Christian Charity

BBC News: No exemption from gay rights law

[Catholic] Adoption agencies had warned they would close rather than place children with gay couples, saying that went against their beliefs.
But Tony Blair said they would get 21 months to prepare for change, calling this a "sensible compromise".

Good ol' Christian Charity. The Catholic Church in England doesn't want to let children in its orphanages be given away to gay parents, and wants to be exempt from anti-discrimination laws that say they have to.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, head of Catholics in England and Wales, said this: "We are, of course, deeply disappointed that no exemption will be granted to our agencies on the grounds of widely held religious conviction and conscience."

"Widely held religious conviction and conscience"? I believe he means "widely held religious bigotry and homophobia".

How is denying adoption to gays any different than denying it to, say, black people? I suppose the difference would be that if an organization wanted to deny adoption privileges to a black couple, that organization would not be able to justify its intolerance and irrationality with the base prejudices of an antiquated mythical tradition.

I applaud Tony Blair for taking a firm stand and declaring that "There is no place in our society for discrimination." Bigotry is bigotry, regardless of whether it tries to cloak itself in the false legitimacy of religious belief.

One last thing: Catholic orphanages "would close rather than place children with gay couples"? Now that's the kind of dedicated intolerance at which religion excels. They would rather see orphans starve on the street than see them corrupted by the pernicious influence of loving same-sex parents.

The Real Second Amendment

Here's another dose of specious reasoning from Senator Sam Brownback's presidential campaign site (from the 'issues' section):

Gun Rights/Second Amendment
At the heart of the Bill of Rights is the Second Amendment. This Amendment guarantees an individual the right to keep and bear arms, which is essential, as the Amendment itself affirms, to “the security of a free state.”

So there you have it. According to Senator Brownback, the Second Amendment says that the right to keep and bear arms is essential to the security of a free state.

Now let's look at what the amendment actually says:

AMENDMENT II.
A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Res ipsa loquitor, you illiterate hick. The Second Amendment makes it clear that the right to keep and bear arms is CONTINGENT upon the existence and necessity of a militia. It is the militia - NOT the guns themselves - that are affirmed as being "essential". That's because, at the time the constitution was written, the United States did not have a standing army. The American army was raised on an ad hoc basis - which means that once we found ourselves in armed conflict, we decided to start rounding up some people to fight. Militias could add to the "security of a free State" by acting as first responders until a proper army was raised (like the Minutemen in the Revolutionary War).

Today - over two centuries later - America has the most well-funded and expertly trained standing army in the world. Our soldiers are no longer civilians who keep a gun in the closet and attend a monthly militia drill out on the town square. Today's army is comprised of trained professionals who make a career out of defending the country, and they're quite good at it. We don't need a militia anymore, and therefore we don't need guns.

But even if it were the guns, and not the militia, that the Second Amendment affirms as vital to national security, my point would still be valid. Senator Brownback, how exactly is it that arming ordinary citizens makes anyone any safer? Personally, I think protecting the right of any jerk with $400 to buy a lethal firearm undermines the security of a modern free State.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution must be revised or rejected, because in its current state it is obsolete.

PS: Where does Brownback get off saying that the Second Amendment is "at the heart of the Bill of Rights"?? What about the First or Fifth Amendments? I think most non-homicidal Americans would choose free speech, freedom of religion, or due process of law over gun rights any day. I'd say the First Amendment is the heart of the Bill of Rights; the Second Amendment is more like the ass.

Thomas Paine: Rational American

I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.
The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.
Your affectionate friend and fellow citizen,
THOMAS PAINE.

-From the preface to The Age of Reason (1794)

The Last Thing We Need

Senator Sam Brownback (Retard - KS) is one of the GOP's "virtuecrats" that make the Republican party so repulsive to anyone with a functioning brain. Read his presidential campaign page - the most salient point of his strategy for helping America seems to be prayer. Like that'll do a damn bit of good. (On the other hand, maybe it really will: I'd rather that Brownback waste his time praying than passing legislation to advance his theocratic agenda.)

In a recent speech, Brownback made his stance quite clear on the relationship between church and state: "The last thing we need in America," he said, "is to take God out of our public lives and institutions!"

If that's true, than our Founding Fathers really screwed up. There is no mention of God in the United States Constitution.

But fortunately, it's not true. Taking God out of public life is exactly what this country needs. God deserves no place in politics, not only because he isn't real, but also because including him in public institutions is unfair to citizens who are too intelligent to base their value systems on belief in a mythical deity and hope of reward after death.

The last thing we need in America is more evangelical idiots from Kansas.

The State of Our Union

The State of the Union Speech 2007: A Concise Summary

"Madam Speaker: The President of the United States." Applause. Nancy Pelosi presents President Bush. Applause. President Bush makes flattering remarks about Nancy Pelosi being first female Speaker. Applause. President Bush begins speech with vague assertions about strength and confidence of nation. Applause. President continues to talk. Applause continues to interrupt. Camera zooms in on Ted Kennedy, who looks like he's napping because he's looking down to read. President talks about not raising taxes. Lots of applause. President talks about economy. Applause. President talks about medicare. Applause. President goes into long talk about national security and the war on terror. Frequent allusions to 9/11, frequent applause. President proposes energy reform. Much applause. President introduces an altruistic NBA player, a successful entrepreneur, a heroic soldier, and a guy who saved someone from being hit by a train, and bullshits his way into making them somehow relevant to his speech. Rancorous applause. President talks more about national security and other foreign policy issues. Applause. President makes plea for working together. Applause. Thank you, may God continue to bless etc, applause applause applause.

Jim Webb (D-VA) gives Democratic response. Reads carefully off teleprompter. Says Bush better listen to Democrats now that they have power.

Wolf Blitzer and other talking heads analyze the speech, debate its various implications, and generally fail to say anything of real value or interest.

Ancient Delusions

From BBC News: Ancient Greek gods' new believers

If you think it's crazy that there are people walking around today who believe in the gods of ancient Greece, ask yourself: why is that any more crazy or idiotic than, say, belief in Judaism or Christianity?

Both belief systems feature ancient cultural roots, mythical stories, impressive feats of architecture, and promises of an afterlife. There's no more evidence for the existence of the Judeo-Christian God than there is for that of the ancient Greek gods, and the rituals of the ancient Greeks aren't especially more ridiculous than those of Judaism and Christianity. When you really think about it, the only difference is that the Greek gods have fallen out of fashion.

The article cites a Greek orthodox priest who calls the group of worshippers "a handful of miserable resuscitators of a degenerate dead religion who wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past". But of course he would say that. He himself is a perpetuator of a degenerate, but still fashionable, religion who wishes to continue the monstrous dark delusions of the present, so he's angry probably because he's worried about copyright infringement.

Have a "good time"

Part 2 in my series of PICTURES OF RUINED ENGLISH comes from Philladelphia! City of the Liberty Bell, the Cheese Steak, and apparently, "Good Times".



Once again, superfluous quotation marks add an air of suspicion to an otherwise respectable sign. This restaurant put quotes around "BEST" and "GOOD TIMES", presumably in a misguided attempt at adding emphasis. It's possible that they're actually quoting someone, but grammatical ignorance is more likely.


Either way, the quotes suggest that the reader should be skeptical. So, you've got the "BEST" MARGARITAS? According to whom? "GOOD TIMES" SINCE 1978? That just looks sarcastic! It's as if the manager wants you to think that this is the "BEST" place for "GOOD TIMES", but the guy making the sign knows that they've got roaches in the kitchen and 2 pending lawsuits for food poisoning. Underlining would have added the emphasis they wanted without making it look like they're giving you the old nudge-nudge wink-wink as they say it.


Thanks to KW for contributing the photos.

Just A Theory

Despite that all of modern biology is based on the theory of evolution, there still exist numerous religious and otherwise stupid people in our society who doubt the reality of the evolutionary process.

These people can commonly be heard declaring, with grave authority: "Evolution is, after all, just a theory."

And they're right. Evolution is a theory.

But so is gravity.

So the next time someone tells you that evolution is "just a theory", tell them to go jump off a bridge.

A Thought During Takeoff

Flight Attendant [over intercom]: "The captain would like to remind you to fasten your seatbelt..."

Me: The captain? Does he know something I don't?

Galileo

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

-Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Too bad the Church didn't feel the same way. Poor Galileo was convicted of heresy and put under house arrest for the rest of his life - all because he had the outrageous audacity to suggest that the sun does not revolve around the Earth.

The Bible - which was written many centuries before even the telescope was invented - implied that the Earth was at the center of the whole universe. And the Church believed the innocent scientific ignorance of this ancient book of myths as the Absolute Truth. So that was that. Galileo, one of the most brilliant thinkers in history, was dismissed as nothing but a simple heretic.

That's the trouble with religion: it always requires you to forgo sense, reason, and intellect. This practice of forgoing rational thought is called faith, which is a euphimism for stupidity and is a prerequisite for all religious thinking.

Fear

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

-Marie Curie