Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
FOX: Behind the Liberal Media's Bias Against Christianity
April 28, 2010 on FOX News with Sean Hannity and S.E. Cupp, Author of Losing Our Religion
.*Updated with HQ copy
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Vatican Official Left Abusive Priest As Pastor
April 28, 2010 on AP
The cardinal who oversees priest abuse cases at the Vatican didn't restrict a California priest after learning in 1995 that he had molested a 13-year-old boy a decade earlier.
Christian Filmmaker Claims to Have Found Noah's Ark
April 28, 2010 on ABC News:
A new claim by an evangelical Christian filmmaker and Turkish scientists that Noah's Ark has been found encased in ice on Mount Ararat has been met with equal parts excitement and skepticism.See also: Latest Ark finding is a fake - Pharyngula
Expedition crew in Turkey is 99.9 percent sure it's uncovered the remains.
Yeung Wing-Cheung of Hong Kong said he is "99 percent" sure the wooden structure he filmed along with Turkish scientists and archeologists is the remnants of the famed ark God instructed Noah to build to save himself and the world's animals from an epic flood.
Read more
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Jihadists And "The Narrative"
April 25, 2010 on CBS News
A former member of a Muslim extremist group tells Lesley Stahl the reason for the increase in home-grown jihadists like the U.S. Army major accused of shooting 13 at Ft. Hood is an ideology called "the narrative," which states America is at war with Islam.(via RichardDawkins.net)
Texas Store Owner Posts Religious Sign to Deter Thieves
April 25, 2010 on Fox & Friends
(Thanks phinfan)
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Father Morris Fields Questions of Faith From 'Red Eye' Robots
'Father Knows Best' April 24, 2010 on FOX News
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Daily Show: South Park Death Threats
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| South Park Death Threats | ||||
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Jon hesitates to repeat a phrase he's used before, but he has something to say to anyone threatening death in the name of religion or politics.Viewers in Canada can watch it on The Comedy Network
Viewers in other countries can use Hotspot Shield or Modify Headers
Suit Against Pope, Vatican Details Wis. Abuse
April 22, 1010 on AP
The case of a Wis. priest accused of preying on boys at a school for the deaf was presented to the Vatican a year earlier than previously thought, according to documents revealed in another lawsuit aimed at the highest levels of the church.
Beautiful Minds: Tim Hunt
Play all videos (6)
Aired April 21, 2010 on BBC 4
The final part of this series looking at three brilliant contemporary scientists features Sir Tim Hunt, awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the mechanism of how cells divide - a discovery fundamental to the life and growth of every single creature on the planet, as well as a vital clue into the mystery of cancer.(via TreVelocita)
Hunt recalls moments in his life that provided inspiration for his career as a scientist, from his father's intent scholarship which shaped his early methods to his mother's battle with cancer and the influence of this on his current position at Cancer Research UK.
In his own words, Hunt recounts the events that informed his discovery, from chance encounters to life-changing conversations and reveals his own opinions on the thought processes, both logical and emotional, that led to his extraordinary discovery.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Hitchens and D'Souza Debate Religion at Notre Dame
April 7, 2010
Two titans of the religious spectrum famed Atheist Christopher Hitchens and esteemed Catholic apologetic Dinesh D'Souza clash in public debate at the University of Notre Dame.(Thanks Andy)
Comedy Central Backs Down After Islamic Group's Threats Over 'South Park'
A message posted on SouthParkStudios.com
You can watch the full episode on TV Shack
From NYTimes.com:
On Thursday morning, a spokesman for Comedy Central confirmed that the network had added more bleeps to the episode than were in the cut delivered by South Park Studios, and that it was not giving permission for the episode to run on the studio’s Web site.Matt and Trey's Statement
(via LGF)
Stunning New Pictures of the Sun
Nasa has released the first pictures of the sun taken from its new Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali on CNN: Religion, Violence & South Park
April 21, 2010
CNN's Anderson Cooper talks to author Ayaan Hirsi Ali about an Islamic website's warning to the "South Park" creators.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Iranian Cleric Blames Women's Dress for Earthquakes
April 21, 2010 on CNN
An Iranian cleric becomes a comedic target after saying women who dress provocatively are to blame for earthquakes.
Authors@Google: Steven Weinberg
Steven Weinberg is an american physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles. He talks about his new book Lake Views: This World and the Universealong with a Q + A at the end.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
James Randi's Fiery Takedown of Psychic Fraud
Filmed Feb 2007; Posted Apr 2010 on TED
Legendary skeptic James Randi takes a fatal dose of homeopathic sleeping pills onstage, kicking off a searing 18-minute indictment of irrational beliefs. He throws out a challenge to the world's psychics: Prove what you do is real, and I'll give you a million dollars. (No takers yet.)
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Passionate Eye: Sex Crimes and the Vatican
Aired April 12, 2010 on CBC
Encore presentation of one of the first documentaries to link the Vatican to the cover-up of pedophile priests.(via RichardDawkins.net)
In recent weeks, the Vatican and in particular the Pope, have found themselves at the centre of a growing controversy about how they've dealt with pedophile priests and the children abused by those priests. First aired on the BBC in 2006 and later on The Passionate Eye on CBC Newsworld, "Sex Crimes & the Vatican" examines a controversial document which sets out a procedure for dealing with child sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church. What makes it so controversial is that the document Crimen Sollicitationis was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI.
Read more
Uproar in Canada Over Face-Veil Ban
April 18, 2010 on Al Jazeera English
In the Canadian province of Quebec a furious public debate has erupted over Muslim women who wear the niqab - face veil.
Out of over 200,000 Muslims in Montreal in Quebec, only a few dozen women wear the niqab, but under a proposed new legislation they could be barred from receiving public services.
Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Montreal where the debate has divided the Muslim community.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Encounter: Atheism on the Rise?
April 18, 2010 on ABC Radio:
Download MP3
We report from the 2010 Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne. Is atheism truly on the rise, and if so, what kind of atheism is it? While we've heard a great deal from so-called celebrity atheists like Richard Dawkins, their scientific, evidence-based approach to understanding the world undervalues not only theology, but philosophy itself.(via Pharyngula)
Read more
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Inside Story - Suing the Pope
April 17, 2010 on Al-Jazeera English
A British academic is planning to take Pope Benedict XVI to court for what he calls the long-term, systematic cover-up of child sexual abuse cases inside the Catholic Church. Inside Story asks what long-term implications the scandal could have for the Church?(Thanks Volunteer Humanist)
Evangelist Spurned for Supporting Evolution
April 16, 2010 on ABC News:
In a country where 61 percent of the population says it believes that the creation story in the Bible is literally true and in which a popular Creation Museum near Cincinnati shows dinosaurs co-existing with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, even a respected, conservative evangelical Bible scholar such as Bruce Waltke connot get away with supporting the theory of evolution. Waltke has caused an uproar in the evangelical movement for this "heresy."
"If the data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult -- some odd group that is not really interacting with the world," says Waltke.
Read more
Friday, April 16, 2010
Federal Judge Rules Day of Prayer Unconstitutional
April 15, 2010 on WVUA TV
From AP:
A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional Thursday, saying the day amounts to a call for religious action.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb wrote that the government can no more enact laws supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic.
Read more
The Beast File: Catholic Church Sex Scandals Go Back 2000 Years
by ABC Hungry Beast
Contrary to Pope Benedict's assertion that the immorality of modern society is to blame for sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, the church's own historical documents reveal that sexual abuse has been a problem that the Catholic Church has failed to properly deal with since its earliest days. The Church's first official document referring to the problem of sexual abusing children was in the year 60 AD. All of the documents referred to in this piece are real and have been fact checked.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Eddie Izzard on The Hour
Play all videos (2)
April 15, 2010 on CBC's The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
(via Atheist Planet)
Mexican Bishops Ask For Forgiveness
April 15, 2010 on Al-Jazeera English
As the Vatican tries to defuse growing anger over child abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Church, bishops in Mexico have released a statement asking victims for forgiveness.See also: What the Pope Knew About Father Maciel
Church authorities in Mexico have now admitted that one of their priests, Marcial Maciel, had over a 40-year period, preyed on nearly 200 young seminarians and children, including two of his own.
The Vatican has continued to deny allegations of a cover-up, and that Pope Benedict XVI once turned a blind eye to abusive priests when he was still a cardinal.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Christopher Hitchens & Mark Stephens on ITV News
Christopher Hitchens and solicitor Mark Stephens comment on the possibility to arrest the Pope.(via Daily Hitchens)
(Thanks '1984')
Richard Dawkins on CNN: Atheist Calls For Pope's Arrest
April 14, 2010 on CNN with Hala Gorani
British atheist Richard Dawkins is backing a campaign calling on the pope be arrested for crimes against humanity.(via RichardDawkins.net)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
South Park's 200th, litigious celebs and Mohammed
From Boing Boing:
South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker speak with Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin on the eve of the 200th episode of the hit Comedy Central series. Stone and Parker reveal their plans to revisit battles over the boundaries of what can and cannot be done on television—including a quest to see just how many celebrities they can manage to piss off in a single episode, and whether Comedy Central will once again try to stop them from depicting the image and voice of a cartoon version of the Muslim prophet Mohammed on the show.
The 200th episode airs Wednesday, April 14 at 10pm on Comedy Central.
Christopher Hitchens: Arrest the Pope!
April 13, 2010 on MSNBC
Christopher Hitchens talking to MSNBC's Tamron Hall about arresting The Pope during his Britain visit in September 2010.(via Daily Hitchens)
(Thanks '1984')
Top Cardinal Blames Paedophile Crisis on Homosexuals
From Times Online:
The Holy See’s second-highest prelate after the Pope has blamed homosexuals for the paedophile crisis.(Thanks to TreVelocita)
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said that the child rape scandal that is threatening the moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church worldwide is linked to homosexuality and not celibacy among priests.
Other Vatican clerics have sought to deflect criticism from the Catholic hierarchy by blaming the media, and one retired bishop was even reported earlier this week to have blamed the Jews.
Read more
New Hominid Find Probed With High-Power X-ray
April 13, 2010 on AP
Two skeletons, nearly 2 million years old, are offering a rare opportunity to view a previously unknown species that scientists say fits the transition from ancient apes to modern humans.An update on this story
Monday, April 12, 2010
Michael Specter: The Danger of Science Denial
Filmed Feb 2010; Posted Apr 2010 on TED
Vaccine-autism claims, "Frankenfood" bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public's growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.
Designing Women - Julia Sugarbaker "The Candidate"
From Friendly Atheist:
Actress Dixie Carter passed away over the weekend.
She played an actress on the show “Designing Women,” and in one particular episode from 1988, her character Julia Sugarbaker ran for a seat on a local board of commissioners.
Here’s her taking part in a debate where a question comes up about whether children should recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school.
More
Vatican Finally Tells Bishops to Report Sex Abuse Crimes to Police
April 12, 2010 on AP
The Vatican responded Monday to allegations that it had concealed years of clerical sex abuse by making it clear for the first time that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report such crimes to police if required by law.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
BBC | Wonders of the Solar System | Episode 5: Aliens
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Aired April 4, 2010 on BBC Two
Professor Brian Cox visits some of the most stunning locations on earth to describe how the laws of nature have carved natural wonders across the solar system.Episode 1: Empire of the Sun
Brian descends to the bottom of the Pacific in a submarine to witness the extraordinary life forms that survive in the cold, black waters. All life on Earth needs water so the search for aliens in the solar system has followed the search for water.
Soaring above the dramatic Scablands of the United States, Brian discovers how the same landscape has been found on Mars. And it was all carved out in a geological heartbeat by a monumental flood.
Armed with a gas mask, Brian enters a cave in Mexico where bacteria breathe toxic gas and leak concentrated acid. Yet relatives of these creatures could be surviving in newly-discovered caves on Mars.
But Brian's sixth wonder isn't a planet at all. Jupiter's moon Europa is a dazzling ball of ice etched with strange cracks. The patterns in the ice reveal that, far below, there is an ocean with more potentially life-giving water than all the oceans on Earth.
Of all the wonders of the solar system forged by the laws of nature, there is one that stands out. In the final episode of this series, Brian reveals the greatest wonder of them all.
Episode 2: Order out of Chaos
Episode 3: The Thin Blue Line
Episode 4: Dead or Alive
Audience Member to Christopher Hitchens: 'Satan Himself is on the Stage'
A member of the audience at the University Florida tells people he just converted to Christianity after realizing Satan is on stage.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Review Show - Is Atheism the new Religion?
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April 9, 2010 on BBC Two
On this week's show we look at the explosion of literature challenging the traditional views and experiences of faith. We'll look at the backlash against the 'new atheists' provoked by Phillip Pullman's controversial new novel, the Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ(via TreVelocita). We'll also look at another leading novelist's take on religion, Rebecca Goldstein's, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God
. We'll continue the religious debate with a review of Infidel, David Baddiel's new film comedy about mistaken Muslim/Jewish identity. We'll also feature Brian Eno's cultural highlights and get a new cool taste of jazz from the Polar Bears.
Friday, April 9, 2010
AP: Future Pope Stalled Pedophile Case
April 9, 2010 on AP:
The future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas to defrock a California priest with a record of sexually molesting children, citing concerns including "the good of the universal church," according to a 1985 letter bearing his signature.
The correspondence, obtained by The Associated Press, is the strongest challenge yet to the Vatican's insistence that Benedict played no role in blocking the removal of pedophile priests during his years as head of the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog office.
The letter, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was typed in Latin and is part of years of correspondence between the diocese of Oakland and the Vatican about the proposed defrocking of the Rev. Stephen Kiesle, who pleaded no contest to misdemeanors involving child molestation in 1978.
Read more
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Dad Wants Textbook Banned For Dismissing Creationism As 'Biblical Myth'
April 8, 2010 on FOX & Friends
(Thanks Jimmy)
The Standard - Nate Phelps Interview
This is an exclusive interview conducted by The Standard's Peter Klein with Nate Phelps, the estranged son of controversial gay-hating preacher Rev. Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church. It was aired in April 2010 across Canada on VisionTV and regionally on Joytv. It has been posted by Jonathan Roth, senior producer of The Standard.(Thanks mlon)
The Daily Show - Pope Opera
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Pope Opera | ||||
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Samantha Bee says the liberal media is torturing the Catholic Church until it renounces its so-called crimes of faith. (07:17)Viewers in Canada can watch it on The Comedy Network
Viewers in other countries can use Hotspot Shield or Modify Headers
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
New Blasphemous Art Exhibition Opens in Dublin
by Atheist Ireland
A new art exhibition, titled Blasphemous, opened on Good Friday in the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art (IMOCA) which is located in Lad Lane, off Baggot Street, in Dublin. It runs until 25 April 2010, and is open from 12 noon to 5 pm every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, or by appointment through contacting IMOCA.(via RichardDawkins.net)
This is the second Dublin art exhibition to highlight and challenge the new Irish blasphemy law, which became active on 1st January 2010.
Since then, the Irish Justice Minister has responded to the campaign against the law by saying that he will propose a referendum, later this year, to remove the reference to blasphemy from the Irish Constitution, thus enabling the blasphemy law to be repealed.
This makes the new exhibition not just a challenge to the blasphemy law, but also a celebration of artistic freedom, and freedom of expression generally.
BBC | Wonders of the Solar System | Episode 4: Dead or Alive
Play all videos (6)
Aired March 28, 2010 on BBC Two
Professor Brian Cox visits some of the most stunning locations on Earth to describe how the laws of nature have carved natural wonders across the solar system.Episode 1: Empire of the Sun
The worlds that surround our planet are all made of rock, but there the similarity ends. Some have a beating geological heart, others are frozen in time. Brian travels to the tallest mountain on Earth, the volcano Mauna Kea on Hawaii, to show how something as basic as a planet's size can make the difference between life and death. Even on the summit of this volcano, Brian would stand in the shade of the tallest mountain in the solar system, an extinct volcano on Mars called Olympus Mons, which rises up 27 km.
Yet the fifth wonder in the series isn't on a planet at all. It's on a tiny moon of Jupiter. The discoveries made on Io have been astonishing. This fragment of rock should be cold and dead, yet, with the volcanic landscape of eastern Ethiopia as a backdrop, Brian reveals why Io is home to extraordinary lakes of lava and giant volcanic plumes that erupt 500 km into the sky.
Episode 2: Order out of Chaos
Episode 3: The Thin Blue Line
Episode 5 is now available on BBC iPlayer (UK only)
Monday, April 5, 2010
"Catholic Leaders Just Don't Get It"
April 5, 2010 on 2010 on AP
Top officials at the Vatican were warned more than 4 years ago about a Catholic priest later charged with sexually assaulting a girl in Minnesota, according to newly released documents, but to this day he continues to work in his home diocese.
British Islamist Anjem Choudary: Freedom and Democracy Are Idols That Must Be Destroyed and Replaced with Obedience to Allah
February 3, 2010 on Press TV
From Transcript:
Anjem Choudary: You know, I don't believe in the concept of freedom of expression. I don't believe in democracy. I don't believe in secularism or liberalism. I believe these are idols that the people are worshipping nowadays, taking them away from worshipping our lord, Allah. I believe that sovereignty and supremacy belongs to God, but I will function within the realms of their so-called "freedom," to expose their own fallacies.(via Sam Harris: There is no "clash of civilizations"? Okay, what's this?)
Read more
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Archbishop of Canterbury: Irish Catholic Church Has Lost All Credibility
April 4, 2010 on ITN News
From The Guardian:
Rowan Williams's comments on Vatican handling of sex abuse scandal likely to further cloud pope's upcoming UK trip.
Church leaders in Ireland have condemned the archbishop of Canterbury after he said the country's Catholic church has lost "all credibility" because of its poor handling of the scandal of paedophile priests.
Dr Rowan Williams said the child sex abuse scandal that has engulfed the Catholic church had been a "colossal trauma" for Ireland in particular.
Read more
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Pope's Preacher Compares Abuse Row to Anti-Semitism
Five Minutes With: AC Grayling
April 2, 1010 on BBC News
Philosopher AC Grayling talks to Matt Stadlen about whether humans have free will and the importance of happiness, and explains the thinking of Immanuel Kant in 22 seconds.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Jack Cafferty: Should the Pope Be Required to Answer Questions Under Oath?
From The Cafferty File:
It's the children who go to the Catholic Church who have been attacked. Thousands of them. In one case alone, a single priest abused 200 deaf children and nothing happened to him. Nothing. He wasn't punished by the church, instead he was protected by the church.
And he wasn't punished by the criminal justice system either. There has been no justice for 200 deaf children who were taught to trust and respect a priest who destroyed their innocence.
One spokesman for the church tries to write the sexual abuse of children off as a "homosexual crisis." Like that makes it ok... grown men abusing children is ok because it's a "homosexual crisis." Any excuse to avoid the truth.
Read more
Simon Singh Wins Landmark Libel Ruling
April 1, 2010 on BBC News:
A science writer has won the right to rely on the defence of fair comment in a libel action, in a landmark ruling at the Court of Appeal.(Thanks to TreVelocita)
Simon Singh was accused of libel by the British Chiropractic Association over an article in the Guardian in 2008.
Read more
FOX News: Divine Billboard Battle
April 1, 2010 on FOX & Friends
Christian group to unveil new sign in response to atheist billboards
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