- Extinct Galapagos tortoise could be resurrected – “Scientists have discovered that genes from the Floreana tortoise, which Charles Darwin studied on his visits to Floreana Island in 1835, can be found in modern Galápagos tortoises.”
- Behold, the Holy Church of Bacon – Masala Skeptic says it best, “Get these guys together with the Pastafarians and you get some seriously yummy carbonara.” Mmmmmmmm.
- Puberty is consent – Cause that’s how it worked in Biblical times! No, seriously, I could not make this up.
- Conservative and liberal believers imagine a world without God – Conservatives fear it would bring chaos and liberals fear it would bring emptiness. Dear believers: Come to the dark side. It is neither chaotic nor empty over here and we have cookies. And carbonara. Thanks Emory.
Rev. Alamo isn’t raping children, he’s just teaching them erotic play.
Mmmm bacon.
Regarding the Alamo statement:
I’m speechless as to how someone like him can even get one person to follow him, let alone a whole cult.
The statement is not foolishly made, not at all. It is a very deliberate justification of his abuse of girls/young women. The thing that baffles me is that it is so blatantly obvious (at least to us on the outside). And he is not alone. There have been many stories about cults/sects/MRMs that so obviously exist just to satisfy the leader’s sexual needs! What is wrong with the people who fall for this?
Re Church of Bacon, they are not serious until they demand that the controversy is taught as schools.
@ Paul Reinerfelt:
Didn’t someone once say that “if you fall for a religion, that you’ll fall for almost anything afterwards?” This kind of thing happens so often that it’s becoming a cliche.
Re: Church of Bacon:
(Terry Pratchett fans will get this one…) But where’s the Hogfather??
Re: Church of Bacon: So instead of a wafer do you get a strip of bacon every week?
Also do the services take place in a kitchen?
Hmmm…a world without god.
Well, the fears listed by the Conservatives sound a lot like what we currently have from the Bush administration to me.
The Liberals fear emptiness? I don’t think so. And here is why: “Ah. Life’s Meaning. Maybe it’s not so much found as it is made.” That was Opus the Penguin…and that’s why I think that the emptiness is just an excuse.
It just occurred to me that the Church of Bacon is ripe for merger with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Pastafarians and baconarians…yum!
i wonder how they regard the Baconator?
@hotphysicsboy: Is it their Jesus?
Mmmm bacon. Seriously, now I want bacon.
Brave New World reference for the (dubious) win!
About the puberty/consent thing —
I swear a couple days ago in the “sex before marriage” thread someone jokingly commented something along the lines of “puberty is the age of consent.”
And then, a couple days later, this Alamo fella actually says it seriously!
I’m looking at the flickr pics. Was Asia Carrera at the SIP? Now I am even more upset that I missed it.
The galapagos tortoise story is supercool. I wonder if there are enough of them to make into torotoise bacon?
holy fsm… Carbonara…. yes please.
Bunch of heretics, all of you! Apostate fools! When the Noodly One returns, he will smite you all with his smitey appendages of smiting!
@ Joshua
I thought he smited with his noodly appendage of smiting! Be ye a heretic!? :-D
Re Alamo: Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew! Puberty is consent?! Holy shit. I’m almost frigging speechless. This is another clear example (IMO) of a serious mental health issue being masked by “devout religious beliefs”.
@kimbo jones:
I’m not sure I see the difference there… :-D
@QuestionAuthority: Nice jab, but I make a distinction between general magical thinking and apparently sociopathic behaviour.
@Kimbo Jones: I suppose you’re right there, though they tend to travel together…
It’s both sad and frightening to hear devoutly religious people describe a world without god as one marked by “unrestrained sexual and aggressive urges, addictive behaviors, and human selfishness.”
Am I missing something? The entire world is overwhelmingly religious and we see more than enough of that shit. Hell, we see more than enough of that in the devoutly religious communities, considering they’re the ones who are supposed to be far above such things.
Just ask the Vatican about those “unrestrained sexual…urges” and mega-church preachers about “human selfishness.” I’m sure you’ll get the really-really true truth from them.
“What if there were no God?”
“What if humans only lived for an average of 75-80 years?”
“What if the Earth’s oceans were filled with salinated H2O?”
“What if man could build flying machines?”
“What if bears defecated in the woods?”
@Oakes:
It’s part of the “on/off, yes/no, black/white” logic that they use. There are no grays, there is no room for decisionmaking. “If you aren’t with me, you are against me.” If you aren’t a believer, you are “controlled by Satan and a tool of the Devil” with all that implies: “human selfishness, unrestrained sexual impulses, etc.” The problem is that from there, it is a short step to deciding that unbelievers are somehow “not as good” or “subhuman” and that the “elect” can be favored while the “non-elect” can be destroyed with impunity – and it will be called the “will of God” that it be so. Remember the Inquisition, folks? And I don’t mean the Monty Python one.
I heard this often enough in the fundamentalist churches that I used to attend. Luckily, they overdid it so much that my sense of proportion kicked in and I had a hard time keeping a straight face.
Incidentally: this is a quiet but frightening development: First, go to Wikipedia and read up on the Posse Comitatus Act at Then read this story in the Army Times: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/
This is scary. Imagine where this could lead, kiddies.