Back in March, I mentioned (Bush supports Satanism) a very strange and mixed “religious liberties” case in front of the Supremes; it’s now been decided:

As noted earlier…

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 requires states…to allow prisoners to practice their religions unless the government can show some compelling reason (of, say, safety) to constrain that religious practice… this seems like a law that grants to those with some religion “a right that no atheist or agnostic can enjoy”… [but] in the current case… a Wiccan and a Satanist claimed that they were denied access to “religious literature, ceremonial items and time to worship”. Ohio didn’t want to accommodate this (even though they hadn’t minded when it was Xian bible study) and argued that “although intended to protect the rights of prisoners, the law amounts to an unconstitutional government promotion of religion” - getting it right, but for the wrong reason…. now, for consistency, we have the Bush/Gonzales DoJ arguing on the side of the Satanists. Which… makes it all kind of worth it.

The Supremes today decided unanimously in favor of the Wiccans and Satanists, with liberal stalwart Ginsberg writing the opinion (”High Court Sides With Inmates on Religion“). And although I’d have preferred the other way, I can’t help but like the idea that the Bushies have helped make the world a little more hospitable to Satanists. Hey, if atheist reading groups get the same consideration, I could even agree with the decision.movie maker downloadclips scene sex moviemovie porn freemovies sample pornmovies pregnant sexmovie private schoolmovies vibration sapphicsex home moviedownload free movies shemaledoors movie sliding

About a month ago, I pointed out (in God is for Suckers gets censored by net filtering software) that the commercial SonicWALL Content Filtering System (used by Panera Bread for the free wi-fi access they provide at their eateries) had put GifS on their “banned” list, classifying us as “Cult/Occult” (defined as being a site “sponsored by prominent organized modern religious groups that are identified as “cults” by three or more authoritative sources… that promote or offer methods, means of instruction, or other resources to affect or influence real events through the use of spells, curses, magic powers or supernatural beings.”)

Since nothing in that description applies to GifS, I wrote them a polite but puzzled note, pointing out that someone had clearly made an error, since we were being blocked for reasons that didn’t in the least apply to this site.

I never got a response; but about a week ago, they lifted the block.

Seems likely that SonicWALL has a “path of least resistance” model: Somebody doesn’t like a site, or some bot of theirs discovers clustering of words it doesn’t like (maybe religion - magical - invisible - evil - kill for “Cult/Occult”?), and they blacklist it. Somebody complains, and they take it off the blacklist — unless it obviously “belongs” there, like www.assfuckers.com. “False positives? We don’t care about no steenkin’ false positives.” If so, their evil is that of pathetic systematic bad technique rather than that of targeting particular viewpoints on controversial topics.

More empirical testing is obviously needed. I think I’ll send them a mainstream religious site or two which does meet their “Cult/Occult” standard, and see what happens.

So there’s another one of those Creationism Theme Parks with the usual fucked-up, dysfunctional fanfare:

To one side, peering through the bushes, are Adam and Eve. The display is not an image of the Cretaceous. It is Paradise.

And then you get the usual cult-glassy-eyed responses from polling in Amerikkka (i.e., the “Intellectual Culture”):

Even as America’s scientists make advances in palaeontology, astronomy and physics that appear to disprove creationism, Gallup surveys have shown that about 45 per cent of Americans believe the Earth was created by God within the past 10,000 years.

Yeah, yeah, whatever. So far, nothing new. But then comes the punch-line:

It is not just creationism either. Last week NBC’s Dateline current affairs programme, equivalent to the BBC’s Newsnight, investigated miracles. It concluded some could be real.

Ummm…excuse me? Huh? Does anyone know anything about this?

I just tossed off a quick note to the “God Squad” column (”How to keep faith when grandpa’s a vocal atheist“) in NewsDay (NY/LI) which I’ll share here:

Once again, your column spreads anti-atheist slander — this time, in your “How to keep faith when grandpa’s a vocal atheist”, where you claim that “without God, most kids never learn that they have been put here to serve others, not just themselves”.

And which study indicates this? I do know of studies that atheists are highly underrepresented among convicted criminals, but none which indicated that those raised atheist are less other-directed, compassionate, or altruistic than those raised, say, Baptist. In fact, my experience is just the opposite — that those raised as atheists tend to be more reflective about their moral place in the world, and as a result, often embrace highly moral perspectives, and manage to overcome many prejudicial dogmas of the society around them.

Imagine people’s reactions if you had instead said “without Jesus, most kids never learn that they have been put here to serve others, not just themselves”? Of course, you wouldn’t say that. And not because the evidential status of that claim is so different; but because you — and most other in our society — understand how offensive that would be to the millions of Jews, Muslims, and others in our society. But you obviously don’t think the godless among us deserve the same respect and courtesy.

I guess this kind of puts the lie to your earlier claim that it’s prejudice against people of strong faith that’s the last remaining acceptable prejudice in the culture.

Addendum: I was just reminded (by Brent of the always-worthwhile UTI) of a piece I linked a couple of years ago that’s worth another look in this context: The really excellent talk by science writer Natalie Angier called “Raising Children With Secular Values In A Religious World“.

As those of you who read the Raving Atheist know, he regularly critiques the God Squad column from Newsday, in which a priest and a rabbi walk into a bar — uh, I mean, answer reader letters about questions of faith.

The May 7th God Squad entry (”God Squad: Anti-religious bias has multiple roots“) is really worth reading, as is RA’s critique (”God Squad Review CXXVII: Atheist Persecution of Christians“). The Invisible-Daddy lovers consider the reasons why it is that, as they say, “the last acceptable prejudice in our society is the prejudice against people who take their faith seriously”. RA does a decent job of taking them to task for spouting the standard Big Lie about how Friends of God are really the ones being oppressed, because a small minority (that would be us) sometimes make fun of them for their idiocy.

The “oppression” and “predjudice” faced by “people of faith” has become the Big Lie of the current plunge toward theocracy.

Nice piece over at Common Dreams by Reverend Carlton W. Veazey, “On the Brink of ‘Theocracy’“. A few teasers:

Progressives who think warnings about “theocracy” are an exaggeration should take a closer look at “Justice Sunday: Filibustering People of Faith,” the Christian Right telethon headlined by Senate Majority Leader William Frist… I think we are teetering on the brink of theocracy and the Christian Right could conceivably use the battle over the judiciary and weakening support for reproductive rights to push us over the edge. Unfortunately, although Frist has been vigorously, and appropriately, criticized for his poor judgment and political opportunism in taking part in the telethon, the greater problem of sectarian religious manipulation of public policy debates has been minimized…

The Christian Right’s posture in the showdown over the “nuclear option” has been a stark lesson in how religious language and imagery are inappropriately seeping into government and politics. First, of course, religion is defined as a particular religion and then defined further as a particular brand of that religion so as to exclude all other views and versions as irreligious, immoral, or wrong…Millions of mainstream, moderate people of faith, and people who profess no faith, are concerned about more than the filibuster and confirming a handful of judges-they are concerned about the direction of their country and the future of a vibrant, inclusive democracy.

Well worth a read; pretty sane and sensible words coming from a longtime friend of the Big Imaginary Friend. Check it out.

We’ve all heard about the Virgin Mary apparition in Chicago. But what you might not have heard is that those dependable good xians at the Landover Baptist Church have revealed the truth about the story: Roadside Shrine to the Virgin Mary’s Impenetrable Vagina. Excellent job, LBC.

Always nice to go to the White House for Kids, and check out those examples of Patriotic Coloring.loan 6.00not 7 loan payday 10interest 20 only loan 80auto 9 loan military 9loans uk 90 home the inuk aa personal loanscollege loans aaafha about loan Map9 loan 9 brokerflorida loan signing agentloans $3,500loan affiliate payday programrate loans agriculture equipmentloans home 40-yearva alabama loan foreclosuremortgage loan texas 50000 Map