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.

Holy Week recommendation II: "The Crime of Father Amaro"

The movie is based on a novel written in 1875, which means that priests haven’t been that holy for a long, long time. If they ever were. "The Crime of Father Amaro" was nominated for best foreign movie.



Father Amaro (played by Gael García Bernal) arrives to a small town in Mexico, where he is sent to learn from the elderly priest in charge. He starts celebrating mass and is admired by the extremely Catholic inhabitants, especially by Amelia, a young woman who teaches catechism to the children. Amaro soon notices that the older priest has an affair with Amelia’s mother, but says nothing. He also says nothing about the construction of a hospital that is financed by drug money.

"You will go to heaven, but there is room for only one Virgin there

On the other side, there is another priest who is criticized for helping a leftist guerrilla. He eventually will get defrocked, but will continue to help the insurgents.

Having feelings for Amaro, Amelia dumps her boyfriend Ruben, a journalist and an atheist who has proof about the relationship between the church and the area drug lord. He writes an article for the local newspaper, but the church threatens it with withdrawing their advertisements from the newspaper. Ruben is fired and then his home vandalized by angered Catholics and his father results injured

Not even God can escape this temptation

Amelia announces she is pregnant with Amaro’s child. Despite the words about love being a blessing, Amaro refuses to acknowledge that he is the father, since that would threaten his career as a priest. Amelia asks Ruben to marry her, but he refuses. Amaro then arranges for Amelia to have an abortion. At night, he takes her, along with a devout catholic woman to a clinic, but she starts bleeding profusely. Amaro tries to get her to a hospital, but she dies in the way.

Days later, Amaro celebrates mass, while the town thinks that Ruben was the one who impregnated Amelia and Amaro saved her.

Oh, yeah, thank you guys for blaming the atheist.
Now come and keep drinking the cool-aid.

The depiction of the admiration the people feel for their priests (“Father Amaro is a living Saint”) is a great reflection of reality, a reality in which people, especially poor and uneducated, tend to blindly trust their priests, pastors, and in general, anyone who claims to represent God. A sad reality that ended up in thousands of children being abused.

Another thing worth noting is that among the “bad” priests, there is a good one who chooses to serve where he is needed. More than trying to patch the Catholic Church’s reputation, I think this represents pretty well that those who get the most recognition aren’t usually the best ones when it comes to “serving God”.

There is also the fact that Amaro feels guilty for what he does, at least at first. But then, he finds a way to reconcile his conscience with his priestly duty and then keep doing what he does, meaning, Amelia. At least this time it was a willing young woman instead of a boy.

Finally, the people’s zeal about defending their priests against those who criticize them depicts pretty well the kind of sheep religion breeds.

Overall, The Crime of Padre Amaro is a great drama that will have viewers, both believers and non-believers entertained and outraged. And maybe, might make some believers rethink their ideas about priests, pastors and other snake-oil dealers.

Holy Week recommendation I : Chocolat

If you live in a place with a Catholic majority, you have to live with the Holy Week. This is the week that precedes Easter (when Jesus came back to life and became a zombie) and should be of preparation for such an important date (even though it's not a fixed date and changes depending on the lunar calendar (Pagans called, they want royalties for using their way of choosing dates for their rituals).

This is a Holy Week celebration in Spain.
Yes, I know it looks like something else.

Regardless of how it started, the problem is that everything around smells like incense and over-the-top holiness. But not everything is really that bad. I remember, as a schoolkid, I loved holy week since we got 2 days off (Good Thursday and Friday). Had I known that kids in the United States got the whole week off with a less pretentious name (Spring Break) it would have been really pissed off.

Another thing I had to live with was that locals TV stations would broadcast biblical films and cartoons. At that time I enjoyed them, I think because those were once-a-year films. Nowadays it's not funny anymore.

So if you live in that kind of environment, you might want to watch something less preachy. During these week I'll be updating daily with recommendations to have an entertaining and sane Holy Week.

Today's recommendation is Chocolat:



A woman and her daughter arrive to a conservative French town, desiring to open a candy store. The villagers get intrigued during the time she makes the preparations and when she does, some arrive, curious to know what she has to offer. The problem is, she opened her candy store during lent. And the conservative major (played by Alfred Molina) cannot accept that people might have some kind of pleasure (like eating delicious chocolate) during a time that is supposed to be of suffering.

At the same time, a group of gypsies (led by Johnny Depp) arrives to town. They set camp at the riverside, since they are usually shunned by the townspeople. However, they get along pretty well with the chocolate store owner, which infuriates the major and some other conservative villages even more, to the point of burning down their camp.

What? You are an atheist who doesn't celebrate catholic rituals and sells chocolate?
I'll crush you to death!

It's interesting how the protagonist is hinted to be an atheist. But more interesting is how her actions, while not disregarding of the village traditions, are viewed as threatening to the town's morality. While wrapped in a comedy/drama/romance format, it reflects very well how many believers feel about others who won't share their delusion or traditions.

So, go to the rental store, ask a friend, or get it from the internet (you know how, right?), this is a very nice film who would slip well as a family movie.

You have to be some awesome atheist for Time to put "Atheist" under your occupation

That awesome atheist is Christopher Hitchens, who today turns 62.


The first thing I admire on Hitchens is that, among the leading atheists nowadays, he is a journalist who doesn't have a very clear "agenda", more than that of rationally putting those who deserve it in their place.

While it's great to see him putting conservative Christians down with his famous "hitchslap", it's also great to see him kicking down the politically correct left, especially when it comes to multicultural issues. Hitchens calls bullcrap when it is needed, no matter how many Muslims are angered by that.

But Hitchens is human and far from being a God. His life is endangered because of a cancer Hitchens himself brought to him, or at least, helped, thanks to his smoking and drinking. Yet, he keeps his attitude certainly is very far from becoming religious. If he dies, we will have someone to quote to those who stupidly say that every atheist converts just before his or her death. And if he lives, well, we keep Hitchens for some more years and will get to say that God wanted to kill him, but he survived.

Want to send him a gift? You can buy his books here. Want something easier and cheaper? Then you can vote for him in the Time Magazine poll for the 100 most influential people of 2011. He surely deserves it.

Happy Birthday Mr. Hitchens.

Oh, before leaving, check this documentary about Mother Teresa. You'll love it

In Normal Conditions

I have to admit I’m not a huge chemistry fan. I feel better with literature, history and social sciences. I won’t say that chemistry is not important when it comes to understand the world that surrounds us, but it’s not something that I enjoy. Same thing with math

I want a math teacher like Winnie Cooper

But there is something I remember pretty well. Every time we had to solve some exercise, the teacher pointed out this was in “normal conditions", meaning that it was at sea level, with 1 atmosphere of pressure and gravity of 9.8. To do the experiment in other conditions would have the elements behaving differently and get a biased result.

I think something like that happens with religion. Surely, many of you have had a discussions with an acquaintance or relative, usually older, who after a lot of problems and difficulties gets to be a successful person and thinks has the answer for everything. They will tell you that you don’t believe in God because “you haven’t suffered enough”.

If this is the case, it would certainly be wrong to disdain all the effort a person has done to succeed, especially in the very competitive we live in nowadays, especially considering there are many who would not strive for a better life than the one they already have. But it would also be wrong to just agree to anything this person says.

That someone who has suffered greatly believes in God is no proof for its existence, especially considering the number of educated people, regardless their economic status, who don’t believe in it. These people, who have suffered and worked hard, have had to use anything to keep afloat. Many times, they will have to use the placebo effect that religion provides, that everything will be ok, that everything happens for a reason, and that God loves us.

But this suffering, instead of helping to see things clearly, cause us to see them desperately. The cool that is needed to understand and analyze reality is lost. This is why the argument from personal experience is more a fallacy than anything when it comes to prove God’s existence, or explain why a person doesn’t believe with “he or she hasn’t suffered enough”

He hasn’t have it very easy. Yet, he doesn’t need God.

I have had my shared of those who tell me that because I’ve had a fairly nice life, I don’t believe in God, and that if I suffered a little bit more, I would believe. All the contrary, I would say the life I’ve had has helped me to keep my cool, analyze and keep my skepticism towards the existence of a God.

The sad story of the Poe’s Law girl and the gullible atheists

Atheists like to feel proud about our reliance on facts and reality instead of faith and feelings. While this is mostly true, considering that atheists and liberals have higher IQ and know more about religion that believers, to be an atheist is not an exemption of gullibility and fanaticism. Not that I’m happy to say so.

It was one day after the Japan Earthquake. During that day the internet’s attention caught a video of a girl thanking God for striking Japan after she prayed and fasted for one day. Youtube user Tamtampamela had many videos in which she praised God and badmouthed atheists.

Congratulations dear: You just made a fool of a group
of people who take pride in the skepticism, but were quick to fall
for their own prejudices. For that, I salute you, Queen of Trolls.

The video is this one:



This video was shared among my atheist Facebook contacts (and I’m sure many more) accompanied by rants about how disgusting Christians are, that religion is a drug that makes you crazy and stuff like that.

But there was something weird in the video. Something it was hard to pinpoint. After checking her channel I saw that her description mostly matched that of a Christian zealot. But there was something missing. Most Christian youtubers have lots of bible citations in her information boxes. She didn’t. Instead, she had mostly quotations from famous people that badmouthed atheists.

Next I checked her subscriptions. Among them there were two well-known satirists, Edward Current and 1god1jesus. Those two facts made me almost sure that the girl was a satirist and many atheists were falling in what is known as the Poe’s Law:

Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing.

So much for skepticism and rationalism. Many of my contacts lost their patience and ranted about her, with many of her friends commenting and ranting as well. Few of us would point that she was a Poe. But they wouldn’t listen.

I think that in cases like this, atheists won’t stop to check for the evidence and just follow their instinct, or should I say, belief, that Christians are just that hateful. I don’t think that is the rule, but certainly there are many that agree with what that girl said and can sustain it as any other Christian would say can sustain the idea that God actually love us.

Something similar tends to happen with Ratzinger and the belief that he was a Nazi. Most atheists (and actually, most rational people) tend to dislike Ratzinger. And because of that and the fact that her served in the Hitler Youth, they are very quick to say that he was a nazi. They won’t check for the evidence that points to the contrary, preferring to believe what they want.

Tamtampamela saw that her video got her a pretty unwanted attention when she started to receive pizzas at her home (which means that the internet had her home address and other information) so she made a video stating that she was just a troll.




Moments after this video was published, her account was closed.

This changed the criticism from being directed to a hateful Christian, to being directed to a girl that trivialized a tragedy. While she used this sad event lightly, she also made a point: that a christian, or any believer, can use God to justify the most hateful of remarks (which already happened). If there is any anger to be drawn from this, it should be directed to those who really believe what they are saying as being God’s message.

Finally, my fellow atheists and other non-believers, don’t be so quick to get angry. Stop your horses, check out the evidence, check out again, and when giving your opinion, do so in a measured way. That just better PR.

Happy Cat Day 2011... with Atheist Cats

It's been brought to my attention that today is Cat Day 2011, and given the attraction the internet has with cats, it would be irresponsible not to do something.

So, for your entertainment, here are the best atheist cats




That's ok, search is good. But eventually one has to accept that no matter how much you searched, or others have searched, there is none, and then start acting like there is non. But keep searching.



Yeah, no ceiling cat



Still, no proof of ceiling cat



No evidence of it.



Just like, Santa Claus. You want me to believe in it? Show proof.



Even the bird says so.



Oh, and your images and concepts, no matter how cute and lovely they are (enough to send his "son") are no proof




Which, considering the evidence is a pretty accurate and practical conclusion.



And even if he existed, he is pretty much a dick



Your prayer, your songs, your paintings, architecture and art can be nice. But futile.



Which is why I prefer to use my time in other ways



Which is certainly more entertaining

But sometimes I'll be bothered with people actually coming to my door and trying to convince of otherwise



And if this doesn't stop




But there are other implications, such as the ignorance religion promotes, even after facing the overwhelming proof science give us.



Yeah, the only reason so many people like to think that is because of their beliefs and faith-based ignorance. For that I can not show respect. That's why



Happy Cat Day 2011

The Southern California Secular Humanist Conference

A couple of weeks ago (damn, it’s taken me so damn long to write this) the Southern California Secular Humanist Conference took place in San Diego. Well, this is kind of a long name for an atheist conference, but the idea, I guess, is to reunite all forms of lack of belief, and since today “atheist” is still sort of an alienating term, we have “secular humanist”. But that’s just a minor detail. I’m glad I went and had an awesome time.

My principal motivation to go was to meet Dan Barker. As most of you know (or should know), Barker was an evangelical preacher who even used to go to Mexico to convert Catholics into Protestants. However, one day he started to question his beliefs and after some time, he came out as an atheist. Today, he works for the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Jason Frye Kolarik
The conference started at 9 a.m. with a little introduction by Jason, who was the main organizer and one of the most powerful promoters of the atheist movement in the San Diego area. Jason works as president of the Humanist Association of San Diego and also as a “humanist minister” which means he acts as a minister in events that otherwise would need a priest or a pastor.


August Berkshire

Just after Jason, came Berkshire, who is president of the Minnesota Atheists, and has worked as vice-president for Atheist Alliance International. Berkshire explained pretty well how it is not only that it is possible to be good without God, but also, necessary to put aside the “Bible morality”, which we have been doing for quite a long time in order to achieve progress. In other words, morality doesn’t come from God, but from our own conscience on how we value other human beings.

Stuart Bechman
Bechman is the American Atheists director, and has also served in different atheist organizations. Bechman presented many of these organizations, and how they were hostile against each other at the beginning. However, according to Bechman, George W. Bush’s first term changed that, and then those secular organizations started working with each other in order to reach a common goal. I liked this concept, especially to be considered for secular associations that are just starting to try to make some kind of impact in their communities. Certainly more would be achieved if more groups worked together.


Judith Hand
Hand is an ethologist and peace activist who talked about humanity’s goal for global peace, but from an evolution point of view. According to hand, since there have been movements to erradicate slavery and child labor, eventually we can make a movement against war, which is some kind of “evolutive defect”.
Also, Hand is a prolific writer with many published books.


Roy Speckhardt
Speckhardt was one of my favorite speakers. He is the American Humanist Association executive director, and during the conference, he talked about the different ways we consider ourselves. According to Speckhardt, atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, humanists, secularists, brights, etc, are just ways to describe ourselves with an emphasis in that which we emphasize the most. However, we are still part of those don’t believe in a god. He added that those who consider themselves with no religion are a growing group that should and will retake the United States to its secular roots by the year 2020.


And this goes along pretty much with how I see the atheist/secular/humanist/whatever movement. No matter what my purpose is, (which nature Dan Barker would later explain) is to contribute to build a better world for everyone, a world in which religion doesn’t mess with anyone’s life. To be involved in petty fights over what label we are using is just useless. Considering what Bechman said, atheists need to be organized and work together, more and better than what we are doing, in order to achieve our goals.

Debbie Skomer
Skomer wasn’t exactly a speaker, but the receiver of an award, the Local Organizer Award, for all she did representing the secular humanist community in San Diego, especially regarding talking to the press.

Dan Barker
As I said before, meeting Dan Barker was my main motivation for coming to this event. I had considered even going to Mexico for the Coloquio de Ateismo, but didn’t have my passport ready. So, as soon as I got to the conference I looked for him. There he was, talking to other like he was another one of us, not a renowned atheist activist. He was very nice and got to talk to him, even doing an interview in Spanish, for all the atheists who can relate to his story of leaving his faith after being a committed believer, me among them. I also bought a couple of his books, The Good Atheist (which is about our purpose in life) and Godless, which is about the journey from religion to reason. There is also an older book "Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist" which didn't seem to be available with Barker at that moment.

En su presentación, Barker hizo gala de sus dotes como músico, y nos cantó ya no una canción que hablara del amor de Dios y otras patrañas, sino de algo más animado y menos irracional.



After the songs, he talked about our purpose, which is the topic on his last book. Barker said that people have to find their own purpose in life, which usually involves fixing something they see unfit for the world. This purpose should be determined by the person and definitely not be thought as given by God, or more exactly, by anyone claiming to know what God wants from us.

As I said before, I can pretty much feel identified with Barker. I once was a devote believer and had no doubt that there was something God wanted from me. Happy I was, but delusional nonetheless. I’m happy I’m not in such state anymore and the only intolerance I can harbor goes toward intolerance itself.




David Diskin
David Diskin is the organizer of Camp Quest West, which is a summer camp that, unlike many other around the US has no religious affiliation. The idea is not teach atheism to the kids, but to teach them how to reach answers with the correct tools. Certainly something very different from religious oriented camps, like this one:




Jason Torpy
Torpy in an officer who serves as the President of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF). Torpy spoke about the stereotype that “there are no atheists in foxholes” but according to his data, those who express no religious affiliation are almost 1 in 4. Torpy also spoke about the ideal of engaging in dialogue before taking court actions, in which dialogue is not possible anymore. Legal actions should be taken only when there is no more room for dialogue.


James Croft
Croft is a student at Harvard who talked about the atheist movement’s lack of symbols and traditions, which religion has lots of, and by lacking those, the atheist movement loses the kind of people who likes them. Croft pointed at a Cross and demonstrated how many emotions and ideas come associated with it, but that doesn’t happen very often with the atheist movement.


Bobbie Kirkhart
Kirkhart serves as vice-president for the Secular Coalitoin of American, as well as serving as co-presiden for Atheists United. Kirkhart presented many prominent female activist within the secular movemente, proving false the idea that atheism is a field only for men. Kirkhart especially mentioned Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Dr. Eugenie Scott.


Ted Cox
Cox was another of my favorite speakers. He talked about his experience undercover in religious groups that pretend to cure homosexuality through different therapies, which go from the utterly ridiculous, to the cruel and perverse. One of these therapies consisted of a man being touched, in a non-sexual way by other men, to provide the “manly love” in a good way that they supposedly lacked during their first years.


Bruce Gleason
Gleason organizes “Backyard Skeptics in Orange County. It’s interesting to see a community of skeptics well formed and that provides a socializing place for non-believers in a certain area. Religion provides that sense of belonging to a community (in the same way a stamp-collecting club does) and it’s certainly a good idea for non-believers to have that too.


Roger Nygard
Nygard is a film director and producer who presented his last film trailer, “The Nature of existence”, in which he travels around the world asking different people about the reason of our existence. Preachers, priests, Buddhists, Richard Dawkins and even wrestlers give him their opinion.



Now, at some break, an awesome piece of music came from the speakers. I went and asked the sound guy what was it, and he told me to ask the group who was performing, Ana Kefr, which is a metal band with an atheist theme. I went to them, bought their CD and told them they were awesome.





Sean Faircloth
Faircloth is the very eloquent director of the Secular Coaliton of America, an also, ex congressman for Maine. Faircloth gave a pretty funny speech about how religious thinking hijacks legislation and morality, especially portraying sexuality as a big taboo and usually making things worse than they are. He also talked about how religion usually is in the way of human rights.





A really nice guy.

14. Brian Keith Dalton, a.k.a. Mr. Deity
I don’t think there are many atheists who don’t know who Mr. Deity is. In case you don’t, well, Mr. Deity is an absent-minded deity (maybe God) that doesn’t seem to get what is wrong with his commandments and the way his people behave, even seeing nothing wrong with they stoning a woman for not being a virgin, or wiping entire towns..



Dalton made a comparison between holy books and cooking books, both of which take their followers to accept only one way to cool food and leading to disputes and violence.

With Mr. Deity and wife

15.Michael Newdow
Newdow is an awesome guy. He graduated as a doctor, and then went to study law. After becoming a lawyer, he started suing against the references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Newdow arrived wit his family to receive the Phil Paulson Award for all he has done for a more secular. Instead of giving an award speech, Newdow sang a song, accompanied by Dan Barker. This could be called, The Separation of Church and State Song





Newdow was sitting in front of my table, along with his wife and two daughters. If I ever have children I would like to be as cool dad as Newdow is.


16. Jamy Ian Swiss
As a grand finale, we had Jamy Ian Swiss, a magician and skeptic activist who through his tricks showed us how easy is to fool people. Swiss said that mediums, palm readers and other alike use the same methods, which are certainly not supernatural, to take advantage of their victims, usually when they are the most vulnerable.

I couldn’t record his presentation, since we had been explicitly told that nothing could be taped. If I weren’t a skeptic and Swiss would be making the case of having supernatural powers, I might have believed him. He got to know a word picked by a random person from a random book, with minimum details. Truly impressing stuff.


And that was it. After that I helped picking up some cables and joined other for the after party at the bar in the hotel. Faircloth was there, as well as James Croft and Jason Kolarik. I’m really glad I went to this conference and just sad it took me so long to write all this.