Oh Alaska, you do make me chuckle.
Here is an opinion piece from the Frontiersman of Wasilla, Alaska. The writer brings up the story of Lot to explain the bibles position on homosexuality but just breezes over the fact that Lot offers up his Virgin daughters up to be raped like it is fine and dandy.
Watch out for the guy in white loafers, he just might be the Antichrist.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Impark Update
Impark is issuing me a cheque for $0.50, it will cost them $0.52 to send it. Think I may just frame it instead of cashing it.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Off Topic, but I Hate Impark. Blatant False Advertisement of Rates.
Sorry for the bad cell phone pic, no dslr on me today.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Religion Rebranded Lures Young Canadians
Posted on TheStar.com
Kevin Newman of Global television will be be presenting Hip 2B Holy tonight on Global. He co-wrote and co-produced this documentary as well.
Kevin Newman of Global television will be be presenting Hip 2B Holy tonight on Global. He co-wrote and co-produced this documentary as well.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Northern Freethinkers Test Pilot
Myself and fellow host Theo have produced our first test pilot episode for Northern Freethinkers.
Looking for comments and suggestions before we do the final pilot.
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/NorthernFreethinkers
Looking for comments and suggestions before we do the final pilot.
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/NorthernFreethinkers
Tax Exemption for Advancement of Theism
As we are all mostly aware, religious organizations here in Canada get the same tax breaks other charities. As it is stated in our tax exemption legislation there are four ways an organization can qualify.
(i) the relief of poverty
(ii) the advancement of education
(iii) the advancement of religion
(iv) other purposes beneficial to the community that the courts have identified as charitable
The third qualifier in the list is the one that concerns me and other non-religious people the most. A religious organization has all the right to self promote but as a supposedly secular government, we should not be giving them a hand in the matter.
Should we not base tax exempt status on what the organization does but on how much revenue is used toward the other criteria? Should we assist the organization that spends millions of dollars on their own worship centers or should we assist the organization that is doing true charitable acts through volunteers and a limited paid staff.
The government and the services it supports are loosing out on lost tax revenue on organizations that use more money internally then spend on the community. In 2007 this was approximately 1.2 billion dollars. This could be much better used for our healthcare system. A system that we know helps people.
(i) the relief of poverty
(ii) the advancement of education
(iii) the advancement of religion
(iv) other purposes beneficial to the community that the courts have identified as charitable
The third qualifier in the list is the one that concerns me and other non-religious people the most. A religious organization has all the right to self promote but as a supposedly secular government, we should not be giving them a hand in the matter.
Should we not base tax exempt status on what the organization does but on how much revenue is used toward the other criteria? Should we assist the organization that spends millions of dollars on their own worship centers or should we assist the organization that is doing true charitable acts through volunteers and a limited paid staff.
The government and the services it supports are loosing out on lost tax revenue on organizations that use more money internally then spend on the community. In 2007 this was approximately 1.2 billion dollars. This could be much better used for our healthcare system. A system that we know helps people.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
101 Contradictons in the Bible
An amusing article from ThinkAtheist.com
It is to long to post here but click the link and enjoy. Here are a few examples from the site.
It is to long to post here but click the link and enjoy. Here are a few examples from the site.
72. Matthew and Mark agree that Jesus went away and prayed three times. What were the words of the second prayer?
* Mark does not give the words but he says that the words were the same as the first prayer (Mark 14:3 9)
* Matthew gives us the words, and we can see that they are not the same as in the first
(Matthew 26:42)
(Matthew 26:42)
74. When Jesus said My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me ? in what language did he speak?
* Hebrew: the words are Eloi, Eloi ..(Matthew 27:46)
* Aramaic: the words are Eloi, Eloi .. (Mark 15:34)
Monday, May 18, 2009
Random Quote
"I only worship Santa Claus... He's the only mythological figure who leaves evidence!" ~ Esiah Zakite
Girl Guides Dropping "God" from Pledge
I just read an article on ParentCentral.ca talking about the Girl Guides of Canada dropping any religious wording from their pledge.
This has ruffled many feathers within the organization and from outside.
However the Girl Guides operate as a private organization and as so can include or exclude any religious meaning so forth. I know as a former member of Boy Scouts of Canada the same thing happened years ago and the organization dropped Christian values to allow more people of different religions to join. The organization was also spreading into more non-christian areas.
If either of these organizations receive any funding or support from the public sector, then yes they should remove all religious teaching or views from their operations.
If anyone is more familiar with how these organizations interact with the public sector drop me a line in the comments.
This has ruffled many feathers within the organization and from outside.
However the Girl Guides operate as a private organization and as so can include or exclude any religious meaning so forth. I know as a former member of Boy Scouts of Canada the same thing happened years ago and the organization dropped Christian values to allow more people of different religions to join. The organization was also spreading into more non-christian areas.
If either of these organizations receive any funding or support from the public sector, then yes they should remove all religious teaching or views from their operations.
If anyone is more familiar with how these organizations interact with the public sector drop me a line in the comments.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Chemist Shows How RNA Can Be the Starting Point for Life
An English chemist has found the hidden gateway to the RNA world, the chemical milieu from which the first forms of life are thought to have emerged on earth some 3.8 billion years ago.
Read the article from the New York Times
Read the article from the New York Times
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Random Quote
"More people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason." ~ Harvey Milk
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Random Quote
"People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.” ~ Dave Barry
Torture More Accepted by Frequent Church Attendees
I came across this poll in a few publications in the last week or so. According to the results the more frequent and devout church goers were in favor of the use of torture.
This makes me think and wonder. Why are the good sheep of the lord so in favor of allowing the torture of another human being? I wonder if that other human being was a affiliated with the same religion as them, if their views would be the same? However I have to admit I am not surprised by these results and I am reminded of a recent Facebook discussion I had with a friend of my sisters. After some discussion on a bible quote she had posted John piped in. We started the usual debate over logic and faith but what really struck me and reminded me of this poll was his comment on how my disbelief had caused me to have cancer at a young age and the tumor I am being treated for now. This was not the first time I have heard or witnessed such comments from someone of faith.
There is this feeling and observance from Christians I have encountered that non-believers and people of different religious views are seen as evil or just lesser human beings. Missionaries often have this attitude surrounding them. This must make it ok to treat another human so badly.
The people that think torture is ok should re-evaluate their ethics. Maybe step back from their religious prejudices, look at the facts about the effectiveness of torture and think of these prisoners as fellow human beings.
I welcome comments and maybe if we have some Christians in the crowd, you can prove me wrong.
This makes me think and wonder. Why are the good sheep of the lord so in favor of allowing the torture of another human being? I wonder if that other human being was a affiliated with the same religion as them, if their views would be the same? However I have to admit I am not surprised by these results and I am reminded of a recent Facebook discussion I had with a friend of my sisters. After some discussion on a bible quote she had posted John piped in. We started the usual debate over logic and faith but what really struck me and reminded me of this poll was his comment on how my disbelief had caused me to have cancer at a young age and the tumor I am being treated for now. This was not the first time I have heard or witnessed such comments from someone of faith.
There is this feeling and observance from Christians I have encountered that non-believers and people of different religious views are seen as evil or just lesser human beings. Missionaries often have this attitude surrounding them. This must make it ok to treat another human so badly.
The people that think torture is ok should re-evaluate their ethics. Maybe step back from their religious prejudices, look at the facts about the effectiveness of torture and think of these prisoners as fellow human beings.
I welcome comments and maybe if we have some Christians in the crowd, you can prove me wrong.
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