Tornado Occurs, Christian Gobbledygook Erupts. My Response.

Another natural disaster occurs, and another flood of theist prayers erupts -- praising the wisdom, glory, and benevolence of God.

I found these gems on that factory of prattle known as the Huffington Post Religion Section.

Drawing Mohammed Day on the Left Hemispheres Podcast

As many of you know May 20th is Let's Draw Mohammed Day. The event started in 2010 as a response to Comedy Central censoring an episode of South Park that had the Prophet mucking about in a bear suit. The internet exploded with doodles, caricatures, and assorted stick figures representing the founder of the religion of peace.

However, I never liked doing the obvious joke. It's hackey. Oh, if there is one right there in the strike zone, sure, I'll take a swing at it, but I feel a bit dirty afterwards.

What? You have no idea what this joke is about?
Good. My apologies, and please move on to the next gag.

Dominionist Cadet Corps -- Scouting for Christians

Chattanooga, Tennessee It''s a sunny day in General Robert E Lee Park in downtown Chattanooga, and the local scouting troop is hard at work. Boys between the ages of ten and fourteen proudly burnish the statue of the General, while others pick up litter that plagues the recreational area. 

Any passerby might think that these are the Boy Scouts of America busy at work. However, the large sign that two boys are holding inform that they are not. The banner reads: AMERICA, GOD, AND PURITY. These are the Dominionist  Cadet Corps (DCC).

The DCC was the brainchild of Oliver Duke, local Grand Cyclops of the Invisible Empire in 1921. The

group languished for many years in the foothills of  Appalachia until the rebirth of the Religious Right in the 1980's. "Right about then folks started coming around to our point of view," stated Cadet President and self-described Christian Supremacist, Andrew Kannard. "The last thirty years has seen our ranks swell with the future of America -- dedicated Christian boys who serve the Lord."

The interest in the DDC has indeed grown over the last few months as the Boy Scouts of America are seriously reconsidering their ban on homosexuals. Many traditional families have called into the DCC to ask about its Bible-based character development program. 

It's core principles and teachings are as follows:

Five Reasons Why Atheists Should Feel Good

5. It's a fact, a main characteristic of our atheist subculture is that we love to argue with each other. And these arguments are typically intelligent as well as passionate. However, a side effect of this love of rhetoric is that feelings get hurt (after all, human egos are delicate flowers), and that can lead to some rather immature exchanges between individuals and their crew of friends.  We've all seen it. I had a long time reader of Purgatory email me stating. "I can't take the atheist drama anymore. I'm taking a vacation from the online godless community, and I may not be coming back." 

We need to remember that we only hear/remember the crappiest things people do. The old news maxim If it bleeds it leads is true online. Bad behavior is commonly noticed, while the civility is oftentimes ignored.

Cheer up, fellow atheists, most of us are decent people.

ALL 613 Commandments Placed in Classrooms in Muldrow-- Chaos Ensues.

The school board of Muldrow, Oklahoma and The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) have come to an unexpected deal -- with unexpected consequences -- concerning the Ten Commandments that had been hung in every classroom. This decision came on the heals to the complaint filed by student Gage Pulliam. The FFRF had demanded that the iron age code of good behavior be removed. Among the uproar from local salt-of-the-earth, the school board agreed that the Commandments did need to come down.

However, certain officials worked tirelessly behind the scenes to come up with a compromise decision: ALL 613 Commandments (Mitzvot) will be proudly displayed in every classroom.

At first the small community rejoiced at the "victory." Once the new plaques were set up, a more sober realization took place.

Guest Post by Jonny Scaramanga -- Creationism Rocks!

I have to tell you that my experience with Christian hard rock music is very limited. This guest post by Jonny Scaramanga has shed light into that very strange, very dark world of 80's and early 90's.

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!

Here is Jonny's post.


I wasn't born a creationist, but I was pretty soon made into one. And one of the things creationists have worked out is that if you're exposed to secular culture (ie reality) you won't be a creationist for very long. Every effort must be made to cocoon you from two hateful facts:

1) There are non-Christian activities which are really fun

2) There's a lot of evidence which makes believing in Noah's Ark quite difficult.

Creationist rock music was a genius way to protect the young me from both. It sounded good enough to stop me pestering my mum for Bon Jovi albums, and it took the lyrical opportunity to tell me that everyone who believed in evolution was a monkey. While secular bands were experimenting with the concoctions of pharmacists, Christian rock bands were denying science.

Looking back, these were some of the greatest moments in creationist rock.

My Online Chat With Marc Maron and My Latest Podcast

Anyone who follows me on Twitter or Facebook knows that I'm a fan of Marc Maron, the comedian who does the super popular WTF podcast. I was on the AV Club site (Marc was promoting his new show Maron) and Marc was answering some questions from fans.

I'm happy to say that he responded to a few of mine.