down to the slaughter of the Amalekite children, on the grounds that a place is reserved for them in heaven. They just happened to be born in the wrong place (and to the wrong people) to be able to accommodate God’s children.

It seems to me that many nonbelievers have forgotten—or never knew—what it is like to suffer an unhappy collision with scientific rationality. We are open to good evidence and sound argument as a matter of principle, and are generally willing to follow wherever they may lead. Certain of us have made careers out of bemoaning the failure of religious people to adopt this same attitude.

However, I recently stumbled upon an example of secular intransigence that may give readers a sense of how religious people feel when their beliefs are criticized. It’s not a perfect analogy, as you will see, but the rigorous research I’ve conducted at dinner parties suggests that it is worth thinking about. We can call the phenomenon “the fireplace delusion.”

Don't read the Quran while on the toilet.
Any verse of the Qur'an, should be removed before entering the toilet. (1)
Don't let anyone see you pee. (No one ever saw Muhammad do it -- except for all those eyewitnesses who provided the glorious details about his peeing technique.)
Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) states that, 'When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would go to relieve himself he would go so far that no-one could see him.' We should make sure that there is complete privacy whilst relieving one's self; this is modesty that every Muslim should have. (1)
A person should be concealed from the sight of others when answering the call of nature. ... How can anybody uncover in front of other people the ‘awrah (private parts) which Allaah has placed between his legs to conceal it and commanded him to cover it? (2)
One should move and hide himself from others, as the prophet SAAWS only relieved himself when he was out of site. (2)

No Liberal and religious moderate  will call on the Muslim community to stop reacting with violence to mockery, but to accept the fact that in a pluralistic society, some people will do things to which they object, and the proper response is genuine tolerance, not barbarism, beheadings, arson, violence and riots.

"Church set on fire after carnival," from the UKPA, January 31:
An Orthodox Christian church famed for its valuable icons was set alight in southern Macedonia overnight amid religious tension between Christians and minority Muslims over a carnival in which Orthodox Christian men dressed as women in burkas and mocked the Koran.
Firefighters extinguished the fire on Monday night in the two century-old Sveti Nikola church, near the town of Struga. The church's roof was destroyed but its icons were not damaged, the fire service said.
Hours before the fire, Muslim leaders had appealed for calm among community members.
The January 13 Vevcani festival prompted angry, sometimes violent demonstrations by Muslims, who are nearly all ethnic Albanian and make up 33% of the country's 2.1 million population and accuse the majority of stoking hatred against them.

In his 2010 religion debate with Tony Blair, roughly a year before his untimely death, Christopher Hitchens decided to address what he said was most "twisted and immoral in the faith mentality, its essential fanaticism, its consideration of the human being as a raw material, and its fantasy of purity." The debate extended the hardline he adopted in his 2007 best-seller "God Is Not Great," that religion -- a "malignant force" -- "poisons everything."
With the New York Times Book Review and others calling the polemic "an all-out attack on all aspects of religion," one might assume Hitchens would've been similarly uncompromising about agnosticism as failing to reach his own level of certainty in "antitheism," his preferred self-description. Yet, of the seven brief references to agnosticism that appear in "God Is Not Great," all are unmistakably supportive. What's more, Hitchens's book did something increasingly rare among atheists and critics of religion: whenever possible, it grouped agnostics with atheists and freethinkers, as allies with shared arguments against monotheism, zealotry and fundamentalism.

The Biblical God is NOT pro-life, he advocates child murder, infanticide, child abuse and abortion:

    I see so many  Christians talking about abortion being a crime against God.  It’s not a wonder that they are hard pressed to find a conclusive biblical statement to corroborate their position.  In their determination to control women they have been forced to rely on exceedingly weak sections such as “thou shall not kill”,”I kneweth thou in the womb” and their favorite: “When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon; and he shall pay as the judges determine.  If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth...“--Exodus 21:22-24 The problem here is that the man who injures a pregnant woman in the process, shall repay her according to the degree of injury inflicted on her, not the fetus.  I am often dumbfounded at how Christians can assume that abortion is wrong judging by these feeble verses when the Bible clearly advocates infanticide and many other atrocities against children and pregnant women.  I can no longer allow such ignorance of the Bible and deem it necessary to expose the true agenda.  I am tired of the many young Christians who are brainwashed by their clergy.  They are only taught the “love and mercy” parts of the Bible and never bother to read what is not so openly preached . The Church thrives off of speaking in half truths and concealing their blood soaked robes.  Of course my job as preacher of an Atheist parish is to give a sermon about those things that the Bible TRUTHFULLY commands.  Here they are, god’s views on the unborn, the actions of righteous men” and god’s commands of infanticide and child abuse: (note-There are Torah verses in this list but I will not attack the Jewish faith for being pro-life since they are not rampant advocates of the matter.)

Abortion:

    Hosea 9:11-16 Hosea prays for God’s intervention.  “Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.  Give them, 0 Lord: what wilt thou give?  Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. . .Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.”  Clearly Hosea desires that the people of Ephraim can no longer have children.  God of course obeys by making all their unborn children miscarry.  Is not terminating a pregnancy unnaturally “abortion”?

    Numbers 5:11-21 The description of a bizarre, brutal and abusive ritual to be performed on a wife SUSPECTED of adultery.  This is considered to be an induced abortion to rid a woman of another man’s child.

Numbers 31:17 (Moses) “Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every women that hath known man by lying with him.”  In other words: women that might be pregnant, which clearly is abortion for the fetus.

Hosea 13:16 God promises to dash to pieces the infants of Samaria and the “their women with child shall be ripped up”.  Once again this god kills the unborn, including their pregnant mothers.

2 Kings 15:16 God allows the pregnant women of Tappuah (aka Tiphsah) to be “ripped open”. And the Christians have the audacity to say god is pro-life. How and the hell is it that Christians can read passages where God allows pregnant women to be murdered, yet still claim abortion is wrong?

Infanticide:

1 Samuel 15:3 God commands the death of helpless "suckling" infants.  This literally means that the children god killed were still nursing.

Psalms 135:8 & 136:10 Here god is praised for slaughtering little babies.

Psalms 137:9 Here god commands that infants should be “dashed upon the rocks”.

The murdering of children:

Leviticus 20:9 “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.”

Judges 11:30-40 Jephthah killed his young daughter (his only child) by burning her alive as a burnt sacrifice to the lord for he commanded it.

Psalms 137:8-9 Prayer/song of vengeance “0 daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.  Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”

2 Kings 6:28-29 “And the king said unto her, What aileth thee?  And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.  So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.”

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.  And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”

Judges 19:24-29 “Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.  But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her lord was, till it was light. And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered.  Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.  And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.”  To put it very bluntly this poor, young lady was murdered by her mate for being raped.

Exodus 12:29 God killed, intentionally, every first-born child of every family in Egypt, simply because he was upset at the Pharaoh.  And god caused the Pharaoh’s actions in the first place.  Since when is it appropriate to murder children for their ruler’s forced action?

Exodus 20:9-10 God commands death for cursing out ones parents Joshua 8 God commanded the deaths of 12,000 men, women, and children of Ai.  They were all slain in the ambush that was planned by god.

2 Kings 2:23-24 The prophet Elisha, was being picked on by some young boys from the city because of his bald head.  The prophet turned around and cursed them in the Lords name.  Then, two female bears came out of the woods and killed forty-two of them.  You would think that God could understand that sometimes the youthful make childish jokes.  Calling someone “bald head” is far from being worthy of death.

Leviticus 26:30 “And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.”

1 Samuel 15:11-18 God repents of having made Saul king since Saul refused to carry out God’s commandments (i.e., Saul refused to murder all the innocent women and children.)  At least god realizes what an immoral, murderous pig he is on this one.

I Kings 16:34 Laying the foundation for a city using your firstborn child and using your youngest son to set up the gates.

Isaiah 13:15-18 If God can find you, he will “thrust you through,” smash your children “to pieces” before your eyes, and rape your wife.

Jeremiah 11:22-23 God will kill the young men in war and starve their children to death.

Jeremiah 19:7-9 God will make parents eat their own children, and friends eat each other.

Lamentations 2:20-22 God gets angry and mercilessly torments and kills everyone, young and old.  He even causes women to eat their children.

Child abuse:

Genesis 22:9 & 10 “And they came to the place which God had told him of and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.”  It matters not that god let Abraham get out of murdering Isaac.  To put a knife up to your son’s throat is child abuse.

I Kings 3:24-25 “And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other."  This test was of course given to see who the real mother of the child was.  Christians view this king as a wise man.  I look upon his suggestion with far more revulsion then I give accredit to Susan Smith.

Proverbs 13:24, 19:18, 22:15, 23:13-14 & 29:15 God commands repeatedly that you beat your children.

Matthew 19:29 If you really loved Jesus then he insists that you abandon your wife and children for him.  Only that way will he allow you to go to heaven.  (That is if you meet his other hefty requirements, don’t slip through the loopholes, and ignore the contradictions.)

Mark 7:9 Jesus criticizes the Jews for not killing their disobedient children according to Old Testament law.

    In conclusion I shall end this list with a verse that should keep the pro lifers in check.  It is Romans 13: 1-7

 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which god has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by god.  Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what god has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but those who do wrong.  Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?  Then do what is right and he shall commend you.  For he is god’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.  He is god’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. There fore it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

    This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are god’s servants, who give their full time to governing.  Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes, if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

    Clearly it is the job of Christians to obey the laws, and the laws of this country clearly state that abortion is legal.  So too should Christians respect and honor that law.  God commands them to NOT disobey, which entails attempting to get the law overturned.  If god wanted abortion to be illegal he wouldn’t have appointed authorities to make it legal.

Ripped from the evil bible.com http://www.evilbible.com/god%27s%20not%20pro-life.htm

** All of the essays from "The Church of Theists Suck" were written by Charlotte and most were previously posted in her own "Theists Suck" website which is no longer in existence.  She gave permission to freely copy and distribute her essays, they are not copyrighted. **

A gay teenager who committed suicide earlier this month claimed he had an exorcism performed on him by his Christian parents before they kicked him out of the house.
Eric James Borges, 19, took his own life on January 14 after suffering years of physical and verbal abuse at school and rejection from his 'extremist' family who made him leave home for being gay.A friend read from the suicide note he left at one of several memorial services held for the young man in San Joaquin Valley, California last week. In it, he thanked friends for their love and support and mentioned Lady Gaga for being 'a fearless, relentless, proud LGBT advocate'.

Here’s a bit of unintended humor from our nation’s highest court. Inside the court building, above where the justices sit, is a frieze depicting some great “lawgivers” of history. As The Daily Republican reports,
The 18 lawgivers looking down on the justices are divided into two friezes of ivory-colored, Spanish marble. On the south wall, to the right of incoming visitors, are figures from the pre-Christian era — Menes, Hammurabi, Moses, Solomon, Lycurgus, Solon, Draco, Confucius and Octavian (Caesar Augustus). On the north wall to the left are lawmakers of the Christian era — Napoleon Bonaparte, Marshall, William Blackstone, Hugo Grotius, Louis IX, King John, Charlemagne, Muhammad and Justinian.
Muhammad? Yes, and here’s his figure in the frieze:

Rick Santorum has been condemned after claiming that rape victims who become pregnant should 'make the best of a bad situation'.The Republican presidential candidate - who is currently third in the polls - said that women in such a position should not get an abortion but instead welcome their 'horrible gift from God'.He added that even if his own daughter became pregnant after being raped he would still urge her to have the child.Santorum is ultra conservative and a devout Catholic who has in the past spoken of how he wants to ban abortion with a constitutional amendment.He enjoyed a surge in the Iowa caucus because of support from evangelical Republicans but his stark comments risk alienating swing voters who are undecided on the issue.

When the media and others refer to a “militant atheist,” the object of that slander is usually an atheist who had the nerve to openly question religious authority or vocally express his or her views about the existence of God. Conventional wisdom quickly tells us that such conduct is shameful or, at the very least, distasteful, and therefore the brazen nonbeliever is labeled “militant.”
But this reflects a double standard, because it seems to apply only to atheists. Religious individuals and groups frequently declare, sometimes subtly and sometimes not, that you are a sinner and that you will suffer in hell for eternity if you do not adopt their supernatural beliefs, but they will almost never be labeled “militant” by the media or the public. Instead, such individuals are called “devout” and such churches are called “evangelical.”

A video showing fifteen Pakistani soldiers being lined up and shot dead by a firing squad has been released by the Taliban.
The paramilitary troops were abducted on December 23 in what the terror group described as an operation to avenge the deaths of insurgents in Pakistan.
The release of the horrific video is intended to serve as a warning to Pakistan's 600,000-member army, which has failed to break the back of the insurgents despite superior firepower and a series of offensives against their strongholds in mountain regions.

Speakers in order of appearance:

1. Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Science Fiction Writer
2. Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Laureate in Literature
3. Professor Isaac Asimov, Author and Biochemist
4. Arthur Miller, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright
5. Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate in Literature
6. Gore Vidal, Award-Winning Novelist and Political Activist
7. Douglas Adams, Best-Selling Science Fiction Writer
8. Professor Germaine Greer, Writer and Feminist
9. Iain Banks, Best-Selling Fiction Writer
10. José Saramago, Nobel Laureate in Literature
11. Sir Terry Pratchett, NYT Best-Selling Novelist
12. Ken Follett, NYT Best-Selling Author
13. Ian McEwan, Man Booker Prize-Winning Novelist
14. Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate (1999-2009)
15. Professor Martin Amis, Award-Winning Novelist
16. Michel Houellebecq, Goncourt Prize-Winning French Novelist
17. Philip Roth, Man Booker Prize-Winning Novelist
18. Margaret Atwood, Booker Prize-Winning Author and Poet
19. Sir Salman Rushdie, Booker Prize-Winning Novelist
20. Norman MacCaig, Renowned Scottish Poet
21. Phillip Pullman, Best-Selling British Author
22. Dr Matt Ridley, Award-Winning Science Writer
23. Harold Pinter, Nobel Laureate in Literature
24. Howard Brenton, Award-Winning English Playwright
25. Tariq Ali, Award-Winning Writer and Filmmaker
26. Theodore Dalrymple, English Writer and Psychiatrist
27. Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-Winning Novelist
28. Redmond O'Hanlon FRSL, British Writer and Scholar
29. Diana Athill, Award-Winning Author and Literary Editor
30. Christopher Hitchens, Best-Selling Author, Award-Winning Columnist

FEATURED MUSIC:

Mozart - Piano Concerto No.23 In A Major, K 488 Adagio 00:00
Ludovico Einaudi -- Solo 00:54
Brian Crain - Dream of Flying 07:53
Ludovico Einaudi - I Giorni 12:54
David Nevue - Watching The Clock 17:30
David Nevue -- Winter Walk 21:54

Particular passages didn't sit too comfortably with Jefferson - including miracles such as the virgin birth, the resurrection and ascension.
So in 1820, following his two terms as president, Jefferson took a razor blade to six other volumes and patched together his favourite passages before having it bound. Editorial control: Thomas Jefferson took a razor blade to six versions of the Bible to tell his version of Jesus' lifeEntitled The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, containing 84 pages, it leaves out key moments to the Christian faith - including the holy ghost and holy trinity.The Smithsonian said Jefferson left out the passages which he believed to be 'contrary to reason'.Jefferson drew from all four gospels of the New Testament in Greek, Latin, French and English to tell the story of Jesus' life.

But my Church offers a further revelation: We believe that when Jesus Christ returns to earth, He will return, not to Jerusalem, or to Baghdad, but to this great nation—and His first stop will be Jackson County, Missouri. The LDS Church teaches that the Garden of Eden itself was in Missouri! Friends, it is a marvelous vision. Some Christians profess not to like this teaching. But I ask you, where would you rather the Garden of Eden be, in the great state of Missouri or in some hellhole in the Middle East?
In conclusion, I want to assure you all, lest there be any doubt, that I share your vision for this country and for the future of our world. Some say that we should focus on things like energy security, wealth inequality, epidemic disease, global climate change, nuclear proliferation, genocide, and other complex problems for which scientific knowledge, rational discussion, and secular politics are the best remedy. But you and I know that the problem we face is deeper and simpler and far more challenging. Since time immemorial humanity has been misled by Satan, the Father of Lies.

Mitt Romney urged one of his Mormon followers in the 1980s to put her unborn child up for adoption or face excommunication from their church, according to new book.The Republican presidential front runner told Peggie Hayes that because the child had been born out of wedlock she had to hand it over to the Mormon adoption agency.Hayes, 23 at the time, felt 'deeply insulted' and in her mind was being told: 'Give up your son or give up your God.'

He, too, saw that the attack on The Satanic Verses was not an isolated occurrence; that, across the Muslim world, writers and journalists and artists were being accused of the same crimes - blasphemy, heresy, apostasy, and their modern-day associates, “insult” and “offence.” And he intuited that beyond this intellectual assault lay the possibility of an attack on a broader front. He quoted Heine to me. Where they burn books they will afterwards burn people. (And reminded me, with his profound sense of irony, that Heine’s line, in his play Almansor, had referred to the burning of the Qur’an.) And on September 11, 2001, he, and all of us, understood that what began with a book-burning in Bradford, Yorkshire, had now burst upon the whole world’s consciousness in the form of those tragically burning buildings. 

Rather, what I find remarkable is the fact that the discoveries of modern particle physics and cosmology over the past half century allow not only a possibility that the Universe arose from nothing, but in fact make this possibility increasingly plausible. Everything we have measured about the universe is not only consistent with a universe that came from nothing (and didn't have to turn out this way!), but in fact, all the new evidence makes this possibility ever more likely. Darwin demonstrated how the remarkable diversity of life on Earth, and the apparent design of life, which had been claimed as evidence for a caring God, could in fact instead be arrived at by natural causes involving purely physical processes of mutation and natural selection. I want to show something similar about the Universe. We may never prove by science that a Creator is impossible, but, as Steven Weinberg has emphasized, science admits (and for many of us, suggests) a universe in which one is not necessary.

According to 2010 Pew research, one in four adults under age 30 are unaffiliated with any religious tradition. They describe their religion as “atheist,” “agnostic” or “nothing in particular.”
Another 2010 Pew survey tested religious knowledge. Atheists and agnostics were among the highest-scoring groups, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics; they scored better on average when asked about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.
Asking more questions would not only help followers of Jesus learn more about religion, but about their own spirituality.
Michael King, dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, Va., says his journey with atheism and agnosticism ultimately strengthened his faith. In the Autumn 2007 issue of Dreamseeker Magazine, he says his questions like “What if there is no God?” eventually “hardened into atheism.”
Through much questioning and biblical study, including the Hebrews 11 vision of faith as “the conviction of things not seen,” King found God and became a Mennonite pastor. “It can be possible to live by faith even when not entirely convinced we can know, based strictly on the evidence, whether or not there is a God,” he wrote.

Islamic spokesmen in the West constantly assure us that Islam respects women -- I was not too long ago in a somewhat riotous debate with the Imam Moustafa Zayed on just that topic. And so it is extremely odd that in Afghanistan, a country where virtually everyone is Muslim, most Afghan men seem to misunderstand this important principle, and treat their women shabbily. Probably they misunderstand this Qur'an passage as providing some justification for wife-beating: "Good women are obedient....As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them" (4:34).

FORA.tv, the leading online destination for video programs from the world’s best conferences and events, names its Top Ten Videos of 2011. Topping the list is a tribute series to the late Christopher Hitchens; a discussion of the impact of WikiLeaks; a prediction by venture capitalist Roger McNamee that “Google is done;” Stanford biologist Robert Sapolsky’s thoughts on what sets humans apart from other primates; and an animated lecture by Steven Pinker illustrating how we use language to build relationships. Rounding out the top ten are a debate examining religion and videos featuring Slavoj Žižek, Richard Dawkins, Michael Moore and Walter Isaacson.

"I'm an Arab Muslim and in an Arab Muslim country," BAM told the court yesterday. "Those infidels are killing Muslims all around the world … there was a Muslim doctor just killed in Germany and when her husband wanted to defend her they attacked him as well."
The judge said he was not concerned with what happened in other countries, and that justice would be served.
He said it was never part of Islamic law, even in an Islamic state, to kill people because of their beliefs, or to take revenge....
All of the Arabian Jews in Medina wholeheartedly agreed. All zero of them.

The schools initially fired Ms Dias, 32, for being single and pregnant, Cincinnati.com reports. 

When the schools discovered that violated several federal and state anti-discrimination laws, they said she was fired because she became pregnant using artificial insemination.

That, the school said, was in direct violation of her contract.

‘She has a right to her opinion, but she doesn’t have a right to violate her (employment) contract,’ Archdiocese of Cincinnati spokesman Dan Andriacco told the website.

The contract Ms Dias signed called for employees to adhere to Catholic social teachings, including the avowal that having a child without a husband and out of wedlock is a ‘grave immoral’ act.Ms Dias is still unemployed and now has a ten-month-old daughter for which to care.
Her case against the schools is on hold in the U.S. District Course in Cincinnati as the Supreme Court rules on a similar case.

"For Somali Women, Pain of Being a Spoil of War," by Jeffrey Gettleman for the New York Times, December 28 (thanks to Bill):
MOGADISHU, Somalia — The girl’s voice dropped to a hush as she remembered the bright, sunny afternoon when she stepped out of her hut and saw her best friend buried in the sand, up to her neck.
Her friend had made the mistake of refusing to marry a Shabab commander. Now she was about to get her head bashed in, rock by rock.
“You’re next,” the Shabab warned the girl, a frail 17-year-old who was living with her brother in a squalid refugee camp.
Several months later, the men came back. Five militants burst into her hut, pinned her down and gang-raped her, she said. They claimed to be on a jihad, or holy war, and any resistance was considered a crime against Islam, punishable by death.

"She would come to school crying and telling us her dad was crazy," said Lacie Reed, 18. "He wouldn't let her wear certain things. He was always taking her phone away, checking her call history and checking her text messages."
Friends said Nona's father had installed cameras all around the home so he could watch the family's comings and goings. Others said he nailed her bedroom window shut so she could not sneak out at night and see her boyfriend.
"She couldn't date at all until she was a certain age, but when he was going to let her date she couldn't date anyone outside of their race or religion," Reed said.
Yiselle Alvarenga, 18, said Nona's mother and brother seemed to come to her aid when her father punished her.
"He would take her phone away and her mother would give it back to her and her brother would let her use his phone," Alvarenga said. "She was doing good. She was just excited that her life was going to start and she was going to have control of it."...

Hostility towards Christians in Pakistan is rife. Mrs Bibi told in the interview how one of her guards had tried been suspended after trying to strangle her. 

 Mrs Bibi, a farm worker from rural Punjab, was first detained in 2009. She is accused of defiling the name of the prophet Mohammed during an argument with Muslim co-workers. She denies the charge, but was sentenced to death after the case went to trial. She is now waiting for her appeal to be heard at Lahore's High Court

Two of Mrs Bibi's supporters have been assassinated this year, including Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab, who was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards

The Pope's Christmas Eve Homily ended by importuning his minions to give up reason, be humble, and be "made simple."
It seems to me that a deeper truth is revealed here, which should touch our hearts on this holy night: if we want to find the God who appeared as a child, then we must dismount from the high horse of our "enlightened" reason. We must set aside our false certainties, our intellectual pride, which prevents us from recognizing God's closeness. We must follow the interior path of Saint Francis—the path leading to that ultimate outward and inward simplicity which enables the heart to see. We must bend down, spiritually we must as it were go on foot, in order to pass through the portal of faith and encounter the God who is so different from our prejudices and opinions the God who conceals himself in the humility of a newborn baby.

When God’s law is not observed, the law can become whatever the ruler wants it to be: Ultimately there are no human rights, let alone property rights, as totalitarianism reigns. When religion becomes ascendant, so too does the rule of law. Here lies one of the most hopeful trends in the world today — the rapid rise of religion in a land that until recently was almost as soulless as North Korea: China. This still officially atheistic country now has an estimated 300 million worshippers of all faiths, with Christianity the fastest rising among them. Red Chinese Communism’s replacement — today’s lawless capitalism — leaves the Chinese wanting for more. Through growing religiosity, China has its best chance of reforming to a democratic society that respects human dignity and the rule of law.
“God didn’t invent man; man invented God,” Hitchens said. Perhaps that is true — we have no way of knowing. We do know, however, that if man did invent God, it was a useful invention, and a wondrous gift to mankind.
God is great. Have yourself a Merry Christmas!

Brilliant and beautiful. Hitchens left us with  more in these 7 minutes than others have in a life time.

Christopher Hitchens (1949 - 2011)

"I attack and criticize people myself; I have no right to expect lenience in return." ~ Christopher Hitchens

 

That's good because he didn't get it, especially when he took on the Almighty Himself with his atheist polemic, "God Is Not Great." Many people asked him, he said, whether he was having second thoughts about God and the possibilities of an afterlife after hearing that his own life was about to end. Did he feel, as the old joke goes, like he was all dressed up but with no place to go?

No, he dismissed the possibility that personal emotions might overwhelm his rational side. He remained consistent, working hard and turning out more provocative prose until his end, including some poignantly brilliant insights into such symbolism-rich developments as the loss of his speaking voice. He never lost his spirit, as far as I could tell, as he turned out prose that stands as a lasting gift to those whom he leaves behind. ~

Clarence Page ~ The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20111225/OPINION03/112250305/-1/rss29

Is there a constitutional issue here?
Much as one might want to avoid an annual freshet of legalism, it is very hard to argue that there is not. I have no idea how many churches and synagogues there are in the United States (there seem to be quite a number, many of them tax-exempt), but if the "holy days" were only celebrated on these premises, or on boards and signs visible from them, the effect would already be very impressive. The same is true if we limit the effect to the number of believers whose homes display candles, lights, symbols, Scandinavian wildlife and vegetation and whatever else the spirit moves them to exhibit.
But what is all this clutter doing on the White House lawn or in the public rooms of the executive mansion, or on public property and in public schools? Quite apart from the clear stipulations of the First Amendment, this seems to me to violate the Tocquevillian principle that American religion is strictly based on the voluntary principle and neither requires nor deserves any taxpayer-funded endorsement.

Barbaric textbooks handed out in Saudi Arabian schools teach children how to cut off a thief's hands and feet under Sharia law, it has emerged.The shocking books, paid for and printed by the Saudi government, also tell teenagers that Jews need to be exterminated and homosexuals should be 'put to death'.Recent editions were obtained by the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, D.C., which says they should raise fears in the West over the use of jihadist language.

LONDON (Reuters) - A baby at risk of becoming the victim of an "honour killing" because she was born as the result of her unmarried Muslim mother's secret affair must be adopted to keep her safe, the Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday.
Three senior judges rejected a bid by the one-year-old girl's natural father to have her live with him and his wife.
The child's natural mother is in favour of adoption so that her own family will not find out about the birth.
Lord Justice Munby, Lady Justice Black and Lord Justice Kitchin said in a joint judgment the case involved "exceptionally difficult adoption proceedings," the Press Association reported.
The judges imposed unusually wide reporting restrictions banning the publication of all names and locations linked to the case because of the continuing dangers faced by mother and child.

With his slash-and-burn style, he described the United States as Israel’s “Shabbos goy… the non-Jew who is paid a trifling fee to turn out the lights or turn on the stove, or whatever else is needful to get around the more annoying regulations of the Sabbath. How the old buzzard must cackle when he sees the gentiles actually volunteering a bribe to do the lowly work! And lowly it is,” wrote Hitchens, “involving the tearing-up of international law and U.N. resolutions and election promises, and the further dispossession and eviction of a people to whom we gave our word…. [We] will most certainly be made to regret it. For now, though, the shame.”
He rhetorically asked Israelis, in Slate: “Without God on your side, what the hell are you doing in the greater Jerusalem area in the first place?”

While the true meaning of Christmas is often lost among the festivities, you’d expect a government tree to bear some relevance to the occasion.But no ornament can be seen with the word ‘Christmas’, ‘Jesus’, his picture or a nativity scene on the 63ft Sierra White Fir outside the U.S. Capitol.However what is easy for people to view standing near the tree's base in Washington D.C. is an ornament with the phrase: ‘I love President Obama’.

The evening before the event, we met for dinner, and I was aware that it might be our last meal together. I was also startled to realize that it was our first meal alone. I remember thinking what a shame it was—for me—that our lives had not better coincided. I had much to learn from him.
I have been privileged to witness the gratitude that so many people feel for Hitch’s life and work—for, wherever I speak, I meet his fans. On my last book tour, those who attended my lectures could not contain their delight at the mere mention of his name—and many of them came up to get their books signed primarily to request that I pass along their best wishes to him. It was wonderful to see how much Hitch was loved and admired—and to be able to share this with him before the end.
I will miss you, brother.

Before his illness, it was as an erudite author, essayist and sparkling, devastating speaker that this valiant horseman led the charge against the follies and lies of religion. During his illness he added another weapon to his armoury and ours – perhaps the most formidable and powerful weapon of all: his very character became an outstanding and unmistakable symbol of the honesty and dignity of atheism, as well as of the worth and dignity of the human being when not debased by the infantile babblings of religion.

 

Every day of his declining life he demonstrated the falsehood of that most squalid of Christian lies: that there are no atheists in foxholes. Hitch was in a foxhole, and he dealt with it with a courage, an honesty and a dignity that any of us would be, and should be, proud to be able to muster. And in the process, he showed himself to be even more deserving of our admiration, respect, and love.

 

Farewell, great voice. Great voice of reason, of humanity, of humour. Great voice against cant, against hypocrisy, against obscurantism and pretension, against all tyrants including God.

How odd it is to hear of your own brother’s death on an early morning radio bulletin. How odd it is for a private loss to be a public event.
I wouldn’t normally dream of writing about such a thing here, and I doubt if many people would expect me to. It is made even odder by the fact that I am a minor celebrity myself. And that the, ah, complex relationship between me and my brother has been public property.
I have this morning turned down three invitations to talk on the radio about my brother. I had a powerful feeling that it would be wrong to do so, not immediately explicable but strong enough to persuade me to say a polite ‘no thank you’.

Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62. Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the spring of 2010, just after the publication of his memoir, Hitch-22, and began chemotherapy soon after. His matchless prose has appeared in Vanity Fair since 1992, when he was named contributing editor.

“My chief consolation in this year of living dyingly has been the presence of friends,” he wrote in the June 2011 issue. He died in their presence, too, at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. May his 62 years of living, well, so livingly console the many of us who will miss him dearly.

Christopher Hitchens, the author, essayist and polemicist who waged verbal and occasionally physical battles on behalf of causes left and right, died last night after a long battle with cancer. He was 62.
The outspoken atheist, who backed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, had been undergoing chemotherapy at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer last year.Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, where Mr Hitchens was a contributing editor, paid tribute on the magazine's website.
'Christopher Hitchens was a wit, a charmer and a troublemaker, and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from, dare I say, God,' he wrote.

The commanders in South Waziristan rejected any talk of peace. They said they would negotiate with the government only if Islamic law were implemented throughout the country, the army withdraws from the region and all Taliban prisoners are released.
'Despite all their resources and atomic power, America, NATO and Pakistan cannot defeat the Taliban as our suicide bombers will use their bones as bullets, their flesh as gunpowder and their blood as fuel,' Mehsud said. 'They have no way to counter to this spirit.'
Pakistan's spy agency has been accused of aiding other militants, such as the Haqqanis and other factions in the Afghan Taliban who carry out attacks on U.S. troops across the border.

Elizabeth Smart, who was snatched from her bedroom almost a decade ago, revealed to an audience some of the horrific details about her ordeal last night.
Miss Smart was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah when she was 14 years old. She cried as she told members of a Rotary Club about the night Brian David Mitchell took her at knifepoint.
It was the first time Miss Smart, now 24, has spoken in public about the graphic details of her nine months in captivity at the hands of Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee.

More details are emerging about a duo of masked Christian 'vigilantes' quickly arrested after a bizarre home invasion at a Mississippi home.Police said Michael Schaffran, 32, and Cody Rogers, 18, are members of a self-formed group known as 'The Saviour Unit' or 'Tactical Support Unit'.Denise Welch was cooking in her Gautier mobile home December 6 when the two men, donning masks and army fatigues, burst in and shouted for everyone to 'get down.'

"Never be afraid of stridency"~ Hitchens
Richard Dawkins: One of my main beefs with religion is the way they label children as a "Catholic child" or a "Muslim child". I've become a bit of a bore about it.
Christopher Hitchens: You must never be afraid of that charge, any more than stridency.

A crisp $10 note left by a diner is a welcome sight for any server.
But when one waiter went to pick up one such note left tucked under a customer's plate recently, he was outraged to find it was not cash but instead a 'real tip' on a bogus $10 note.
'Some things are better than money' it said on the back, 'like your eternal salvation that was brought and paid for by Jesus going to the cross.'

Previous studies have demonstrated a much higher degree of religiosity in the US compared with most of Europe and the current survey, perhaps unsurprisingly, supports this finding.
“Half of Americans deem religion very important in their lives; fewer than a quarter in Spain (22%), Germany (21%), Britain (17%) and France (13%) share this view.
Moreover, Americans are far more inclined than Western Europeans to say it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values; 53% say this is the case in the U.S., compared with just one-third in Germany, 20% in Britain, 19% in Spain and 15% in France.”
Of particular interest, however, is the demographic breakdown of the US results. For instance the results reveals major differences in US attitudes to religion based on gender (women are much more likely than men , 59% vs 41%, to consider religion as being very important, as are older compared to younger individuals (57% vs 41%).

CAIRO: An Islamic cleric residing in Europe said that women should not be close to bananas or cucumbers, in order to avoid any “sexual thoughts.”
The unnamed sheikh, who was featured in an article on el-Senousa news, was quoted saying that if women wish to eat these food items, a third party, preferably a male related to them such as their a father or husband, should cut the items into small pieces and serve.
He said that these fruits and vegetables “resemble the male penis” and hence could arouse women or “make them think of sex.”
He also added carrots and zucchini to the list of forbidden foods for women.
The sheikh was asked how to “control” women when they are out shopping for groceries and if holding these items at the market would be bad for them. The cleric answered saying this matter is between them and God.
Answering another question about what to do if women in the family like these foods, the sheikh advised the interviewer to take the food and cut it for them in a hidden place so they cannot see it.

An all-white church in America's rural South has voted to ban interracial couples from joining.Members of the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Kentucky voted for the resolution after their Sunday service, which says the church 'does not condone interracial marriage'.The church member who crafted the resolution, Melvin Thompson, claims he is not racist and called the matter an 'internal affair'.

The report warns that allowing women to drive would ‘provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce’.Within ten years of the ban being lifted, the report’s authors claim, there would be ‘no more virgins’ in the Islamic kingdom.And it pointed out ‘moral decline’ could already be seen in other Muslim countries where women are allowed to drive.In the report Professor Subhi described sitting in a coffee shop in an unnamed Arab state. ‘All the women were looking at me,’ he wrote. ‘One made a gesture that made it clear she was available... this is what happens when women are allowed to drive.’The astonishing report comes after Shaima Jastaniya, a 34-year-old Saudi woman, was sentenced to 10 lashes with a whip after being caught driving in Jeddah.

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has been branded 'Governor Grinch' after he defied lawmakers and declared that the state would have a 'holiday tree' instead of a 'Christmas tree'.The governor defended his decision by arguing that it is in keeping with the state’s founding in 1636 by religious dissident Roger Williams as a haven for tolerance – where government and religion were kept separate.
Instead of arguing over the blue spruce displayed in the State House, the governor said lawmakers should focus their energy on feeding the poor.

Police began investigating Daughdrill after receiving a tip off earlier this month that she was involved in an inappropriate relationship with the underage boy.They discovered Daughdrill had met the teenager at a summer Bible school camp where she was one of the adult teachers.Daughdrill was first booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center on four counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile, eight counts of sexual battery, three counts of 2nd degree kidnapping, contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile and indecent behaviour with a juvenile.She was released from Calcasieu Parish on $47,000 bond and then booked into Beauregard Parish Jail on 3 counts of 2nd-degree kidnapping and carnal knowledge of a child.

And everyone wants to pretend the imposition of Sharia that is following each revolution won't be a problem, and could even be an improvement. After all, there's promise after promise of "moderate" Islamic governance. One consistent trait that betrays the outwardly friendly face of the revolutions is the antisemitic rhetoric that has accompanied them. "Praise Arab Spring, Except for Anti-Semitism," by Jeffrey Goldberg for Bloomberg, November 29:
The bravery of the youth of Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Libya can’t be denied. It isn’t pepper spray that they’ve been facing. Nor can the idealism of the Arab Spring be denied. The people of the Middle East are finally awakening to the promise of liberty.

There is another truth, however, that shouldn’t be denied. The desire of Arabs to be free of their spiteful and pitiless dictators is sometimes expressed in grotesquely anti-Jewish terms.

Reflecting on this, there seems more grist to it now than there did then. Can anyone imagine a member of the male sex making a bigger hash of a harassment charge that Herman Cain has recently done? Or causing himself to look more like an ignorant fool than did Cain when given—with ample notice—a chance to review and criticize the president’s policy in Libya? And yet there he still, inarguably, is. Moving up the mental scale a bit, it must be a while since the contrast between a candidate and his two positions on an issue were as wildly at odds as those of Newt Gingrich and Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae. Sliding down a snake or two, Michele Bachmann has continued to amaze with every opportunity given her. Mounting a ladder only to get a view of some dismaying serpents, one scans a briefing by “Republican strategist” Alex Castellanos in which he seems to suggest that a Sarah Palin endorsement of Newt Gingrich could be offset only by an immediate declaration of Mike Huckabee for Mitt!

Nothing to see here. Repeat after me: the Muslim Brotherhood is "moderate." The Muslim Brotherhood is "largely secular," because the Obama administration's director of national intelligence said so. This is all a misunderstanding and has been taken out of context, because you don't speak Arabic, and surely there are nuances on the word "kill" to consider.
Nothing to see here. "Cairo rally: One day we'll kill all Jews," by Eldad Beck for YNet News, November 25:
A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo's most prominent mosque Friday turned into a venomous anti-Israel protest, with attendants vowing to "one day kill all Jews."
Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the "battle against Jerusalem's Judaization." The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations' partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state.

This new-born baby may not have the easiest life as he grows up.The tot has been given the unfortunate name associated with the Muslim crusade against the west - Jihad.The Islamic term is used in the Koran to describe the religious war all followers are to wage against 'non-believers'.

Father Gabriel Amorth has carried out more than 70,000 exorcisms in his capacity as Chief Exorcist at the Vatican.
The 85-year-old can boast 25 years in the post after being appointed by the late Pope John Paul II.At a conference today, he surprised the delegates by revealing some of his greatest dislikes - yoga and Harry Potter.Father Amorth, a colourful and often outspoken personality, said:'Practising yoga brings evil as does reading Harry Potter. They may both seem innocuous but they both deal with magic and that leads to evil.' He added:'Yoga is the Devil's work. You thing you are doing it for stretching your mind and body but it leads to Hinduism. All these oriental religions are based on the false belief of reincarnation.'

He is usually revered as a gifted and sensitive orator.
But President Obama has caused outrage with his Thanksgiving speech - after neglecting to make reference to God.
The president used the festive radio address to express his gratitude to U.S. service members.

Her assailant arrived at the house when her mother left for a brief visit to the hospital.
'He had filthy clothes on as he does metal and construction work,' she told CNN in an exclusive interview.
'He closed doors and windows. I started screaming, but he shut me up by putting his hands on my mouth,' she said. After the attack, she hid what happened as long as she could. But soon she began showing the signs of morning sickness.
She received not sympathy but prosecution. But she appreciates she is lucky to get a second chance.
Many women in her position have been killed, for the shame such incidents bring on the community.
Now, if she marries her attacker she has a chance to restore her honour and to give her child a family.

The secular world practices  gender, sexual, and ethnic equality, and stands with its victims without exception. The religious community fights literally against the notion of equality.

The secular world stands in  solidarity,  rejecting  the ownership of human beings, the slavery of men, women and children.

Luke 12:47-48

 ^{47 "}And that slave, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

 ⁴⁸But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." ~ Jesus Christ

The religious community preaches as a matter of doctrine, dominion over everyone and  everything.

^{Genesis 1:27.....}So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male...

 ^{28 ...}replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Which life  is  the religious truly seeking power in?

The secular world supports the use of contraceptives as a means of birth control, and to slow the spread of STD's such as the deadly AIDS virus.

The religious community adamantly forbids the use birth control, even in the case of AIDS, which it views as the "work of the Lord,"  thus  ensuring the poorest people on earth will have the most children and  the shortest lives.

Support for stoning

 In hadith

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 50: Conditions, Number 885:  A bedouin came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's apostle! I ask you by Allah to judge My case according to Allah's Laws." His opponent, who was more learned than he, said, "Yes, judge between us according to Allah's Laws, and allow me to speak." Allah's Apostle said, "Speak." He (i .e. the bedouin or the other man) said, "My son was working as a laborer for this (man) and he committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife. The people told me that it was obligatory that my son should be stoned to death, so in lieu of that I ransomed my son by paying one hundred sheep and a slave girl. Then I asked the religious scholars about it, and they informed me that my son must be lashed one hundred lashes, and be exiled for one year, and the wife of this (man) must be stoned to death." Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, I will judge between you according to Allah's Laws. The slave-girl and the sheep are to be returned to you, your son is to receive a hundred lashes and be exiled for one year. You, Unais, go to the wife of this (man) and if she confesses her guilt, stone her to death." Unais went to that woman next morning and she confessed. Allah's Apostle ordered that she be stoned to death.

A survey carried out by the Indonesia Survey Institute found that 43% of Indonesians support Rajam or stoning for adulterers.

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found relatively widespread popular support for stoning as a punishment for adultery in Egypt (82% of respondents in favor of the punishment), Jordan (70% in favor), Indonesia (42% in favor), Pakistan (82% favor) and Nigeria (56% in favor).

As a matter of principal, which is more important, defending gender equality and human rights where needed, or defending the rights of the religious to practice this barbarism?

I find it strange, those who can easily point out  the obvious offensiveness and   absurdity of Fred Phelps' (Westboro  Baptist Church) literal  preaching of the Bible, and by the same token,  view any and all criticism of Islam as equally offensive.

Religious moderates are, in large part, responsible for the religious conflict in our world, because their beliefs provide the context in which scriptural literalism and religious violence can never be adequately opposed. ~ Sam Harris

 There is no middle ground, you must choose  principals or promises.

Is the United States “chosen by God and commissioned by history to be a model to the world”? Anybody claiming to have the answer to that question—as George W. Bush once seemed to do—would be a fool. For a start, what would be his sources of information? And how good a historian would he be? In the long view, very few of the survivors of the Roman Empire would have predicted that the inhabitants of the frozen and backward British Isles would be among the next builders of a global system, but so it proved. And there was no question that the British or English, especially the Protestant fundamentalist ones, believed that they had God on their side. In fact, I know of no European state that doesn’t have some kind of national myth to the same effect. The problem, as everybody knows, is that not all these myths can be simultaneously right.

A former teacher in Colorado Springs is facing up to ten years in jail after being charged with having sex with one of her teenage students–with the illegal affair covered up by her father.Terah Allyn Rawlings, 32, is alleged to have first seduced the teen half her age as they sat in her car.They continued to have sex for over a year and the relationship was common knowledge among staff at the Hilltop Baptist Church.

Police said that Ortega had become 'obsessed' with Obama and that God had given him a personal mission to attack the White House.'He hates the president, he hates Washington, he hates society,' another official told the Washington Post.Gunfire was heard between the White House and the Washington Monument on Friday evening. An abandoned car with an assault rifle with a scope and nine spent shell casings were later discovered by police inside.

Didn’t Jesus preach nonviolence and “loving one’s enemies”? The anti-Muslim ideologues use this idea to assault the religion of Islam with. For example, the Catholic apologist Robert Spencer compares Islam to Christianity by juxtaposing carefully selected quotes from Jesus to Islamic texts. In his book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), Spencer includes a “Muhammad vs Jesus” section. He cites the following sayings of Jesus in the Bible:
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
“If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also”
“Blessed are the peacemakers”
“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy”
“But love your enemies, and do good”These “peaceful” verses of the Bible are compared to select violent-sounding Quranic verses. The violent verses of the Bible “don’t count” and are craftily excluded from the comparison (“that’s just the Old Testament!”). To tighten the noose, peaceful verses of the Quran are also excluded from the heavily biased analysis: these “don’t count” since they are supposedly from when Muhammad was still in Mecca.

Jordan: Muslim cuts sister's throat to cleanse family honor
It is no accident or coincidence that Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. A manual of Islamic law certified as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy by Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, says that "retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right." However, "not subject to retaliation" is "a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring." ('Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2). In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law.
Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but "the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour 'provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.'" And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that "Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values."

It's meant to be the season of goodwill.But this year a bitter billboard war over the meaning of Christmas is set to break out across America.American Atheists, the organisation that sparked anger among believers last year with its anti-Christmas message, is doing it again.

Charles Manson's personal executioner, Charles "Tex" Watson, who butchered men, women,  children and the un-born in a religious orgy of death, is up for parole.

From MSN:

Watson married and divorced in prison and has four children from conjugal visits, but his family did not respond to a request for comment that was left through the website that promotes Watson's prison ministry, www.aboundinglove.org.

...Watson has argued that he is a changed man who has been a model prisoner and no longer is a danger to the public.

in 2006  was portrayed in a psychiatric evaluation  as "a very devout fundamentalist Christian ..."

The idea of religious forgiveness is not only absurd and a contemptible one, but also extremely dangerous. Especially  beholden such ideals before an actual crime is committed. Christians then have the nerve  to tell us, "Tex" has been forgiven and will be seated on the right hand of the father, whilst  some of his non Christian and non-baptised victims are now being tortured in hell for eternity, for  submitting not to the "correct" god.

Mohammad Shafia 'spoke to second wife about "treacherous" daughters'

Both standing trial in Ontario with son, charged with first degree murder
Gruesome video footage of submerged car where they were found is shown

Afghani father felt 'ashamed' that eldest daughter had married Pakistani boy
Shafia, 58, had seven children in total with wife Tooba Yahya, 41

Officials told the BBC that religious leaders had been issuing fatwas - edicts - asking for reports on anyone who was 'involved in adultery'.Earlier this year horrific video footage emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death for alleged adultery in northern Afghanistan.
It took place in the district of Dashte Archi, in Kunduz, and was met with outrage in the West.
However, a Taliban spokesman defended the practice, saying: ‘Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law.
'There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country.'

It would be hard to find anyone in the bible that God liked more than David.

He was directly selected by God to be king, and "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward."

And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. 1 Sam.16:10-13

His heart "was perfect with the Lord" and "the Lord God of hosts was with him."

David ... grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him. 2 Sam.5:10

His [Solomon's] heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 1 Kg.11:4, 15:3

He walked in God's ways and kept his statutes.

And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 1 Kg.3:14

And (with the exception of the matter of Uriah the Hitite) he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord in his every act throughout his lifetime.

Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 1 Kg.15:5

He was, according to Acts, a man after God's own heart.

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the [son] of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. Acts 13:22 (See also 1 Sam.13:14)

So if we want to know what type of person God likes, we need only look at David. Those who believe in the bible should try hard to imitate David, to always ask themselves "What would David Do?" in any particular situation.

With that in mind, then, let's look at some of David's godly acts.

• He kills Goliath with his sling, beheads him, and carries the head back to Jerusalem. 1 Sam.17:51-57

   

• He and Saul have a contest to see who can kill the most people for God, and the women act as cheerleaders saying, "Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." 1 Sam.18:6-7

   

• He kills 200 Philistines and brings their foreskins to Saul to buy his first wife (Saul's daughter Michal). 1 Sam.18:25-27

   

• He acts like he's crazy, scribbles on the gates of Gath, and lets spit run down his beard. All this he did in front of Israel's enemies in the hopes that they would take him in and protect him from Saul. 1 Sam.21:12

   

• He "inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines ... So David smote them with a great slaughter." 1 Sam.23:2-5

   

• He vows to kill "any that pisseth against the wall." 1 Sam.25:22, 34

   

• He "smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive." 1 Sam.27:8-11

   

• He had many (like Joseph Smith, no one knows how many) wives. 1 Sam.30:5

   

• He tells one of his "young men" to kill the Amalekite messenger who claimed to have mercifully killed Saul at Saul's own request. 2 Sam.1:15

   

• When Joab (David's captain) kills Abner, David says that he and his kingdom are not responsible. The blame, he says, lays with Joab. So David curses Joab, his family, and their descendants forever. Let them all be plagued with venereal diseases and leprosy, starve to death, commit suicide, or lean on staves. 2 Sam.3:27-29

   

• Some of David's men kill Saul's son and bring his head to David, thinking that he'll be pleased. But he wasn't. David has the assassins killed, their hands and feet chopped off, and their bodies hung up (for decorations?) over the pool in Hebron. 2 Sam.4:6-7

   

• He says that whoever kills the lame and the blind will be his "chief and captain." 2 Sam.5:8

   

• He asks God if he should kill some more Philistines. God says yes, and he'll even help. So David and God "smote the Philistines" again. 2 Sam.5:19, 25

   

• He dances nearly naked in front of God and everybody. Michal criticizes him for it and Godpunishes her by having "no child unto the day of her death." 2 Sam.6:14, 20-22

   

• He kills two thirds of the Moabites and makes the rest slaves. He also cripples the captured horses. 2 Sam.8:2-4

   

• He kills and tortures thousands of people, "and the Lord preserved David withersoever he went." 2 Sam.8:6, 14

   

• He sees a woman (Bathsheba) bathing and likes what he sees. so he sends for her and commits adultery with her "for she was purified from her uncleanness." She conceives and bears a son (which God later kills to punish David). 2 Sam.11:2-5

   

• He tells Joab (his captain) to send Bathseba's husband (Uriah) to "the forefront of the hottest battle ... that he may be smitten and die." In this way, David gets another wife. 2 Sam.11:15, 17, 27 (This is the only thing he ever did wrong. Everything else was "right in the eyes of the Lord.")

   

• He tortured or enslaved (depending on translation) the inhabitants of several cities. 2 Sam.12:31, 1 Chr.20:1-3

   

• He shows unusual restraint and "went not in unto his concubines." Instead, he imprisons them as a punishment for being raped by David's son, Absalom. 2 Sam.20:3

   

• To appease God and end the famine that was caused by his predecessor (Saul), David agrees to have seven of Saul's sons killed and hung up "unto the Lord." 2 Sam.21:6-9

   

• Old King David tries to get some heat by having a beautiful virgin minister unto him. 1 Kg.1:1-4

   

• In David's last words, he commands his son Solomon to murder Joab. 1 Kg.2:5-9

So if you believe and trust in the Bible, you should try to follow the example of David in everything you do. Just ask yourself in any situation, "What would David do?", and then do likewise. That way you can be sure to do (just like David did) "that which is right in the eyes of the Lord."

"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."~ Jesus Christ John 12:25

Jesus was a hypocrite.

He told his followers not to call anyone a fool.

Whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Matthew 5:22

Yet he often called his critics and disciples fools.

Ye fools and blind. Matthew 23:17, 19

Ye fools. Luke 11:40

O fools, and slow of heart to believe. Luke 24:25

He invented George W. Bush's false dichotomy.

He that is not with me is against me. Matthew 12:30, Luke 11:230

 

He told his followers to hate their families.

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26

He insisted that his followers love him more than anyone else (including their families).

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:37

He criticized the Pharisees for not killing parent-cursing children.

*****No time out, no talking about it, maybe a light spanking? No!!! Jesus demands we slaughter them. Jesus wants parents to put their own children to the sword and kiss his all powerful butt.***

He encouraged his followers to mutilate themselves to avoid hell.

Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out ... And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Matthew 5:28-30

If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Matthew 18:8-9

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off ... And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off ... And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9:43-48

He was a false prophet. *** If you think about it, Harold Camping was better at predicting End of Days ***

Verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. Matthew 10:23

Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32

Behold, I come quickly. Revelation 3:11, 22:7, 22:11, 22:20

He inspired the Republican Tea Party.

He believed in a God (himself?) who had his enemies slaughtered in front of him.

He talked complete nonsense about the end of the world.

In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. Mark 13:8, 24-25, Matthew 24:3-30, Luke 21:10-11

His friends thought he was insane. His family didn't believe in him. Many that saw him up close and personal thought he was mad and possessed by a devil.

http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2010/11/reasons-to-be-ashamed-and-not-fan-of.html

Dwindling In Unbelief Complete list here

A nurse who threw her hands into the air and begged for Jesus to help as a baby suffered a heart attack has been thrown out of the profession.Omolayo Abayomi 'panicked' when the child, who suffered from a chronic lung disease, turned blue and stopped breathing in his cot at home.The 51-year-old called for divine intervention more than 20 times before the vulnerable boy's mother told her to 'shut up'.'The nurse was constantly saying "Jesus help him" and waving her arms around,' a hearing was told.
The nurse 'provided wholly inadequate care' by leaving the frantic mother to resuscitate her lifeless son, while the father dialled 999.Abayomi was found guilty of a string of charges by the Nursing and Midwifery Council at a hearing in central London.

From Right Wing Watch:
This whole thing is about Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender History Month. So my question again, if this is about homosexual history month, are they going to feature all the homosexuals that had an enormous impact on history?
Are they going to feature John Wayne Gacy? He’s the homosexual pedophile, remember, that killed thirty-three young boys and young teenagers and buried them under the crawlspace in his house. He was a homosexual. Is he going to be a part of their display?
Adolf Hitler had a record as a homosexual prostitute in the streets of Vienna in the 1910s. He was denied promotions in the German military in World War I because of his homosexual behavior. He formed the Nazi Party in a homosexual bar, a gay bar, in Munich. All of his enforcers, almost every one of the Brownshirts; all the officers and almost all the Brownshirts were homosexuals. Is that going to be a part of Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender Month? We will wait to see.

** Warning Very Disturbing **

The FBI gave the standard profile of a serial killer, He is a person with few friends. He became much more religious just before he started murdering people. Almost all serial killers start quoting one verse after another from the Christian Bible.

Nearly all serial killers are very devout men who were raised by members of Pentecostal sects, fundamentalist Catholics or were 'hard-shell' Baptists and Methodists."

Studies after study show serial killers are a product of this environment, not genetics.

You can find much information on serial killers being sexually inhibited and there views on sex and religion at http://www.crimelibrary.com/serials/what/whatlust.htm

The worst in the U.S.

Gary Ridgway killed as many as 60 women,  more murders than any serial killer in U.S. history. ~ In the late '70s Gary became fanatical about religion.  He would go from door to door proselytizing for a Pentecostal church and would be infuriated when people refused to listen to him. At home he would sit in front of the television with a Bible open on his lap, and he often cried after attending church services.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,250023,00.html#ixzz1choNufdv

The Worst of the Worst:

The 'Monster of the Andes' 

Pedro Alonzo Lopez was born in Tolmia, Colombia, in 1949. The son of a penniless prostitute, Pedro was the seventh of 13 children. In 1957, at the age of 8, Pedro's mother caught him having sexual relations with his younger sister, and his worst nightmare became a reality — he was exiled to the streets and ordered never to return home again.

Deuteronomy 22:23-24 King James Version (KJV)

 ²³If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

 ²⁴Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

Answered Prayers:

18-year-old Pedro was arrested by authorities for car theft and sentenced to serve seven years in prison. He served just two days behind bars before being brutally gang-raped by four older inmates. Pedro swore to himself that no one would ever touch him again. In retaliation, he fashioned a crude knife from prison utensils and spent the following two weeks getting his revenge by individually murdering each of the four men that had raped him.

Upon his release from prison in 1978, Pedro traveled widely throughout Peru. It was during this time that he later claimed to have begun stalking and killing at least 100 young girls from various Indian tribes throughout the region. He was captured by a group of Ayacuchos, in northern Peru, while attempting to kidnap a 9-year-old girl. The Indians stripped and tortured Pedro for hours before deciding to bury him alive. Nonetheless, luck was apparently on his side, because an American Christian missionary intervened and convinced his captors that murder was ungodly and that they should turn Pedro over to the proper authorities.  They reluctantly agreed and remanded their prisoner over to the Peruvian authorities. Not wanting to waste time investigating petty Indian complaints, the Peruvian Government deported Pedro back to Ecuador. * Thus freeing him to kill again and again and again *

Carvina Poveda, was shopping at a local marketplace with her 12-year-old daughter Marie, when an unknown man attempted to abduct the young girl. Carvina cried out for help as the man tried to flee the market with her daughter in his arms. Local merchants quickly came to her aide, chased the man down before he could make his escape, and held him down as the authorities were summoned.

Pedro confessed to investigators that he had murdered at least 110 girls in Ecuador, 100 in Colombia, and "many more than 100" in Peru. "I like the girls in Ecuador," he told them. "They are more gentle and trusting, more innocent. He always searched for his victims in full daylight, because he did not want darkness to hide their throes of death from him. When asked what he meant by this, Pedro explained that he would first rape his victim, and then strangle them as he stared into their eyes. He claimed to feel deep pleasure and sexual excitement watching their life fade before him.

The investigators' doubts soon began to vanish when Pedro led them to a secluded area in the vicinity of Ambato, where they discovered the remains of 53 girls, aged eight to twelve.

Pedro Alonzo Lopez ~

"I went after my victims by walking among the markets searching for a girl with a certain look on her face — a look of innocence and beauty. She would be a good girl, working with her mother. I followed them sometimes for two or three days, waiting for when she was left alone. I would give her a trinket like a hand mirror, then take her to the edge of town where I would promise a trinket for her mother.

"I would take her to a secret hideaway where prepared graves waited. Sometimes there were bodies of earlier victims there. I cuddled them and then raped them at sunrise. At the first sign of light I would get excited. I forced the girl into sex and put my hands around her throat. When the sun rose I would strangle her.

"It was only good if I could see her eyes, it would have been wasted in the dark — I had to watch them by daylight. There is a divine moment when I have my hands around a young girl's throat. I look into her eyes and see a certain light, a spark, suddenly go out. The moment of death is enthralling and exciting.

"The moment of death is enthralling and exciting. Only those who actually kill know what I mean."

"When I am released I will feel that moment again."

An A&E Biography documentary reports that he was released by Ecuadorian prison on 31 August 1994, and re-arrested an hour later as an illegal immigrant, and handed over to Colombian authorities who charged him with a twenty year old murder. He was found to be insane and held in a psychiatric wing of a Bogotá hospital. In 1998 he was declared sane, and released on $50 bail. The same documentary says that Interpol released an advisory for his re-arrest by Colombian authorities over a fresh murder in 2002. He has not been heard from or seen since his release and to date, no one knows if López is dead or alive.

Of Perfect Faith:

Pedro spent his years in prison professing his love for Jesus, quoting scripture and  carving Jesus' likeness into coins. Upon his release from prison, which can be seen on film, he praised the Lord for granting him this, "Great fortune." He  claimed by killing these little girls, he was doing them a favor, and for certain, and most importantly,   "The work of the Lord." He also claimed Jesus had granted him the power to give life and take it away.

Christian Bible: The Gospel of John

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery;

Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

"Let He of Perfect Faith Cast the First Stone." ~ Jesus Christ

 

 And so he did.

As a final insult, many of Padro's victims practiced native religions, and were non-Christians. The Christian Bible tell us, as long as Pedro accepts Jesus Christ as his personal savior, all is forgiven and Padro will be seated on right hand side of the Father in Heaven, whilst his little victims, terrorized and tortured in this life will once again be terrorized and tortured  in the next, for not.

That should be all the convincing one needs to reason, religion is antithetical to ethics and morality.

 http://youtu.be/JkmLZUzZ3dA Biography A & E