| Part of the resistance to Darwin and Wallace derives from our difficulty in imagining the passage of millennia, much less the aeons. What does seventy million years mean to beings who live only one-millionth as long? We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever. -Carl Sagan |
Military Madness January 6, 2008
Posted by Rastaban in : Bush Wars, Christianity, Religion , 4 commentsNo benefit for human beings is more obvious than the benefit of demilitarizing the world. Every dollar spend on weaponry and war is a dollar not spent improving our lives. As Glenn Greenwald’s review of military expenditures shows, one country’s outlandish military spending is driving a worldwide spike that, if not stopped, will make the 21st century far bloodier than the 20th (which was far and away the bloodiest in human history). That country, of course, is the United States, which in 2008 will spend $623,000,000,000 — approximately $123,000,000,000 more than the rest of the world combined, nearly 10 times more than China will spend and a dozen times more than Russia. The U. S. could dramatically slash its military budget in half — to $311 billion — and still spend more than the military budgets of the next 7 biggest spenders combined: China (65 billion), Russia (50 billion), France (45 billion) , UK (43 billion), Japan (44 billion), Germany (35 billiion) and Italy (28 billiion). Wouldn’t that be enough? (more…)
Torture and American Christianity December 25, 2007
Posted by Rastaban in : Bushwacked, Christianity, Civil Unliberties, Ethics & Morality, Religion, Torture , 5 commentsDecember 25, the holiday long celebrated as the birthday of the Unconquered Sun, but more recently as the birthday of Jesus Christ, the central figure in Christianity. Jesus is generally presented as a pacifist, author of the sermon on the mount with its beatitudes (”blessed are the peacemakers…”), but more recently his followers in America find it preferable not to love their enemies but to torture them.
These Christians, who generally call themselves evangelicals and fundamentalists because they take the fundamental tenets of their religion seriously, have managed to become powerful enough to dominate the Republican party and in 2000 they elected* one of their own as President of the United States. Within a year, this very Christian President began laying out plans for torturing his enemies.
Christianity and torture have, unfortunately, a long historical association. Indeed, the Spanish Inquisition perfected many of the most famous torture techniques, including waterboarding. You might think that Christians would be eager to strand Christianity’s associations with torture in the distant middle ages. You would think wrongly. Under the champion of Christianity residing in the White House, torture of prisoners became the official policy** of the U. S. Government. (more…)
IHEU corrects UN Human Rights Council November 4, 2007
Posted by Rastaban in : Atheist Culture, Bush Wars, Civil Unliberties, State & Church , 1 comment so farThe International Humanist and Ethical Union monthly news email just came. Among their recent activities they have endorsed a letter sent by Diana Brown of the World Population Foundation to the U.N. Human Rights Council objecting to their resolution (also brought to the UN General Assembly) against the “defamation of religion”.
The problem is that the U.N. Human Rights Council’s wording is so broad that it condemns not just biases against people of various religious traditions, but any “defamation” of the content of those religious traditions. Instead of defending, this betrays human rights. (more…)
Fundamental Enemies May 6, 2007
Posted by Rastaban in : Afterlife & Immortality, Bush Wars, Bushwacked, Christinsanity, Islaminsanity , 2 commentsIt is not easy to make human pleasure the enemy. It is not easy to induce people to sacrifice the creature comforts of bodily life for the wasteland of spiritual existence called heaven: paranoia and fear are required for the task.
To create the necessary conditions requires the presence of a dangerous, virtually undefeatable enemy. Satan, who is so powerful that God apparently needs our assistance to defeat him, fits the bill perfectly. And the devil is the sort of ubiquitous, wily adversary that can’t help but make believers paranoid at every momentary lapse from the battle, at every voice that isn’t an obvious paean to God.
That is the real reason we invaded Iraq. It is the reason we threaten Iran today with two major carrier groups sitting in the Gulf ready for attack. Fundamentalism relies on struggle with a dangerous adversary. The state of the world in 2007 is the direct result of putting a fundamentalist in the White House and giving him the most powerful position in the world. (more…)
Christian ‘BattleCry’ to save America’s Soul May 29, 2006
Posted by Rastaban in : Bush Wars, Christinsanity, State & Church , 2 commentsSunsara Taylor reports on a recent BattleCry rally of 17,000 young people in Philadelphia. BattleCry is Ron Luce’s effort to engage young Christians in order to return the United States to “Christian” values. Taylor reports,
‘A featured speaker, Franklin Graham, who delivered George Bush’s first inaugural prayer, was introduced. . . .
The “heart” of Graham’s speech was a call for holy war. He preached about the “battle for souls of men and women from North to South, East to West, over the entire earth.” There is, he declared, “No way to God but through Jesus Christ.”‘
Franklin Graham and Ron Luce seem to be off the same religious block as Charles Stanley, head of the First Baptist Church in Atlanta and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, who declared in a sermon that “God is in favor of war” during the propaganda run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. (more…)
Doctors Complain about Health Lies May 25, 2006
Posted by Rastaban in : Bush Science, Christinsanity, State & Church , add a commentNow that conservative Christians have gained control over the Federal and some State governments, doctors are complaining about “unreliable” and in some cases entirely false information showing up on government websites and in sex education programs. So reports an article in Glamour magazine titled “The new lies about women’s health” by Brian Alexander. Glamour’s own investigation found “blatantly false anticondom information” on both state & Federal websites. According to the article,
“radical conservative activists have used fudged and sometimes flatly false data to persuade the government to promote their agenda of abstinence until marriage. The fallout: Young women now read false data on government websites, learn bogus information in federally funded sex-education programs and struggle to get safe, legal contraceptives.”
Perhaps even more shocking are efforts by the anti-sex crowd to prevent release of Merck’s new vaccine Gardasil, which protects women from cervical cancer. Why? Because it would take away one of their (misleading) arguments against condoms: namely, that condom use doesn’t protect against HPV and that HPV causes cervical cancer.
“The public should be outraged at this misrepresentation of facts for political reasons,” says Dr. Holmes. “This really reveals the true agenda for those who have argued that the reason for not promoting condoms is to protect girls against HPV.” If you truly cared about HPV prevention, his reasoning goes, you’d be thrilled at the advent of a vaccine to save women’s lives. “It really illustrates that the opposition to condoms has nothing to do with protecting women and girls,” he says, “but everything to do with opposition to discussion of sexual health.”
“The new lies about women’s health” by Brian Alexander, Glamour, Apr 3, 2006
Rev. Alberts: Time to Censure Bush April 30, 2006
Posted by Rastaban in : Bush Wars, Bushwacked, Faith & Reason , add a commentWriting in Counterpunch, Rev.William Alberts says it’s time for people of faith — in particular the Methodist Church — to bring disciplinary action against the President, who happens to be a Methodist.
Rev. William Alberts: Time for People of Faith to Censure Bush
Alberts writes,
‘Resolving disputes peacefully was the first thing out of President Bush’s mouth and apparently the last thing on his mind. His pre-war public posture was that of a man of faith and peace. At his March 6, 2003 news conference, he said, “I pray daily. I pray for wisdom and guidance and strength. . . . I pray for peace. I pray for peace.” (The New York Times, Mar. 7, 2003) Two weeks later he ordered the bombing of the Iraqi people and the invasion of their country.’
Albert follows by impolitely bringing up the, ahem, public record as known so far. That records makes it clear that invading Iraq was on the agenda from day 1, and that the administration deliberately deceived the public in order to get their war. “I pray daily…for peace” indeed!
Alberts also pushes people of faith to call for Bush’s impeachment. But he overlooks one little detail. The one constant and dependable group these last 5 years, the segment of the American population that has steadfastly voted for, cheered on, and championed our current President, is none other than people of faith.
Perhaps what we should be asking is this: Why were people of faith so easily manipulated by the administration and shepherded along like, well, sheep?
Answer: that is what people of faith are good at — being sheep. And faith is the sheepdog that makes it possible.
How Attacking Iran Benefits China April 22, 2006
Posted by Rastaban in : Bush Wars, Iran , 2 commentsIt’s widely recognized that the greatest beneficiary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq has been Iran. Just as clearly, the biggest beneficiary of a U. S. attack on Iran will be China.This is why the administration’s recent exhortation to China’s leader, Hue, to intervene in getting Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions is likely to be futile. Hue of course will want to create the appearance of trying to bring the Iranian leadership around, but it is not in China’s strategic interest for that to actually happen. Secretly, in fact, Hue must be hoping that the Bush administration will be foolish enough to attack Iran—preferably with tactical nukes—just as they were fooling enough to invade Iraq.
The consequences of a U. S. attack would be as positive for China as they would be negative for the United States. (more…)
al-Qaida Infiltrated Dubai Agencies April 19, 2006
Posted by Rastaban in : Homeland Insecurity, Islam , add a commentIn the midst of all the controversy over allowing the state-owned Dubai Ports to manage seaports in the U.S., I never saw anyone mention that al-Qaida has infiltrated (and therefore compromised) the government of the United Arab Emirates.
Maybe I missed it. I heard all about money being funneled to terrorists through Dubai, about UAE bank secrecy rules making it difficult to trace that monetary flow, about terrorists traveling in and out of that country’s port.
But no where did I see it mentioned that al-Qaida has actually infiltrated various Dubai government agencies–and bragged about it. Yet documents taken from a captured computer which belonged to a high-ranking al-Qaida official confirm this. “You are well aware that we have infiltrated your security, censorship, and monetary agencies along with other agencies that should not be mentioned.” this official warned the emirates of Dubai and Abu-Dhabi.
What follows is the full text of the letter, which I found on a public government website. (more…)
Life Goes On in Iraq April 11, 2006
Posted by Rastaban in : Iraq, Islaminsanity , add a commentThey even held a beauty contest to choose the Iraqi candidate for Miss Universe — shouldn’t that prove there’s no civil war going on? But here comes the big bad American media, focusing as usual on the bad news instead of the good. ABC News reports that the young woman who was proclaimed “Miss Iraq” had to give up her crown four days later because of death threats against her and her family. The family is now planning to flee Iraq. Undeterred, pageant officials offered her crown to the first runner-up, but she declined it. The 2nd runner-up withdrew from the beauty contest rather than risk accepting the crown. The 3rd runner up likewise withdrew. Pageant officials finally found a teenager — a Christian no less — brave enough or foolish enough to accept the crown.I’m sure the Administration will find a way to spin this positively while chiding the media for focusing on the negative, but it seems to me that a country where it is not safe to win even a beauty contest can only be described as in dire straits. At what point, if ever, will our President catch on that the God he relies on for guidance, the war-Jesus to whom he prays, exists only in his imagination?
