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 an 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. (Bertrand Russell) —- The reason organized religion merits outright hostility is that, unlike belief in Russell’s teapot, religion is powerful, influential, tax-exempt and systematically passed on to children too young to defend themselves. Children are not compelled to spend their formative years memorizing loony books about teapots. Government-subsidized schools don’t exclude children whose parents prefer the wrong shape of teapot. Teapot-believers don’t stone teapot-unbelievers, teapot-apostates, teapot-heretics and teapot-blasphemers to death. Mothers don’t warn their sons off marrying teapot-shiksas whose parents believe in three teapots rather than one. People who put the milk in first don’t kneecap those who put the tea in first. (Richard Dawkins) Russell’s teapotTumblr (3.0; @1joannis48)http://1joannis48.emind.org/“The Roman Catholic Church in Chile has urged the government to pardon any members of the country’s military who show repentance for the crimes they committed under military rule.”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10721959">BBC News - Chile bishops seek pardons for military-rule crimes</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/844572877http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/844572877Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:49:25 +0200“Shamen trying to perform an exorcism in eastern Russia allegedly suffocated the four-year-old boy they were trying to save. Dmitry Kazachuk, who apparently had pneumonia, was left alone with the ritual healers by his parents. Before leaving, Dmitry’s mom observed the woman performing the ritual insisting her son’s name was “Lucifer the demon.””<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/15/russian-exorcism-tragedy_n_647018.html">Russian Exorcism Tragedy: Dmitry Kazachuk, 4-Year-Old-Boy, Dies During Ritual (VIDEO)</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/831101521http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/831101521Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:22:08 +0200“Ismail Mohamed Didi, the 25 year-old air traffic controller who was found hanged from the control tower of Male International Airport at 4:00am on Tuesday morning in an apparent suicide, was seeking asylum in the UK for fear of persecution over his lack of religious belief. Islamic website Raajjeislam reported yesterday that Ismail “was a person inclined to atheism” and had “declared his atheism to his friends.””<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://minivannews.com/society/hanged-air-traffic-controller-sought-asylum-for-fear-of-religious-persecution-9381">Hanged air traffic controller sought asylum for fear of religious persecution | Minivan News</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/831072529http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/831072529Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:11:51 +0200““We know that the adolescent is spontaneously homosexual. Boys play with boys, girls play with girls,” he said. “If there is no proper guidance, this sticks. The question is — how are we going to educate our children to use a sexuality that is human and suitable?” Grings also said the acceptance of homosexuality in society could pave the way for the acceptance of pedophilia. “When sexuality is trivialized, it’s clear that this is going to affect all cases. Homosexuality is such a case. Before, the homosexual wasn’t spoken of. He was discriminated against. “When we begin to say they have rights, rights to demonstrate publicly, pretty soon, we’ll find the rights of pedophiles,” he said. The archbishop has made controversial comments in the past. Vatican official left abusive priest in pastor job In 2003, he argued that only 1 million Jews died in the Holocaust, though a few years later he recanted. Experts say 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. Last year, he outraged Jewish groups in Brazil by telling a magazine that “more Catholics than Jews died in the Holocaust, but this isn’t known because the Jews control the world’s media.””<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36975957/ns/world_news-americas/">Report: Bishop says kids ‘spontaneously’ gay - Americas- msnbc.com</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/578191909http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/578191909Fri, 07 May 2010 09:05:00 +0200“Catholic priests are not the ‘sexual predators’ that they are being portrayed as in the press, but are in fact the ‘victims of a vast homosexual right-wing conspiracy’ to bring the Holy Roman Catholic church into ‘a state of disrepute and disgrace’, according to Cardinal Conal Colmcille Grupenfuhrer Von Graspenpantzen, speaking today in a wide-ranging defence of the day-to-day sexual activities of Catholic priests.”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.blather.net/shitegeist/2010/04/kids_too_damn_sexy_says_catholic_church.htm">Shitegeist: Kids ‘Too Damn Sexy’ Says Catholic Church</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/532979101http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/532979101Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:36:52 +0200<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ky9ekuz6n81qzb0k9o1_400.gif"/><br/><br/><p>via <a href="http://www.webs05.com/images/religion/cartoons/atheist-cartoon.gif"><a href="http://www.webs05.com">www.webs05.com</a></a></p>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/405383699http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/405383699Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:07:42 +0100“The German news magazine Der Spiegel reports that the number of sexual abuse cases in Germany by Catholic clerics and laymen is much higher than was previously thought.”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/06/AR2010020600679.html">Report: 94 Catholic sex abusers in Germany - washingtonpost.com</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/374063334http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/374063334Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:56:14 +0100<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/pat-robertson-haiti-curse_n_422099.html">Pat Robertson: Haiti 'Cursed' By 'Pact To The Devil' (VIDEO)</a>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/334361451http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/334361451Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:33:39 +0100“omosexuals and transsexuals “will never enter the kingdom of heaven”, a leading Roman Catholic cardinal said on Wednesday. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan said that while the Church regarded homosexuality as an “insult to God”, this did not justify discrimination against gay and transsexual people”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5kwXHE_zqvKJp92adJjWeXxZmyg">AFP: Gays ‘will never go to heaven’: cardinal</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/269084426http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/269084426Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:50:55 +0100“Devastating report on abuse of children by clergy from 1975 to 2004 accuses church and Garda of colluding to cover up scandal”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/26/ireland-church-sex-abuse"> Irish church and police covered up child sex abuse, says report | World news | guardian.co.uk </a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/258522635http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/258522635Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:52:54 +0100“In the Islamic Republic of Iran it is illegal to execute a woman if she is a virgin…”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25815969-401,00.html">Iran virgin prisoners raped for ‘legal’ executions | World News | News.com.au</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/146111445http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/146111445Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:16:47 +0200<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/59qcXNllXpgjt2znKqJiEggTo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://freethinker.co.uk/2009/07/02/modesty-and-the-modern-muslim/"> Modesty and the modern Muslim</a></p>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/134792325http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/134792325Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:31:25 +0200“Community residents are protesting a billboard they call offensive to Christians. The recruitment billboard put up by the Florida Atheist and Secular Humanist Society stands just east of Interstate 95 on Sunrise Boulevard and 27th Avenue, next to a business owned by an African-American preacher”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www1.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI124870">Residents want sign promoting atheism removed - Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Channel 7 News Fox WSVN-TV</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/134694740http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/134694740Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:22:16 +0200<a href="http://thewhitedsepulchre.blogspot.com/2009/06/broadway-baptist-southern-baptist.html">Broadway Baptist, The Southern Baptist Convention, Racism, and Praying For Barack Obama To Die</a>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/128041603http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/128041603Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:08:49 +0200<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/59qcXNllXodiydzk1QPVqDdko1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>via <a href="http://imgur.com/2EHvU.png">imgur.com</a></p>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/118853904http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/118853904Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:04:32 +0200“A Kansas doctor reviled by anti-abortion groups for his work providing “late-term” abortions was shot and killed in his Wichita, Kansas church on Sunday, and police said they captured the man responsible.”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE54U1JW20090601"><br/> Kansas abortion doctor shot to death at church<br/> | Reuters</a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/116222957http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/116222957Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:37:53 +0200<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/26/AR2009052601448.html?hpid=sec-religion">Shamed by child abuse, Ireland to reform services - washingtonpost.com</a>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/114299857http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/114299857Thu, 28 May 2009 15:57:52 +0200<object width="400" height="336"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xbrfz1DIq9Q&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xbrfz1DIq9Q&rel=0&egm=0&showinfo=0&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="336" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br/><br/><p>Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor speaks with Roger Bolton on BBC Radio (via <a href="http://youtube.com/user/rosmarinusofficialis">rosmarinusofficialis</a>)</p>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/109436348http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/109436348Mon, 18 May 2009 12:54:44 +0200<a href="http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/1084939.html">Survivors angered by pope's 'lukewarm' Yad Vashem speech - Haaretz - Israel News </a>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/107718094http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/107718094Thu, 14 May 2009 17:10:31 +0200“Action taken to shut down unlicensed, all-women fitness clubs, condemned as ‘shameless’ by Saudi Arabia’s clerics”<br/><br/> - <em><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/26/saudi-women-sports-ban"> Saudi women face gyms ban | guardian.co.uk </a></em>http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/100579835http://1joannis48.emind.org/post/100579835Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:21:47 +0200