With all of this graduation prayer hoopla

This comic from Freethunk! looked like a must-post. Enjoy.

You may need to click it to read it.

click to enlarge

Via

Monday Evening Reading List

I haven’t done a reading list in a while. So here’s one now. So stop bitching.

• One dog lover goes leaps and bounds to save his K9 buddy. It’s a heart-warming story. Read here.
• God gives batshit-crazy Michele Bachman the greenlight to run for Prez. I’m still waiting for him to find my keys.
• Video turns up of 13-year-old Syrian boy. Video shows that he was tortured brutally — bruised and battered body and face, knees broken, and he was possibly castrated. Read here.
• A 32-year-old Saudi woman named Manal al-Sharif was arrested after driving after the ban on female drivers. She has been released from prison in Dammam after signing a statement that she will no longer drive nor encourage other women woman to follow her lead.
• Creationists are planning to attend PZ Myers upcoming speech in Glasgow. They are ready to ask him some tough questions. Funny thing is, he can’t wait! And it’s no wonder. “Intelligent” design advocates are so dumb, one of their questions is, “How many peer-reviewed papers have you published since setting up your blog, Pharyngula? We think the number’s zero, but it would be nice to get confirmation of this.” Disaster is what those morons are setting themselves up for.
• Joe.My.God posts his weekly review of “This Week in Holy Crimes.” You should read it. 
• Sam Harris is still mulling over his post-mortem notes from his debate with William Lane Craig. He wrote an editorial that’s actually a good read in HuffPo. I think he still has some fleshing out to do, but the general ideas are there.
• I’ve been reading Jon Ronson’s “The Psychopath Test: A Journey through the Madness Industry.” So far, so good. Anyone have any book recommendations?

Above image from Reddit.

Phallic Symbols at Denver International Airport

The mind looks for patterns. The mind finds patterns. The bizarre mind fixates from strong biases. This is the result.

Many of the paintings and sculptures at DIA contain hidden images of paganism

Thanks, Betty Bowers!

I can’t have 2:40 of my life back, so neither should you

Play this trailer for this Christian parody of “40 year old Virgin” at your own risk. The trailer tells me one thing, the quality of Christian movie production has a LONG way to go before they reach “B” movie status.

Via Friendly Atheist

 

One of them mornings

Today was one of those mornings in which you wake up and say to yourself, “Today would be a great day for a checkup.”

And wouldn’t you know? I have a checkup today. I haven’t been to the doctor in a while. I’ll update more about it after the appointment.

It sucks, because I have been exhibiting signs of White Coat Syndrome since last week when we made the appointments. Sometimes I am a nervous nelly.

I hope your Memorial Day weekend went splendidly. Ours did. Chicago finally warmed up yesterday. I went from jeans, a sweatshirt and a knit cap on Sunday to shirtless, banana hammock while washing the car on Monday.

We actually turned on our A/C this morning. I can’t believe it. First time since last September.

Atheist Wedding Vow from 1862

I stumbled upon this one. It’s supposedly an atheist wedding vow from 1862 found here. Check it:

“NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, November 20,1862. p. 3, c 3

A singular couple got married in Chester County, Penn., the other day, merely making the following declaration in the presence of friends.

“We, Orson S. Murray, and Lydia P. Jacobs, make known to these our friends that we have chosen each other for conjugal companionship, in prosperity and adversity, in life and till death. We ask no license. We submit to no dictation. We bow to no authority. We recognize no God nor Almighty power to guide or guard us. Our promises are to ourselves and each other, not to others. Our trust is not in others but in ourselves and each other.”

 

I Simply Do Not (via No Godz)

I liked this post from a blog called “No Godz” … and I thought you might like to read it.

I simply do not… …understand the need for humans to collectively subscribe to mythology and claim it as reality. …care if I offend you, your clergy or even your imaginary savior. Since when do many Christians care if they offend others outside of their worldview? …condemn gays or gay marriage because homosexuality is “an abomination to God” as many Christians repeat over and over, but yet ignore the warnings of heterosexual adultery in Luke 16:18 … Read More

via No Godz

Wendy Wright gets stomped … by an illustration

click to enlarge

 

Via 

Wendy Wright says: “What I’ve seen is that in the museums and in the textbooks whenever they claim to show the evolutionary differences from one species to another, it relies on illustrations and drawings … not any material evidence.” 

Illustrative Richard Dawkins responds: “Which is funny, because what I’ve seen is that your attempts at religious persuasion, whenever you claim to show the existence of God, it relies on the bible and wishful thinking … not any material evidence.” 

 

The Pledge of Allegiance, with footnoted commentary

 

You may think it is a form of brainwashing to have kids repeat mantras and memorize bible verses, but it’s not.

Just keep telling yourself that.

Via 

If Noah’s ark were built today, modern standards should be met

It boggles my mind that if a man built Noah’s ark today, it must meet modern standards of safety according to this NYTimes article describing a Dutchman who built a Noah’s ark tourist trap attraction.

Even though the thing can’t sail, the eyesore attracts an astounding number of people willing to shell out their hard-earned money to see the parade of lunacy that is Noah’s ark.

Noah’s ark is a reminder of the completely impossible. It’s a reminder that many people believe that all of humanity are the product of incest upon incest, and that all the populations from China to Africa to Europe and the Americas come from a five-hundred-year-old man and his 480-year-old sons.

Somehow all that is supposed to make you feel better. It’s supposed to make everyone respect you when you repeat that you think it’s literally true. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, that there was no global flood, that all animals would never make it to one place on earth and re-disperse back where they originated.

It’s magical, though, isn’t it. And there’s a draw to magic like nothing else.

The same reason people are willing to line some guy’s pockets to see an unsailable boat is the same reason people are willing to pay Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol $262,500 to be the spokeswoman for abstinence-only pregnancy prevention education. They shell out another $160,000 in advertising fees, and a measly $35,000 to actual clinics.

The Palin’s need to take that magic act to Vegas.

Despite all the evidence that Bristol is not fit for abstinence-only pregnancy prevention leadership, she’s placed on a pedestal to the tune of more money than most people make in several years.

That is a mean slight of hand, you guys have there. Show me how you do that.

Abstinence-only pregnancy prevention should hire me. I produced zero children outside of marriage. Hell, I can’t produce a child within marriage.

That alone should make me ten times more qualified than Bristol Fucking Palin.

When I reached the dating age, my head was chockfull of abstinence-only education that completely fucked screwed manipulated my view of sex and marriage. I have that working for me.

I can be charismatic and entertaining if I try. Also a plus, right?

Where’s the address for this organization? I’m sending them my resume.

In the meantime, someone hook me up with the magic it takes to make money off deceptions like these.