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Edward Falzon

Girl gets 60 lashes for speaking to men - The Irish Times - Mon, Oct 15, 2012 - 0 views

www.irishtimes.com/...breaking56.html

Religion Islam

shared by Edward Falzon on 16 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • The 15-year-old was caught standing alongside men by the Islamists
  • the girl was warned five times by Islamist police
  • the Islamists gave 60 lashes to the girl.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The public whipping took place in front of the new headquarters of the Islamic police
Edward Falzon

Edward Falzon: Blasphemy Day -- Because We Can! - 0 views

www.huffingtonpost.com/...day-because-we-_b_1922451.html

Christianity Religion Atheism Judaism Islam

shared by Edward Falzon on 05 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • Edward Falzon on 05 Oct 12
     
    September 30 2012 was the fourth annual Blasphemy Rights Day International, and we needed it this year as much as any other. To the chagrin of anyone in favour of freedom of speech, such as Barack Obama, there are new calls at the United Nations to introduce an international law restricting blasphemy.
Edward Falzon

Homosexuality and the Metric System - 0 views

inurashii.tumblr.com/...exuality-and-the-metric-system

Religion Homosexuality

shared by Edward Falzon on 05 Mar 12 - No Cached
  • I keep seeing this argument from homophobic representatives that children should be sheltered from portrayals of gay romance because it’s ‘too complicated’
  • I had a driving instructor who just went by “The Reverend”
  • The Reverend didn’t like the metric system. It was ‘too complicated’, with all its millimeters and centiliters,
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • The Reverend thought the metric system was complicated because he had to convert to it from Imperial. He couldn’t comprehend a remarkably simple system because he was approaching it from a complicated one that he knew by heart.
  • and say “this is way simpler than that European goofiness.”
  • It was completely beyond my ken that anyone could look at the hodge-podge mess of the Imperial Unit system
  • Homosexuality is not complicated. It does not confuse children at all.
  • But to the homophobic parents of children, they find themselves halted and flummoxed by a concept for which their current system of measurement has no unit.
  • Come on, you silly grown-ups. Homophobia is complicated. Homosexuality is not.
  • Edward Falzon on 05 Mar 12
     
    A great analogy of the "complexity" of homosexuality to the metric system.
Edward Falzon

Catholic priest's conversion to atheism - 1 views

ffrf.org/...reed.php

Christianity Religion Atheism Catholicism

shared by Edward Falzon on 28 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Dan Barker asked me a year or so ago to sit down and write a piece about how I got here, from being a Catholic priest to a member of your group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation. How did I come out of such a religious family and the environment of the deep South to be a freethinker?
  • I was raised by a Roman Catholic mother who was Irish-French and by a Presbyterian father, in a small Southern town--Natchez
  • Catholicism was a given. It was simply who I was, something almost like my ethnic origin. Did I really believe in God? Was I ever asked if I believed in God? No.
  • ...28 more annotations...
  • I started school in a Catholic kindergarten when I was four years old. In November of 1963, when Kennedy was murdered, I was 25 and in my last year of Roman Catholic seminary
  • On a very hot day in August of 1963, wearing my priest collar, I attended the March on Washington and heard Martin Luther King give his famous speech. I wasn't supposed to be in Washington.
  • But I felt enthralled by King.
  • not long after King's speech my view of Kennedy began to change. The president gave some remarkable speeches that summer and became a man who was willing to stand up and be counted. Something happened to me. I began to see Kennedy as the person who could change society. I wanted to be part of the coming struggle in Mississippi, to be a leader in the battle to combat racism.
  • It said the only form of birth control that could be used was the age-old rhythm method.
  • So Kennedy's death was the beginning of the end for me, and the murder of my hero Martin Luther King five years later was the end of the end.
  • Once I did quit the priesthood, I found myself here in Madison, Wisconsin, studying social work, still trying to be Catholic and fascinated with this new town.
  • I was only going to be here two years, and that was 32 years ago. I'm still here.
  • When I left the priesthood, my mother had already died and my father was only slightly disappointed
  • Did the church authorities try to talk me out of it? To the contrary, I was outspoken and pretty honest and they were probably relieved to see me go. I had come to realize, while still a priest, that I didn't believe in God.
  • What broke my back morally was a document called Humanae Vitae, issued in 1968
  • I remember it just opened me up.
  • I was determined to be ordained and make a difference. What I could still believe, in the early '60s in the seminary, was that this God, this church, this thing was on the move. And just this morning I realized that the day Kennedy was killed was the day I began to lose my faith and become an atheist. I thought: If God will let Kennedy be murdered, whose side is he on?
  • Once you question one thing, such as birth control, and begin to say "This could not be true," it was like a whole house of cards falling down. I remember thinking, "That means papal infallibility is not true." Papal infallibility was only declared in 1870. How did that happen? It was a grievous, arrogant mistake that the Catholics made.
  • Once you question one thing, such as birth control, and begin to say "This could not be true," it was like a whole house of cards falling down.
  • Question: Some years ago I heard the expression from a priest and a friend of his, that they'd both taken the "Cardinal's oath." This meant that even in the face of saying something that they probably did not believe, as opposed to their own beliefs, they would go ahead and say what the Church wanted them to say. Have you ever heard the expression?
  • No, I haven't heard the expression. But it rings true. I remember the night before I was ordained, the bishop was the Apostolic delegate from Washington and he said, "No matter what your bishop tells you to do, do it." I remember just sitting there and thinking, "I'm not going to do that."
  • Catholicism has become a much more conservative organization than when I was in seminary. Of 15 priests in my class, 12 have left the priesthood. Pedophilia is a major problem that is sweeping the church. They've been trying to muzzle any information about its happening but it's causing the priesthood to be destroyed.
  • Question: How did your racial sensitivity develop?
  • I was raised in a totally segregated world and went into seminary in 1955.
  • In 1957 I remember two things happened: Little Rock
  • federal courts ordered Central High School to be integrated
  • And second, there was a debate in my class, and I volunteered to take the side of Orville Faubus, the segregationist governor.
  • About six months later, Xavier, the bishop of New Orleans, Joseph Rummel, issued a bishop's letter saying racial segregation was immoral.
  • it, just snapped the last thread of my interest in hanging around the priesthood.
  • I started going Zto school with African American seminarians and the blinders dropped from my eyes.
  • Question: Were you aware of the cover-up of pedophilia?
  • I was first aware of it in the seminary. One of the teaching priests had created a cult around himself that he was somehow God's agent, and he was sexually abusing a number of boys. When he was dismissed from the seminary, his abuse was never reported to the police. This was around 1962 and he was sent back to Rockford, Illinois, his home diocese, while all of the boys, the victims of this crime, were dismissed from the seminary.
  • Edward Falzon on 28 Feb 12
     
    A very informative speech by a former Catholic priest and his experiences that led him to become completely atheistic.
Edward Falzon

Moses was high on drugs, Israeli professor says - 0 views

abcnews.go.com/...story

Religion Christianity Judaism Old Testament Canaanite Moses

shared by Edward Falzon on 27 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Moses and the Israelites were on drugs, says Benny Shanon, an Israeli professor of cognitive philosophy.
  • two naturally existing plants in the Sinai Peninsula have the same psychoactive components as ones found in the Amazon jungle and are well-known for their mind-altering capabilities.
  • The description in The Book of Exodus of thunder, lightening and a blaring trumpet, according to Shanon, are the classic imaginings of people under the influence of drugs.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • "In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation," he wrote, "the seeing of light is accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings."
  • The initial reaction to this controversial theory from Israel's religiously orthodox community and the powerful rabbis who lead it was less than enthusiastic.
  • Edward Falzon on 27 Feb 12
     
    An interesting revelation about psychedelic compounds that have always been available in the areas where Moses is said to have trodden.
Edward Falzon

William Lane Craig justifies the slaughter of the Canaanites - 4 views

www.reasonablefaith.org/...News2

William Lane Craig Old Testament Canaanite child-sacrifice Christianity Judaism

shared by Edward Falzon on 20 Feb 12 - Cached
  • Question 1:
  • So then what is Yahweh doing in commanding Israel’s armies to exterminate the Canaanite peoples?
  • If the children are young enough along with the infants are innocent of the sins that their society has committed.  How do we reconcile this command of God to kill the children with the concept of his holiness?
  • ...25 more annotations...
  • Dr. Craig responds:
  • when God called forth his people out of slavery in Egypt and back to the land of their forefathers, he directed them to kill all the Canaanite clans who were living in the land (Deut. 7.1-2; 20.16-18)
  • These stories offend our moral sensibilities.
  • The command to kill all the Canaanite peoples is jarring precisely because it seems so at odds with the portrait of Yahweh
  • the God of the Hebrew Bible is a God of justice, long-suffering, and compassion.
  • God’s judgement is anything but capricious.
  • But why take the lives of innocent children?
  • How can He command soldiers to slaughter children?
  • I think that a good start at this problem is to enunciate our ethical theory that underlies our moral judgements.
  • Since God doesn’t issue commands to Himself,  He has no moral duties to fulfill.  He is certainly not subject to the same moral obligations and prohibitions that we are.  For example, I have no right to take an innocent life.  For me to do so would be murder.  But God has no such prohibition.  He can give and take life as He chooses.
  • What that implies is that God has the right to take the lives of the Canaanites when He sees fit.  How long they live and when they die is up to Him.
  • there has been some good questions raised on the issue of God commanding the Jews to commit “genocide” on the people in the promise land.
  • By the time of their destruction, Canaanite culture was, in fact, debauched and cruel, embracing such practices as ritual prostitution and even child sacrifice.
  • God had morally sufficient reasons for His judgement upon Canaan, and Israel was merely the instrument of His justice
  • since our moral duties are determined by God’s commands, it is commanding someone to do something which, in the absence of a divine command, would have been murder.  The act was morally obligatory for the Israeli soldiers in virtue of God’s command
  • In commanding complete destruction of the Canaanites, the Lord says, “You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons, or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods” (Deut 7.3-4).
  • Clear lines of distinction are being drawn: this and not that.  These serve as daily, tangible reminders that Israel is a special people set apart for God Himself.
  • The killing of the Canaanite children not only served to prevent assimilation to Canaanite identity but also served as a shattering, tangible illustration of Israel’s being set exclusively apart for God.
  • Moreover
  • the death of these children was actually their salvation.
  • Therefore, God does these children no wrong in taking their lives.
  • So whom does God wrong in commanding the destruction of the Canaanites?  Not the Canaanite adults, for they were corrupt and deserving of judgement.  Not the children, for they inherit eternal life.  So who is wronged?  Ironically, I think the most difficult part of this whole debate is the apparent wrong done to the Israeli soldiers themselves.  Can you imagine what it would be like to have to break into some house and kill a terrified woman and her children?  The brutalizing effect on these Israeli soldiers is disturbing.
  • But then, again, we’re thinking of this from a Christianized, Western standpoint.  For people in the ancient world, life was already brutal.
  • No one was wringing his hands over the soldiers’ having to kill the Canaanites; those who did so were national heroes.
  • Nothing could so illustrate to the Israelis the seriousness of their calling as a people set apart for God alone.  Yahweh is not to be trifled with.  He means business, and if Israel apostasizes the same could happen to her.
Edward Falzon

Atheist in Memory Lapse and Slavery Shock - Richard Dawkins - New Statesman - RichardDa... - 0 views

richarddawkins.net/...memory-lapse-and-slavery-shock

Christianity Religion Atheism Richard Dawkins

shared by Edward Falzon on 24 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • The census of 2001 seemed to show that over 70 per cent of British people were Christian.
  • The census showed that we are still a Christian country, so it is claimed to be appropriate that all schoolchildren in England and Wales are required by law to take part in a “daily act of worship of a broadly Christian character”; right that 26 Bishops should have seats reserved for them in Parliament
  • members of the Commons with an eye to re-election must heed the Christian voice and curry favour with this powerful demographic. Seventy per cent of the population want Christian policies, and 70 per cent cannot be gainsaid.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • if you want to call yourself Christian even though you don’t believe in God and have only the haziest idea of Christian teaching, that’s none of my business. But it very much is my business, and every citizen’s business, if the recorded demographic strength of Christianity in the country is falsely inflated by a very broad and loose definition of what it means to be Christian, and that swollen figure is then hijacked and exploited by partisans of a much more narrowly defined Christianity.
  • It was for this reason, among others, that many of us campaigned to have the religion question omitted from the 2011 census. Unfortunately we failed. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (UK) therefore fell back on Plan B. This was to commission a large and comprehensive opinion poll, in the week immediately following Last year’s census, to find out exactly what people who ticked the Christian box really believe, what lay behind their decision to accept the Christian label
  • The survey was done by Ipsos MORI in accordance with its strict rules to ensure accuracy and impartiality
  • Ipsos MORI asked them to identify the first book of the New Testament from a four-way choice of Matthew, Genesis, Acts of the Apostles and Psalms, plus “Don’t know” and “Prefer not to say.” Only thirty five per cent correctly chose Matthew, 39 per cent per cent didn’t even guess, and the rest chose various wrong answers.
  • The bottom line is that anybody who advocates a strong place for religion in government cannot get away with claiming that ours is numerically a Christian country as a basis for giving religion privileged influence.
  • The main conclusions are very much as we suspected.
  • The point is that this is a telling indicator of how utterly out of touch with Christian culture modern British people are, even those who signed on as Christian in the census.
  • The Census Christians were not asked to recite anything from memory, but simply to pick out “Matthew” from a choice of four.
  • I can quite understand why those whose aim is to protect at all costs the privileged status of Christianity in UK public life would want to deflect attention from the very significant findings of this important Ipsos MORI research. These are facts, not opinions, they aren't going to go away, and no amount of game-playing or smear tactics or irrelevant digression is going to change them.
  • In modern Britain, not even Christians put Christianity anywhere near the heart of their lives, and they don't want it put at the heart of public life either.
  • Edward Falzon on 24 Feb 12
     
    An overview of a new study from the UK, commissioned by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. The short version: Brits aren't Christian; not even the ones that say they are!
Edward Falzon

Why Science Needs the Christian Worldview | The Resurgence - 0 views

theresurgence.com/...-needs-the-christian-worldview

Christianity Religion Atheism Bertrand Russell

shared by Edward Falzon on 24 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • non-Christian account
  • The non-Christian account of science falters under the weight of numerous internal contradictions.
  • they cannot give an account for the very science they are doing without relying on the “borrowed capital” from the Christian worldview.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • What are some of the most important presuppositions without which scientific investigation should prove impossible?
  • The philosophical preconditions for science are in the pages of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures.
  • According to Psalm 147:5, “His understanding is infinite.” Ephesians 1:11 declares that God sovereignly governs every event that transpires, determining what, where, when, and how anything takes place.
  • God has the freedom and control over the created order as the potter has over the clay (Romans 9:21).
  • The atheist worldview cannot account for the uniformity of nature on which to base the scientific process.
  • Since the uniformity of nature is an unjustified assumption in the atheistic worldview, there is no basis upon which to engage in scientific activities.
  • Is it possible to formulate general laws of science in a world with no basis for the uniformity of nature? Russell answers this in the negative
  • we must either accept the inductive principle on the ground of its intrinsic evidence, or forgo all justification of our expectation about the future.
  • Christians are not left with such a problem, precisely because the uniformity of nature and induction are compatible with the Christian view of the world.
  • Edward Falzon on 24 Feb 12
     
    One of the more ridiculous treatises claiming that science -- all of science -- depends on Christianity. The author quotes Bertrand Russell, who wrote that one can expect the laws of nature to be uniform in the future only because it has remained uniform in the past. From this, the author seems to conclude that there is some kind of paradox in the existence and expectation of the uniformity of nature. I don't see it ...
Edward Falzon

Wise words from Carl Sagan relevant to the cause.. (xpost from /r/atheism) : Antitheism - 0 views

www.reddit.com/...rl_sagan_relevant_to_the_cause

Christianity Religion Carl Sagan Atheism

shared by Edward Falzon on 24 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • "In the way that skepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to belittle, to condescend, to ignore the fact that, deluded or not, supporters of superstition and pseudoscience are human beings with real feelings, who, like the skeptics, are trying to figure out how the world works and what our role in it might be. Their motives are in many cases consonant with science. If their culture has not given them the all the tools they need to pursue this great quest, let us temper our criticism with kindness. None of us comes fully equipped.
  • Clearly there are limits to the uses of skepticism. There is some cost-benefit analysis which must be applied, and if the comfort, consolation and hope delivered by mysticism and superstition is high and the dangers of belief comparatively low, should we not keep our misgivings to ourselves? But the issue is tricky. Imagine that you enter a big-city taxicab and the moment you get settled in, the driver begins a harangue about the supposed iniquities and inferiority's of another ethnic group. Is your best course to keep quiet, bearing in mind that silence conveys assent? Or is it your moral responsibility to argue with him, to express outrage, even to leave the cab because you know that every silent assent will encourage him next time? Likewise, if we offer too much silent assent about mysticism and superstition, even when it seems to be doing a little good, we abet a general climate in which skepticism is considered impolite, science tiresome, and rigorous thinking somehow stuffy and inappropriate. Figuring out a prudent balance takes wisdom."
  • Edward Falzon on 24 Feb 12
     
    A lovely quote from Carl Sagan. The short version: Be polite when telling people they're wrong.
Edward Falzon

BBC News - Italy plans to tax Vatican on commercial properties - 0 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...business-17072211

Christianity bible Catholic church Vatican religion

shared by Edward Falzon on 23 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Prime Minister Mario Monti has announced the Vatican must pay taxes on non-religious property
  • The annual cost could be up to 720m euros
  • Italy's Catholic Church has 110,000 properties, worth about 9bn euros. It includes shopping centres and a range of residential property.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • more than 130,000 people signed an online petition calling for the Church's tax exempt status to be revoked.
  • a church would remain exempt but a chapel which operates an hostel would pay tax accordingly.
  • Edward Falzon on 23 Feb 12
     
    Think about this. 110,000 properties in Italy alone! Operating for-profit services such as hostels. Naturally, this doesn't include the Vatican itself, which would be worth tens of millions of euros. But hey, when Jesus said to sell everything and give it to the poor, what he MEANT was to hoard land, live in a palace, wear tailor-made silk and collect money from a billion people across the world.
Edward Falzon

Do Extraordinary Events Require Extraordinary Evidence? - YouTube - 3 views

www.youtube.com/watch

shared by Edward Falzon on 20 Feb 12 - No Cached
    • Edward Falzon
      Edward Falzon on 20 Feb 12
       
      Crucially, note Craig's word-selection in the phrase: Hume discusses "extraordinary CLAIMS," not "extraordinary events." The event IS the evidence for the claim. In the lottery case Craig uses, it's a very unlikely combination of numbers, and this is why the lottery draws are filmed, often in a single take, and broadcast live on at least one channel. That's the evidence. Consider if there was no filming of the draw and the CEO of the lottery company won. Then, when pressed for witnesses, he produces several family members.
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