May 1, 2013
[religion] Mormon Flow Chart for Your Soul … everything you wanted to know about Mormonism but were afraid to ask …
March 27, 2013
[funny] The Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense … ‘In my gross over simplification the vast majority of the multitude of evidenced-free beliefs at large in the world can be crudely classified into four basic sets or bollocks. Namely, Religion, Quackery, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal.’
January 28, 2013
[funny] Get Insulted By Martin Luther … ‘We leave you to your own devices, for nothing properly suits you except hypocrisy, flattery, and lies.’
July 18, 2012
[religion] Hearing the Voice of God … An anthropologist vists with and studies American evangelicals and attempts to understand their experience …
Stanford was the setting for a psychological experiment described in When God Talks Back. To better understand if and how spiritual practice impacts the mind, Luhrmann randomly divided volunteers who were Christian into groups: one listened on iPods for 30 minutes a day to lectures on the gospels. Another group participated in a more interactive, imagination-rich way, similar to the prayer style of Vineyard members. Their recordings invited them to see, hear and touch God in the mind’s eye, to carry on a dialogue with Jesus, to imagine a psalm in every detail.
“I found that after a month of prayer practice, people reported more vivid mental imagery than those who listened to the lectures,” she says. “They used mental imagery more readily and had somewhat better perceptual attention, and they reported more unusual sensory experience. In short, they attended to their inner experience more seriously, and that altered how real that experience became for them.”
January 30, 2012
[religion] Swallowed by a whale — a true tale? … a writer for Salon investigates if people were ever swallowed by whales and what would happen to them if they were …
‘I went to the Illness drawer and scanned the divider labels: Asthma, Bowels. Cold virus, Colic, Consumption, Convulsions / Fits, Distemper, Dropsy, Faintings, Food Poisoning, Homesickness, Depressed, Kidney, Lips, Measles, Pleurisy, Pox, Prickly Heat, Scurvy, Seasick, Smallpox, Typhoid, Venereal.
Venereal was the thickest category. Eighty-seven notecards referencing 87 mentions in close to 87 logbooks – that’s one-third more than the Scurvy category and a magnitude thicker than the Homesickness category. I thumbed through Venereal and found, slid between endless Syphilis cards, an archaic Lady’s Fever, the whimsical Blue boar in groin, and the enigmatic doby itch. Of all the Illnesses, it appeared the stops on shore hit the whalemen the most, the damage done in the arms of a woman. One 19th-century writer calculated that during whaling season in the port of Lahaini, Hawaii, there were ”upwards of 400 instances of intercourse daily.”
Crammed between Depressed and Kidney, at only 10 notecards thick, was the file I was looking for: Injury by Whale.’
January 1, 2012
[moore] Alan Moore’s alternative Thought for the Day … Broadcast yesterday on Radio 4′s Today Programme … ‘The big advantage of worshipping an actual glove puppet of course is that if things start to get unruly or out of hand you can always put them gak in the gox. And you know, it doesn’t matter if they don’t want to go gak in the gox, they have to go gak in the gox.’
June 22, 2011
[religion] Go Look: Draw A Circle Around The One God Loves Most.
December 21, 2010
[iraq] Qur’an Etched In Saddam Hussein’s Blood Poses Dilemma For Iraq Leaders … ‘Over the course of two painstaking years in the late 1990s, Saddam Hussein had sat regularly with a nurse and an Islamic calligrapher; the former drawing 27 litres of his blood and the latter using it as a macabre ink to transcribe a Qur’an. But since the fall of Baghdad, almost eight years ago, it has stayed largely out of sight – locked away behind three vaulted doors. It is the one part of the ousted tyrant’s legacy that Iraq has simply not known what to do with…’ [via @qwghlm]
November 5, 2010
[tv] Vatican confirms Simpsons as Catholics … ‘Of course, this is the Vatican we’re talking about, and the devil is of course in the detail. In praising Homer, Rome is effectively dissing other characters in the series – notably the happy-clappy and neighhourly Ned Flanders. Indeed, back in December, the Vatican referred to “the naive radicalism of Flanders and his sons (sic) manic biblical scholars.”‘
August 24, 2010
[comics] Go Look: nana nana nana nana BATJESUS!
August 12, 2010
[quote] ‘Think of it like a movie. The Torah is the first one, and the New Testament the sequel. Then the Qu’ran comes out, and it retcons the last one like it never happened. There’s still Jesus, but he’s not the main character anymore, and the messiah hasn’t shown up yet. Jews like the first movie but ignored the sequels. Christians think you need to watch the first two, but the third movie doesn’t count. The Muslims think the third one was the best, and Mormons liked the second one so much, they started writing fanfiction that doesn’t fit with ANY of the series canon.’ — Think Of It Like A Movie
July 7, 2010
[movies] A Religion for Toys … a movie review that describes the theology behind Toy Story 3 … ‘In the theology of Toy Story, Andy is God and Woody is his prophet. He is more Moses than Jesus. For one thing, he is orthodox. In the theology of toys, the ideal is to be owned and to be played with. Of these two, it is more important to be owned, and to be owned by one God only. Andy’s room is heaven…’
February 25, 2010
[comics] Jack Kirby’s Visual Interpretations of God … ‘I always found it interesting that of the very few pieces of his own work that Jack Kirby displayed in his home, three of them were his visual interpretations of God.’
December 23, 2009
[comics] Robert Crumb Thinks God Might Actually Be Crazy … another Crumb interview promoting his Illustrated Book of Genesis … ‘As a Gnostic, yeah, I would say there’s a bigger design. Sometimes you have a split-second glimpses of it. For a second you catch the greater meaning, but then it’s lost.’ [via Neilalien]
October 30, 2009
[funny] Church Sign FAIL … ‘The class on Prophecy has been canceled…’
October 11, 2009
[bdj] Archbishop of York attacks Belle de Jour for glamourising prostitution … ‘Dr John Sentamu attacked the books and television programme based on the character Belle de Jour, a high-end London call girl, for misleading the public over the reality of prostitution. He said that the lifestyle portrayed in the works was in stark contrast to the suffering endured by the majority of women involved in the sex trade.’
July 23, 2009
[comics] Robert Crumb’s Genesis … scans from a preview of Crumb’s latest work taken from the New Yorker … [via Metafilter]
April 24, 2009
[funny] God is on Twitter … ‘I could post 141 characters if I wanted to.’ [via @BeaucoupKevin]
April 4, 2009
[history] The Torture Colony … the disturbing story of how the the Pinochet Regime outsourced some of it’s murder and torture to a cult of religious Germans living in Chile … ‘…Colonia Dignidad was founded on fear, and it is fear that still binds it together. Investigations by Amnesty International and the governments of Chile, Germany, and France, as well as the testimony of former colonos who, over the years, managed to escape the colony, have revealed evidence of terrible crimes: child molestation, forced labor, weapons trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping, torture, and murder. Orchestrated by Paul Schaefer and his inner circle of trusted lieutenants, much of the abuse was initially directed inward as a means of conditioning the colonos to obey Schaefer’s commands. Later, after General Augusto Pinochet’s military junta seized power in Chile, the violence spilled onto the national stage…’ [thanks Phil]
April 1, 2009
[lists] The 10 Biggest Intellectual Fights Of All Time … On Galileo vs. The Church: ‘…in 1632 he published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems and quickly found himself summoned to appear before the Inquisition on charges of heresy. Galileo was forced to recant his support for the Copernican model and spent the rest of his life under house arrest, though with rather lenient travel and visitation allowances. His works were finally dropped from the Index of prohibited books in 1835. In 1992 Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the “Galileo Affair” was handled, officially conceding on the part of the church that the earth is not stationary and that the planets orbit the sun.’
February 9, 2009
[knowledge] Clive Thompson on How More Info Leads to Less Knowledge … ‘Normally, we expect society to progress, amassing deeper scientific understanding and basic facts every year. Knowledge only increases, right? Robert Proctor doesn’t think so. A historian of science at Stanford, Proctor points out that when it comes to many contentious subjects, our usual relationship to information is reversed: Ignorance increases. He has developed a word inspired by this trend: agnotology. Derived from the Greek root agnosis, it is “the study of culturally constructed ignorance.” As Proctor argues, when society doesn’t know something, it’s often because special interests work hard to create confusion…’
December 19, 2008
[lists] Wikipedia’s List of Common Misconceptions … ‘Thomas Crapper did not invent the flush toilet…’
September 26, 2008
September 9, 2008
[comics] Mr. Moore defends rational thought … another reason why Alan Moore is the greatest living Englishman … ‘The protest, organised by Northampton Socialist Forum, came after an information sign about Darwinism at the museum was partially covered following a complaint by what appears to be a Christian fundamentalist. Pat Markey explained the events leading up to the protest, and writer/artist Alan Moore gave an entertaining speech about religion, free speech, and censorship.’
July 14, 2008
[comics] Jack Chick’s Lisa Tract … the cold, dark, disturbing heart of Jack Chick’s evangelical comics (unsurprisingly unpublished on his website) … [via Metafilter]
July 4, 2008
[comics] God’s Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of Jack T. Chick … a trailer for a documentary about Jack Chick … (more…)
June 17, 2008
[twitter] It turns out it was Fake Richard Dawkins on Twitter … That said, Fake Richard Dawkins doesn’t seem all bad:
‘While I still have 1700 of you paying attention, I just wanted to say: Whatever you believe, respect others beliefs. It’s not wrong to be kind to people who don’t believe the same as you. You don’t have to be militant atheists. People who claim to be Christians can be hypocrites, but they’re just people, and all people make mistakes. Try to be good to one another. That is my message of peace to all of you. Love one another. It’s ok. Consider that being hostile towards others has never won any followers. Richard Dawkins is just an old man trying to leave behind a legacy. Just like I, a Chrisitan do not follow Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, don’t be mislead by someone just because they share your belief system. It’s easy to be against people who are different than you, but try not to be like that. Take the high road, unlike RD. Thanks for listening and following along. Have a nice day.’
June 13, 2008
[twitter] Richard Dawkins has a Twitter … ‘Hello all, and thank you joining me here. I hope this will open a new avenue of communication for atheists and non-believers on the web.’
June 5, 2008
[religion] Heaven Is An Amusement Park That Never Closes … Strange Maps finds a map of heaven …‘Catholics are welcome to Heaven, but are confined to a small section next to the entrance’ [via Qwghlm]
February 23, 2008
[religion] 20 Tacky Religious Products Guaranteed to Anger God … ‘As you’re no doubt aware, the most common complaint about nativity scenes is they’re too prejudiced against non humans. After all, who are the dogs supposed to pray to? Luckily, some intrepid inventor out there took a stand and made the Dog Nativity Scene featuring Mary, Joseph, some wise men and the Messiah Himself, all as partially clothed canines.’ [via GussetBLOG]
December 29, 2007
October 25, 2007
[funny] Religious Lolcats: I’m In Ur Ground… Testing Ur Faith. (more…)
July 24, 2007
June 8, 2007
April 22, 2007
[funny] Biblical Curse Generator … ‘I pray thou shalt be mocked by eunuchs, thou child of Jezebel!’
March 25, 2007
[religion] The Atheist’s Greatest Nightmare… the Banana. [thanks Phil]
February 17, 2007
[religion] Amusing Science vs. Faith Flowchart. [via bojo.org]
January 20, 2007
[religion] History of Religion — nicely done map / timeline of 3000 years of Religious Expansion. [via As Above]
January 15, 2007
[evolution] External testicles proves ‘unintelligent design’ … ‘”The religious right are always harping on about so-called ‘Intelligent Design’ but both the irrational and rational response has to be ‘bollocks’,” said anti-creationism campaigner Sean Duff. “Why would anyone intelligent put something as sensitive as testicles in a little sack on the outside? Surely this proves the concept of ‘Unintelligent Design’?”
January 12, 2007
[religion] Top 100 Funies Say The Darndest Things Quotes! … ‘I appreciate your recommendation, and it is intriguing, but as a pro-lifer, I cannot support an organization that is opposed to the death penalty.’
November 13, 2006
[wikipedia] My Wikipedia Contrail: Russell’s Teapot … Bertrand Russell: ‘If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.’
October 1, 2006
[blogs] A couple of interesting comics-related posts on Metafilter …
- Like Snopes, But For Comics … Metafilter post on comics ‘urban legends’. For example, which Pet Shop Boy was a Marvel Editor?
- Defining the Mentalist in Fundamentalist … this post links to Stewart Lee’s TV program on blasphamy in comedy which is available on YouTube. The post includes a fabulous description of Alan Moore as ‘a strikingly hirsuite man in the manner of a wilderness prophet.’
- They Saved Hitler’s Self-Hating Jewish Sea-Monkeys … another comics urban legend… The twisted man behind those Sea-Monkeys and X-Ray Specs adverts in comics. From the post: ‘I think there’s some subclause to Godwin whereby the phrase “Sea-Monkeys” un-Godwins any post.’
September 6, 2006
[comics] Alan Moore interviewed by Stewart Lee — the interview is on YouTube – Moore discusses his unconventional religious beliefs with one of the writers of Jerry Springer: The Opera. The video is embeded after the jump in this post… (more…)
August 4, 2006
[religion] Hatemail to the Flying Spagetti Monster … ‘PASTAFARIAN?!? that doesn’t even make sense!! why the hell would god be PASTA?!?’ [via linkbunnies.org]
May 17, 2006
[comics] Dave Sim Reads the Bible to Feed the Hungry … ‘No Preaching: Just the Scripture.’
March 21, 2006
[comics] List of the Religions of Comic Book Characters … ‘J. Jonah Jameson, Religious Affiliation: Hates Spider-Man’ [via Haddock]
September 12, 2005
[tv] The Church of Klugman — this blog wholeheartedly endorses worship of the star of Quincy, M.E. … ‘This is a brand new religion – a religion worshiping a man who is a legend, a myth, who brings a new social conscience to our troubled times.’ [via Progressive Ruin]
August 5, 2005
[religion] Obscenities Uttered by Jesus Christ … ‘Dad.’
July 15, 2005
[maps] Google spots Jesus in Peruvian Sand Dune … ‘A quick phone call to Erich von Däniken confirmed our initial suspicions that the image was hewn from the sand by an ancient civilisation using hot air balloons and alien laser technology borrowed from the scientists of Atlantis. Either that or someone is projecting a picture of Charles Manson onto the desert from a low Earth orbit…’
March 17, 2005
[religion] Mystery shoppers hit London churches … ‘The Mystery Worshippers will visit churches across London Sunday 24 April and take note of sermon quality and length, pew comfort and the quality of after-service coffee. All visits are anonymous but the Mystery Shoppers will put a calling card, complete with picture of the Lone Ranger, in the collection plate.’