Rapture Right Aint Right

I came across a YouTube boycott plea against the Religulous movie (stupid, but not the topic of this blog entry) From there I found the makers website, which had Proof that Jesus Was and Is White as the newest entry.

Their argument is based on the premise that "Heaven is mostly made of feathery white clouds with rays of light shooting through them" and is "much closer to the sun than living on the Earth" so Jesus *must* be white! And apparently "white skin prevents you from getting cancer in Heaven"

Of course, I had to reply:

"People who live closer to the equator and are exposed to more sun are darker skinned to protect themselves from the potentially deadly rays. Their DARK “skin prevents [them] from getting cancer”

/ Grade school science (well, at least in my non-American country) lesson

And did you ever think that the reason why Jesus is depicted as white is because the paintings are made by white people who live in predominately white nations, or nations taken over by whites? …And before you assume anything about my race, I’m white myself."

Though maybe I'm wrong... Black skin is a curse from God after all, and Heaven is so drastically different from Earth, so maybe black people are more likely to get cancer then white people. You can't believe those scientists anyways, since they don't believe the earth is 6000 years old.

And this video is proof that they are True Christians. Yuppers!



Please; someone tell me this is all a joke

Mather, Anthony = Mormon

Funny, that; I make a positive video and nobody replies to it - unlike my last one which could be seen an controversial (it certainly spurred a conversation (and several "ure horribel!" comments))

Trans Troubles

This is a good discussion on how transsexuals are treated by the LDS church. It starts off explaining general facets of the church, and relates their beliefs to gendered/sex discrimination (starting about 3:30)

One of the many things that made me hate being a female in church (other then the dresses) was that we would never hold the same power as men... Not saying the Catholic church doesn't have problems embracing feminism, but at least they started to allow girls to help with the sacrament and women hold positions which help with the running of the church (beyond the bake and clothing sale)



Mormons don't really do the sale stuff. I guess they view it as irreverent, but it has the result of creating a lack of community. Sure, there are sometimes firesides after dinner at a members house (= not accessible to everyone) and events throughout the week, but unless you have the ability to go there - hard if you don't live near the church, don't have a car, or have an inflexible or late work schedule - it's difficult to participate.

If you're even slightly deviant - not being a good enough male provider by having a job that gives you the luxury of leaving early for sports night in the cultural hall, with no worries about being laid off, and the money to ensure you reside in a "good" neighbourhood (= by the chapel); not being a proper female homemaker who, should have no job outside the home, has the time to take her children to activities; not being a nice grandparent who can look after the younger ones while their adult children tend to the church duty of preparing food platters in the meetinghouse kitchen - If you don't fall into the highly gendered and classist life script, it will be harder to engage in church life.

Perhaps that's the (implicit) point; the LDS church is made for those that do.

Murdering Mormons

I got an interesting response, posted on my main YouTube page, after putting up the video from the previous post.

jacobzzzon
"I wonder why some people use so much of there time to tell other Christians tings like:
- You are not Christian, even thou you have a personal relation to him.
- The Book of Mormon is false, even if you havn´t read it.
- Dont let mormons keep there sacred parts holy, lets defile it...
Some people even say that they do it because they love the mormons.... come on!?
Some people even claim to do it in the name of Christ...
Do you realy believe you can help anyone by twisting the truth?"

I, not even bringing up how I'm not an 'other Christian' (as is plainly evident on my info page), replied:

"dude, i'm not warping the truth. there are mormons (just like there are people in just about every religion or other social group) who commit horrible acts of violence.

it's not hard to find info showing that the people in my video are, or at least were, mormons (and in the case of one convert, it didn't say if he sent in his resignation papers, so he'd still technically be lds (just very inactive))"

As for his stance on saying something is false even if you haven't read it, I agree to a point; however if (like me) you've read parts and been preached/lectured to about the book as a whole, I think you are able to say to a probable degree of veracity that the Bible and Book of Mormon are bullshit.

(in) Famous Mormons

My first Youtube vid :)

Images:
1-3 = Brian Davis Mitchell
4-6 = Arthur Gary Bishop
7-9 = Ted Bundy
10-11 = Butch Cassidy
12 = Mark Hoffman

Follow The Profit

Since Hinckley's death, I've heard the song "Follow the Prophet" a few times. I was reminded of Primary, where (like currently) I felt strange while listening to (and then, singing) to it. The tune sounds somewhat sad, with an equally ominous tone to the lyrics.

Drakkar has a song by the same title that is, at least in my Outer Darkness opinion, better:
"Here I'm alone
Look through the window
Snow's falling down
Winter has come
Think to the times
When we were happy
Changes I want
Freedom again

Many years ago the Major said: "Since today you gotta call me king"
Our liberty he took away, with the promise of a golden dream
Soon the dream became a nightmare
Soon the rebels they began to die
No one seemed to have the power to
Get rid of the Major of the Lies

There's a story about a man who lives
In the forest of the ancient rites
I am going now to search for him, if he does exist I want his guide
Then I find him and he says to me:
"I've been waiting for a pure so long
I am giving you the magic ring that will bring you to another world

Follow the prophet to Never, Neverland
Where all the free men together they will stand
A dream of liberty and peace for everyone
Under the light of the sun

I am coming back now, to the real world
To the land of freedom, I will bring you all
It is time for you now, all you slaves and poor
Break the chains that would never let you fly away
If you got the courage, and your heart is pure
All the pain and the sorrow you can behind"

I couldn't find a video for that song (which to me is tongue-in-cheek) but did find an acoustic cover of Kingdom of Madness they did:

Theological Terms

After seeing this, for a fleeting, half-in-humour moment I thought 'Should I change the title of this blog from Atheist to Anti-Theist?'

I think it's important to do a better job of defining what we really mean by the titles we give people. I propose that the terms Gnostic and Agnostic be separated from theology and that we instead use the following four terms: Anti-theist, Atheist, Theist, Pro-theist (jandrewclark)

Interesting proposition, however for many, the term 'Atheist' brings up enough negativity amongst the general (pro/theist) population... A term like 'anti-theist' would have worse backlash. Also, the term 'pro-theist' sounds like it's good/positive/'for' something, as opposed to the atheist alternative.

Flying from the Fear

One part (2:27) really stood out to me, since I had a similar experience.
"You go to church and they're all like 'Do you accept God?' 'Do you believe God is in your heart?' and if you say 'no' ...Am I supposed to hear a little man inside my head? A voice telling me he loves me? ...Well, no; I didn't feel that... I don't feel anything when I go to church. That automatically made me think I was going to hell cause I didn't hear this little man in my head telling me stuff"

Anguished Atheism?

Especially around this time of year, if people find out you're an atheist, they feel badly for you and assume you feel the same about yourself. The video below discusses this:



You don't need an often overtly commodified holiday or a god to be thankful. If you really felt that way, you wouldn't wait all year to show your satisfaction and spread positive intentions. People - not just family and friends, but everyone in your community, and beyond - don't stop needing love and help just because the fat man in the red suit or jesus/god flew up into the sky, bidding farewell until his return.

For those that do celebrate the holidays with your family and friends, I ask you to question whether you will see them anytime between now and the next holiday season. If you won't, then you either aren't prioritizing properly (barring monetary issues, work or/and school scheduling conflicts, and/or vast amounts of space between one another) or you don't really care about them... If it's the latter, think about why you see them in the first place. Often the latent answer is religion, overbearing with guilt and obligation.

Today, more then ever, I am glad I am not religious. I can still gorge on food and drink (the first being a form of gluttony which many churchgoers partake in, the latter being against LDS teachings) and look at pretty lights (made cuter by cannabinoids) banded with friends who otherwise would have been alone today.

Missionary Merriment

Missionaries on bikes are a common site in many places, at least for males, as is seen in these videos...

Baptismal by Bike!


“He's never tired this before.. And will probably never try this again”


Should have listened to The Word


And my personal fave


I wonder what I would have done were I still LDS, and had I the monetary resources to "go". I am a woman and I don't drive (the common means of transportation for female missionaries) which would have limited my opportunities.

The whole idea of missionaries riding bikes or driving is strange to me though, since where I live they take public transit.

South Park and Mormons

Kyle, from South Park, is the 'good guy' who speaks out against Cartman's evil plans. While he is Jewish in the show, the person his character might have been named after (Wiki says his mannerisms were taken from voice actor/series creator Matt Stone, but nothing is said about the inspiration for his name) is anything but:

"Kyle McCulloch is a writer for the TV cartoon South Park... He will also occasionally provide the voice for one-time use characters, such as one of the Mormon characters in 'All About Mormons' Coincidentally, he is an actual Mormon."

An search of IMDB and tv/epguide did not reveal what character Kyle played... Could it be Joseph Smith? Or maybe someone from that looney LDS family?

5 is the new 9!

I think it's cool that a Mormon would do the voice for an episode that, to an extent, makes fun of them. Maybe he didn't have an issue with it since the ending contains a good lesson; That and, according to South Park, they are the people up in heaven (Well, them and Saddam). Beats Isaac Hayes, who left after Scientology (a religion more made-up then any other) was made fun of (and rightfully so)

Ten Weird Things

I decided to keep it related to religion, since that's the topic of this blog

1. That I was raised both Roman Catholic and Latter Day Saint. They may be both Christian churches, but normally both of those sects don't like marriages outside them.

2. That I was baptised into two churches - LDS and Catholic - while attending both.

3. That I was allowed to stop going to church before I was age of majority. Normally Mormon parents, and some Catholic ones, are really strict when it comes to attendance.

4. That, at least when I was older (post-baptism) I was vocal about not having a testimony. Usually people who doubt aren't open about it (It may also be why #3 was an option for me)

5. That I sometimes didn't wear a dress or skirt to the Mormon church, which is looked down upon (Also possibly contributing to why #3 was allowed) While many women wore those clothes to the Catholic church, especially for the Sunday morning service, wearing pants wasn't shunned.

6. That I never "felt the spirit" even though I came from a long line of True Believers. Maybe some of them secretly doubted; As a kid I often thought "do these people really believe this shit?" so maybe some of it subconsciously rubbed off onto me.

7. That I felt pro-choice and pro-queer, before I was even taught anything about those topics (and when I was, it was that abortion and homosexuality was wrong) Coming from a religious household and where my other family members and few close friends were also religious, I don't know where I could have been exposed to such "radical" ideas.

8. That I was allowed to watch rated-R movies from a young age. Catholics tend shun from that sort of entertainment, but Mormons are explicitly told not to seek it out; but then again, violence is okay so long as there's no sex involved.

9. That my first concert attendance was to see the Beach Boys, who apparently have ties with the devil

10. That there was never any green gelatin at any Mormon event I went to. Isn't that stuff supposed to be a staple?

I admit, by the last few, I was fishing for ideas. Despite going to a "peculiar" church and growing up around equally peculiar people, I can't think of many weird things regarding religion. Then again, growing up in and around it may have made me immune to what others - such as my partner, who was raised in a mainly secular family - see as insanity, or at least sheer idiocy.

Advocation for Atheism

Men on a Mission

I wonder what the Morgbots think of this.

I also wonder how many men will end up buying this.

Day of Deception

I came across a website for pro-Mormon movies and saw something strange.

This advert for "Day of Defense" shows two clearly Mormon (white short sleeved dress shirts, ties and black badges) whereas this ad depicts several business-looking men, who to the unindoctrinated eye could easily not be Mormon. On the right are two Catholic preists, one of whom has a beard (which is a no-no in Mormon culture) I find this juxtaposition interesting seeing as it is Jesus who is supposed to be on the right side of the father, which in this case could be the patriarchal Mormon leaders (a view some may see as blasphemous, but those people would probably feel the same way about this entire blog)

Now I know it's normal to tailor your advertising to your audience, but why hide the fact that the protagonists are Mormon in what is probably the non-Utah ads?

Mormons are notorious for editing films. After all, adults aren't able to watch videos rated higher then PG-13

I've been unable to find the movie on BitTorrent sites, but hopefully I'll be able to find it at one of the local indie video stores (seeing as their shelves are full of very non-LDS type films, it's a long shot (and I refuse to use CockBlockbuster, which happens to be Mormon owned)) so it might be up soon.

Media Madness

The bible sure is a silly book, as is shown with Peter's interpertation of Exodus and Leviticus

And Satan is Searching for Soles

(Another parody (and therefore legal under Fair Use laws) of a movie - this time from The Devil Wears Prada - taken off Free Image Hosting servers. Again, I don't have a copy of this image to re-upload.)


I apologize for the lack of entries lately. I've been working alot (and working at finding more work) and as a result my weekends are mostly spent getting drunk. Since I'm not religious I can drink and not have to worry about being hungover Sunday morning.

Happy Pride

A day late is better then never

Sexxx

Growing up Gay, Mormon and Bipolar
Because it's Pride, and since it's a powerful testimony of a queer persons experience, I wanted to highlight this video series (first of six)



It leaves me feeling thankful that I was able to remove myself from the church, even before I turned sixteen. There are some Mormons who are nice, however there are many who use doctrine as a veichle and excuse for hate.


For something more upbeat, check out Mormon Erotica
I'm not sure if it's same person who does the Mormon Erotica blog, but both give an interesting look at the church and its sexuality that it attempts to repress (while creating organs that look much like one)

Secret New Mormon Media Campaign Revealed!

Mormonism and Marriage

Mormonism "is all-encompassing and it informs every aspect of your life. It's easy. You don't really have to make decisions for yourself. Decisions are made."

Nightline-The Life Of Gay Mormons
Uploaded by samueltheutahnite

One of these decisions, often unspoken and assumed, is that you will marry someone of the opposite gender and have multiple children with them. Personally, this does not sit well.

My primary partner is male, but we aren't married for several reasons, all of which go against Mormon ideologies:

• Anti-Government While the LDS church had conflicts with the government in the past, they are currently opposed to any action against the state and ask for members to follow the 'law of the land'
  
• Pro-Queer Even though gay marriage is legal where we live, it is not the case in many places. In Utah LGBT people cannot marry or adopt and (I cannot find the link, but will post it if I can) can be fired or evicted.
  
• Pro-Woman The LDS church is arguably anti-feminist. There are feminists, albeit not radical or anarchist, however the power structure is patriarchal - there is even a prayer entitled "Patriarchal Blessing"
  

The last two points can be true for the Catholic church as well. I am unsure of the Catholic position on government (but can take a wild guess)