Religion, Tolerance, and Respect

Blogger PZ Myers has been getting a lot of flak lately from the religious and religious apologists for stating that he wants to "disrespect a cracker".

I'll repeat what he said: "IT'S A FRACKING CRACKER!!!"

Yes catholics, it's really just a cracker. It's not REALLY the body of your savior. How can it be? Do you really eat Jesus everytime you have communion? And that grape juice you're drinking, no it's not his blood either. If you really, really, REALLY believe it's Jesus flesh and blood you're eating and drinking, then DAMN, you're a cannibalistic vampire!

PZ's mailbox has gotten overloaded with hate mail from christians, some just wanting to pray for him, but most want him fired, or worse, want him dead! Some are even threatening harm to his family! WOW! How's that for a religion that supposedly teaches peace, love, and harmony? The Islamic Fundies don't sound that bad after all!

If you want your beliefs to be tolerated and respected, then first, you yourself must learn to tolerate others' beliefs (or non-beliefs). Second, you must show that your religion is actually worthy of that respect you demand.

The problem is, most religious sermons are highly intolerant and outright disrespectful of others who do not believe the same. Is saying "those who do not believe in our god are going to burn in hell!" or "There can be no morality without god" more tolerant and respectful than someone taking home a cracker? If you're willing to criticize others for their non-belief, then be prepared to accept criticism of yours.

The problem is poverty, not population???

Say again Mr. Pabillo? Population is not the problem? How do you propose to eradicate poverty if the population keeps rising at the current rate? Where will you get the jobs? How will you provide education? Has it ever occurred to you that MAYBE, too many children, especially those that are not planned for, can be a burden, both financially and emotionally?

Of course, for a priest who cannot have children (yeah right), you don't really know what it's like. Your pope is being hailed as the "Green Pope", someone who says that good catholics should try their best to preserve the Earth. How are you helping by shifting the blame away from overpopulation?

How about asking your big bosses to release the massive amount of money they have to REALLY help the poor, instead of lavishing it on themselves? How about building homes for these people instead of building grand churches? How about giving them jobs instead of throwing pennies at them?

Instead of yapping about your dogma, why not propose REAL solutions? I think the most glaring fact here is that the Church is part of the problem. Please Mr. Pabillo, stop embarassing yourself and your business associates.

Religulous

Any chance they'll show this movie here?



I'm not holding my breath, but I hope they do. :)

"Science leads to killing people" - Ben Stein

What a sorry excuse for a human being. Ben Stein = BS.

Church "Modernizes" the Sins List

The Vatican just added 7 more deadly sins to the original seven.

But this brings a snicker to my lips:

Accumulating excessive wealth

Inflicting poverty

Violation of fundamental rights of human nature

WOW! Talk about looking in the mirror! Do you see the boulder in your eye? Or the HUGE wart on your nose?

They're Certainly Persistent...

Wow these guys can't get over it. Check out this photo.

Can't see it? Let's zoom in a little closer...



They "strongly oppose" the Population and Reproductive Health Management Policy. Why? Because it is deceptive? Because it endangers the lives of women and unborn children? How so? I'm willing to bet that the Church will say it promotes promiscuity and abortion. Never mind that the Church doesn't really have a good track record for treating women properly, but that's for another post.

Teaching people about reproductive health, and raising their awareness about sex is a good thing. It protects women (and men!) from disease and from unwanted pregnancy.

Does it promote promiscuity? Hardly. No one is telling the kids to go out and experiment with sex. In fact, informing them about it could possibly take away the element of curiosity, and therefore even minimize the chances. Besides, it's not like people won't try sex if they're kept ignorant about it.

Does it promote abortion? Of course not. In fact, it helps to avoid needing abortion. The more informed you are, the less chance of an unwanted pregnancy, the less need for abortion.

But as usual, the Magisterium.... I mean, the Church says, "evidence schmevidence!" They would rather put dogma and ideology over logic and reason.

Now if I was a conspiracy nut, I would say the Church is doing this on purpose, so they can keep the general populace poor and uneducated. As we all know, the main source of funds for the Church is from the masses. If the general populace were to be highly educated, God forbid that the clergy would actually have to WORK for a living. But I'm not a conspiracy nut so I wont say it. :)

Church Protests against Sex Education (or, "What Else Is New?")

The Catholic Church is at it again. In a protest against teaching sex education in public schools, here's what Cubao Bishop Ongtioco had to say:

"[It's] not good to teach adolescents about sex... it will perpetuate sex early... results may be abortion..."

Really? So, does ignorance about sex prevent them from having sex early? I think not. On the contrary, teaching them what sex is all about will actually help prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Then the results may be abortion? That's a slippery slope fallacy. The whole point of sex education is to AVOID unwanted pregnancies, unnecessary abortions and raise the quality of life of the average Filipino. The only other reason the protesters gave was that it "violates the beliefs of the Church". A stunningly brilliant argument, I must say.

But of course, we all know that unwanted pregnancies or abortion isn't what the Church is whining about. It's about SEX, period. The Catholic Church (and most other religions for that matter) have this love-hate relationship with sex. They hate sex, and if given the chance to cut it out of the reproductive process, they'd do it. But they also love it! Especially with little boys.

A little tip to the Church, why not clean up your ranks first, then whine about the sexual morality of other people?

Fortunately, the Quezon City Councilors had the balls to ignore the protesters and the Church, and passed the bill anyway.

"It's time for family planning, because this is really a poverty issue," said Councilor Joseph Juico.

Damn right Councilor Juico! I guess there is still some hope for our country yet.

Islam and (The Fairer) Sex

I have to say, no other mainstream religion is more misogynistic than Islam. Stoning two sisters just because they happened to be caught on videotape "with other men"? Doesn't matter that they weren't engaging in any sex. What's worse, the two women have already been punished for the "crime" of being seen with other men. 99 lashes to be exact. Now they're being tried again for the same "crime"?

Even worse, according to Islamic Law, being raped is also considered a crime. They say that it is the woman's fault for tempting men by their mere presence. What kind of sick and twisted reasoning is that?

When the Danish media published a cartoon Mohammed, Muslims all over the world went up in arms and rioted in the streets, claiming to be offended. But when crap like this happens, where are the apologists? Why don't they go out and protest? When 9/11 happened, Muslim communities around the world actually celebrated! Did we hear from the apologists? They certainly should feel insulted because these events make the "Religion of Peace" look REALLY bad.

What is Skepticology?

What is Skepticology?

Skepticology is a blog that I decided to start because I felt the need to address a lot of the scientifically unsupported distortions of reality like religion, complementary and alternative medicine, paranormal claims and such.

Why did I feel the need? Because skepticism, critical thinking and rationality are in very short supply where I live (and in many other places for that matter). I live the Philippines, where faith healers, witch doctors and fortune tellers are a pretty common part of the average Filipino's life; Where religious organizations meddle in our daily lives; Where people so readily accept supernatural explanations above scientific ones. Where scam artists and alternative medicine practitioners reign free to part the foolish (and not so foolish) from their hard-earned money.

My goal here is not to convert or convince you that your view is wrong and that my view is right. My goal is to inform, educate, and provide proof, or at least help you to ask the relevant questions about some of your particular beliefs. I will be the first to tell you NOT to take my word for it. Ask your own questions. Do your own research. Ultimately, it is you yourself who will decide what you will and will not believe.