Highway in Texas: Mentioned in the Bible?

I mention this because fostering and promoting stupidity and ignorance is a grand evil in my mind. Apparently there is a small group of True Believers in the Midwest that thinks Interstate Highway I-35 is a highway mentioned in the Bible:

"A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness." -- Isaiah Chapter 35, Verse 8

Is it possible that this "highway" mentioned in Chapter 35 is actually Interstate 35 that runs through six U.S. states, from southern Texas to northern Minnesota?

Yeah, about as likely as a serial child molester and convicted fraud named Joseph Smith finding gold plates in upstate New York that recounted Christ's resurrection and ministry.

Some Christians have faith that is indeed the case. Some of the faithful believe that in order to fulfill the prophecy of I-35 being the "holy" highway, it needs some intensive prayer first.

Give me a break.

// Tuchman: Hitting the road (literally) with some faithful

Hitchens: Right to Reject Candidates for Religious Views

I only wish I could write as well as Christopher Hitchens. Check out this gem on why we have a right, as voters, to reject candidates for office based on their religious views:

What Article VI does not do, and was never intended to do, is deny me the right to say, as loudly as I may choose, that I will on no account vote for a smirking hick like Mike Huckabee, who is an unusually stupid primate but who does not have the elementary intelligence to recognize the fact that this is what he is. My right to say and believe that is already guaranteed to me by the First Amendment. And the right of Huckabee to win the election and fill the White House with morons like himself is unaffected by my expression of an opinion.
...
Isn't it amazing how self-pitying and self-aggrandizing the religious freaks in this country are? It's not enough that they can make straight-faced professions of "faith" at election times and impose their language on everything from the Pledge of Allegiance to the currency. It's not enough that they can claim tax exemption and even subsidy for anything "faith-based." It's that when they are even slightly criticized for their absurd opinions, they can squeal as if being martyred and act as if they are truly being persecuted.

// This is not a test (via Andrew Sullivan)

Thoughts on Secularism from Andrew Sullivan

Although he's generally a bit too Catholic for my taste on matters religious, Andrew Sullivan wrote a nice piece today about the place of religion in public life:

"It may well be that support for a piece of social policy emerges from religious reasons. But in a secular society, it is vital that when making the argument for your position in public, you do not deploy arguments that depend on or invoke religiously-revealed truths. The essential civic discipline in a pluralist democracy is to translate your religious convictions into moral arguments - arguments that can persuade and engage people of all faiths or none. Only a few secularist extremists are saying that people's politics should not be informed in any way by religious faith (an impossibility in any case); most of us anti-Christianists are saying rather that political arguments should not be made on explicitly religious grounds, and political parties should not be allying themselves explicitly with one religion or another."

// The Right and Religion

Mormonism: Sex Among Gods

I discovered an amazing site today, the Mormonism Research Ministry, which serves to "challenge the claims of Mormonism". It reminds me of Operation Clambake, which serves to debunk that other loony cult Scientology.

Here's a great quote from a gem of an article from MRM that discusses the belief that Mormon Gods engage in endless celestial sex:

"Sex Among the Gods. Sex, which is indispensable on this earth for the perpetuation of the human race, is an eternal quality which has its equivalent everywhere. It is indestructible. The relationship between men and women is eternal and must continue eternally. In accordance with Gospel philosophy there are males and females in heaven. Since we have a Father, who is our God, we must also have a mother, who possesses the attributes of Godhood. This simply carries onward the logic of things earthly, and conforms with the doctrine that whatever is on this earth is simply a representation of spiritual conditions of deeper meaning than we can here fathom." (John A. Widtsoe, Rational Theology, 1915 1st ed., p.64)

// The Relationship Between Jesus and Lucifer in a Mormon Context (via Andrew Sullivan)

Pope: "Gay Marriage an Obstacle to World Peace"

More insanity from the current bigot to hold the office of Pope.

In a statement released by the Vatican Tuesday (Dec. 11) Pope Benedict XVI said that, among other things, gay marriage is an "obstacle" to world peace.

// Pope Says Abortion, Gay Marriage Are 'Obstacles' to World Peace (via Andrew Sullivan)

New York Archdiocese: "Kids, don't be alone with your priest"

This is creepy on way too many levels. In a coloring book for altar boys titled "Being Friends, Being Safe, Being Catholic" published by the Archdiocese of New York, the Church addresses priest molestation by having an Angel tell a child not to be alone with his Priest!

Christopher Hitchens on Romney; Mormonism

Check out this great article discussing Romney's limp-on-substance speech on Mormonism by Christopher Hitchens, the author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, which I bought recently but unfortunately haven't yet gotten around to reading.

"According to the admittedly very contradictory scriptures of the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth warned his disciples and followers that they should expect to be ridiculed and mocked for their faith. After all, how likely was it that God had decided to reveal himself to only a few illiterate peasants in a barbarous backwater? Those who elected to believe this stuff were quite rightly told to expect a hard time, and the expression "fool for God" or "fool for Christ" has been with us ever since. That concept has some dignity and nobility. Entirely lacking in dignity or nobility (or average integrity) is the well-heeled son of a gold-plated church who wants to assume the pained look of martyrdom only when he is asked if he actually believes what he says. A long time ago, Romney took the decision to be a fool for Joseph Smith, a convicted fraud and serial practitioner of statutory rape who at times made war on the United States and whose cult has been made to amend itself several times in order to be considered American at all. We do not require pious lectures on the American founding from such a man, and we are still waiting for some straight answers from him."

// Read the article here on Slate.com (via Andrew Sullivan)
// An earlier article with as much panache ("The Book of Mormon, when it is not "chloroform in print" as Mark Twain unkindly phrased it, is full of vicious ingenuity. From it you can learn of the ancient battle of Cumorah, which occurred at a site conveniently near Joseph Smith's home in upstate New York. In this legendary engagement, the Nephites, described as fair-skinned and "handsome," fought against the outcast Lamanites, whose punishment for turning away from God was to be afflicted with dark skin.")

Mormonism 'Demented, Ridiculous"; O'Donnell on The McLaughlin Group

I would highly recommend watching Larry O'Donnell's Mormonism rant on The McLaughlin Group this Sunday, December 9, 2007. He basically went nuts (rightly so, of course) on any of the panel's apologism for Mitt Romney's membership in such a completely insane recently-pro-slavery cult-cum-religion. Even though I usually find Larry's commentary on the uncomfortably doughy, emotional side of Eleanor Clift, this was a welcome refreshment to the ages of "any 'religion' is fine" appeasement in the mainstream media.

Kudos!

// See a summary of Larry's rant.
// See the actual video of his performance.

Cartoon Explanation of Mormonism

Granted that it obviously has a slanted agenda and, well, it's a cartoon, there are a bunch of truths in this video about the secret teachings of the Mormon church. It's amazing the depths of delusion that people can go to when "inspired" by religion.



// via Andrew Sullivan

Romney, Mormonism and the Absurdity of Religion

Matthew Yglesias wrote an excellent post that calls out Mitt Romney for his recent speech on his Mormon faith. He cited an poignant article from a 1959 issue of Time, which discussed Mormonism's explicit textual justification for racism:

Whatever they may do or leave undone about their Negro brethren, most U.S. churches hold that all men are equal before God. One notable exception: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Book of Mormon teaches that the colored races are descendants of the evil children of Laman and Lemuel, who impiously warred against the good children of Nephi and received their pigmented skin as punishment. Last week a Utah State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights drew on this Mormon scripture in a scathing report on the state of the tiny nonwhite minority in Utah.

Read the full post here.

Soon on the Billboard Charts: "God Hates the World"

Nothing better than the ignorant among us casting judgment down upon us for our sins.

From "God Hates Fags" to "God Hates the World" (see the video below):


God Hates the World - Watch more free videos