Bless atheists, for they have sinned

by Emma Teitel on Friday, November 15, 2013, macleans.ca

Extract:

The door-to-door religious proselytizer is, like his secular cousin the Cutco knife peddler, a harmless irritant of modern North American life. If you don’t care for his wares, you say no thanks, shut the door and sometimes roll your eyes. But you rarely, if ever, engage. Portland University philosophy professor and proud atheist Peter Boghossian not only advocates engaging religious fundamentalists in debate, he has written the manual on how to do so.

His new book, A Manual for Creating Atheists, could be called the bible of deconversion.  Continue reading.

Thought for the day: Silly actually means “blessed.”

Origin of the word, Silly according to Oxford Dictionary:

"late Middle English (in the sense 'deserving of pity or sympathy'): alteration of dialect seely 'happy', later 'innocent, feeble', from a West Germanic base meaning 'luck, happiness'. The sense 'foolish' developed via the stages 'feeble' and 'unsophisticated, ignorant.'"

Words, meanings and usages change all the time, and more so religious language in different cultures. Here is the full extract from a blog and source of this word, Silly:

Anyone who’s taken a linguistics class knows that “semantic drift” happens. It just does. If it didn’t, we’d all still be speaking Latin and Anglo Saxon. Vowels change, consonants drop off, lots of stuff happens to Language, capital L, over time. You know what word I could add to this list? “Silly.” Silly actually means “blessed.” Like: The silly Virgin Mary. Technically that’s true, but over the last several hundred years, the meaning has changed to mean, well, ‘silly’. So yeah, this article is silly. Words mean what they communicate, period. Anyone who says differently is selling something. -- A comment by Rick Widen  @ 10 Words That You've Probably Been Misusing, by Tyler Vendetti

On the same shelf:

10 Things Americans Say… and What They Really Mean | Mind The Gap ...

Language Ambiguity: A Curse and a Blessing - SEAsite

Greetings in your own way: Religious, Secular, and Others

Extract on Good Morning: This Blog Will Change the World

Perhaps the different outlooks in question here can be reduced to three different ways of saying "Good morning". Most of us mean it as an expression of good wishes: "I hope you have a good morning". The secular humanist intends it as a prediction: "You will undoubtedly have a good morning, and an even better one tomorrow." The totalitarian dictator makes it a demand: "You will have a good morning."

Extract from another site: Catholic Online Forum, GOOD MORNING! Oh, and BTW, The Lord be with you...

There’s also another, more humanistic aspect of this that I find objectionable that goes back to my original post. The greeting, “good morning”, is a generic, often formal or “cold”, greeting and is understood by everyone as such. When you pass someone on the street that you know, but don’t know that well, you often use this greeting. The person to whom the “good morning” is addressed understands that the greeting is generic and formal, so it is understood that it is a nicety and nothing more. It doesn’t matter if the person being greeted is having a horrible day or not.

However, changing the circumstances turns the nicety into something quite different. Take for example: ... continue reading

Other tips:

Sabah al-khair = Good Morning (response = sabah al-noor). Masaa al-Khair = Good evening (response = masa al-noor);

Good morning in Hindi: good morning - सुबह अच्छा (subaha acchā)

in Hebrew, "good morning" is "boker tov,"

On the same shelf:

Interfaith Alliance head protests Bible verses on military gun sights

By Bob Allen, Thursday, January 21, 2010, Associated Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- A Baptist leader is calling on President Obama to conduct a formal investigation into revelations that a United States military contractor stamped references to Bible verses on combat rifle sights used, unknowingly, by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance, said the episode "is only the latest in a long line of violations of the boundaries between religion and government within the military." He urged Obama to develop guidelines that "ensure that religion no longer plays an inappropriate role in our armed forces."continue reading

See on the same shelf:

Justin Trottier: Weapons bearing scripture & google's Islam censorship: catch me tonight on the Michael Coren show CTS TV @ Facebook

Google struggles with religious sensitivity: "Google results offend Christians, but if you search for “Islam is” Google will give you no search suggestions.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up—Bible Verses on Gun Sights Ronald A. Lindsay, January 21, 2010

More News via Google's images

Google struggles with religious sensitivity

"Google results offend Christians, but if you search for “Islam is” Google will give you no search suggestions.
 
It wasn’t long ago experts claimed that we were entering the age of secularization. Instead the headlines of the new century have become dominated by religious fervor, not at least because of the rise of Muslim militants and 9/11." continue reading @ Pandia Search Engine News

See also:

Google favouring Islam? Matthew Moore, Expressbuzz, 11 Jan 2010
Google has denied favouring Islam over other religions in its suggested searches, after allegations that phrases criticising the faith had been censored.

Google 'censors its website so anti-Islam  searches fail to appear   Daily Mail   Neil Millard

---

Google suggests Islam is nothing

"The metaphysics of search, The Register, 11th January 2010

Google's search Suggest function treats Islam a bit differently from the other major religions of the world. It's willing to suggest "Christianity is bullshit" or "Judaism is false," but if you begin to ask what Islam is, it won't suggest a thing..."

---

Is Google Censoring Islam Suggestions? Wired News

93 pc of Britons to skip the church on Christmas, says Opinion Matters

London, Dec 25 : A new survey has revealed that almost 93 per cent of Britons would be skipping the church on Christmas Day.

They would either be spending Christmas eating turkey, drinking champagne or opening presents - but will not attend the church.

The study by Opinion Matters only 11 per cent had the intention of attending Midnight Mass last night on Christmas Eve, while 86 per cent said they sent Christmas cards.

Daily Express columnist Ann Widdecombe told Express.co.uk: "If you''re not going to church on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day then why are you celebrating Christmas?" continue reading

Bikini vs. Burka: The Debauchery of Women

This is a chapter from the book: Cruel Hoax: Feminism and the New World Order, by Henry Makow (2007)

September 24, 2009 (Updated from Sept. 18, 2002)
By Henry Makow Ph.D.

"On my wall, I have a picture of a Muslim woman shrouded in a burka.
Beside it is a picture of an American beauty contestant, wearing nothing but a bikini.

One woman is totally hidden from the public; the other is totally exposed. These two extremes say a great deal about the clash of so-called "civilizations."

The role of woman is at the heart of any culture. Apart from stealing Arab oil, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are about stripping Muslims of their religion and culture, exchanging the burka for a bikini.

I am not an expert on the condition of Muslim women and I love feminine beauty too much to advocate the burka here. But I am defending some of the values that the burka represents for me...." continue reading

Multi-faith Forum Focuses On Human Rights

By Cindy Chan, Epoch Times Staff, Sep 20, 2009

"OTTAWA—A multi-faith expert forum is traveling across the country to call attention to human rights concerns facing various faith-based communities in Canada and abroad.

Co-organized by One Free World International (OFWI) and B’nai Brith Canada, the forum was held in Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto last week and will take place in Vancouver on Sept. 24." continue reading

On the same shelf:

Auckland Interfaith Council Multifaith Service

Multifaith Calendar - Human Rights Day (UN)

Multifaith Human Rights Symposia | Facebook

Whatever has happened to Hell?

Note: Visualization of spirituality / secularism with a different mindmap, as depicted by Susan White in the following. Read the note by Dr. Kumar, below on this mindmap.

by Dr. Sehdev Kumar Editorial. SouthAsianObserver.com

Extract: In the spirit of emerging Gaia consciousness - the earth consciousness - an Australian artist, Susan White portrays Seven Deadly Sins in a modern version: Indifference replaces Anger; Sucking Up Envy; Self-Effacement Pride; Celibacy Lust; Dieting Gluttony; Workcoholism Sloth, and Squandering Avarice, all watched by the all-seeing eye of Gaia rather than of God.

Yet despite all, on life’s slippery slopes, at some tortuous moments, hell does become an unbearable reality for all of us in one form or another. The Pursuit of Happiness seems so often an illusion; we are tormented by the meaninglessness of life, and by its frailty, and by its unexpected twists and turns. Sweet fragrance turns sour; youth slips away; innocence becomes icy; spring seems far, far away. One then looks towards the door on Dante’s Inferno, and reads a sign: “Abandon all hope ye who enter here”.

Life without Hope! Could this be the meaning of Hell? continue reading

On the same shelf:

The 7 Deadly Sins Sampler ~ Daniel Born

Pride • Envy • Anger • Sloth • Greed • Gluttony • Lust

Solar eclipse scares Indian mothers-to-be

By Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- While many now recognize the scientific explanation for a solar eclipse, the phenomenon is still marked with tradition and sometimes suspicion in Hindu-majority India. continue reading

When a soldier prays ~~ India's Composite Culture Visited Again

Tuesday, 30 December , 2008 @ Sify.com
Major General Mrinal Suman, AVSM, VSM, PhD,
"In the wake of allegations being made in the Malegaon blast case, aspersions are being cast on the secular credentials of the Indian Army. "

Extract:
"The Army has proved its secular credentials repeatedly during the last six decades of independence. It has been called for aid to civil authority to maintain law and order on numerous occasions. Not once has any finger been raised at its fair and just conduct. Even today, all citizens under duress demand presence of the olive green. Their faith in the neutrality of Indian soldiers is total.
The Army’s edifice of religious unity is too strong to be threatened by political expediency and divisive agenda of some self-serving entities. On the contrary, it is time all countrymen imbibe Army’s ethos of according supremacy to larger national interests.
Although religion is a matter of individual faith, emulation of Army’s practice of promoting jointness will help develop mutual understanding. Religious dissentions must be curbed as they weaken the country by giving rise to fissiparous tendencies." continue reading

Gay sex: ‘Use science, not religion to justify ban’

Expressindia » Story

New Delhi, October 15: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre for relying on religious texts to justify ban on gay sex and asked it to come up with scientific reports to justify it.
The court's observation came while hearing a PIL filed by gay activists seeking to decriminalise gay sex among consenting adults.
Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra, appearing for the Centre, cited an article which contained quotes from religious texts to justify the ban.
Not satisfied with the government contention, the Bench, also comprising Justice S Muralidhar, asked the government to show scientific proof that gay sex is harmful to society.
"This is just one-sided version of a religious body which cannot be relied upon. This is part of religious doctrine. Show us some scientific report which says that gay sex should be criminalised," a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah said.
Earlier, the Centre had justified the criminal provision against homosexual acts and had said that it is required to curb the spread of HIV infection.
It had further said that homosexual behaviour is a reflection of a perverse mind and it could not be allowed in the society.
The petitioner, Naz Foundation, an NGO, had said that Section 377 which criminalises homosexual acts is unconstitutional and it should be amended to allow gay sex among consenting adults.

Race divide fears over first Hindu state school

Tim Ross, Education Correspondent, Evening Standard. 01.09.08
England's first Hindu state school opens its doors to pupils this month amid fears that it will fuel racial segregation. continue reading

See also on the same shelf:

• Hindu state school opens- Uk to teach !! Black is bad karma


• BARNET: UK's first Hindu school opens


• Opening of first Hindu state school sparks fears it will fuel ...Daily Mail, UK - 1 Sep 2008


• Hindu state school beginning work - BBC NEWS / EDUCATION:
  FAITH SCHOOLS in UK
  > 6,850 out of a total of 21,000 schools, large majority either Church of England or Roman Catholic
  > 37 Jewish, 7 Muslim, 2 Sikh, 1 Greek Orthodox, 1 Seventh Day Adventist
  > 1.7 million pupils
  > 21% of faith school secondary pupils from ethnic minorities - 17% in non faith schools

Nonviolence as a Tactic for Change

By Dan Tow • Feb 5th, 2008 • Category: Pakistan Vote'08, Worth A Second Look • (9,853 views) • 22 Comments

I have recently finished reading the excellent biography Benjamin Franklin, by Edmund S. Morgan. Franklin is my personal favorite among the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, an inspirational example, and, by all accounts, a delightful and brilliant human being. I can’t presume to speak for what Franklin, dead more than 200 years, would say on current events, but I found profound inspiration from this fine book, nonetheless, and let it be to Franklin’s credit if anything I say here rings true, and to my own discredit if it does not. continue reading

My sweet Lord: Top ten religious treats

Joanna writes: Scripture candy and Bible bonbons - were these what King Soloman was talking about when he wrote
"Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel" - Proverbs 20 v 17? Decide for yourselves with our list of the top ten religious treats available.
These soft peppermint puffs allow you to learn a verse while sucking on a mint.

Extract: The seven foods of Deuteronomy, Wheat, Barley, Raisins, Honey, Figs, Pomegranates, Olive Oil, are packed into this Bible Bar providing "nutrition God's way".

Faith Central - Times Online - WBLG: continue

See also on the same shelf:

• Kosher is hot, but don’t ask for owl -Times Online
• McDonald's to offer Halal burgers Metro.co.uk
• Halal Select Snacks Launches America's First Rice Crispy Treat for ...
  

Economics and Spirituality: The Nexus

• Namaste and Buddhist Economics, a common ground: I came across Namaste Economics earlier today, and was pleasantly surprised that it has a lot in common with Buddhist Economics (see my posts Buddhist Economy in Practice and The traits of Buddhist Economy ).


• Trying to marry economics and spirituality. (Wish us Best of British): Gandhi, Globalisation and Climate Change


• A visionary and his vision Dr Javeed Nayeem: felicitation of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Foundation, Coimbatore, on his having been invited to address the Davos world economic forum ... sadhguru’s message for binding spirituality with economics.


• Spiritual Community Network: A Rosemont Fellowship
  Rosemont Reunion, New Age Universalist Fellowship, Network for Intentional Spiritual Community. Ageless wisdom, ecumenical yoga meditation, mysticism, theosophy, Buddha, Christ, Krishna, masters, adepts.


• Render on to Caesar: Economics and Spirituality Beliefnet.com's discussion group


• Economics and Spirituality, by Paolo Scroccaro, translated from Italian by Chuck Salvo
• An Inter-faith Perspective on Globalisation for the Common Good, The Annual International Conference Series, Inaugural Conference, Oxford, 2002


• InterfaithNews.Net » Blog Archive » Global Warming a Moral Issue ...
• An Open Letter to the First World Islamic Economic Forum, September 22nd, 2005, by Kamran Mofid


• Much More @ Google

Faith in '08: Meet God-o-Meter

News & Blogs -- Beliefnet.com

Hillary's buoyed by Bill's Baptist banter. A hedge on abortion sends Romney tumbling. Our new and highly scientific God-o-Meter rates the candidates based on their God-talk. See Their Current Ratings"

See also on the same shelf:
Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives, by Mohamed Taher, Scarecrow Press, 2006. Check Amazon.com sample from Chapter Three:

3.23 Developing World Wide Worship Mindmaps – Survey, Tools, Responses…

• Religion Selector: An Exploration of World Belief System:

www.speakout.com/activismtools/selectors/religion
• Belief System Selector: An Exploration of World Religions
www.selectsmart.com/RELIGION
• Ten Questions for Evaluating Corporate Worship:

• “Bagley Baptist Form Mail Survey System.” (Questionnaire) www.bagleybaptist.freeuk.com/Survey.htm
• Worship Survey
http://www.cumc-wf.org/worship_survey.htm
• Jatinder Singh. “Sikh Internet Users Survey.” FormMail.to/cybersikhi or www.cybersikhi.com (2 Jan. 2004)
• “Christian Online Resource Center Survey.” (Questionnaire)
www.influencer4christ.com/survey/survey.php?opt=new (dead link 2 Jan. 2004)
• Divining America: Sharing your questions - Multifaith Issues
www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/tserve/getback/getback.htm
• WCC Worship Questionnaire
http://www.woodstockchristian.org/wccwq.html
• Daily spiritual diary Questions
http://www.thedivinelifesociety.org/download/practicekarma.htm
• How Well WORSHIP Questionnaire

Even Athiests pray … figures don't lie!

CORRECTED: Even Atheists pray … figures don't lie!

November 4th, 2007 by Nancy Reyes
Surveys show that 52% of Americans pray every day, 57% of Catholics pray every day, 41% of those who aren’t sure of life after death pray every day, and 15% of people who aren’t sure there is a God pray every day.***

He said, with a grin, that people pray “to whom it may concern” or […] Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Nancy Reyes in All News, Society and Culture, US News, Religious News No Comments » 73 Views

See also on the same shelf:

The scandal of particular prayers, Posted by dpulliam

Comparing Muslim Beliefs and Practices

PEW Surveys

Catch Hell: Newsweek/Beliefnet poll results -- Beliefnet.com
A new poll points to growing importance of 'spirituality'; most believe people of other faiths can go to heaven

Finding Our Own Path, By Jerry Adler, Newsweek
Americans favor individual spirituality and personal empowerment--which has influenced even traditional, institutional religion. To read the entire article, click here. (C) 2005 Newsweek, Inc.

Spirituality in Action: The Road Ahead

If you don’t like the word God, substitute Nature, All Being, or Reality. If you don’t like the word “Word,” substitute something like “impulse.”

Google it

Spirituality: The Age of Aquarium:

Schools of Fish and Thought
The theists prayed and said “Amen,” while atheists said “Ahem . . .”
“There’s no such thing, you silly goofs; you haven’t any proof.”
Panentheists sought elbow room, they tried to wriggle in.
That en’s a tricky syllable; it splices God’s hair thin. continue reading @ Faithcommons

***Survey sources are listed below, courtesy Nancy Reyes:

The talk was given at a local university and reviewed in the local Catholic paper in western Massachusetts, where I am visiting my brother. They don't have a website, but the announcement is here.

But this NYTimes article refers to the same data:

This article on his website examines the belief in life after death and notes that not all atheists are "hard core" atheists. http://www.agreeley.com/articles/hardcore.html

The NORC website is here.

Presumably the research is published in journals...several of his surveys can be found at JSTOR, but since I don't have access, I can't read the hard sociological data.

A worldwide convention of demons

NB. note from a Blogger: I have done search upon search to find out who wrote this (below) and came up with 'Anonymous'.

• Chrisitian side of the story
• Muslim version: Iblîs (Satan)]
• Hindustani version: SHYTAN'S MEETING
• Business-like: Satan Instructs His Workers
• "THE PLAN" by Doubting Thomas
• And the last word, skeptically: "One of those delightful emails that makes me realize the truth of the old saying: “You put garbage in, you get garbage out.”

[Info courtesy: Abdul Rawoof Sait ]

Funeral law fails ethnic groups

Rigid regulations undermine immigrants' freedom to practise final rites, study finds

Oct 27, 2007 Prithi Yelaja, Staff Reporter, Toronto Star

Death may be the final frontier when it comes to testing the limits of multicultural accommodation in Ontario.

Rigid provincial and municipal regulations regarding funerals and burials, created primarily to accommodate western Judeo-Christian customs, are forcing faith communities to adjust to the law rather than have the freedom to practise their final rites, according to a new study from Ryerson University.

"Along with the mainstream population, the immigrant population is aging and dying, too, in large numbers, so now these issues are coming to the forefront," says study author Sandeep Agrawal, a professor of urban and regional planning. continue reading

See also in the same aisle and shelf:

Ashes to ashes, By Suelan Toye, September 28, 2007

Urban planning Prof. Sandeep Agrawal has studied the barriers faced by ethnic groups who wish to follow their funeral customs.

Ethnic families often face cultural barriers in Ontario when they wish to honour their loved ones' passing with culturally appropriate burial rites, say Ryerson University researchers.

"Since Canada prides itself as a multicultural society and its citizens are committed to sustaining their cultural heritage, we need to find ways to encompass these same ideals when members of our ethnic communities pass away," says Associate Prof. Sandeep Agrawal, the lead author of Funeral and Burial Sites, Rites and Rights in Multicultural Ontario. The paper will be published this month in Citizenship and Immigration Canada's publication, Our Diverse Cities. continue reading