FreeThinkingAtheist.com

    Funny how people can be such cynical conspiracy theorists about something as solid and known as how the Grand Canyon was formed, yet they choose to entirely overlook their religion and not question it at all. I mean really, think about it. If given two topics to choose from to doubt and question: The Grand Canyon's formation, or the Christian Bible, how can you possibly sit there and dispute something so solidly proven through science, like the Grand Canyon, but turn around and gladly trust something as questionable as the Bible? There's no sense in that!

     "Grand Canyon: A Different View," which contradicts science, says the Grand Canyon was formed by the great flood from the Bible story of Noah. Obviously Geology is a myth. You didn't know that? right..

    The book was written by a "born again" river guide who writes that his view of the canyon's being millions of years old changed after he "met the Lord. Now, I have 'a different view' of the Canyon, which, according to a biblical time scale, can't possibly be more than about a few thousand years old." You know, extreme cynics are one thing, but at least they actual doubt everything equally. Unlike the readers of this book, they at least don't contradict their cynical nature and turn around and believe in something full of holes and questionable motives, written entirely by man. 

     The reviews over at Amazon.com pretty much sum this book up, my favorite being:

I am a serious amateur geologist and a devout Christian. You've got to be kidding with this book. That it was forced to be put into the Grand Canyon book shops is absurd. What prompted me to write a review is that I heard that the park rangers at the Grand Canyon are no longer permitted to discuss the age of the Grand Canyon. This is evangelical socialist realism at its worst. It's time for me to put my pet dinosaur to bed.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Despite the best efforts of the Catholic
Church and the panning of the film by most movie critics, large
crowds packed last weekend’s opening of The Da Vinci Code.

The film revolves around the
unraveling of “the greatest cover-up in history’–that the
Catholic Church suppressed its knowledge that Jesus Christ was
a mortal man married to Mary Magdalene (slandered as a prostitute
by the Church) and fathered children with her. Jesus wanted Mary,
not Peter, to carry on his work and that the descendents of Mary
and Jesus live among us to this very day, protected by a secret
society known as the Priory of Scion.

Most of the mainline churches
have denounced the book and the film. Some have even organized
picketing of the movie, like here in Chicago. Responding to the
attacks on his film, Howard declared, “This is entertainment,
not theology.’

It may be, but it touches upon
issues that the Catholic Church would rather remain closed to
public discussion. The Da Vinci Code reveals to many Christians
things that are not taught in Sunday School: that Christianity
became the religion of the Roman Empire because of the political
needs of the pagan emperor Constantine; that there were many
Gospels that were not included in the Bible because they didn’t
serve the needs of the Church; that many of the early followers
of Jesus considered him a prophet but not divine.

The book and movie make you
think about religion, and that’s not something that Christianity
encourages. As one Catholic leader put it, “We are not in
the democracy business.’

The Catholic Church, after
all, is a highly discredited institution these days. It’s still
involved in an ongoing scandal concerning the cover-up of child
sexual abuse by priests. Its half century of decline in North
America and Europe for a variety of easons–its collaboration
with fascism during the Second World War to being on the wrong
side of every social question–has made it a symbol of evil,
corruption and political reaction in the eyes of many people.

Now comes along a bestselling
book and popular movie implying that the whole foundations of
Christianity are a fraud–and Church leaders went wild. Pope
Benedict even toyed with organizing a boycott of the film.

In a country where any critical
discussion of religion is attacked without mercy, anything that
opens up a critical discussion should be welcome. The Da Vinci
Code book has done that, and hopefully the film will widen it.

When asked whether the film
should have a disclaimer saying that it’s fiction, McKellen responded,
“I’ve often thought that the Bible should have a disclaimer
at the front saying, this is fiction.’

http://www.counterpunch.org/allen05262006.html

Popularity: 8% [?]

Gay civil partnerships may improve health - Just another one to add to the long list of Gay Rights.

LONDON (Reuters) - Gay and lesbian civil partnerships — better
known as “gay marriage” — could bring lasting health benefits to
same-sex couples, researchers said on Tuesday.

Doctors already
know that marriage benefits the health of both sexes in a variety of
ways. Scientists said civil partnerships for gay couples were likely to
offer similar advantages.
* Now is it morally right to take the right to a longer and happier life away from a human being just because of their preference in gender?

“Marriage confers health benefits on
men and women and similar benefits could arise from same-sex civil
unions,” said Professor Michael King, of London’s Royal Free and
University College Medical School, in a study published in the Journal
of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The Netherlands, Belgium,
Spain, Australia and Canada already give same-sex couples the rights
traditionally offered to married couples.
* These are countries that are light years ahead of us in terms of logical thinking.

Britain introduced civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples late last year.

Elton
John and his partner David Furnish made use of the new legislation,
which creates partnerships which are not technically marriages but
confer similar benefits.
* Christians believe that marriage is a Christian thing and should be kept sacred, but for some reason, they are against the “similar benefits” part, even if marriage isn’t a part of the partnership. That’s just pure hate.

“It looks like both men and women benefit from (traditional) marriage,” King said in an interview. These
are not effects just on happiness or well-being. They seem to be
important in terms of cardiovascular disease and other issues.”
* Giving this benefit to homosexuals = equal rights. Not giving it, is well, discrimination.

Civil unions probably reduce discrimination against gay and lesbian couples and make their relationships more stable.

“If
it leads to gay peoples’ relationships being more stable because
families recognised them and there was a social framework of
recognition, that might mean less exchange of partners, less sexual
risk, less drinking, less of the sorts of problems that gay men and
lesbians sometimes get into.”
* These effects are a product of how society treats them. This is the same boat black people were in before the sixties, and is why white people dominate the successful corporations of today.

Civil unions probably also increase
support for gay and lesbian partnerships among families and in society
at large, allowing couples to resolve any problems that arise in their
relationships more easily.

“Social inclusion is a very big thing
because if partnerships lead to recognition … then that stops a lot
of unhealthy habits that occur and it also stops a lot of psychological
issues,” King said.

“There is very good evidence now that gay men
and lesbians are much more vulnerable to deliberate self-harm, to
suicide attempts or to depression and other psychiatric problems.”

Access
to health care would also improve, according to the report which was
co-written by Annie Bartlett from St George’s Hospital Medical School
in London.

Paraphrased from Reuters.co.uk, * asterisks are comments from me.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Here’s an excerpt to accompany the previous one. Gay pride isn’t about  “rainbows, fags and dykes” like most assume. They are protesting and marching for a reason, just like the black protesters and marchers for the Civil Rights Movement. Gay pride is about freedom, equal rights, liberty, and THIS:

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- I am the guy who came out to the entire school in his senior speech and got a standing ovation for his courage.
- I am the girl who kisses her girlfriend on the sidewalk and laughs at those who glare.
- We are the couple who planned and studied and got a damn good lawyer and BEAT the state that wanted to take our child away.
- We are the ones who took martial arts classes and carry pepper spray and are just too dangerous to gaybash.
- I am the transgendered person who uses the bathroom that suits me, and demands that any complaining staff explain their complaint to my face in front of the entire restaurant — and shares with my other trans friends which restaurants don’t raise a stink.
- I am the mother who told her lesbian daughter to invite her girlfriend over  for dinner.
- I am the father who punished his son for calling you a fag.
- I am the preacher who told my congregation that love, not hate, is the definition of a true follower of God.
- I am making a difference. Hate will NOT win.

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Why am I posting this? Because religion is the cause for why Gay Rights is such a controversy. Just like we have MLK day and celebrate the Civil Rights Movements today, and wonder how could we have been so stupid back then, the same thing will happen with homosexuality 40 years from now. Love is love, and that’s what marriage really is about. Religious groups are the ones ruining the sancticity of marriage, not homosexuals

Popularity: 8% [?]

    The current situation in the U.S. regarding gay rights and gay marriage is just pathetic. It’s unjust to oppress gays as if they were 2nd class citizens in a country which stands for freedom, liberty, and justice for all. It’s reminiscent of Nazi Germany and their treating of the Jews, and reminiscent of the U.S. before the 60’s and their treating of blacks, and women. We think we are so perfect here in the U.S., but nobody realizes how much work and progress we still have to go.

    We are just creating yet another chapter in our abusive, prejudiced history. The majority of the current gay rights situation is from the religious right, and the right wing in general. Religious people believe that gays are going to hell, and they believe, for some odd reason, that it’s  their will and duty to enforce “God’s word” and instead of letting “God” sort them out. These religious people are going way out of their way to stop gay marriage, when these gays aren’t harming aynone

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Here’s a little expcert that pretty much sums up the U.S. and gay marriage:

- I’m straight but not narrow!
- I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.
- I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.
- I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.
- We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.
- I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of
   twenty-seven years into the room.
- I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who
  are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.
- I am one of the lucky ones, I guess. I survived the attack that left me in a coma for three weeks,
 and in another year I will probably be able to walk again.
- I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was
 simply too much to bear.
- We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a
 one-bedroom for two men.
- I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the
 management called on me.
- I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court
 says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.
- I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant
 when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.
- I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.
- I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other
 men.
- I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that
 only lesbians do that.
- I am the man who died when the paramedics stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was
 transsexual.
- I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didn’t have
 to always deal with society hating me.
- I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don’t believe, but because they closed
 their doors to my kind.
- I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.

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I’m a heterosexual, and have never been bothered by homosexuality. I had to watch one of my best friends, all throughout childhood, being made fun of and harassed by other students and even certain teachers and other school staff just because he was gay. He is now a part of a darker underworld where he feels accepted, but unfortunately has slipped into the hands of drugs. He was extremely intelligent and had so much going for him, but being harassed by everyone around you including your parents has a severe psychological affect. I wish all of the Christian haters could feel his pain, and be harassed because of what they believe in. Homosexuality is just a preference in gender. It’s not sacrilege, it’s doesn’t harm the sancticity of marriage, and hell, it’s not even immoral, it’s just a preference in gender. It’s important to not have the church instructing politicians, as Christianity’s sick and twisted history shows. Keep church and state SEPERATE

Popularity: 6% [?]