Quotable Quote CIX

"If the Vatican wanted to do a credible investigation of sexual abuse they would not send archbishops and cardinals. These people - the church hierarchy - are the very people who have caused this problem." 


 "Si el Vaticano quisiera hacer una investigación creíble sobre el abuso sexual, no enviaría arzobispos y cardenales. Esta gente - la jerarquía de la iglesia - son los mismos que han causado estos problemas" 

 Thomas Doyle

Quotable Quote CVIII

"What is honesty to a secular humanist is psychological devastation to a believer." 
 

"Lo que es honestidad para un humanista secular, es devastación psicológica para un creyente" 

 Ali Eteraz

Quotable Quote CVII

The reason so many Muslims like to blame Western societies for all the ills of the world is that it means they never have to engage in self-criticism or even self-analysis. The result is that what problems do exist will not be dealt with. 


 La razón por la que muchos musulmanes culpan a las sociedades occidentales de los males del mundo es que eso significa nunca tener que hacer frente a ningún auto-criticismo o incluso, auto-analisis. El resultado es que los problemas que existen nunca serán considerados

 Douglas Murray

Quotable Quote CVI

"The trouble with religious faith is that it encourages people from a young age to accept rather than challenge, ordering them to place blind trust in an authoritative teacher, parent or priest." 

"El problema con la fe religiosa es que aliente a la gente desde una temprana edad a aceptar en lugar de cuestionar, ordenándolos confiar ciegamente en la autoridad de un maestro, padre o sacerdote



Martin Robbins

Quotable Quote CV

"If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult than religion.

"Si existe un Dios, el ateísmo debe parecerle no tan insultante como la religión"

"Edmond de Goncourt

Quotable Quote CIV

George Bush says he speaks to God every day, and Christians love him for it. If George Bush said he spoke to God through his hair dryer, they would think he was mad. I fail to see how the addition of a hair dryer makes it any more absurd.


George Bush dice que habla con Dios todos los días, y los cristianos lo aman por ello. Si George Bush dijera que habla con Dios a través de su secadora de pelo, creerían que está loco. No veo como el añadir una secadora de pelo hace el asunto más absurdo


--Sam Harris.

Quotable Quote CIII

“Whether it is a relationship of convenience or conviction or both, religious fundamentalisms tend to flourish more where conservative governments are in power.

Ya sea por relaciones de conveniencia o convicción, los fundamentalismos religiosos tienden a florecer más cuando los gobiernos conservadores están en el poder

Cassandra Balchin

Christian parents beat adopted child to death... because the Bible says so

"Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them." says Proverbs 13:24 and if the kid is severely injured or dies in the process, well that's ok because it's the Bible telling parents to do so.




First of all it's certainly frightening that a book like To Train Up a Child could be popular around the world. Responsible parents don't train a child, they educate a child, but apparently Christian parents tend to leave it up to God to educate them and I don't see that as being very responsible.

The "observing Christians" (which is just another way to say "religious freaks")who authored the book hold the typical arrogance of the preachers who actually believe their actions are manifestations of God's will, that Gods acts through them, and that whatever they do or say has a part in God's plan. Therefore, they won't see anything wrong in their message or the consequences such a violent and abusive message has. I bet it took the reporter a lot of self-restrain not to punch both of them in the face when one of them started hitting him lightly with his hand.

According to the authorities, the girl was beaten for seven hours with short breaks for prayer. I wonder what kind of person could pray, and what those prayers would be, before and after beating a child. My guess is that those parents also thought they were doing the correct thing because if God says so, well, how could it be wrong?



To regard the Bible as the word of God is to be nothing else but a card-carrying idiot. Sure, it could contain some interesting and useful content, but to obey it word by word because of its supposedly divinity is plain stupid. These kind of cases remind us that the idea of a God talking to people is a really bad idea and should be fought against if what we seek is a more rational an peaceful world.

Finally, if really God meant what that couple did and didn't lift a finger to stop them, He/She is huge dick. Or he just doesn't exist, which is the most probable.

Quotable Quote CII

"The Council of Europe - like all other institutions of its kind - seems unable to step back from the fawning deference it has for religion and see that it needs to separate itself from the demands of ambitious religious institutions."

"El Concejo Europeo, como todas las instituciones de su clase, parece incapaz de alejarse de la melosa deferencia que tiene para con la religión y ver que necesita separarse de las demandas de las ambiciones instituciones religiosas"

Terry Sanderson

If this is Blasphemy, let God come down and tell me

He/She/it surely won't, since he might not care, might not be able, or just might not exist, which is the most logical conclusion.


The problem with blasphemy is that it can range from working on Sundays to tackling the Pope (which I have to admit is somehow funny), depending on how deranged people's beliefs are. It depends on the people making that claim that something is blasphemy since God will not come down to Earth to tell us exactly what is an offense to Him/Her/It.



Moreover, if we consider than an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God can get offended by anything we human beings do, we are certainly talking about a pretty little, miserable short-sighted being who needs lesser beings to defend Him/Her/It from whatever others do.

Apparently, Allah is terrorized by the West's freedom of speech. Well, that's a
pretty miserable and weak god we have there.

In other words, blasphemy is not about God, could not be about God. It's about His/Her/Its bigoted and intolerant fans, who can't bear have their cherished and nonsensical beliefs mocked, or even, just questioned and criticized, usually with a pretty good reason. This is what happens when faith pretends to be above everything else in a person's life. The more fanatical, the more a "Jesus Freak" a person is, the more God loves them, that's the message religion brings. For Muslims, just change "Jesus" with Allah and there we have a couple of towers coming down.


Now, add to that equation how politically incorrect it is to criticize religion, especially when it's taken as a breaching of someone's "Freedom of religion". Moreover, add the horror and despair that are brought when that religion belongs to some foreign, usually non-white, group of people, since criticizing such belief is "racist" or "xenophobic", and you'll have some retarded legislation against blasphemy.

Both of them would be art (a pretty dick art if you ask me)
but because of the protection Islam has thanks to multiculturalism,
this is what we have

Fortunately there is still hope since the UN, which some years ago supported legislation against "defamation of religion", now sheds away the politically correct crap and notices that freedom of expression can't be thwarted by what is perceived as freedom of religion.

United Nations Affirms the Human Right to Blaspheme Late last month, the UN issued a new statement on the extent of freedom of speech under international law. It says that laws restricting blasphemy as such are incompatible with universal human rights standards.

Thus, for instance, it would be impermissible for any such laws to discriminate in favor of or against one or certain religions or belief systems, or their adherents over another, or religious believers over non-believers. Nor would it be permissible for such prohibitions to be used to prevent or punish criticism of religious leaders or commentary on religious doctrine and tenets of faith.

Laws against blasphemy or “religious insult” (found throughout the world, including half of all Council of Europe member states) are inherently discriminatory against secularists and religious dissenters. They are discriminatory in that secularists have no legal recourse—nor should they—when the words of believers offend their moral sensibilities, nor can gays take the publishers of Leviticus to court for the spiritual affront to them that it surely is. Skeptics and heterodox believers, on the other hand, do have an Article 18 right to live and speak according to their conscience even when it offends the orthodox.

Believers usually have their "freedom of religion" as a shield to insult gays, non-believers and even other religious groups, but whine and pout when someone dares to point out their hypocrisy and intolerance. The only "but" I could have regarding this issue, is that blasphemy should be made in a tasteful manner. It's different to say "The only church that illuminates is a burning one" than "Fuck Jesus in the ass".

These can be considered blasphemous, but who cares, they are awesome

Fortunately, the tendency is for religious influence in laws and in public to go down. A better world is possible.

Quotable Quote CI

“One is often told that it is a very wrong thing to attack religion, because religion makes men virtuous. So I am told; I have not noticed it.”

"Uno escucha a menudo que es muy incorrecto atacar a la religión, debido a que la religión virtuosos a los hombres. Así me dicen; yo no lo he notado"

Bertrand Russell

Quotable Quote C

"Not only have the 'followers of Christ' made it their rule to hack to bits all those who do not accept their beliefs, they have also ferociously massacred each other, in the name of their common 'religion of love,' under banners proclaiming their faith in Him who had expressly commanded them to love one another."

Georges Clemenceau

Quotable Quote XCIX

"Religion is one lie after another: the lie of original sin, the lie of eternal life, the lie of hell, the lie of answered prayer, the lie that life can have no meaning without religion, the lie that religion is the source of morality, the lie of creationism, the lie of a spy-in-the-sky who hears your every word and reads your every thought. And to this list we must add the lie that it views men and women as equal."

Paula Kirby

Quotable Quote XCVIII

"People who believe in God don't need proof of his existence, and they certainly don't want evidence to the contrary."

Ricky Gervais

Quotable Quote XCVII

The fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.

Bertrand Russell

So, what’s the problem with pseudoscience?

That one precisely. Since it’s “pseudo”, it’s not real science, it doesn’t work as it claims to work, but despite that, is presented as such. Homeopathy and other “alternative medicine”, astrology, mediums, spiritism, etc go in that bag, in case it’s not clear. Even though this blog is focused on religious attitudes that are harmful while portrayed as all good, pseudoscience works in a very similar way and because of that, deserve the same criticism.

Alternative medicine is one of the most revered pseudosciences, whether because it’s millenary, it’s natural and not chemical, it’s not part of big pharma, it doesn’t cause addiction, etc. All of those excuses to keep holding outdated customs even though science has already given us a better alternative and show the fraud behind it.

Killing Fields: Africa's Rhinos Under Threat

Nestled in the golden bush grass of an open savanna, a black rhinoceros lies on her side. Her head is haloed by a dried pool of blood. The animal's horns have been sawed off at the stump. Her eyes have been gouged out. "That's a new thing," notes Rusty Hustler, the manager of South Africa's North West Parks and Tourism Board, whose job includes tracking the escalating number of endangered rhinos poached for their body parts. "The Vietnamese have started keeping the eyes for medicine.

This is another of the problems brought by traditional medicine, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Any doctor can tell that rhino’s eyes, or ant body parts are no medicine for anything. Yet, practitioners who make quite a lot of money with this business, thanks to their followers credulity will never leave them out of their “traditional medicine”. And when someone asks “What is the problem with that?” the problem is that the negative consequences are usually greater than the benefits.

Some months ago I wrote about traditions and how little respect I had for them, at least just for being traditions, since they pretend to be risen over reason based on scientific knowledge available nowadays. The idea that something is an “alternative” just because it’s foreign and ancient, and can be compared to actual scientific medicine is ludicrous. A tradition can be nice and cute, but when people’s lives are at stake then it’s not anymore and they deserve to be criticized.

Maybe on of the arguments most used by pseudoscience advocates is that “Science is not perfect” or “Science is not the only tool to get knowledge”. Science is actually the best tool to do so, and any other method is usually biased, or based on ancient ideas that can’t be proven and nowadays have been refuted. The scientific method might not be perfect, whether because the technological limitations it has (even though we have advanced a lot in the last 100 years) or because economical interests. However, its modus operandi has a built-in mechanism to improve itself and evolve as time makes it possible.



Another problem is multiculturalism and its efforts to treat everything that comes from outside with a mystical aura that deserves to be revered, respected and protected, no matter how archaic and nonsensical they are. A fraud is a fraud no matter how old it is or where it comes from. Just because “traditional medicine” comes from far far away and haven’t changed in 1000 years they are more reliable than actual medicine. If liberals attacked those “cultures” just like they attack Christianity (which is a good thing) when they try to portray their quackery as untouchable, another world be possible.

More information about pseudoscience can be found with James Randi, Michael Shermer and The Skeptics' Society

Quotable Quote XCVI

"Those people who claim that they do know that there is a God have found this claim of theirs the most wonderful excuse for behaving extremely badly."

Philip Pullman

Quotable Quote XCV

"Abortion divides Americans along religious lines. A 2009 survey from the Pew Forum confirms other reports that nearly all humanists and other non-theists join most Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus in their support for a woman's right to abortion services, while Christians and Muslims are split on the issue. Leading the charge against abortion access are the evangelical Christians, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses."

Roy Speckhardt

Quotable Quote XCIV

"I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."

David Attenborough

The rapture that wasn’t (and never will be). Bible prediction FAIL

Supposedly, the rapture was scheduled to happen yesterday, so that all of those “true believers” who got God’s message would be lifted and taken to heaven, leaving the unbelievers on Earth to suffer the period of “tribulation” just before the end of times.

The rapture, properly depicted in a comic book

As expected, such story that sounds like taken from a bad children’s fiction about revenge, didn’t happen and the only thing we had was just another proof that revelation is just as useful to predict future events, as making up a story while high.

It’s interesting how much attention this event got from the media. I think these kind of prediction are so ludicrous people will have to look at them, just like one gets drawn to the “man bites dog” kind of news. It’s astonishing to see people believing such nonsense, and moreover, astonishing to see people spending their entire savings

Or goes to the streets just to embarrass himself

But these cases of fanaticism (especially when it is religious fanaticism) are not just anecdotal. And this is one of the reasons many of us think it’s important to criticize religion: because it wants to dominate over reason and consider blind belief a virtue




We also have those who actually killed themselves, those who wasted all their money, and those who put their family at risk. Meanwhile, Harold Camping, the pastor who initiated this madness has gone missing (could it be he was the only one raptured) while his followers just wonder what to do now. I’m not sure if to consider them victims of a scam, or think that they are just receiving what they signed up for. Maybe they truly deserve the suffering of having nothing, but that doesn’t mean the scammer can go free.

As I said before, this could be scoffed as something anecdotal except for the tragedy it causes. But also because those who believe their God has revealed the day He is going to do something are considered a curious and even funny phenomenon, worth only to be on the back page in a newspaper.

However, there are many who actually believe in the rapture, that one day Christian will be taken to heaven while the rest are left to suffer. And just because they don’t give an exact date (“soon”, they say) that doesn’t make them less insane than those who claim to know a date.

And if we are actually talking about some insane ideas, we have to include that ask to be taken just on faith, no matter how nonsensical they can be, like the virginal birth, walking on the water, the resurrection and the idea that God actually had a son and He walked among us. If we consider those who think they’ll be taken to heaven as deluded, we will have to include among them those who believe in all what I just mentioned.

We have to admit that the later don’t cause as many problems as the firsts, and it’s easier to live with and among them. Or maybe, we just got used to them. But let’s not fool ourselves: just because one is crazier than the other, insanity is insanity. And if we need to invoke faith to believe it, it’s because those claims can’t stand the scrutiny of reason.