tagged w/ Blasphemy
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Friday is International Blasphemy Rights Day, a day for atheists, freethinkers, and others to celebrate the right to criticize, satirize and reject religious superstition.
International Blasphemy Rights Day takes place every September 30th. The purpose of this event is to support free speech and to oppose any resolutions or laws that discourage or inhibit free speech of any kind.
http://www.examiner.com/humanist-in-national/atheists-freethinkers-celebrate-blasphemy-rights-dayFriday is International Blasphemy Rights Day, a day for atheists, freethinkers, and... more
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And speaking of Jews, Hebrews and Isrealites, I happen to have the "skinny" on who was called what when! So many educated folk get confused as to when Jews became Jews, which opens up the question, "Where did the Hebrews get off to?", or "When did the Hebrews change their tribal name to Isrealites?". I shall share the story that I authored about the...
"History of the Names"
For your perusal....
"This is my knowledge concerning the names Hebrews, Isrealites and Jews. First, they were known only as "God's people", descending down from Abraham until one day they went off to Egypt and that's when the Pharaoh's subjects began to call them "Hebrews" since there is mounting evidence that there were no "slaves" used to build the Pyramids, I assume the name was born from their expertise in the making of "beer". All along the River Nile, the people heard the stories about that "real beer" that was being brewed in Egypt. Egyptians went around complimenting how well *Barak Be'eri made his beer and that it kicked like "lightening"! They would say, "He brews the BEST!" "He brews" gravitated into one word, "Hebrews" because when one knocks down a couple of Barak's brew, your tongue would stick to your teeth. He must have been an expert brewmaster, too, since beer became THE favorite beverage in all of Egypt! So much money was made that one day he realized a dream he had could possibly come true and asked his fellow brewers, "Hey, fellow brewmasters, let's see if we can find some real estate of our own!". So they packed up their belongings and went shopping for some real estate. It didn't take long before they came across a beautiful parcel of property. So, they negotiated a price, which incidently required a large amount of their beer as partial payment for their new home. Then one of them asked, "What should we call this new "land"?" Another answered, "Why, we'll name it after our beer, "It's Real Beer!". Which, not surprisingly, shrank to "Isreal Beer", since after drinking a few you start to heavily slur your speech.
This must sound like a fanstastic story, especially if this is the first time you've heard it, but it's true! All true! Would I Josh Ua?
Some of the wives got together and discouraged their neighbors from calling them, the new residents, Hebrews because the wives considered it a derogatory name due to the fact that it was associated with beer and drinking it.
So the men retaliated by, when they imbibed a little too much, crying out to their bitchy wives, "Stop! I'm getting tired of hearing you chew me out for drinking my beer, woman!".
Well, after all the commotion day in and day out, those same neighbors started calling them "Jews", mistaking the word "Jew" for "chew"! For years after being called Jews, it stuck for all time! Even to this day!
Ironic though, that their wives hated the name Hebrew, since that's what brung 'em out of Egypt in the first place since that's how they spoke of Barak, "He brews the best beer!".
Prohibitionists always spoil a good keg PAR-TEE!
The word "Hebrew" is considered derogatory by Jews today, mainly because they had some teatotallers that objected to it!
And the MOST amazing story of all? It's STILL brewed to this day!
He'Brew....The Chosen Beer!
Believe it or not!
*Barak - Actually means "lightening" in the Hebrew language!
The above story is a satire or parody, or satirically sarcastic parody. It is positively, without a doubt, purely FICTITIOUS! Honest!And speaking of Jews, Hebrews and Isrealites, I happen to have the "skinny"... more
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When it comes to the government lobbying efforts of most religious institutions, their activities are notably shrouded in darkness, even as representatives of numerous faiths routinely pressure federal lawmakers on issues ranging from health care to international relations, poverty to abortion rights. http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/07/gods-lobbyists.htmlWhen it comes to the government lobbying efforts of most religious institutions, their... more
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‘When you bombed these brothers and sisters of mine,, you bombed me,’’ says Jesus in Matthew chapter 25, (paraphrased of course). Obama, as presidents before him, follows the instructions of his promoters, the ruling investors, and disregarding the teaching and warnings of his “personal savior,” gives to the rich at home, bombs abroad to be able to take from the poor everywhere, and lies that this is necessary and good. http://www.countercurrents.org/janson050711.htm‘When you bombed these brothers and sisters of mine,, you bombed... more
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Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province-Pakistan was shot and killed at a shopping plaza near his home.Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province-Pakistan was shot and killed at a shopping... more
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Pakistan will monitor seven major websites, including Google and Yahoo, to block anti-Islamic links and content, an official said Friday. Seventeen lesser-known sites are being blocked outright for alleged blasphemous material.
The moves follow Pakistan's temporary ban imposed on Facebook in May that drew both praise and condemnation in a country that has long struggled to figure out how strict a version of Islam it should follow.
Both the Facebook ban and the move announced Friday were in response to court orders. The sites to be monitored include Yahoo, Google, MSN, Hotmail, YouTube, Amazon and Bing, said Pakistan Telecommunication Authority spokesman Khurram Mehran.
"If any particular link with offensive content appears on these websites, the (link) shall be blocked immediately without disturbing the main website," Mehran said.
An example of one of the 17 sites being blocked include islamexposed.blogspot.com, Mehran said. That site features postings with headlines such as "Islam: The Ultimate Hypocrisy" and links to anti-Islam online petitions.
Mehran said that, under instructions from the Ministry of Information Technology, the authority had begun the process of barring and monitoring the various sites.
Facebook was not part of the latest petition ruled upon by the judge in the city of Bahawalpur, Mehran said.
It was not possible late Friday to obtain a copy of the judge's order. Attempts to get comments from the affected companies also were not immediately successful.
A top court ordered the ban on Facebook for about two weeks in May amid anger over a page that encouraged users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous. YouTube also was briefly blocked at the time.
The Facebook ban was lifted after the social-networking company blocked that particular page in Pakistan, but officials said at the time that the government would keep blocking some other, unspecified sites that contain "sacrilegious material."
The Facebook controversy sparked a handful of protests across Pakistan, many by student members of radical Islamic groups. Some of the protesters carried signs advocating holy war against the website for allowing the page.
It also sparked a good deal of soul-searching, especially among commentators, who questioned why Pakistanis could not be entrusted to decide for themselves whether or not to look at a website.
Some observers noted that Pakistan had gone further than several other Muslim countries by banning Facebook, and said it showed the rise of conservative Islam in the country. Created in 1947 as a homeland for Muslims, Pakistan has swung away from moderate Sufi Islamic influences common to South Asia toward the more rigid version of the faith found in the Arab world.
It was not the first time that images of the prophet have sparked anger.
Pakistan and other Muslim countries saw large and sometimes violent protests in 2006 after a Danish newspaper published cartoons of Muhammad, and again in 2008 when they were reprinted. Later the same year, a suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber attacked the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, killing six people.;_ylt=A2KIKvRp6yRMRjgBuy6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFiNnRxNGUzBHBvcwM1MgRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3dvcmx... more
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1 year ago
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Errrm, wait a second. “…saying or publishing anything “grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by ANY religion…”?Errrm, wait a second. “…saying or publishing anything “grossly... more
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Secular campaigners in the Irish Republic defied a strict new blasphemy law which came into force today by publishing a series of anti-religious quotations online and promising to fight the legislation in court.
The new law, which was passed in July, means that blasphemy in Ireland is now a crime punishable with a fine of up to €25,000 (£22,000).
It defines blasphemy as "publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion, with some defences permitted".
The justice minister, Dermot Ahern, said that the law was necessary because while immigration had brought a growing diversity of religious faiths, the 1936 constitution extended the protection of belief only to Christians.
But Atheist Ireland, a group that claims to represent the rights of atheists, responded to the new law by publishing 25 anti-religious quotations on its website, from figures including Richard Dawkins, Björk, Frank Zappa and the former Observer editor and Irish ex-minister Conor Cruise O'Brien.
Michael Nugent, the group's chair, said that it would challenge the law through the courts if it were charged with blasphemy.
Nugent said: "This new law is both silly and dangerous. It is silly because medieval religious laws have no place in a modern secular republic, where the criminal law should protect people and not ideas. And it is dangerous because it incentives religious outrage, and because Islamic states led by Pakistan are already using the wording of this Irish law to promote new blasphemy laws at UN level.
More...Secular campaigners in the Irish Republic defied a strict new blasphemy law which came... more
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Ireland seems to be moving backwards when it should be moving forwards.
New Blasphemy Law is now in effect and is punishable by a 25,000 euro fine!Ireland seems to be moving backwards when it should be moving forwards.
New Blasphemy... more
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Under the leadership of Pakistan, the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Council wants to give the religious antidefamation idea legal teeth by making it part of an international convention, or legally binding treaty. Members of the UN Human Rights Council are passionately debating that idea in Geneva this week.Under the leadership of Pakistan, the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Council... more
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Remember the Danish "Muhammad cartoons" that set off riots by offended Muslims more than three years ago? The debate pitted freedom of press and speech against notions of freedom from insult of one's religion. It rages still – but now in a forum with international legal implications.
For years, Islamic nations have succeeded in passing "blasphemy" resolutions at the United Nations (in the General Assembly and in its human rights body). The measures call on states to limit religiously offensive language or speech. No one wants their beliefs ridiculed, but the freedom to disagree over faith is what allows for the free practice of religion. The resolutions are misguided, but also only symbolic, because they're nonbinding.
Symbolism no longer satisfies the sponsor of these resolutions – the Organization of the Islamic Council. Under the leadership of Pakistan, the 57-nation OIC wants to give the religious antidefamation idea legal teeth by making it part of an international convention, or legally binding treaty. Members of the UN Human Rights Council are passionately debating that idea in Geneva this week.
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What do you thing about a law against blasphemy?Remember the Danish "Muhammad cartoons" that set off riots by offended... more
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Last month, atheists marked Blasphemy Day at gatherings around the world, and celebrated the freedom to denigrate and insult religion.
Some offered to trade pornography for Bibles. Others de-baptized people with hair dryers. And in Washington, D.C., an art exhibit opened that shows, among other paintings, one entitled Divine Wine, where Jesus, on the cross, has blood flowing from his wound into a wine bottle.
Another, Jesus Paints His Nails, shows an effeminate Jesus after the crucifixion, applying polish to the nails that attach his hands to the cross.
"I wouldn't want this on my wall," says Stuart Jordan, an atheist who advises the evidence-based group Center for Inquiry on policy issues. The Center for Inquiry hosted the art show.
Jordan says the exhibit created a firestorm from offended believers, and he can understand why. But, he says, the controversy over this exhibit goes way beyond Blasphemy Day. It's about the future of the atheist movement — and whether to adopt the "new atheist" approach — a more aggressive, often belittling posture toward religious believers.
Some call it a schism.
"It's really a national debate among people with a secular orientation about how far do we want to go in promoting a secular society through emphasizing the 'new atheism,' " Jordan says. "And some are very much for it, and some are opposed to it on the grounds that they feel this is largely a religious country, and if it's pushed the wrong way, this is going to insult many of the religious people who should be shown respect even if we don't agree with them on all issues."
Jordan believes the new approach will backfireLast month, atheists marked Blasphemy Day at gatherings around the world, and... more
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I have just spotted a very strange upcoming iPhone app called Spinning Jesus. From what I can see it involves baby Jesus spinning on his back in a nativity scene and delivering a quote from the bible.
The developers are awaiting Apple to make the app live.
Will Apple approve?
Will Christians approve?
Is it serious?
WWJDI have just spotted a very strange upcoming iPhone app called Spinning Jesus. From... more
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matmi
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2 years ago
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Today is Blasphemy Day, so feel free to insult (or draw the face of) a god of your choice.
"The objective of International Blasphemy Day is to emphasise the importance of being able to discuss, satirise and criticise religious beliefs without fear of imprisonment, censorship or violent reprisal; to open up all religious beliefs to the same level of free inquiry, discussion and criticism to which all other areas of academic interest are subjected.
Why September 30? The last day in September is the anniversary of the original publication of Danish cartoons in 2005 depicting the prophet Muhammad's face."Today is Blasphemy Day, so feel free to insult (or draw the face of) a god of your... more
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So while there's all this discussion about Healthcare lately, I keep thinking about the man who brought his gun to the town hall meeting in New Hampshire where President Obama was speaking. (Story here.) Sure it was Mister Kookypants' right to carry an unconcealed weapon, but I'm not convinced he did so for any reason other than making a not-very-subtle threat. Like a staple Hollywood mobster, he was saying, "Sure would be a shame, you know, if someone got shot."
[more at link]So while there's all this discussion about Healthcare lately, I keep thinking... more
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On his 100th day in office, President Obama will be "crowned" in messianic imagery at New York City's Union Square.On his 100th day in office, President Obama will be "crowned" in messianic... more
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An anti-rape poster showing a naked woman in a Christ-like pose has has been condemned as blasphemous by conservative politicians in Milan. The poster was commissioned by Italy's rape crisis helpline Telefono Donna to publicise the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov 25. It reads: "Who Pays For Man's Sins?"
Right-wing politicians are calling for the poster to be withdrawn as they think it might offend the religious beliefs of many Italians.An anti-rape poster showing a naked woman in a Christ-like pose has has been condemned... more
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