Unsurprising, but notable:

' Two scholars funded by the "ex-gay" ministry Exodus reported greatly mixed results this week in the most ambitious study yet on whether faith-based therapy can "cure" homosexuality, days after a counselor in another "ex-gay" program was sentenced on felony charges of sexually attacking his male clients. '

Gods I love this man.

For those new to the scene, Slacktivist has been deconstructing the first novel in the Left Behind series, bit by bloody bit. He's actually an evangelical Christian himself - though about as far from a Dominionist as you can get. His analysis has been spot on - theologically, intellectually and literary. Plus he's just damn funny about it.

Today, he really put the boot in:

' It's only eight and a half days after The Event and everything is back to normal. Rayford and Chloe, air traffic and airports, and New York CIty itself. And it's not a post-traumatic "normal" -- people aren't soldiering on, forcing themselves to rebuild a new normal out of the ashes, unmanageable emotions still roiling just below the surface in a world forever changed, forever divided into Before and After. They're simply back to normal, as though The Event never happened, as though there were still 6 billion of us and not, suddenly and inexplicably, only 4 billion.

I know I'm repeating this point, but this is insurmountably wrong, and the wrongness of it suffuses every page of Left Behind.

Imagine if, instead of Darby's Rapture, the book had begun with something similar but slightly less world-changing: Instead of all the Real True Christians and the innocent children being instantaneously whisked away to nowhere, leaving their clothing behind in neat little piles, imagine that the clothing had disappeared, leaving behind half a billion born-againers in their birthday suits and simultaneously undressing every child on the planet.

Even if "only" that were what had happened, it would still take a long time before everything was back to normal. A week after the Great Unclothing you still wouldn't be able to take a nice, normal flight to New York. People would be demanding explanations from the government, the media, scientists, academics and Oprah, turning away from the old symbols of authority and seeking new ones who could explain what happened. There would be riots, violent scapegoating, the founding of new religions. If two or three days passed without a credible official explanation supported by plausible evidence, then many would see the G.U. as a sign from God or the gods, interpreting this sign in a multitude of contradictory, but inflexibly urgent, ways. Millions would be paralyzed by the fear that It Might Happen Again, cocooning themselves away in their homes, forming survivalist cells or falling prey to a flourishing wave of hucksterism. There would be violence, upheaval, new laws and lawlessness, revolution. Old institutions would collapse and new ones would arise to replace them. The aftershocks would continue for months and the landscape would be forever altered.

LaHaye and Jenkins claim to describe something exponentially more traumatizing and world-altering. Yet in their story none of this happens. All the old institutions remain intact, the parking garages are cleared and people go on about their business, unchanged and unaffected. Even if you accept the idea of the Rapture and you believe that something like what L&J claim is going to happen someday in the future, you have to conclude that Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have no idea what such an event would really mean. Even for premillennial dispensationalist prophecy believers, in other words, Tim LaHaye is an inept, inadequate and untrustworthy guide. '

Interesting how times change... seems these US bishops are happy to overlook issues of race as long as their African brothers are also homophobes:

"Kenya's Anglican Church has consecrated two US bishops in a move likely to deepen a bitter row over homosexuality.
Bill Murdoch, of Massachusetts, and Bill Atwood, of Texas, will be answerable to the Kenyan Church, although they will serve in the US.
They left the US branch of the Anglican Church - the Episcopal Church - after it consecrated an openly gay bishop. "

Do take a look at the photos of the bishops involved at the link. I can honestly say I'd never get tired of slapping those faces to try and get the smarmy self-satisfaction off.

Of course this is another step to the Anglican congregation splitting right down the middle over the issue of gayness. Amusing how such an august body of religious men (the Anglican Church founded, let us not forget, by Henry VIII solely to get a quickie divorce without going through the Pope) who worship the Prince of Peace and God Who Is Love (who spent most of his adult life hanging around a gang of twelve men...) get so upset over, well, love. And the irony of the English home church being exported to Kenya as the home office is actually quite funny.

But the rising push against gays in Africa is horrible.

Sooo... innocence_jihad reports that according to the latest 'clarification' from 6A policy wonks (I may have put a wrong vowel in there...), the LJ user is responsible for whatever they link to.

In other words, if an old link in a post you made years ago dies and gets hijacked by pr0n of someone who looks like they might be underaged... you can get banned.

Details here and here.

If this is generally enforced, it basically kills LiveJournal as useful for the majority of blogging.

Oh - and if there was any doubt, there's good evidence that Boldthrough/Strikethrough 2/the latest round of banning was indeed started by associates of Warriors for In No Sence...

Cynical Sage does it again, with this pisstake deconstruction of the Tales of Glory Xtian doll range, coming to a K-Mart near you real soon. (Well, if you're in the US).

Excerpt:

"And the toys. Oh those wonderful, wonderful toys. First of all, the P31 dolls:
P31 are a new exclusive collection of high-quality dolls, based on the biblical teaching of Proverbs 31. P31 dolls were specifically designed to provide a Bible-based, Christian alternative to other secular toys on the market, and to encourage young girls to pursue biblical womanhood.

For those of you who don't know. the latter verses of Proverbs 31 contain an old Hebrew acrostic poem of "The Wife of Noble Character" which describes a woman who the author envisions as the ideal wife. Let's look at one of dolls, shall we:
Abigail stands 18 inches tall, has beautiful brown eyes, long red hair, and a contemporary outfit. Abigail comes with an accessory kit, containing a Bible lesson (based on Proverbs 31:20), two cookie-cutters, a cookie recipe, and a list of exciting activities. The activities are sure to be tons of fun for any young girl! It is our prayer that the Lord would use these dolls as a means to encourage the girls of today to become Proverbs 31 women of tomorrow! For ages 3+

Dear God! Those dark, soulless eyes! It has taken the form of a human in order to deceive us. We must kill it quickly.

Bratz dolls have misshapen heads and give off a creepy "child prostitute"-vibe. P31 dolls, on the other hand, have misshapen heads and give off a creepy "corn-cult compound child-bride of the damned"-vibe. If these dolls are based off of a poem describing an ideal wife, why are the dolls crafted to resemble pre-pubescent children? I mean, it's not like you have to give them a rack or anything, just change the face a bit, make the head smaller, and proportion the arms and legs to the torso a bit differently. Proverbs may not contain a poem describing a husband of noble character, but if it did, I doubt it would contain the phrase "raging pederast". Seriously, I know people married a lot younger back in ancient Israel, but they at least waited until the girl was able to freaking menstruate."

Because nothing says how much you love the Prince of Peace than pattern-disruption military materials wrapped around your holy book.

Also available in pink camo for girls.

I wish this was a fucking joke.

Just back from the road trip and bloody knackered.

But I had to share this one...

The great Fred Clark aka Slacktivist discusses an important question:

"If you believe that every human being has the right to self determination, then how do you cope with people who claim not to want that right?"

He makes especial note of the 'Concerned Women of America'. This bunch of pitiful conditioned Stepford wives, in the earlier/related form of 'Concerned Mothers of America', led to one of my favourite stories:

Long ago, when I was living in Edinburgh and Neil Gaiman was still writing Sandman, we had occasional chats - at conventions, pub meets and eventually by phone. Neil was quizzing everyone connected with magic in fandom he could find as background for the book, and we got along OK. He'd occasionally phone me at 4am my time, 'cos he knew I'd be up.
One night he rang with a note of pure joy and pride in his voice... because the Concerned Mothers of America had written him a letter of complaint and he just had to tell someone. (Specifically the complaint was that he had 'positive images' of transexuals in his comic. Bad boy.)
He framed the letter. So much for their power.

Namedropping over... and so to bed!

Cynical Sage unearths Hal Lindsay's comic version of Armageddon, in a piece with the delightful title;
"Things I Learned From Christian Comics: There's a New World Coming - or - It's the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel Nauseous"

The blog title comes from the 2 page spread of the Signs and Portents that will herald... ah, you know! Interestingly, one of them is "The Increase of Pollution!" Another, my personal favourite, is "The Revival of the Dark Occultic Practices of Ancient Babylon!"

Again I suggest - maybe the Xtianfuckwits are almost right about the End Times and the coming Apocalypse. The only detail they got wrong is to think they're the good guys...

My previous post had a few questions from readers about whether it's a parody or spoof site. Some sources say it is - some think otherwise. drjon, who first flagged this, seems pretty sure it's not parody. I tend to agree... but there are things to note.

Here's what I've found:
Brownback does oppose abortion for rape survivors:

"Associated Press
June 9, 2007, 10:47PM
TAYLORS, S.C. — Sen. Sam Brownback, campaigning for president on Saturday before the National Catholic Men's Conference, questioned whether rape victims should get abortions.

"Rape is terrible. Rape is awful. Is it made any better by killing an innocent child? Does it solve the problem for the woman that's been raped?" the Kansas Republican asked at the St. Joseph's Covenant Keepers gathering.

"We need to protect innocent life. Period," Brownback said, bringing the crowd of about 500 to its feet."

Plus this:
"When asked how he would explain to a rape survivor "who does not believe that life begins at conception, why her trauma should be compounded by carrying the child to term." Brownback gave this reply:

SEN. BROWNBACK: That would be a very difficult situation, and it is a very difficult situation. But the basic question remains. Is the child in the womb a person? Is it a viable life? And if it is a person, it's entitled to respect. And is it an innocent person?

And I think that's the thing we've got to really look at here, is, what are we doing? We talk about abortion, but abortion is a procedure. This is a life that we're talking about. And it's a terrible situation where there's a rape that's involved or incest.

But it nonetheless remains that this is a child that we're talking about doing this to, of ending the life of this child. Will that make the woman in a better situation if that's what takes place? And I don't think so, and I think we can explain it when we look at it for what it is: a beautiful child of a loving God, that we ought to protect in all circumstances in all places, here in the womb, somebody that's struggling in poverty, a family that's struggling. We should work and look at all life, be pro-life and whole-life for everybody."

Plus many other citations about similar speeches.
So if the site is parodic, it's not exactly falling far from the tree re. his actual quotes.

A piece on the Denver Post calls them a parody site, on the basis of no actual evidence they note.
"It appears these so-called supporters - who also run the site Blogs 4 Brownback (blogs4brownback.wordpress.com) - are really using the sites to parody the senator's conservative political and religious beliefs, and perhaps make it appear that he is aligned with people who hold some, well, extraordinary notions.
The sites look official and have blogrolls linking to a number of bona fide conservative websites, including Brownback's presidential campaign. Postings from bloggers with names such as Mrs. T.D. Gaines-Crockett and Sisyphus provide just enough accuracy, and religious scripture, to appear oddly legitimate - even to other conservatives who comment on the musings.

But then as one continues to read, some things start to look rather questionable.

"For both moral and theological reasons, we should always bear in mind that the Earth does not move. If it moved, we would feel it moving," writes Sisyphus, who has received more than 1,200 comments on that thread, some from conservatives who truly fear Brownback is associating himself with those who condemn the notion of "heliocentrism" with the sun as the center of the solar system. (For the record, Brownback has never taken a public position on heliocentrism). "


There's only one source on Google I can find for the Brownback supports heliocentricism - and that's a piece by Sisyphus on, yep, Blogs4Brownback. And it got so far spread that even Dawkins site quoted it! But I swear I saw a source on this elsewhere... his views on evolution and science in general (that it should be rejected if faith conflicts with it) are easier to find, but that's not the subject here.

RationalWiki does state clearly that Sisyphus's piece is not a parody - but doesn't source that datum.

And also; "The operators of the two Brownback sites, which are hosted on a popular blogging site, have not publicly identified themselves. A posting allegedly from the site's administrator appeared one day asking visitors not to forward "any comments with regard to racist language, personal abuse or civil- action suits" because it is not responsible for the content.

The "Blogs 4 Brownback" site is a parody, the administrator said.

Not so, Sisyphus responded, and accused "moonbats" (liberals) of posing as the administrator. "
The Baptist4brown site reply to this - especially the comments - also seems indistinguishable from regular xtianfuckwittery. So at the very least there's a bunch of Babtists and the like who think the site real, or at least reflecting their beliefs. (If the place *is* a parody at first, it might not end up as such.)

Add that B4B has a parody site of its own:
http://blogs4moonbats.wordpress.com/
At one point the blogger posts his opinion that they're a parody, also based on the TOS statement... but then posts saying:

"Look at it from a utilitarian point of view. The options are a), they are real - in which case, we were right to argue against them seriously, or b), they are spoofs - in which case, we provide them with lulz, reinforce their spoof, and still probably hit some genuine scary folk anyway. There’s my feeble self-justification, that’s all."

Technorati lists them as "This is a blog for Texas Baptists and those interested in God’s kingdom work being done through the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The BGCT is a fellowship of more than 2.3 million people and 5,700 churches primarily in Texas." This appears on descriptions of other legit Baptist sites.

BCGT themselves are, at minimum, linked to Dogemperor's new friends at Zondervan.
I can find no clear statement from their site that their alleged associate is (or indeed isn't) a spoof. Not proof either way.


And at the end of the day, between Brownback's stated views on rape vs. abortion, and this recent court decision, B4B isn't even *that much* of a parody if it is one. It seems to attract actual Xtianfuckwits there to comment... which means the meme spreads.

If anyone out there *can* nail this down as a spoof/parody site, I'll happliy amend the OP. But for now, it smells, walks and quacks pretty duck-like.

Words cannot express my disgust at this:

"U.S.E. NOT RAPE
baptistsforbrown2008.wordpress.com/use-updates/
We have concluded that the acronym U.S.E. (Unplanned Sexual Event), when used regularly to replace the word "rape", will remove the stigma associated with this sometimes unpleasant situation. It is our mission to protect the innocent lives of the babies that are part of His plan and eliminate the excuses given by many women when a precious baby just isn't convienient."

To these scum, children are property and women are incubators and nothing more. Pretty much defines 'enemy' to me.

(From Dr. Jon)

Scalzi just drops the 100 ton Anvil of Truth on the Dicks for Jesus who disrupted the Hindu Prayer at Congress yesterday with cries of 'Abomination!

"1. Whatever the rationale, they're being dicks.

2. At no point in the Bible does Jesus say "be a dick in My name."

3. Lots of other Christians seem to get through life without feeling called upon to be a dick in the service of Christ.

4. Indeed, when many of these Christians discover to their dismay that they've been a dick about something, they will frequently fall to their knees and say, "Forgive me, Lord, for I have been a total dick."

5. And He does.

6. That's a hint."

Dark Christian has more details on the Xtianfuckwit dicks themselves and all the little pots of bile they have fingers in - and a YouTube of the event here.

For light relief, Cynical Sage tells a disturbing and funny tale about a taxi drive when the cabbie is high on the spirit of Jeeeeeeeeeesssuuuuuuuuusss.

Pope Palpatine continues his reign in the manner to which we are accustomed:

"Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.

Benedict approved a document from his old offices at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that restates church teaching on relations with other Christians. It was the second time in a week the pope has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church.

On Saturday, Benedict revisited another key aspect of Vatican II by reviving the old Latin Mass. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II.

Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers the erroneous interpretation of the council by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition."

To which I say - great. Between that and the imminent split in the Anglican communion, the more infighting the xtians get up to, hopefully the less they'll fuck the rest of us around.

Yeah, I know - but I can dream.

Needs no comment:

' The floods that have devastated swathes of the country are God's judgment on the immorality and greed of modern society, according to senior Church of England bishops.

One diocesan bishop has even claimed that laws that have undermined marriage, including the introduction of pro-gay legislation, have provoked God to act by sending the storms that have left thousands of people homeless.

While those who have been affected by the storms are innocent victims, the bishops argue controversially that the flooding is a result of Western civilisation's decision to ignore biblical teaching.

The Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle, argued that the floods are not just a result of a lack of respect for the planet, but also a judgment on society's moral decadence.

"This is a strong and definite judgment because the world has been arrogant in going its own way," he said. "We are reaping the consequences of our moral degradation, as well as the environmental damage that we have caused."

The bishop, who is a leading evangelical, said that people should heed the stories of the Bible, which described the downfall of the Roman empire as a result of its immorality.

"We are in serious moral trouble because every type of lifestyle is now regarded as legitimate," he said.

"In the Bible, institutional power is referred to as 'the beast', which sets itself up to control people and their morals. Our government has been playing the role of God in saying that people are free to act as they want," he said, adding that the introduction of recent pro-gay laws highlighted its determination to undermine marriage. '

Feòrag spotted this gem from The Guardian:

Teaching assistant wants compensation for her own bias
"A teaching assistant who discriminated against a child on religious grounds is seeking compensation for religious discrimination. Sariya Allen quit her job at a London school after she was disciplined for refusing to hear a child reading aloud from a Harry Potter book. She claims the books glorify witchcraft."