Is that a trilobite in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?
Don't forget: next Saturday, 4 June, is the Reason Rally at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. It runs from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. The event is FREE, and the awesome atheist hard rock band Monster on Sunday (video below) will be playing at the after party! Be there or be an equilateral equiangular quadrilateral! Oh, and tell 'em Dot Calm's shadow sent you. Not that that will mean anything to anyone...but it might elicit a "hunh?"
Greetings, faithful Dot Calm Readers, Truth Crusaders, and Freedom Fighters!
I hope you've had a wonderful weekend, and I hope you remembered to honor the fallen this Memorial Day.
I can't believe what a difference the occasional three-day weekend makes. I've finally caught up on sleep, and I am finally catching up on my own shit. My dad lives with me--I moved him in last winter--and my life has completely shifted...I fix his dinner first, I do his laundry first.... So, sometimes, my own laundry doesn't get done, or I miss dinner because I'm too overloaded taking care of his stuff. This is the first time since he's moved in that I feel like I'm actually catching up. Don't get me wrong--my dad is an absolute joy to have around. I couldn't ask for better company or a better housemate. He is thoughtful, considerate, and unselfish; he does as much as he can within his rather significant physical limitations; and he is completely nonjudgmental and easy to talk to, get along with, and be with. It is a real treat to be able to talk to him every day without resorting to long distance calls or hours of driving. And I know that he is safe and being well taken care of. He is comfortable, relaxed, and happy, and that makes me happy. So, believe me, I am not complaining. I'm just observing that, boy howdy, there is a lot more to do with two people in the house than one, and I only seem to have the time and energy to do one person's worth of stuff.
So! Howzabout I start things off with a little rant?
Here goes.
Any religion that institutionalizes abuse is wrong. I'll say it again: no religion that institutionalizes abuse can be right. It's impossible.
And all religions institutionalize abuse.
I grew up Catholic and was as dyed in the wool of a believer as it was possible to be. Precociously, I learned the catechisms a year before my classmates and so received my first holy communion a year before they did. I bought into it all. When you're a very little kid, your brain thinks that all things are possible, magic is possible, cool stuff like telekinesis is possible, and so God etc. must be possible...and true...because your parents, teachers, and priests are all saying it is true. When I was a kid, the Catholic Church was teaching against the wars and in favor of everyone sacrificing and working together to send money to China so that the poor starving children over there could eat. I don't remember much about the war talk because I was so little back then, but I grew up with a tender heart toward those less fortunate than I was because that was the Church's main focus back in those days.
The Church was also accepting of science. I went to Catholic grade school and high school and learned enough science and math to do very well in engineering in college. It would never have occurred to my high school--a college prep--not to teach evolution as the fact it is, right down to all the proofs in the fossil record, radiometric dating, and modern-day drug-resistant microorganisms. We did have mandatory theology classes, though. We studied world religions and the Bible, which we were taught not to take literally. For example, one of the priests taught us about the infancy narratives. He pointed out how different Matthew's narrative is from Luke's, and he taught us which points about Jesus each author was trying to make. It was obvious that both accounts, which conflict with each other, cannot simultaneously be literally true...any more than Adam and Eve or Noah's flood.
So, for the most part, down the centuries, the Catholic Church did as much as it could to evolve and make itself palatable to people who don't think too deeply about what is really being said...unless you're a woman, in which case it's very hard not to resent an entire institution for telling you that you are a lesser being. Ah yes...the joys of being female in the Catholic Church. When the nuns in second grade asked how many sacraments there are, one little girl in my class said, "There are seven sacraments for boys and six for girls." Smart kid--they only ever taught us that there were seven, and we weren't supposed to notice that one didn't apply equally to both sexes. But that sweet, otherwise well behaved little girl couldn't resist registering for the record the injustice that little girls could not grow up to be priests. The reason the Church gives for that, of course, is that women can't be priests because they are needed to be mothers. Men are not needed to be fathers, of course, because, duh, immaculate conception--women get preggers all by themselves as far as you'll ever hear from the Church.
This thinking is so pervasive that it has had monstrous consequences.
I was still a Catholic when the child sex abuse scandal broke, screaming into the headlines...priests raping children--mostly little boys--for decades, unchecked and unchallenged. And how did the Church respond? Not by admitting, "Houston, we have a problem." No. The priests at Sunday Mass responded by screaming at women for having sex. No abortions for you! No birth control for you!! Never mind the little man behind the curtain shuffling the rapist priests around from parish to parish--just blame women. Women are the root of all evil. Men are inherently saintly and don't even think about s-e-x until some sexy, sexy evil woman seduces them. Little girls as young as eight are considered to be wanton seducers, wanting the priests, goading them into sex. It was only slightly easier for the Church to admit that perhaps some of the little boys had not seduced their priestly victims...but it was a stretch.
I wish I were kidding, but, if you listen to what the priests say every Sunday, this is the message you hear: men are not responsible for sex; men are unconnected with sex. Men simply have nothing to do with sex, ever. Apparently, the Church is so sexually repressed that it can't even admit that married heterosexual men with children ever have sex.
Explains a lot, doesn't it?
In the case of the child sex abuse scandal, it explains a huge chunk of the story. As Catholic men, priests delude themselves into thinking that they simply have nothing to do with sex. As powerful men--authority figures--priests feel entitled to take whatever they want. (Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.) So, the priests literally blame their victims--which also include adult parishioners, emotionally vulnerable men and women, who seek counsel from their parish priests. The result: institutionalized abuse...mostly of children...on a horrific scale...which the Church handled by screaming at women for having sex. Dot Calm always felt that the sex abuse scandal was a natural outcome of the Church's unnatural stance on male sexuality. Whether the Church draws unhealthy men or makes healthy ones unhealthy is beside the point--the end result is the same. "What did they expect would happen?" she often lamented. Dot had a much clearer view of men's sexuality than the Church ever did: "Men are like puppies. They only stop thinking about sex ten minutes after they're dead."
I left the Church over how they handled--and mishandled--the issue of priests raping the children in their care. I didn't need to be screamed at for birth control or abortion, and I refused to endorse or condone the Church's disgusting behavior by filling their pews or their coffers. I voted with my feet and walked away.
That started a journey from church to church--I was still a believer. I tried every church I could drive to and never found the answers I was looking for or a church family that had something positive to offer. They were all the same--institutions of men, driven by men's foibles. I stopped going to church completely. Then, I met my Tea Party Christian friend. He was so sincere in his belief that I suspended my own disbelief and stepped into his spiritual world to see if maybe he had the answers. He didn't. He verbally abused two women into divorcing him--I personally watched him try to destroy his second ex-wife, who is still running. And he denies ever having said "boo" to either of them. He believes that God commanded him to abuse and gaslight his ex-wives. He believes with certitude that he is omniscient and that his opinion and will shape reality. He is so detached from actual reality that I wonder how he manages to function on a daily basis. And he has no idea that there is any other way to be.
In short, in my search, all I found is that every religion is just as guilty as the Catholic Church. Again, I wish I were kidding, but I'm not. The only difference is that the Catholic Church has such a large and well established infrastructure that they can commit and cover up egregious crimes on an institutional scale--other churches' crimes and cover-ups are more distributed but no less unsavory. Every Christian church from Seventh Day Adventists to Jehovah's Witnesses to Mormons to Baptists and everyone in between institutionalizes the abuse of women and children. So does Scientology, and so does Islam. The more fundamental the church, the more severe and widespread the abuses. Don't take my word for it--Google it for yourself. Check out The Thinking Atheist on YouTube--Seth Andrews speaks with survivors from all these religions. It's heartbreaking to hear all the stories of the damage done by and in the name of religion.
Of course, the abuses go beyond sexual abuses and physical violence against those lower in God's holy pecking order. There is so much more...emotional abuse that victimizes the victim...conning people out of the money they need to survive so that prosperity gospel preachers can live as decadently as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. I haven't even scratched the surface of the evil that religion gleefully allows or commands its followers to commit against other human beings who deserve better.
Religion demands that you delude yourself in order to believe that which is not evidently true and that which is evidently untrue. Once you sabotage your critical thinking skills enough to achieve that milestone, it becomes all too easy to delude yourself that you are a much nicer person than you really are...or that you're entitled to beat up or sexually abuse that woman or child or adult stranger who doesn't look like you. Religion precludes intellectual honesty--the kind needed for deep, accurate self examination. This is why religion institutionalizes abuse, and this is why religious people can't be honest enough with themselves to stop it.
...Whew!
That was longer than I intended it to be when I started writing. Ah, well. I'm putting it out there with the hope that it helps someone...I hope it helps someone who's being abused to realize that it's not his or her fault and get the phuque out, like my friend's second ex-wife who's still running...I hope it helps people who are on the fence about religion to get off the fence and become atheists. I promise: it's much nicer over here. It's freer; it's more joyful; it's more relaxed; it's more real; it's more peaceful. Oh, and we have cookies. And dancing. And Fireball whiskey.
Don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Democracy Now!
Conservatives are Destroying our Future
Conservative Clown Car
Americans Against the Republican Party
Americans Against the Tea Party
...And, whatever you do,
VOTE BERNIE!!!!!
Please send him a buck o' five. I do whenever I can.
Also don't forget that Dot Calm's shadow's suggestion box is open! Just pull out your super secret decoder pins and write to the hidden address: dotcalmspageNOSPAM AT gmailNOSPAM dot com. SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM...lovely spam, wonderful spam!
Here's a summary of current features you can pick and choose from--or add your own!
- Dot Calm's shadow's original material, including essays, commentary, and star banners
- Links to news and infotainment you can use
- Mailbag (details on current issues via petitions and articles, including public service announcements like articles on the ransomware tech support scam--or maybe you'd rather have a public service announcement section that comes or goes as events dictate)
- Democracy Now! highlights
- Daily Kos highlights
- AlterNet highlights
- Movie time
- Memes
- Satire, like Crime Shows for Creationists
- Monday-Wednesday-Friday format
- what, what, what, McHale...what?!
Until next time, be good to yourself and your loved ones. Oh, and stay tuned to the blawg because I have one helluva PSA (public service announcement) about PayPal and PayPal Credit. If you use eBay or PayPal, you won't want to miss it.
Peace!
- Dot Calm's shadow
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What will it take for us to stage a revolution and take our country back?
- Dot Calm
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From the Mailbag
| The email below is from U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, a progressive champion from the state of Wisconsin. Sen. Baldwin started a petition on CREDO Mobilize, where activists can launch their own campaigns for progressive change. Will you help Sen. Baldwin build support for stopping the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington by signing her petition and sharing it with your friends and family? | ||
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| Sign the petition: Stop the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington. | ||
I believe our economy should work for middle class families and not just the 1%. Unfortunately, it's hard to level the playing field when Wall Street CEOs and hedge fund managers are writing their own rules. That's why I'm leading the effort to stop Wall Street's revolving door, and am proud to have Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Barbara Mikulski join my fight. I started my own campaign on CREDOMobilize.com, which allows activists to start their own petitions. My petition, which is to the U.S. Congress, says the following: Stop the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington by prohibiting the practice of incentivizing private sector employees to take jobs in the government, making federal employees recuse themselves for two years in cases involving their former employers, and closing the lobbyist loophole.Tell Congress: Stop the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington. Click here to sign the petition. Here’s how it happens: There is a fast-spinning revolving door between the government and private sector industries. Employees in the private sector can actually accept incentives from their companies to take jobs in the government. Then, once they become government officials, they only have to wait one year before regulating their old companies. The same thing happens in reverse. Federal employees can take jobs at companies they oversaw immediately after leaving the government. They can become “outside advisors” or “strategic counselors” and lobby their former government colleagues in an unofficial capacity that allows them to skirt legal requirements registered lobbyists have to meet. Americans deserve to know exactly who their government officials are working for. We can’t trust federal employees tasked with reining in Wall Street to be strict if their pockets are being lined by their former bosses. Americans should be able to trust that public servants are, in fact, putting the interests of the people first. But, it’s not easy when private-sector employees, namely from the financial services industry, take jobs in the government where they are tasked with overseeing their former companies. This practice is rife with conflicts of interest. Will you join me and add your name to my petition urging Congress to stop the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington? Thank you for your support. U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin
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| CREDO Mobilize helps activists like you make progressive change and fight regressive policies by creating online petitions. Click here to start a petition today. |
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YES! McConnell suggests Trump should release tax returns (Huffington Post)
Tell Trump: Stop hiding your finances from the American people >> You won’t believe this, but Mitch McConnell is RIGHT. It’s time for Donald Trump to stop whining and do what every Democratic and Republican presidential nominee has done for the past 40 years: Release his tax returns! Trump’s camp has used every excuse in the book to justify breaking this tradition. First, it was “There’s nothing to learn.” Now, it’s “None of your business.” SERIOUSLY? It’s absurd -- and it’s time to do something about it. ADD YOUR NAME: Let’s get 50,000 Democrats calling on Trump to release his tax returns NOW. If he wants to be president, it’s time to act like one! |
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At Daily Kos we know that climate change is real—and it is threatening some of the world's most beautiful vacation spots.
Have you visited part of the world threatened by climate change? Log in or sign up for a Daily Kos account, and write a blog post about your vacation (with photos.)
The scientific evidence is overwhelming, but we won't be able to convince people that climate change is real without examples of how it will materially affect the world that they know.
As this Daily Kos writer explained, climate change is killing coral reefs in the ocean—where millions go snorkeling every year. Read more about it here:
In my vacations, I have traveled to the Florida Everglades and Denali National Park in Alaska—where effects of climate change are clear. In the Maldives Islands, ocean levels are rising to the point where the government must evacuate its residents. The world has so many beautiful treasures, and it's criminal what is happening.
- Describe your vacation, and include some photos from your trip
- Why and how are these beautiful treasures threatened by climate change?
- How did the vacation affect the way you view climate change?
- What advice would you give on fighting climate change?
Log in or sign up for a Daily Kos account, then click on the "Blog-it!" button to start publishing your blog post about the beautiful vacation spot under threat of climate change. Please be sure to upload some photos.
Thanks for all you do,
Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos
P.S. Please help keep Daily Kos strong by chipping in $3.
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| WOMEN'S HEALTH Policy Report |
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Democracy Now!
Stories |
In
this Memorial Day special, we begin today's broadcast remembering the
life and legacy of the legendary antiwar priest Father Daniel Berrigan.
He ... Read More →
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The
world lost a legal giant earlier this month with the death of Michael
Ratner at the age of 72. For over four decades, the trailblazing
attorney defended ... Read More →
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Movies!
Noam Chomsky on religion
Noam on conspiracy theories
Noam on the logical fallacy of justifying a practice because it improves the standard of living: Hitler, Stalinism, and slavery
Noam on why we invaded Iraq. This video consists of two 25-minute videos and is well worth watching. Here in the United States of Amnesia, as Gore Vidal so aptly labeled us, it behooves us to remember our past to brace ourselves for the future. As Noam says, it took a lot of discipline for shrubya not to review the documentary record before lamenting, "Why do they hate us?"...as did Ike before him. The answer to that question was crystal clear before Ike even asked it: the U.S. supports oppressive regimes and actively stunts democracy and development. When you watch these videos, ask yourself, "How would I feel if some other country did that here in the U.S.?" We're not God, and we're not even good...so where do we get off trying to run the world?
Noam on the crimes of U.S. presidents up through shrubya. Even Ike was guilty of war crimes--they all were. This is what your taxes are paying for, people--war crimes, military occupations, aggression, and atrocities.
Noam on Obama--even worse than Bush for the Middle East. Now, that is an ugly truth.
Noam on Edward Snowden. I've been hearing about this recently on "Democracy Now!"--they were looking into the shocking treatment of whistleblowers.
Secular Talk: it's GOOD to offend religion at every opportunity
Secular Talk on George Zimmerman's criticism of Trayvon Martin's parents. Zimmerman recently auctioned off the murder weapon for over $120,000.00. Seeing Zimmerman's evident callousness, greed, and violence (including publicized cases of domestic violence and violence against women), I'd say that George Zimmerman's parents didn't raise him right. Pot, meet kettle.
Secular Talk on the recent State Department Inspector General report on Hillary's e-mail and home server (an e-mail server being either a computer with special software or the special software itself running on an existing computer for handling incoming and outgoing e-mail). Kyle's videos are great for getting a quick fix on stories along with enough depth to give context. Plus, I love Kyle's sense of humor. Spoiler: it doesn't look good for Hillary. I heard an interview in depth on "Democracy Now!" that made the same points. Dot Calm's daughters have both worked for the federal government. If either of them had made the decisions Hillary did, they would have suffered far greater consequences. It's something we see all the time--those at the top of wealth and power decide that rules and laws don't apply to them; the rest of us have to live by a very different standard. And woe to you if you're poor and Black--getting caught by the wrong people just breathing the air could land you in jail...or in the morgue.
Secular Talk on Trump's big donor flip-flop--Trump reamed Jeb! for hiring Woody Johnson of Johnson and Johnson...and guess who Trump's consulting with now: yep, Woody Johnson.
Remember what I said last time about the election being Hillary's to lose and that she is working mightily to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Well, according to Kyle at Secular Talk, Trump should kiss Hillary if he wins. There was a joke early in this election cycle that Trump was a Democratic plant intended to give Hillary the White House--well, maybe Hillary was a Republican plant intended to give Trump the White House.
Cenk Uygur from The Young Turks throws in his two cents on Trump now leading Hillary in the polls. This is why I like left-wing independent media: unlike the corporate media, indie media do the truth telling. They don't deliberately spin it; they call it like it is; and they're crystal clear about their own opinions and preferences so you can infer through their biases for yourself. If the DNC were smart...and they're not...and if they were serious about winning this election...which they're not...they would come to Jesus and put Bernie up as the Democratic nominee. Bernie's staying in the race is actually helping the DNC by giving them an out. How stupid and self-defeating is it to put up the candidate with -16 favorability ratings when you could put up one with +8 against Trump's -17? The proof of the pudding--of just how fascist the DNC is--will be whether the DNC hands the White House to fascist Trump or sucks it up and supports New Deal centrist Bernie Sanders.
Yeah, yeah...I'm posting a lot today about the issues with Hillary. Do I still think she would be a lot less dangerous for the country than Trump? ABSOLUTELY. Do I think that social justice and civil rights stand a better chance of preservation under Hillary than Trump? OF COURSE. Hillary is an establishment candidate; Trump is not, but I'm convinced that that is just a ploy to get elected. He would gladly cave to the Republican far-right social agenda because that's the cost of doing business with them, and I can't imagine for one moment that the Donald Trump whose company makes its neckties in China would screw over "free" trade or the corporations in any way--especially now that he is taking their money. Jimmy Dore said that the only difference between a neo-conservative and a neo-liberal is that the latter is ok with abortion and gay rights. If you don't quibble over the details--and I won't--that's as true a statement as I've ever heard. Read or listen to "Democracy Now!" and Noam Chomsky to see what I mean.
One more from Secular Talk: Glenn Beck pretends Obama's a Marxist communist Maoist. This video is helpful for when you need to talk to people like my Tea Party Christian friend who actually believe this crap. All any of them has to do is look at Obama's policies--he's been in office nearly eight years, so there is a lot of evidence proving what the man really supports. Unfortunately, though, reality doesn't play into these people's perceptions on any meaningful level.
OK, I can't resist a little equal-opportunity religion bashing...here's Secular Talk on a Saudi "therapist" instructing Muslim men how to beat their wives...yep, not "if" but "how." To be fair to the "therapist," it sounds like he's calling for some rather unbiblically soft weapons, like handkerchiefs, as opposed to rods and stripe-giving whips. But the sentiment is still there: men are right by definition, and women's duty is to obey men, no matter what c*nts the men are. Oh, and women wanting to be treated as equal to men? Definitely "a problem"--not just for Islam but for Christianity, too. By definition, if you read their holy books and believe them literally.
Lastly for the serious stuff, I have to throw in two from The Thinking Atheist. Both show how harmful religion is--and at the most fundamental of levels. Religion doesn't support families--it ruptures them. Religion doesn't support unity--if you believe the Bible literally, it segregates...into sex, race, and class...and demands sequestration of "the other." Religion causes a world of damage. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is no excuse because the wrong reason is just as much of an motivation to do the wrong thing. Tell me: what the phuque is wrong with doing good for goodness's sake? What the phuque is wrong with doing what's right because it's right--not because you want a mansion in heaven or 72 virgins? Is wanting to avoid eternal torture the only reason you don't steal, murder, fornicate, and covet? Phuque, I'm an atheist, and I steal, murder, fornicate, and covet all I want...which is zero. Are you really that much worse of a person than I am?
Monster on Sunday. I love-love-love the shirts! Where can I get "GOD HATES FACTS"? Their debut album is called "Baby Eater," and Seth plays a song and video or two from this atheist-themed world-class hard rock band. The interview gives a heart-breaking example of the damage done by religion.
Seth's interview with Tracie Harris gives another gut-wrenching example of the damage done to children's psyches and to families by religion. Sick sad stuff that needs to be abolished by facts, logic, and reason. On a happier note, you'll love Tracie's breakdown of the work being done by The Satanic Temple and Flying Spaghetti Monsterism to counter religious infiltration into the science classroom and public policy. I have no problem with "I can't do that because of my religion," but I'll be damned if I'll let you tell me I can't do something because of your religion!
And now...a couple of funnies from Lewis Black.
Here is a clip of Lewis Black on evolution...I might hafta start carrying my fossil trilobite in my pocket to fend off angry creationists...! (Is that a trilobite in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?)
Wow...an old Back in Black clip on creationism!
Hey, Lewis--I know you were responding to some woman who yelled "FU," but back off on Brussels sprouts! I lurve Brussels sprouts. Especially roasted with olive oil and garlic...mmmmmm!
OMFSM...spiking the blood pressure from reading the newspaper...ugh, how twoo. The best part of the interview is hearing Lewis Black genuinely laugh. One of the most delightful sounds I've heard in a long time.
After all those nice, educational Noam Chomsky discussions of the history of the Iraq war, here's Bill Maher's take:
OK, so I finally decided to see what the hype is about with Liberal Redneck...get ready to smile!
Oh, man. I just love this one. Makes me wanna jump up and CHEER!
Here's one about Cruz dropping out of the presidential race. Hehe.
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posted by Dot Calm @ 7:27 PM
