Christmas Tree? BLASPHEMY!

I'm not sure what us secularists should do with this. Take the Christmas tree back from the Christians or get rid of it. The Christmas Tree has pagan origins and was used as a symbol in winter solstice celebrations. So even in it's origins it is a religious tradition...

King Tut never saw a Christmas tree, but he would have understood the tradition which traces back long before the first Christmas, says David Robson, Extension Educator, Horticulture with the Springfield Extension Center.

The Egyptians were part of a long line of cultures that treasured and worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrive, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death.

The Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a fest called Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness, and lamps to light one's journey through life.

Centuries ago in Great Britain, woods priests called Druids used evergreens during mysterious winter solstice rituals. The Druids used holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life, and place evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits.

Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these early traditions.

...but it seems to me that the winter solstice has a very relevant secular significance, unlike the Christian tradition. So, would it be fair to say that the Christmas tree and the traditions of decorating it and putting presents underneath it, is rightfully a universal tradition that could be practiced by anyone? Well, anyone except Christians of course...

Jeremiah 10:1-5

3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.

The Bible forbids "Christmas" trees. Some Christians will say that this passage is just refering to the worshipping of false idols but considering the tradition's roots and how Christians have become so protective of this symbol, I would say that it amounts to blasphemy.

Jesus loves you!

Thank you somegreybloke for the vid!

Rick Warren to deliver invocation at Obama's inaguration.

More bad news. I was really hoping that Obama would be a progressive president but with his choice of putting Rick Warren "front and center at his inauration" raises my eyebrow.

As we've pointed out several times before, in 2004 Warren declared that marriage, reproductive choice, and stem cell research were "non-negotiable" issues for Christian voters and has admitted that the main difference between himself and James Dobson is a matter of tone. He criticized Obama's answers at the Faith Forum he hosted before the election and vowed to continue to pressure him to change his views on the issue of reproductive choice. He came out strongly in support of Prop 8, saying "there is no need to change the universal, historical defintion of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population ... This is not a political issue -- it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about." He's declared that those who do not believe in God should not be allowed to hold public office.

So why has this man been tapped to deliver the invocation at Obama's inaguration?

What the hell is Obama thinking???

Christian store has gone too far.

A couple friends and I took a trip down to the local mall not too long ago and decided to take a peek into the new Christian clothing store. It was rather dull with a bunch cloths displaying popular quotes from scripture and the oh so famous "NOW" (Not Of this World). Then I took a look behind their counter and was utterly horrified at the display that I witnessed. Aligned on the wall were 5 Christian baby garments. I suppose it is never too early to start indoctrinating your child. Well, indoctrination is one thing but this is selfishly labeling your child something that it is not. I mean, would it be okay for there to be similar baby garments that said, "I roll with Cheney"? or "I heart Hitler"? Maybe those are extreme examples but I think they prove my point. This is wrong on so many levels.

Big Bang Essentials

Admittedly, this video is rather old but it is an essential for everyone to watch. I have heard one too many times mischaracterizations of what the Big Bang Theory is and what we really understand about our universe. This Berkeley professor lays it out in such a fashion that it is almost impossible not to understand. Enjoy.

Bush nearly smacked by Iraqi shoe.

Damn! Soooo close! That would have been the icing on the cake to end the tyranical presidency of Bush. Oh well, at least some random woman got a microphone in her eye.

Fox & Friends are not my friends.

Satan's minions at Fox News just can't get enough of the atheist bashing. They are now putting up a display to celebrate the Festivus 'for the rest of us.' And somehow this is the fault of atheists? Personally, I think it is rather funny but Gretchen Carlson (the dumb blonde) thinks that it is incredibly insulting to Christianity. The irony is that her Christian conservative co-hosts think that it is insulting to the atheists! LOL.

Carlson goes on to ask, "What is going to be next?" Hm, well, why didn't she ask herself that when Christians were sueing to get their nativity scene displayed? I say just through the whole lot of them out and keep Church and State separate!

I heard that they would all be removed but haven't seen any signs of such a move, yet. Well, lets pray to the good ol' Flying Spaghetti Monster it will happen soon.

Atheist

Tweaked an image....thought I would share it with you! :D

Jodi Foster - "I’m an atheist"

Are you religious?

No, I’m an atheist. But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don’t believe in God. We celebrate pretty much every religion in our family with the kids. They love it, and when they say, ”Are we Jewish?” or ”Are we Catholic?” I say, ”Well, I’m not, but you can choose when you’re 18. But isn’t this fun that we do seders and the Advent calendar?”

The Friendly Atheist blog posted this quote and image back in 2007 but I just discovered it! :) Although, I don't love religion as Jodi does, it is nice to see someone with such a popular profile to come out and say "I'm an atheist." I essentially mimiced The Friendly Atheist's views on this but hey, great minds think alike. BTW, Jodi was AWESOME in "Contact." So if you haven't seen it, GO AND SEE IT!!!

Dan vs Fox News and Bill Donohue

I don't think it was Dan's best performance but he did pretty good considering the tiny amount of time that he had and how the Fox News commentator was obviously on the conservative Christian side. The commentator tells Dan to go to congress and get his own holiday! LOL. Can you believe that? As if Christmas is JUST for Christians! Well, if it is...then in that case, it shouldn't be a federal holiday, now should it?

The commentator then also has the balls to say that Dan is offending alot of Americans....well....so what? The bible and the nativity scene offends me. Does that mean we should silence all those that offend? If we did that, then this would be a very quiet country. Very quiet indeed.

Bill O'Reilly is on a roll.

Don't you love how when December comes around Billo and Fox News just can't help but feel like they are being attacked when a secularist dares to share their views? IT'S THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS!!! Man the tanks, boys!

The funny thing in this segment is that O'Reilly is actually attacking Fox's own legal correspondent. She is pretty impartial to the topic but Bill is just looking for a fight.

He also insults the Governor, calling her a pinhead, when she rightfully followed the U.S. Constitution. But I suppose Bill doesn't care much about the document that insures all of our freedoms.

I smell hypocrisy!

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty put a full page ad in the NY Times in support of the Mormon Church that helped fund and rally people to vote for Prop 8, which banned homosexual marriages. The hypocritical tone of the entire article is almost laughable. They decry the violence and intimidation that is directed toward the church and its members. I respect that but this ad isn't about stating the obvious. Most if not all the gay organizations around the country have decried the use of such tactics by a small minority of the protesters. This ad goes beyond just decrying the fake anthrax and the threatening letters. It was put up to tell everyone that religious organizations have the legal right to be involved in politics and to pass laws that discriminate against a minority group.

If these people were really concerned about things like this, then why didn't they put an ad out defending PZ Myers when he "symbolically" threw away Jesus? He received a ton of hate mail from Catholics and was slandered by higher ups like Bill Donohue of the Catholic League. Mr. Donohue is one of the signers of the letter. Why didn't they stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" to defend his free speech?

Seems to me like they just care to stand up for religious bigotry and call anything that dissents anti-religious bigotry. "...anti-religious propaganda [...] has no place in civilized society." Wait, wait, I thought this whole ad was about violence and intimidation. Oh, right, the whole bait and switch game. The problem here is that these people think that anything that goes against religious people or their views is "anti-religious propaganda."

They end with, "Furthermore, beginning today, we commit ourselves to exposing our genitals and publicaly shaming anyone who resorts to anti-religious bigotry-" Why just "anti-religious" bigotry? Why not religious bigotry or ANY kind of bigotry? It will be interesting to see who they "expose" and by what criteria they will judge whether something is bigotry. I am sure Christopher Hitchens is already on their list. HA.

http://voiceofrevolution.askdrbrown.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/nytad_lg.png

Ricky Gervais on Creationism

Brilliant.

Atheism - Because reality is awesome.

A pre-death eulogy for my good friend Christina.

We shall miss you in the future.

Well, I was initially going to do this eulogy through interpretive dance but half way through, I realized that I look horrible in tights. So, instead I wrote this short poem:

Christina my friend
Why did you leave?
You pierced your naval
So now we grieve
Your atheist soul
Now lost forever
Why did you go
on this piercing endeavor?
You pierced our hearts
When you went away
We'll miss you more
Than words can say

And Stina, if there is an after life please send some kind of message to warn us!!!
Just a quick note. This is somewhat of an inside joke so just take it prima facie and dont read too much into it.

My man Dan Barker on The O'Reilly Factor

PZ Myer's wrote a comment on this clip on his blog. Check it out if you want a sane man's perspective on the issue.

The nativity scene expresses Christian's beliefs that God exists, that Christians are going to heaven, and that the rest of us are going to burn in hell for all eternity. So, why not have an opposing view?

I'm not suprised that O'Reilly is pissed about atheists expressing their beliefs. It's nothing new but this clip is special as it has my homie Dan in it. Dan da man!

Lou Dobbs on my naughty list.

CNN's Lou Dobbs and guest Tony Perkins rail against the ACLU for protecting the Seperation of Church and State. The whole ruckus came about when the people of Ponchatoula, Louisiana decided to put up a lighted cross in the center of the town. Mr. Dobbs apperantly thinks that ACLU's actions are just political correctness and that the "ACLU is at it again" as the CNN tag stated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VnzIHtr3D0

I guess Lou thinks that it's okay for the government to promote a certain religion, but probably only if that religion is Christianity. And how about that fair reporting? Where was the otherside? Is this what CNN's reporting has come down to: shamless book promotions disguised as news stories?

The Banana is apparantly my nightmare!

The banana is a beautiful example of human ingenuity and artificial selection. It is somewhat a symbol of evolution and now apparently also a symbol of creationist stupidity. This is Ray Comfort from 'Way of the Master' demonstrating how the banana is "the atheist's nightmare." It seems that Ray believes that anything that is shaped to fit into his mouth was designed by God for the purpose of going into the mouth. I suppose that he also thinks that fellatio is a divine act inspired by God.

This sh!t is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!