Church invites jobless to place resumes on altar – CNN Belief Blog – CNN.com Blogs

Church invites jobless to place resumes on altar – CNN Belief Blog – CNN.com Blogs.

Seriously?  Look people, instead of driving off to church to put your resume on the altar, how about you stay home and do some more job hunting?

And what happens in more than one person is sending their resume off to the same job? If one person gets the job, does that mean god doesn’t like the other people as much?  Doesn’t god have more important things to do, like tell more GOP asshats to run for President?

On the other hand, ‘god’ clearly hasn’t been busy answer Rick Perry’s prayers for rain or putting an end to the wildfires ravaging Texas, so maybe god really is just an unknowable, invisible HR department worker.

Rick Perry Enters the Race (And his Top 5 Anti-Gay bullet points)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Examples of Perry’s Anti-Gay Agenda | ThinkProgress.

The other day on the FOX news website, they had an article asking if Rick Perry’s entrance into the presidential campaign was a “game changer”.  My reply, naturally, is that no it doesn’t change the game much at all.  If anything, he’s nothing more than a male version of Michelle Bachmann:  anti-gay/anti-choice/fundamentalist…. the only thing Perry hasn’t done is compare himself to a serial killer yet.

So the good news is that Perry will split the religious zealot vote between himself and Michelle “submission means respect despite that not being the actual definition” Bachmann.    The bad news is, he will never get the GOP nomination.  I say that’s bad news because it would almost certainly guarantee another four years of a Democratic president.

No, there will be no Perry or Bachmann on the ticket, not even in a VP position.  Even the GOP knows they will lose more voters than they will gain by running religious zealots.   While it’s true the country does still consider religion to be an important aspect of a candidate’s viability, there’s a big difference between someone who goes to church every sunday and someone who holds christian-only rallies or has a husband who thinks gays can be “taught” to not be gay (when not comparing them to barbarians).

Smart money remains on Romney and a VP to be determined.  Maybe Jon Huntsman?

Perry Prayer Rally Puts 2012 Prospect in Spotlight – FoxNews.com

Perry Prayer Rally Puts 2012 Prospect in Spotlight – FoxNews.com.

I really don’t have a problem with Perry doing his “day of prayer”, although I find it a bit disconcerting that a potential GOP presidential candidate believes that the only way to solve the countries problems is to pray for divine intervention.  I guess I’m just one those crazy people who think that maybe if our politicians actually did some real work and put aside partisan politics, things could get better (yes, I know… dream on, right?).

I do, however, have a problem with the people financing this ‘day of prayer’.

The rally is financed by The American Family Association, a Tupelo, Miss.-based group that opposes abortion and gay rights and believes that the First Amendment freedom of religion applies only to Christians.

Obviously there is something very, very wrong with the last part of that statement.   The first amendment only applies to christians?  Well, no, clearly it doesn’t.

So my problem with Perry participating in this event is that, unless he comes out and denounces the AFA’s ridiculous position on the first amendment, then by his silence he is endorsing that belief.  Now that I have  a real problem with.

Daily Kos: You Are Not an American

“There is a big difference between a disappointing friend and a deadly enemy. Of course the Democrats are disappointing. That’s what makes them Democrats. If they were any more frustrating they’d be your relatives. But in this country they are all that stands between you and darkest night. You know why their symbol is the letter ‘D’? Because it’s a grade that means good enough, but just barely. You know why the Republican symbol is ‘R’? Because it’s the noise a pirate makes when he robs you and feeds you to a shark.”

—Bill Maher

via Daily Kos: You Are Not an American.

 

Herman Cain: Americans Have The Right To Ban Mosques | ThinkProgress

Herman Cain: Americans Have The Right To Ban Mosques | ThinkProgress.

Ok, time to vent:  Today, presidential candidate/joke Herman Cain said that communities in the U.S. have the right to ban mosques.  In other words, Cain is saying that it’s ok to violate the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, provided the discrimination is aimed at a minority he doesn’t agree with.  And this half-wit is running for President?  Worse still, this utter tool has people who actually agree with him, because they’ve been so poisoned with fear of muslims.  It is enough to make me sick.  Apparently these people who support Cain don’t seem to realize that his insane position would allow communities to discriminate against ANY religion:  “Oh Sorry, our community is mostly Jewish… we don’t want your christian church.  We don’t like your type ’round here.”  or “Heck no, we don’t want no Catholic Church around here, keep your pedophiles to yourself”.  All Cain has done is fan the flames of intolerance and say that it’s acceptable.  The man is a disgrace.

Herman Cain: Islamic Center Of Murfreesboro Would Spread Extremism

Cain … told reporters afterward that he’s concerned about the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro.

“It is an infringement and an abuse of our freedom of religion,” he said. “And I don’t agree with what’s happening, because this isn’t an innocent mosque.”

via Herman Cain: Islamic Center Of Murfreesboro Would Spread Extremism.

It’s a new mosque. What is not “innocent” about it?  That’s it’s a church for a religion Cain doesn’t like?  How is it an abuse of freedom of religion?  That muslims want a place to worship?  Perhaps Cain would like to prohibit the building of any Catholic churches for fear it will spread the influence of pedophiles?

I simply don’t get it…

There was a news article today which stated that the world’s oldest human footprints were discovered:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,501325,00.html

According to the article :

Early humans had feet like ours and left lasting impressions in the form of 1.5 million-year-old footprints, some of which were made by feet that could wear a size 9 men’s shoe.

The findings at a Northern Kenya site represent the oldest evidence of modern-human foot anatomy. They also help tell an ancestral story of humans who had fully transitioned from tree-dwellers to land walkers.

“In a sense, it’s like putting flesh on the bones,” said John Harris, an anthropologist with the Koobi Fora Field School of Rutgers University. “The prints are so well preserved.”

I posted this article to my facebook account and shortly thereafter I got a reply from a devout fundamentalist Catholic friend of mine and the debate went like so (I changed his name because it’s really not necessary to post it here):

Friend at 8:52am February 27

I remember when they found Big Foot’s footprints too.
These dates they come up with are about as scientific as my kids guessing how many jelly beans are in the jar. Don’t be gullible.

Scott Springer at 8:53am February 27

yes, it makes more sense to believe that the world was created a few thousand years ago and that humans and dinosaurs lived together in harmony.

Friend  at 8:56am February 27

Makes more sense than researchers making up dates and calling it “science”. It is an insult to anyone with a brain.

Scott Springer at 8:59am February 27

riightt… it’s crazy that scientists would be try to put a date on something using scientific methods. Truly an insult to anyone with a brain.

But telling people that the world is a few thousand years old and that a book that has been re-written dozens of times is “the truth”… nothing insulting to anyone with a brain about that I suppose.

Friend  at 9:03am February 27

What scientific method did they article say they used? That’s the point. They AREN’T using ANY “scientific” method. I’m sorry you don’t get it. But they are lying to us. There is zero evidence that the world is millions of years old.
Funny how the great barrier reef is only 4 thousand years old though….hmmmm. Yeah, what I’m asking you to believe is CRAZY. My apologies. Believe the liars instead. They want the best for you. I’m sure of it.

Scott Springer at 9:09am February 27

of course. Let’s ignore things like carbon dating and fossil records and evolution. There’s clearly no evidence to support that. We’ll just rely on the stories handed down for two thousand years that use “magic” to explain everything. That’s much more grounded in fact.

Religion = good, only want the best for you & never lies.

Science = bad. Liars.

Friend  at 9:12am February 27

The age of the great barrier relief is religion and magic?
And dating things by the “theory” of evolution is science?
Never mind. I’m wasting my breath.

Scott Springer at 9:14am February 27

Well [Friend], how are you getting the date of the Great Barrier Reef? I’m assuming there was some scientific method for getting that date, right?

Incidentally [Friend]:

‘Coral Facts:

The world’s first coral reefs occurred about 500 million years ago, and the first closeAerial Picture of a coral reef relatives of modern corals developed in southern Europe about 230 million years ago. By comparison, the Great Barrier Reef is relatively young at just 500,000 years old. The current reef’s structure is much younger at less than around 8,000 years old.”

500,000 years old. Not 4000.

source: http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/the-great-barrier-reef/coralfacts.ht

And I just don’t get it.

First, how can he make the claim that the Great Barrier Reef is 4000 years old?  I’m pretty sure there is no reference to the reef in the bible, so in order to make a claim about it’s age he had to be going by some kind of scientific measurement… the same kind of scientific measurements used to determine the age of the footprints or the dinosaurs or what have you.  So obviously he’s not adverse to trying to use science to suit his own ends, to support his belief in the Bible.   But use that same science to show the Earth is not just a few thousand years old and he’s calling them a bunch of liars who are out to scam people.

And I simply don’t get it.

Why are these people so desperate to cling to their mythology that they will actively ignore science in favor of superstition?

I simply don’t get it…

So, the Pope get’s to decide what is or isn’t a religion?

So let’s start off with the obvious:  I’m an atheist.   I have no religious convictions, no ties to any religious organization.  I do not believe in any “supreme being” or any kind of mythological diety.  I don’t have a problem with anyone having their own personal belief system.  If you’re a Jew, Catholic, Christian, Sufi, Hindu… whatever… that’s all up to you.  If it makes you happy to believe in something, more power to you.  However it does hack me off when someone decides that their religion is better than someone else’s, because every religion seems to think it’s better than another.

So apparently a former Muslim converted to Catholicism a while back and he had this statement:

He told the pope that it “is vital for the common good of the Catholic Church, the general interest of Christianity and of Western civilization itself” that the pope make a pronouncement in “a clear and binding way” on the question of whether Islam is a valid religion.

So let me get this straight:  The Pope, the head of the Catholic church, gets to decide if another religion is VALID?  Sure, why not.  And perhaps a Rabbi can decide if Hinduism is valid, and a Muslim cleric can make the decision about the validity of Catholicism.

Keep in mind that this guy, Christian (Magdi) Allam is  “a longtime critic of the Muslim faith of his parents”, so it’s pretty clear he doesn’t like the faith to start with.

Seriously people, if you want to have religious beliefs go right ahead, but stop trying to think that your religion is better or superior to another one.