Westboro Baptist Church to picket George Carlin's funeral- June 27, 2008 You have to pity those poor folk at the Westboro Baptist Church they just keep on picketing funerals, whether they belong to Heath Ledger, victims of school massacres or US soldiers killed in Iraq, but no one seems to be getting any less gay, or any less atheist for that matter.And now they've announced plans to picket the funeral of a man who really couldn't have cared less where a bunch of Christian fundamentalist homophobes from Kansas think he'll be spending his non-existent afterlife....http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/westboro-baptist-church-to-picket.html Comedy legend George Carlin dies aged 71- June 23, 2008 We were sad to hear that the American comedian George Carlin died at the weekend aged 71. As well as the fact that he played Rufus in the Bill and Ted films, which I loved when I was growing up, Carlin was one of comedy's most vociferous critics of organised religion and it can only be hoped that we will see his like again.We'll be paying a proper tribute to Carlin in our forthcoming JulyAugust issue, but for now sit back and admire the great man's views on religion:http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/comedy-legend-george-carlin-dies-aged.html Meanwhile, the 'c' word's alive and well in London- June 18, 2008 While anti-Scientology protesters are under attack for using the word "cult" elsewhere in the UK, their comrades in London have adopted a novel tactic for getting their message across. I spotted this sticker this lunchtime on a pedestrian crossing on Tottenham Court Road, just yards from Scientology's Dianetics centre. It's on a busy crossing too, just by the Odeon cinema, so I imagine plenty of people have registered their views on their way to the Sainsburys down the road...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/meanwhile-c-words-alive-and-well-in.html It's "too ambiguous" to call Scientology a cut- June 18, 2008 There's been another development in what's becoming a long-running dispute between anti-Scientology protesters and British police, as a 57-year-old man was charged with breach of the peace for displaying a sign that read "Stupid Cut" and "Greedy Cut" during a protest in Edinburgh at the weekend.This follows a series of incidents where protesters in UK cities have been warned by police that branding Scientology a "dangerous cult" during demonstrations could be viewed as inciting religious...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/its-too-ambiguous-to-call-scientology.html French coach uses astrology to help pick his team- June 9, 2008 Watching Germany v Poland on the BBC last night, I saw a bizarre little half time feature on how the French coach, Raymond Domenech, factors in astrology and the results of tarot readings when picking his team. Apparently he distrusts Scorpios and believes Leos have a tendency to show off. He didn't pick any Scorpios for his 2006 World Cup squad (even leaving out Robert Pires) and hasn't picked any for Euro 2008. His view of Leos means he's wary of playing them in defence, but the fact that the.http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/french-coach-uses-astrology-to-help.html Now Christians can email their friends after they've been swept up by the Rapture- June 6, 2008 We've reported on a fair few bizarre religious websites in the past, but this one surely beats all the others. You've Been Left Behind allows Christians to prepare an email for up to 62 of their acquaintances likely to still be on Earth (under the governance of the Antichrist) after all the Bible-abiding Christians have been swept up into Heaven by the Rapture. Allow the You've Been Left Behind website to explain:"We all have family and friends who have failed to receive the Good News of the...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/now-christians-can-email-their-friends.html Can animals use language- June 5, 2008 Alex the parrot could, or so it appears. Read this lovely piece from the New Yorker on the whole issue of chatty beasts.http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/can-animals-use-language.html Pope's visit to Australia will drive up trips to brothels- June 5, 2008 Here's an unfortunate knock-on effect if ever there was one market research analysts IBIS World predict that the Pope's July visit to Sydney for Catholic World Youth Day will lead to an increase in business for the city's brothels, strip clubs and prostitutes.225,000 pilgrims and clergy are expected at the event, which runs from 15-20 July, but Ed Butler of IBIS World was keen to stress that it is unlikely to be the Catholics, or that matter the Pope himself, caught with their trousers...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/popes-visit-to-australia-will-drive-up.html Ultra-orthodox Islamic seminary issues fatwa against terrorism- June 4, 2008 The Darul-Uloom Deoband, the Islamic madrassa in rural India where Taliban leader Mullah Omar studied, this weekend issued a fatwa against terror during a peace conference in Delhi, with Grand Mufti Habibur Rehman declaring: "The religion of Islam has come to wipe out all kinds of terrorism and to spread the message of global peace. Islam rejects all kinds of unjust violence, breach of peace, bloodshed, murder and plunder and does not allow it in any form."The fatwa is a significant move for an.http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/ultra-orthodox-islamic-seminary-issues.html Things atheists could do without...- June 3, 2008 You could probably devise quite a long list, but one thing would surely be anti-religious video games. A graduate of the University of Virginia has designed a game where the object is to prevent the spread of Christianity and Islam by travelling through history killing those religions' key prophets. As if that wasn't inflammatory enough, the ultimate aim of the game is to behead the prophet Muhammad.Perhaps unsurprisingly the developer has chosen to keep his identity secret though, given the...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/06/things-atheists-could-do-without.html |