Vatican’s former chief exorcist calls Harry Potter and yoga evil

Father Gabrielle Amorth used to be the Vatican’s chief exorcist and is president of the International Association of Exorcists (and founder). Recently at a film festival where he was asked to introduce “The Rite,” an exorcist movie based on a true story, he explained that:

Practising yoga is Satanic, it leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter… In Harry Potter the Devil acts in a crafty and covert manner, under the guise of extraordinary powers, magic spells and curses…”

Yoga schools have responded that this is a baseless statement and that their practices have nothing to do with religion. My main difficulty is to imagine a worldview in which magic is real. After one passes that hurdle, however, one can see another strange problem that these kinds of believers think that “magic” falls into one of two categories: Satan based magic and God based magic. How is it that people tell these two apart? The biggest practical problem, of course, is that neither kind of magic exists.

To add insult to injury, instead of a string of “mea culpas,” the priest says that the sexual abuse scandals are further evidence of Satan’s tampering in human affairs. Also, do not think that while this is a small fraction of the population that believes these things, that this is somehow a trivial problem; the perceived Satanism of the Harry Potter series is one of the reasons that it is one of the most frequently banned books.

via The Telegraph

American Family Association comes out with its own Santa list

The American Family Association recently came out with a list articulating which businesses are “naughty” and which are “nice,” which they do every year. The sole criteria? How Jesus packed their holiday ad campaigns can get. The organization is also trying to educate public organizations, schools and other entities about how they can discuss Christmas. The group also helps engineer boycotts, like the more talked about Gap boycott that the media got hold of. Below is a sample from their most recent evaluations as of 11/21/11, watch out big box stores or you might end up on the wrong part of the list: Continue reading…

Reddit popularity surges and a new meme

The atheism “subreddit” has skyrocketed in popularity because it was moved to the main page of www.reddit.com. /r/atheism as it’s called now boasts over 200,000 subscribers! To commemorate this milestone the subreddit changed its background at the top to a space theme with the same teapot alien in the foreground to represent Russell’s Teapot. Many sites have congratulated the resource, but there has been an influx of Christian and theist participation. Hopefully, this increased involvement from theists will challenge them, but some content of /r/atheism might drive them toward the conclusion that atheists are close-minded and rude. This conclusion might come despite the many posts on the site explaining succinctly the atheist position and why atheists act and feel the way they do. Many of these new critics might question the effectiveness and usefulness of /r/atheism, but defenders of the subreddit also cite all of the thank you messages that the site gets on a regular basis.

At the same time, by coincidence, a popular meme is circulating on the site. The new meme is “Good Guy Lucifer.” The take is that many atheists have commented, perhaps even since the Bible was written, that Lucifer actually seems more like a protagonist compared to God than an antagonist. This might add fuel to the fire to some of the more ignorant Christians who claim atheists are Satanists, but the literary point should not be ignored — Satan kills less people and, paradoxically, seems to do good in the Bible at times.

You can visit the atheism subreddit here. You can also see more Good Guy Lucifer memes here.

Update: Read More

Recovering from Religion organization announces new executive director

Darrel Ray started a group in 2009 called Recovering from Religion. The aims of the group are to:

…provide support to each other as we uncover myths and superstitions that have governed so much of our past thinking and behavior. Our purpose is NOT to convert anyone to any organization or group, but to question superstition and irrational ideas when we encounter them.” Source

The new executive director is Jerry DeWitt. DeWitt was formerly religious and has been heavily involved in helping others make the transition to non-believer as safely and gently as possible. DeWitt, for example, has been one of the members in the forefront of the Clergy Project. You can read more about the Recovering from Religion group here. You can also listen to our interview with Darrel Ray here.

Thanks to the FriendlyAtheist for the story.

Offenders can choose between church or jail time

Beginning next week, Operation ROC (Restore Our Community) will have a city judge offer those found guilty of misdemeanors the choice between working off their offenses in jail and paying a fine or attending the church of their choice every week for a year. WKRG-TV in Mobile, Ala., reported 56 churches in North Baldwin County are participating in the program.

Read more

Video on Boy Scouts and discrimination

Here is an extremely articulate explanation of what is wrong with the Boy Scouts of America:

Any person who is atheist, agnostic, or homosexual may not be a member or leader of the Boy Scouts of America”

via Reddit

Mother Teresa was a fraud

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxh, Mother Teresa (August 1910 – September 1997)

The Romans had a saying, de mortuis nil nisi bonum decendum est, or literally: do not speak about the dead unless it is good. However, I have never been good at following good advice. In fact, another good piece of advice would be not to piss off your cook. I was at a Mexican restaurant a few months back and in my private conversation I inadvertently said “Mother Teresa was kind of a bitch” within earshot of the cooks. The entire time I sat there eating my food I felt bad for hurting their feelings, felt the anger of their looks and wondered whether my food would be sanitary. So why would I pick on Mother Teresa of all people? Surely, even though atheists don’t seem to have any morals or respect anything they must at least respect Mother Teresa.

We’ve mentioned her here before and on a previous episode, but this topic deserves a bit more detail. Let’s start somewhere simple. Mother Teresa’s real name is Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhi. She first hit the spotlight in Malcolm Muggeridge‘s documentary Something Beautiful for God. Mother Teresa is known for providing food for the starving in destitute parts of the world, for creating homes for the dying and sick, and for the strength of her religious conviction. I will address these claims and also provide some additional criticisms. Continue reading…