Touch of God

Recall that God often strikes out against civilisations who displease him. It was a common sight in the old testament and we've seen recent examples of it in the form of a Haitian earthquake and an Asian tsunami.

Well here He is again, sending a clear message to somebody about something.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/16/touchdown-jesus-statue-burns-down

Not a fan of football or over-sized novelty statues. What I was particularly drawn to was this quote:

Some people were scooping up pieces of the statue's foam from the nearby pond to take home with them, said Darlene Bishop, a church co-pastor. "This meant a lot to a lot of people," she said.

Having had a short and miserable time with economics at University, I couldn't help but wonder just how much meaning "a lot" really was, you know, in dollar terms. I found my answer pretty quickly:

So, somewhere in the region of 99 cents to $15 then. Only time will tell. Let's see if eBay's servers survive the next electrical storm.

Hitchens on Hitch-22 on Daily Show

Hitchens is still doing the publicity rounds for Hitch-22. I had wondered whether Hitchens would be invited back (or even accept an invitation) to the Daily Show after this spot-on article.

The episode is good entertainment...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/tue-june-8-2010-christopher-hitchens

... but skip to the last third if you want to head straight to the interview.

Florida's wet season pt. II: The full story begins to emerge?

Turns out that the two teachers involved were more likely stood down for off-colour comments about Haiti than sprinkling around some holy perfume.

http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4576&Itemid=1

Rainer and Robinson, who profess that they are Christians, were initially accused of sprinkling holy water onto fellow teacher Schandra Tompkinsel Rodriguez, an avowed atheist. School officials backed away from that allegation last week.

The allegations stemmed from a March 11 incident in which Rodriguez was in her classroom with students, discussing the fact that she does not believe in God or the Bible, according to confidential sources and McCray

Too late for the truth though, the public will remember this as the Holy Water case where Christianity was the real victim.

Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, interviews

Hitchens is promoting his autobiography Hitch-22 at the moment. Although not an atheist publication, I still think it's worth mentioning some links here.

Be aware that the following links may not stay active for very long.

Audio - Radio NZ, National (New Zealand)

http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20100522-0910-Christopher_Hitchens_contrarian-048.mp3

Audio - ABC (Australia)

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2010/2910872.htm
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2010/05/lnl_20100527_2205.mp3

Also The Guardian article is worth reading and somewhat of an eye opener although at the same time offering little surprise. You'll see what I mean:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/22/christopher-hitchens-decca-aitkenhead

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The Lord God Made 'em All...

...even if it's beyond our comprehension as to why.

http://www.examiner.com/x-25060-Fort-Worth-Christianity--Culture-Examiner~y2010m5d20-Information-and-photos-of-what-a-brown-recluse-spider-can-do

It turns out that God's 8 legged avenger actually has a poisonous bite for self defense, rather than for stunning and chowing down on prey:

"Somehow, in God's infinite wisdom, every animal and insect on this planet has a purpose. Most have been given a method of self-defense and the brown recluse spider is no exception. It has a poisonous bite that is so dangerous, you should make every effort to avoid any contact with this little monster."

Florida's Wet Season

http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4489&Itemid=144

Here's a case worth keeping your eye on. When I first saw this reported in South Florida Times here I saw it as a stoush between a few people who just didn't like each other. Hard to know really what the true story is behind the incident.

The gist of it is that a couple of teachers sprinkled holy water over an atheist co-worker.

But the rhetoric is ramping up. Looks promising:

“We need to know why one teacher is allowed to teach our children there is no God and nothing is done,” said the Rev. Willie J. Rainer, husband of one of the accused teachers and  an associate pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church in Pompano Beach. “But the Christian teachers have been removed from the classroom even though nothing has been proven.”

An example of oppressed Christians in a Southern State?

"It is totally unfair to remove the two teachers, and allow the other teacher to remain."

Yeah, totally unfair to stand down the two accused of assault, while the victim walks free.

Why atheism grows faster than religion

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201005/why-atheism-will-replace-religion

A dry but short article restating ideas behind why the more economically developed a society is, the fewer the number of believers.

The article's usefulness lies in a few stats and a quick run over those aforementioned ideas. Unfortunately, it contains no counter to those who would point out that religious societies are growing at a faster rate than non-religious ones. One would have to assume simply from this article that religion's greatest enemy is economic growth and education, which is perhaps a too simplistic viewpoint.