LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY legless123)

This whole WFI thing has turned out to be an unexpected good thing from my point of view. In my LJ, I've occasionally ripped into the USA as, from the UK, it looked as if the whole of America was slow-stepping towards a totalitarian religious future - with nobody doing anything to stop it.

Then along comes WFI and series of links and I arrive here where I find that not all Yanks are asleep and that some of you are opposing the religious right.

I've spent the last day reading article after article on this community and learned a hell of a lot. - Like not to dismiss all Americans as ignorant Bush puppies. Almost everything I've read is well-written, well researched and attention grabbing.

I think I'm going to like it here.

Cheers

Legless

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89)

Snagged fromatheism

From Faux news of all places!

Report: Hong Kong Authorities Ponder Labeling Bible 'Indecent'

If the Bible is labeled indecent in Hong Kong, people over the age of 18 will be the only ones able to purchase the book, and it would have to be sold with a warning label wrapped around the book

My comments: 

Ok, part of me wants to say this is sick joke and just a way of the Fundies/Dominionists to make Christians view the Chineses as a bunch of heathens who hate the Bible and Christianity.  

The other part is "Wow!  People are finally gets it about reading the Bible is the best way to make someone an atheists or at least be a better skeptics in regards to Bibical interpetation by clerical leadership."  

With the fact I've been to Hong Kong and seen their version of censorship; its pretty tame compaired to say Singapore. I kinda believe this is a legit article  and with enough complaints public policy is often changed for the better.....

However, I can see a backlash by the Religious Reich happen and then they start sending over even more Stealth Missionaries like they do in mainland China (Current TV happened to document it in the past). 

As of late the Chinese government  is/are thinking about jailing Christian Missionaries(who break state laws) and possible public executions (without legal recourse).  

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nebris)

This is a picture of our planet Earth taken from the voyager spacecraft over 4 billion miles away. That's it, just below the center line in the circle, a tiny pale blue dot bathed in sunbeam.
( More shall be revealed... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY multiclassgeek)

Creationism in UK education syllabus

According to the article, Creationism/ID ideas are being used as examples of "different ways of interpreting epirical evidence".

I'm not too worried about this at the moment, since
(a) It's not a political issue pushed for by lobbyists
(b) The exam boards in question are insisting that Creationism is *not* to be taught as fact
(c) I'm confident that a Religious Right situation is still a long way off in Britain (we have a population that doesn't really care, and a national Church of England who prefer to avoid sticking their noses into politics, except on big issues)

But I thought it might be worth mentioning here... Commentators are bringing the American controversy about Intelligent Design, even though this would seem to be only tangentially related

On the other hand, some might well consider this the Thin End Of The Wedge.

Opinions?

NB for Americans: GCSEs are the exams taken by British children at age 16. They mark the end of the point at which schooling is compulsory

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ccroft)

And so, like the news-story about Creationism in the UK, I'll share an article from our New Zealand news service in the same spirit; it's crucial to understand Christian fundamentalism is a creeping global phenomenon. Much like bird-flu, perhaps...

Quote:'Pastor Milne said Ms Bradford's drive was a sign that "spiritual warfare is hotting up in New Zealand".

He said people who rejected God were "under the control of Satan" because they interfered with the biblical responsibility of the parent to discipline their child.'

That's right. There's a bill coming up which will curtail the ability to abuse their child in the name of 'discipline'. And this is part of Satan's plan how now?

Full news story is here.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

The Guardian has this story about the spread of the ID/Creationist rot to their schools. Some excerpts:

Academics fight rise of creationism at universities

· More students believe Darwin got it wrong
· Royal Society challenges 'insidious problem'

Duncan Campbell
Tuesday February 21, 2006
The Guardian

A growing number of science students on British campuses and in sixth form colleges are challenging the theory of evolution and arguing that Darwin was wrong. Some are being failed in university exams because they quote sayings from the Bible or Qur'an as scientific fact and at one sixth form college in London most biology students are now thought to be creationists.

Earlier this month Muslim medical students in London distributed leaflets that dismissed Darwin's theories as false. Evangelical Christian students are also increasingly vocal in challenging the notion of evolution.

In the United States there is growing pressure to teach creationism or "intelligent design" in science classes, despite legal rulings against it. Now similar trends in this country have prompted the Royal Society, Britain's leading scientific academy, to confront the issue head on with a talk entitled Why Creationism is Wrong. The award-winning geneticist and author Steve Jones will deliver the lecture and challenge creationists, Christian and Islamic, to argue their case rationally at the society's event in April.

"There is an insidious and growing problem," said Professor Jones, of University College London. "It's a step back from rationality. They (the creationists) don't have a problem with science, they have a problem with argument. And irrationality is a very infectious disease as we see from the United States."

Most of the next generation of medical and science students could well be creationists, according to a biology teacher at a leading London sixth-form college. "The vast majority of my students now believe in creationism," she said, "and these are thinking young people who are able and articulate and not at the dim end at all. They have extensive booklets on creationism which they put in my pigeon-hole ... it's a bit like the southern states of America." Many of them came from Muslim, Pentecostal or Baptist family backgrounds, she said, and were intending to become pharmacists, doctors, geneticists and neuro-scientists.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ellid)

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1714171,00.html

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kiji_kat)

I know this community focuses mainly on Dominionists in the United States, but I came across some horrifying information about a man in Uganda (Africa) who is doing some revolting things.

It is in this region that a rebel force — the Lord's Resistance Army, which claims to base its principles on the Ten Commandments — has waged a protracted 20-year war against the Ugandan government.

I don't know what we can do about this, but if anyone has some resources, please let me know.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

Paul Weyrich, widely considered one of the founding fathers of the modern conservative movement, is looking North these days with hopes that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's newly elected conservative government will transform the social and political landscape of Canada.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY mizliz) An excellent article from Philip Pullman, who has done more to reframe a rational cosmology with his "Dark Materials" books (ostensibly for children) than anyone I know. 

This is worth the reading, I promise.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY silvaerina_tael)

I found this rather interesting article from the Yahoo Canada site this morning. Thought some of you may like to take a look considering, as it does, claims that Canada is "too liberal and hedonistic" and "marxist"... And here I thought that we were more socialist...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20060127/ca_pr_on_na/not_so_conservative

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY njtech)

fascinating comparison of the US and Germany

I posted this specifically for the comparrison of religion and government. very intersting stuff. I also like the writers pet peeves at the end. There's a link at the bottom, which you might overlook, which takes you to a forum discussion wi9th over 32,000 posts.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

Found via Buzzflash

"Most Americans pay little attention to what's going on in Africa, and even less to the work evangelical Christian organizations are doing there. Except for the occasional article about the AIDS pandemic, a devastating drought, or an armed conflict, generally speaking only Africa-focused academics, inveterate news junkies, and/or former and current Peace Corps volunteers have their fingers on the pulse of developments in Africa.

Several high-powered U.S.-based Christian evangelical organizations are not only following developments in Africa, but they are making news. Some of these groups view the small countries of Africa as a Petri Dish for religious and social transformation."

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nebris)

ROME (Reuters) - Forget the U.S. debate over intelligent design versus evolution.

An Italian court is tackling Jesus -- and whether the Roman Catholic Church may be breaking the law by teaching that he existed 2,000 years ago. ( Maybe we should try this here? )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY synergybc)

This might seem a little lightweight compared to some of the things posted in this community, but I thought it fits its theme. There's a designer in Sweden who's anti-establishment and is putting out some jeans named "Cheap Monday" that are flying off the shelf with a logo that bears a skull with an upside down cross on it. Supposedly they're working on introducing them in the U.S. I'm skeptical that they'll make it without having all sorts of fundamentalists getting up in arms about it.

Here's the link to the article at Yahoo News:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051230/ap_on_re_eu/sweden_devil_s_denim

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY fannyfae)

I will defer to the moderator and if this post is not approriate here, I will remove it.

At any rate, it would seem rabid fundamentalism is trying to take up root in countries where we might not expect it, too. I recieve the Hindu Press International on a daily basis. Here is a story from one of the latest. For those who do not know, Hindus wear the Bindi on their foreheads as a mark of their faith. Both men and women wear them, depending on sect, but it is most common for married women in India to wear them.

( Hindu Teacher Ordered To Remove Bindi At Christian School )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY pdx42)

The current issue of The Asian Reporter has a story on page 3 about Muslims in Santa Claus costumes volunteering to guard Christian churches this weekend to prevent vandalism and violence in Jakarta. I didn't find the story online, but since I'm not accomplishing anything at work right now, I've typed out part of it.

Muslim Organization will guard churches on Xmas
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Cautious Clauses. Indonesians dressed in Santa Claus costumes wave on the street during a Christmas event in Jakarta, Indonesia. The youth wing of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization will deploy uniformed members to guard [Christian] churches over the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Hotel security men with Santa Claus costumes stand guard with a Indonesia police officer in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec 23, 2005. Thousands of troops were being deployed to guard Indonesian churches Friday amid warnings that al-Qaida linked militants were planning Christmas terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. (AP Photo/ Achmad Ibrahim)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

'Concerned Women for America (CWA) is grateful to God that the Swedish Supreme Court has decided to protect religious freedom and freedom of speech by acquitting a Pentecostal pastor charged with a "hate crime" for criticizing homosexuality from the pulpit.'

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ccroft)

Here is what the BBC News Company from the UK makes of the dominionist movement so far, in an interesting article from their Washington correspondant posted today. No facts within that we aren't aware of, but one should notice the language used by a media outlet that enjoys a global audience:

"We are having dinner at the house of some friends who are supporters of President Bush.

Their five-year-old son, a classmate of our children, takes me upstairs to see his collection of dinosaurs.

Little Meade is a passionate palaeontologist and this is a land of plenty so the room heaves with prehistoric life.

I am suitably impressed, but unknown to Meade I am not here to admire the bone structure of the mammals.

I am in this room on assignment, because in modern America Meade's dinosaurs are at the heart of the travails of a political party and I need to find out something about Meade's parents which will affect our relationship.

I need to know what they told him about when the dinosaurs existed.

Millions of Americans, most of them supporters of the Republican party, believe that the world was created only a few thousand years ago as per the account in Genesis and the dinosaurs can only date from then, so the Tyrannosaurus Rex romped around with Adam and Eve. Read More...

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ns_kumiho)

A PUSH is under way to insert a reference to God in Australia's national anthem.
Several god-fearing Federal MPs say it is time that Advance Australia Fair was amended to reflect the nation's Christian values.

Our national song does not mention God, unlike the anthems of New Zealand, the US and the UK.

Queensland Liberal MP Peter Slipper told Parliament the "importance of God" and Australia's Christian foundations deserved to be recognised in the national anthem.

"Most people, whether practising Christians or not, would accept that Australia is a Christian country and that, as a nation, we have our roots in the Christian faith," he said.

Other parliamentarians, including Family First's Steve Fielding and the Nationals' Barnaby Joyce and Bruce Scott, yesterday voiced support.

Any amendment is likely to be hotly debated.

High-profile Christian and Labor MP Kevin Rudd and Queensland Liberal MP Michael Johnson said a God reference was not needed.

"In the 1890s the sons and fathers debated about whether or not to establish religion in the Australian constitution," Mr Rudd said.

"Wisely they decided not to. The same intelligently applies to our national anthem."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17207815-2,00.html