Featured Discussions - 12160 Social Network2024-03-28T21:10:21Zhttps://12160.info/forum/topic/list?groupUrl=patriotic-atheists&feed=yes&xn_auth=no&featured=1FROM THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS WHO BROUGHT YOU THE INQUISITION!tag:12160.info,2014-04-03:2649739:Topic:14432042014-04-03T20:46:19.044ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
<h1>FROM THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS WHO BROUGHT YOU THE INQUISITION!</h1>
<p>by Michael Rivero</p>
<p><img src="http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ATHEISM/small_evolution.jpg"></img></p>
<p><em><strong>"You believe that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a woman made from a rib was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical…</strong></em></p>
<h1>FROM THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS WHO BROUGHT YOU THE INQUISITION!</h1>
<p>by Michael Rivero</p>
<p><img src="http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ATHEISM/small_evolution.jpg"/></p>
<p><em><strong>"You believe that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a woman made from a rib was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>"And you don't understand why I have doubts?"</strong></em></p>
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<p><em><strong>"What profit has not that fable of Christ brought us!"</strong></em> <br/> Pope Leo X (As attributed by John Bale, Bishop of Ossory, in The Pageant of Popes, p. 179, 1574) </p>
<p><em>"I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay their hands on everything they can get."</em> -- Napoleon Bonaparte</p>
<p><em>Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.</em> <br/> ~ Denis Diderot</p>
<p><em>Many have made a trade of delusions and false miracles, deceiving the stupid multitudes.</em> <br/> ~ Leonardo da Vinci</p>
<p><em>Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!</em> <br/> ~ Leonardo da Vinci</p>
<p><em>Young earth creationism is essentially the position that all of modern science, 90% of living scientists and 98% of living biologists, all major university biology departments, every major science journal, the American Academy of Sciences, and every major science organization in the world, are all wrong regarding the origins and development of life ... but one particular tribe of uneducated, bronze aged, goat herders got it exactly right.</em> <br/> ~ Chuck Easttom</p>
<p><em>Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.</em> -- Marcus Aurelius</p>
<p><em>You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do.</em> <br/> ~ [Usenet]</p>
<p><em>"The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history."</em><br/> -Lazarus Long, Time Enough for Love, Robert A. Heinlein</p>
<p><em>"The same people that wrote the bible thought the world was flat. "</em><br/> ~ Unknown</p>
<p><em>"When one person suffers from a delusion it is called 'insanity'. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called 'religion.'"</em><br/> -- Robert Pirsig</p>
<p><em>"Here is the difference between religion and science. Science is going outside your house at night and seeing here is one large moon orbiting the Earth. No matter where on Earth you are, you know there is one and only one large moon orbiting the Earth. Religion is this tribe over here worshiping one god and this other tribe worshiping 3 gods and this other tribe way over there worshiping 17 gods."</em><br/> -- Michael Rivero</p>
<p><em>"Religion is for people who want to pretend to know what is going on but are too lazy to go out and actually find out anything because it is easier to burn the heretics."</em> -- Michael Rivero</p>
<p><em>"Any god that requires small minded bigots to speak for it, is not worth the breath it takes to pray."</em> -- Jesper Myrfors</p>
<p><em>"Religion is notorious for conceiving an idea and trying to make it true, either by propaganda or sometimes force...while science makes a discovery and immediately sets about trying to disprove it, just to make sure it's correct before everybody makes idiots of themselves"</em> -- Seth MacFarlane</p>
<p><em>"History shows that the moral and ethical guides that most of us live by did not originate with the monotheistic religions, as proponents of those religions would have us believe. Instead, moral behaviour appears to have evolved socially."</em> -- Victor Stenger</p>
<p><em>"If it wasn't for the Inquisition, I would have been a rich Hollywood Jew today!"</em> -- Michael Rivero</p>
<p>*Child Molestation scandals located <a href="http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ATHEISM/inquisition.html#molest">HERE</a></p>
<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b></p>
<p><em>Religion, comprises a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality, such as we find in an isolated form nowhere else but in amentia, in a state of blissful hallucinatory confusion.</em> <br/> ~ Sigmund Freud</p>
<p><em>"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church. All national institutions of churches ... appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."</em> -- Thomas Paine</p>
<p><em>"Given the runaway epidemic of child sexual molestation by the clergy, it could be argued that school prayer represents endangerment of children by encouraging them to associate with these known sexual predators!"</em> -- Michael Rivero</p>
<p> Quite a few people have asked why I put this page together. They argue that even if I am correct, and that there are no gods, what can the harm be in letting others believe in gods and goddesses.</p>
<p> My answer is that I have no problem with people believing what they want, so long as their beliefs are NOT used as an excuse to inflict harm upon others, extract wealth from them, enslave them, or to <a href="http://track-cell-phones.com/452/atheist-nations-are-more-peaceful/" target="_blank">justify wars</a>. My problem is with organizations created solely to exploit myths and beliefs for wealth and commercial power. History proves that religion is a tool of human enslavement. Even the Bible approves of slavery.</p>
<p>LEVITICUS 25:44-46</p>
<blockquote><i> As for your male and female slaves whom you may have; you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are round you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons and after you, to inherit as a possession forever; you may make slaves of them, but over your brethren the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over the other, with harshness.</i></blockquote>
<p><br/> No religion has ever set its followers free from the oppressions of the organized hierarchy of that religion (with the possible exception of the historical Jesus himself). Religion teaches unquestioning obedience. Religion is slavery. I oppose such slavery as earnestly and staunchly as my ancestors opposed the slave ships and the slave policies of the Confederacy.</p>
<p> I am not anti god (for one can hardly oppose something which does not exist). I simply wish to set people free from all forms of oppression and exploitation.</p>
<p> The ruling elite loves a population trained from birth to confuse beliefs with the real world. It is much easier to rule a population, pillage them with taxes, or send them off to fight a war, if the ruler is not required to prove the reality of his or her propositions and statements. This is why, since the dawn of civilizations, governments encourage their people to be ruled by beliefs and not by reason. As children, we are bribed to allow beliefs to rule our thinking. Believe in the fat man from the north Pole, get a bicycle. Believe in the rabbit, get candy. Believe in the tooth fairy, get a quarter. Never question, never think, never analyze; just take your goodies and go on believing.</p>
<p> It takes chains of steel to enslave a rational human, but all the rest may be enslaved by a belief.</p>
<p><em>We, on our side, are praying to Him to give us victory, because we believe we are right; but those on the other side pray to Him, too, for victory, believing they are right. What must He think of us?</em> <br/> ~ Abraham Lincoln</p>
<p>Just the beginning of this fabulous article by Mike Rivero</p>
<p><a href="http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ATHEISM/inquisition.php" target="_blank">Rest of it here</a></p> Man swept out to sea during baptismtag:12160.info,2014-03-31:2649739:Topic:14421542014-03-31T15:53:22.675ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
<div id="above-asset-related"><div class="inline-gallery" id="blox-gallery"><div class="featured-photo-display hide" id="blox-featured-photo-display"><div class="viewport"><p><img alt="033014GuadalupeDrown 2.jpg" id="image-index-1" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/santamariatimes.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/f8/6f8ff042-b899-11e3-9c33-0019bb2963f4/533903f19b493.preview-620.jpg" style="font-size: 13px;"></img></p>
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<div class="gallery-container" id="blox-gallery-container"><div class="gallery-controls" id="blox-gallery-controls"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Frank Cowan…</span></div>
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<div id="above-asset-related"><div id="blox-gallery" class="inline-gallery"><div id="blox-featured-photo-display" class="featured-photo-display hide"><div class="viewport"><p><img id="image-index-1" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/santamariatimes.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/f8/6f8ff042-b899-11e3-9c33-0019bb2963f4/533903f19b493.preview-620.jpg" alt="033014GuadalupeDrown 2.jpg" style="font-size: 13px;"/></p>
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<div id="blox-gallery-container" class="gallery-container"><div id="blox-gallery-controls" class="gallery-controls"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Frank Cowan</span></div>
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<div id="blox-gallery-caption-open" class="gallery-caption-open clearfix"><div id="blox-gallery-caption" class="gallery-caption text-shadow-light"><div class="caption"><p>Church of Jesus Christ Light of the Sky members wait for word on a churchmember who was swept out to sea during a baptism ceremony at Guadalupe Dunes Park Sunday morning. //Frank Cowan/Contributor</p>
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<div id="article_main" class="asset-main"><div class="entry-content"><p>A 43-year-old man who was reportedly swept out to sea at the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve during a baptism ceremony this morning, had not been located as of 6 p.m., according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.</p>
<p>The man was swept out with two other people just before 10 a.m., according to Mauro Cervantes, the pastor of the Santa Maria church Jesus Christ Light of the Sky.</p>
<p>The other two people were able to return to shore, he said. Emergency crews responded to the beach and began searching as a group of participants in the baptism ceremony, most of whom were speaking Spanish, waited in the parking lot.</p>
<p>Cervantes said there were about 25 people at the ceremony a couple of hundred yards north of the parking lot. The church performs such baptism ceremonies two or three times a year, he said. Cervantes did not identify the missing man.</p>
<p>In addition to Santa Barbara County fire crews and the agency’s water rescue team, others helping search for the missing man were from Guadalupe, Vandenberg and Santa Maria fire departments and the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team. Also involved were helicopters from the county Air Support Unit plus the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard also sent a vessel from Morro Bay, according to Capt. David Sadecki of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.</p>
<p>Diondray Wiley, a battalion chief with the county fire department, said the search was being conducted to the south of the spot that the man disappeared because of the ocean currents.</p>
<p><a href="http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/update-person-missing-after-being-swept-out-to-sea/article_75d1af2a-b841-11e3-a5d8-001a4bcf887a.html">http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/update-person-missing-after-being-swept-out-to-sea/article_75d1af2a-b841-11e3-a5d8-001a4bcf887a.html</a></p>
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</div> IRS Caught On Tape: Keep Your Faith To Yourselftag:12160.info,2013-07-02:2649739:Topic:12465682013-07-02T13:27:51.436ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
<h1 class="entry-title">IRS Caught On Tape: Keep Your Faith To Yourself</h1>
<div style="overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">In light of the recent scandals involving the Internal Revenue Service, it’s come to light that they not only target Christians, conservative groups and other political enemies of the Obama administration, but they also want you to “zip it” when it comes to proclaiming your religious beliefs and they have…</div>
<h1 class="entry-title">IRS Caught On Tape: Keep Your Faith To Yourself</h1>
<div style="overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">In light of the recent scandals involving the Internal Revenue Service, it’s come to light that they not only target Christians, conservative groups and other political enemies of the Obama administration, but they also want you to “zip it” when it comes to proclaiming your religious beliefs and they have been caught on tape telling Americans that they must “respect other people’s beliefs,” not be confrontational against other religious groups or devalue other religious groups. Seems that the Federal agency that is to remain neutral due to the First Amendment is overstepping its bounds.<br/><br/></div>
<div style="overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/67822932?portrait=0" frameborder="0"></iframe>
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<div style="overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><p>Alliance Defending Freedom <a href="http://blog.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/2013/06/11/irs-caught-on-tape-keep-your-faith-to-yourself/">reports</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Pro-Life Revolution is a Texas-based organization dedicated to helping women in abusive pregnancy situations and presenting the truth about abortion. Like all non-profit organizations, Pro-Life Revolution applied for tax-exempt status in January, 2011. It filled out the necessary paperwork and described the charitable activities it undertook. It expected to receive tax-exempt status with little difficulty. What it didn’t expect was to be confronted with an IRS bent on silencing its pro-life viewpoint as a condition of obtaining tax-exempt status.</p>
<p>IRS agent Sherry Wan <a href="http://www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/8247" target="_blank">contacted the organization several times requesting more information</a> and telling it on more than one occasion that it must remain “neutral” on the subject of abortion and that it could not “confront” other people with different beliefs on the subject. At one point, Ania Joseph, President of Pro-Life Revolution <a href="http://vimeo.com/67822932" target="_blank">recorded a phone call by Agent Wan</a> who told Ania, “You cannot force your religion or force your beliefs on somebody else.” Ania told Agent Wan that simply handing a brochure to a woman was not forcing her religion on them. Agent Wan told her in the phone call, “You have to know your boundaries. You have to know your limits. You have to respect other people’s beliefs.” And lest there be any confusion on the subject, Agent Wan ended the phone call by stating:</p>
<p>We want you to be aware that, you know, when you conduct religious activities, meanwhile you have to respect other people’s beliefs, other people’s religion. You cannot use any kind of, you know, confrontation way, or to, or against other groups or devalue other groups, other people’s beliefs. OK?</p>
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<p>The IRS later sent a letter to Pro-Life Revolution sating that it must abide by the “full and fair exposition” standard where it has to present both sides of an issue to allow the public to form an independent conclusion on the controversial subject. The problem with this standard is that it was declared to be unconstitutionally vague <em>over thirty years ago!</em> The IRS was attempting to apply a standard to Pro-Life Revolution that a federal appeals court had declared unconstitutional in 1980.</p>
<p>Additionally the IRS agent attempted to set up a legal standard which was not found in either law or the IRS’ own regulations. The letter read in part:</p>
<blockquote><p>Further, an organization’s activities may not be considered serving (sic) educational purpose, if an organization carries out activities that aims (sic) to deny or reduce the rights of another segment of the community; that are designed to influence public opinion in favor of its advocated position; that may have adverse effect on the day to day operation of public health facilities (sic) that may be detrimental to the community as a whole; and that show (sic) a type of propaganda to defy other’s beliefs or viewpoints on the same matter.</p>
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<p>Eric Stanley, Senior Legal Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom who represents Ms. Joseph, said the agent “simply made up” this standard, claiming that it made the IRS “speech police,” telling organizations what they can and cannot say.</p>
<p>ADF sent a <a href="http://www.adfmedia.org/files/ProLifeRevolutionLetter.pdf">letter</a> on Ms. Joseph’s behalf to the IRS pointing out their unconstitutional stance and reminding them: “The government must shun being the arbiter of ‘truth.’” Their letter also warned the IRS: “Denying a tax exemption because the government disagrees with the viewpoint of the organization can be a discriminatory limitation on speech that violates the Constitution.”</p>
<p>As a result of the letter being sent, Pro-Life Revolution was <a href="http://www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/8247">granted exempt status</a>.</p>
<div style="overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br/>Read more: <a style="color: #003399;" href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/07/irs-caught-on-tape-keep-your-faith-to-yourself/#ixzz2XtW298fv">http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/07/irs-caught-on-tape-keep-your-faith-to-yourself/#ixzz2XtW298fv</a></div>
</div> Scientology leader's niece reveals Church secretstag:12160.info,2013-03-17:2649739:Topic:11524072013-03-17T01:27:18.231ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
<div class="article-header-title">Scientology leader's niece reveals Church secrets…</div>
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<div class="article-header-title">Scientology leader's niece reveals Church secrets</div>
<div class="article-images-afp-set"><div class="article-image-afp-image"><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image_lightbox/images/afp/photo_1363446136853-1-0.jpg?1363482058" rel="lightbox[][A headquarters for the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida on January 16, 2013. The Church of Scientology has lashed out at a new book by its leader&#039;s niece, which recounts a stolen childhood and how she was brainwashed and cut off from her family before eventually escaping.]" class="lightbox-processed"><img src="http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image/images/afp/photo_1363446136853-1-0.jpg" alt="A headquarters for the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida on January 16, 2013. The Church of Scientology has lashed out at a new book by its leader's niece, which recounts a stolen childhood and how she was brainwashed and cut off from her family before eventually escaping." title="A headquarters for the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida on January 16, 2013. The Church of Scientology has lashed out at a new book by its leader's niece, which recounts a stolen childhood and how she was brainwashed and cut off from her family before eventually escaping." width="245" height="163"/></a><div class="article-main-image-afp-description">A headquarters for the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida on January 16, 2013. The Church of Scientology has lashed out at a new book by its leader's niece, which recounts a stolen childhood and how she was brainwashed and cut off from her family before eventually escaping.</div>
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<div class="article-main"><div class="article-main-text"><p><b>AFP - </b>The Church of Scientology has lashed out at a new book by its leader's niece, which recounts a stolen childhood and how she was brainwashed and cut off from her family before eventually escaping.</p>
<p>In "Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology And My Harrowing Escape," Jenna Miscavige-Hill -- whose uncle David Miscavige runs the secretive group -- also claims she was forced to work as a child.</p>
<p>But a spokesman for the Church said her claims were "false" and denounced "efforts to exploit Mr Miscavige's name."</p>
<p>"The Church has long respected the family unit while accommodating and helping those raising children," Karin Pouw, spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology International, told AFP.</p>
<p>"The Church does not engage in any activities that mistreat, neglect or force children to engage in manual labor. The Church follows all laws with respect to children," she said, accusing Miscavige-Hill of "apostate behavior."</p>
<p>In the book, published in February, the 29-year-old tells of hard labour she and other children were forced to do in the 1990s in the Ranch, in a remote part of the California desert.</p>
<p>The Ranch, near San Jacinto, 90 miles (150 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, was "like a military boot camp, with grueling drills, endless musters, exhaustive inspections, and arduous physical labor that no child should have to do."</p>
<p>The children saw their parents for only a few hours per week. They did not receive any education in the traditional sense, said Miscavige-Hill, who lived there for six years, until she was 12 years old.</p>
<p>Those interned there until 2000 were the children of the Sea Org, the elite of the Church founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. They worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week for a weekly wage of $45.</p>
<p>The details fit in with another book which came out in January in the United States, "Going Clear" by journalist Lawrence Wright, which the Church described as "so ludicrous it belongs in a supermarket tabloid."</p>
<p>Among other back-breaking tasks the Scientologist children had to drag enormous rocks to build a wall, or dig irrigation channels under the blazing desert sun, said Miscavige-Hill.</p>
<p>"The conditions we worked under would have been tough for a grown man, and yet any complaints, backflashing (Scientology term for talking back), any kind of questioning was instantly met with disciplinary action," she said.</p>
<p>The Church of Scientology's celebrity members include Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis and the singer Beck.</p>
<p>But the stars were shielded from the dark side of the shadowy organization. "There was never a risk that they would get exposed to child labor or something similar that the Church didn't want them to see," said Miscavige-Hill.</p>
<p>"Celebrities wouldn't know from talking to them (to Sea Org members) or watching them whether they'd been paid their forty-five dollars that week, or if they missed their families."</p>
<p>The ex-Scientologist, who like Wright and other ex-Church members including Canadian director and screenwriter Paul Haggis -- who published an open letter when he left -- also criticizes its reported "disconnection" policy.</p>
<p>The rule, which the Church denies having, allegedly bans all Scientologists from any contact with ex-members who criticize the organization.</p>
<p>Read More-<a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20130316-scientology-leaders-niece-reveals-church-secrets">http://www.france24.com/en/20130316-scientology-leaders-niece-reveals-church-secrets</a></p>
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</div> PAPER: Leaked papers depict broken Vaticantag:12160.info,2013-02-18:2649739:Topic:11262402013-02-18T13:32:44.349ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
<h1>Pope Benedict XVI’s leaked documents show fractured Vatican full of rivalries</h1>
<h3>By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/jason-horowitz/2011/03/02/ABZaXuM_page.html" rel="author">Jason Horowitz</a>, <span class="timestamp updated processed">Published: February 16</span></h3>
<p>VATICAN CITY — Guests at the going-away party for Carlo Maria Viganò couldn’t understand why the archbishop looked so forlorn. Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Viganò ambassador to the United States, a plum…</p>
<h1>Pope Benedict XVI’s leaked documents show fractured Vatican full of rivalries</h1>
<h3>By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/jason-horowitz/2011/03/02/ABZaXuM_page.html" rel="author">Jason Horowitz</a>, <span class="timestamp updated processed">Published: February 16</span></h3>
<p>VATICAN CITY — Guests at the going-away party for Carlo Maria Viganò couldn’t understand why the archbishop looked so forlorn. Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Viganò ambassador to the United States, a plum post where he would settle into a stately mansion on Massachusetts Avenue, across the street from the vice president’s residence.</p>
<p>“He went through the ordeal making it very clear he was unhappy with it,” said one former ambassador to the Vatican, who attended the Vatican Gardens ceremony in the late summer of 2011. “And we just couldn’t figure out, us outsiders and non-Italians, what was going on.”</p>
<p>There was no such confusion within Vatican walls. Benedict had installed Viganò to enact a series of reforms within the Vatican. But some of Rome’s highest-ranking cardinals undercut the efforts and hastened Viganò’s exile to the United States.</p>
<p>Viganò’s plight and other unflattering machinations would soon become public in an unprecedented <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-05-29/national/35458342_1_vatican-archbishop-angelo-becciu-paolo-gabriele">leak of the pontiff’s personal correspondence</a>. Much of the media — and the Vatican — focused on the source of the shocking security breach. Largely lost were the revelations contained in the letters themselves — tales of rivalry and betrayal, and allegations of corruption and systemic dysfunction that infused the inner workings of the Holy See and the eight-year papacy of Benedict XVI. Last week, he announced that he will become <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pope-benedict-to-resign-citing-age-and-waning-energy/2013/02/11/f9e90aa6-743b-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html">the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-picking-successor-vatican-must-decide-whats-needed-in-a-21st-century-pope/2013/02/11/93b87de4-747b-11e2-95e4-6148e45d7adb_story.html">next pope</a> may bring with him an invigorating connection to the Southern Hemisphere, a media magnetism or better leadership skills than the shy and cerebral Benedict. But whoever he may be, the 266th pope will inherit a gerontocracy obsessed with turf and Italian politics, uninterested in basic management practices and hostile to reforms.</p>
<p>VatiLeaks, as the scandal came to be known, dragged the fusty institution into the wild WikiLeaks era. It exposed the church bureaucracy’s entrenched opposition to Benedict’s fledgling effort to carve out a legacy as a reformer against the backdrop of a <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-06-06/national/35460366_1_bishop-robert-finn-first-bishop-sexual-abuse">global child sex abuse scandal</a> and the continued dwindling of his flock.</p>
<p>It showed how Benedict, a weak manager who may most be remembered for the way in which he left office, was no match for a culture that rejected even a modicum of transparency and preferred a damage-control campaign that diverted attention from the institution’s fundamental problems. Interviews in Rome with dozens of church officials, Vatican insiders and foreign government officials close to the church, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, mapped out that hermetic universe.</p>
<p>“We can reveal the face of the church and how this face is, at times, disfigured,” Benedict said in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pope-benedict-xvi-in-last-public-mass-deplores-divisions-roiling-church/2013/02/13/0da7dc3a-7616-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html">his final homily on Ash Wednesday</a>. “I am thinking in particular of the sins against the unity of the church, of the divisions in the body of the church.” He called for his ministry to overcome “individualism” and “rivalry,” saying they were only for those “who have distanced themselves from the faith.”</p>
<p>A radical transformation of the culture is unlikely. “We’re talking about people who have given their life to this institution, but at the same time the institution has become their life,” said one senior Vatican official. “Unlike parish priests, who have the personal rewards that come with everyday contact, their lot is not as human. It’s bureaucratic, but it becomes all-consuming.”</p>
<p>The entire debacle, he said, “wasn’t a communications crisis. It was a management crisis.”</p>
<p>****</p>
<p><span class="timestamp updated processed">The leak came from within the pope’s....<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/pope-benedict-xvis-leaked-documents-show-fractured-vatican-full-of-rivalries/2013/02/16/23ce0280-76c2-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_print.html" target="_blank">REST OF IT</a><br/></span></p> POLL: 25% say God influences sporting eventstag:12160.info,2013-01-30:2649739:Topic:11072612013-01-30T16:53:49.052ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
<p></p>
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<div class="header"><h1>Poll: Some say God influences sporting events</h1>
<h2 class="subHeadline">Public Religion Research Institute conducts phone survey</h2>
<div class="author">Author: By Dan Merica CNN</div>
<div class="detailTimestamp"><span class="date postedAt">Published On: Jan 29 2013 03:53:29 PM EST</span> <span class="date seperator"> </span><span class="date updatedAt">Updated On: Jan 30 2013 05:32:46 AM EST…</span></div>
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<div class="header"><h1>Poll: Some say God influences sporting events</h1>
<h2 class="subHeadline">Public Religion Research Institute conducts phone survey</h2>
<div class="author">Author: By Dan Merica CNN</div>
<div class="detailTimestamp"><span class="date postedAt">Published On: Jan 29 2013 03:53:29 PM EST</span> <span class="date seperator"> </span><span class="date updatedAt">Updated On: Jan 30 2013 05:32:46 AM EST</span></div>
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<div class="detailTimestamp"><div class="associated"><img src="http://www.clickorlando.com/image/view/-/4716734/medRes/4/-/maxh/360/maxw/640/-/13uasmz/-/Tim-Tebow-kneeling--Tebowing-jpg.jpg" alt="Tim Tebow kneeling" title="Tim Tebow kneeling"/>
<p class="credit">Rick Wilking/Reuters</p>
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<p><span class="authorLocation">WASHINGTON (CNN) -</span></p>
<p>With millions of Americans set to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, a new survey finds more than a quarter of Americans believe that God "plays a role in determining which team wins" at sports events.</p>
<p>The survey by the Public Religion Research Institute also found that more than half of Americans believe "God rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success."</p>
<p>"In an era where professional sports are driven by dollars and statistics," said institute CEO Robert P. Jones, "significant numbers of Americans see a divine hand at play."</p>
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<p>Asked if they believe God plays a role in who wins, 27% of Americans said yes. Poll results varied among regions and religions: 36% said yes in the South, 28% in the Midwest, 20% in the Northeast and 15% in the West.</p>
<p>Among nonwhite Christians and white evangelicals, 40% and 38% said yes, respectively; 29% of Catholics and 19% of white mainline Protestants also responded that God plays a role.</p>
<p>Jones said these figures reflect many Americans' belief in a very active God.</p>
<p>Minority Christians and white evangelical Christians "have a very personal view of God, a God that is very active in their daily lives and very concerned about the things that matter to them," Jones said. "So far as sports are one of the things that matter, it stands to reason that God is playing an important role."</p>
<p>Faith and sports have long gone hand in hand; many athletes regularly thank God after their team wins, and some even write references to Scripture on their game-day gear.</p>
<p>After Kurt Warner's 1999 Super Bowl victory with the St. Louis Rams, the evangelical Christian used his post-game interview to thank God. "Well, first things first," Warner told a reporter. "I've got to thank my Lord and Savior up above --- thank you, Jesus!"</p>
<p>Sunday's game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers could see the same profession of faith. Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who will make this Super Bowl his last game in the NFL, has regularly thanked God in the Ravens' somewhat improbable run to the Super Bowl.</p>
<p>After earning a berth in the big game by defeating the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, Lewis told reporters, "God doesn't make mistakes. He's never made one mistake. ... God is so amazing."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.clickorlando.com/Poll-Some-say-God-influences-sporting-events/-/1637238/18326300/-/tracnt/-/index.html" target="_blank">REST OF IT</a></p>
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<p></p> Dawkins on Religiontag:12160.info,2013-01-08:2649739:Topic:10899732013-01-08T23:12:30.738ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
<p style="margin-bottom: -10px;"><img alt="Dawkins on Religion" class="alignleft wp-post-image" height="125" src="http://cdn.tdfimg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/dawkins-on-religion-95x125.jpg" title="" width="95"></img></p>
<p>An interview with the world’s most famous atheist, professor Richard Dawkins, on whether religion is good or evil.</p>
<p>Muslims riot and protest against the truly awful film demonizing Islam. Dozens are killed. Christian pastor in Florida tries to burn a copy of the Quran and ignites global pandemonium. Even Buddhists are at it, attacking the Muslim minorities in Western Burma.</p>
<p>And of course the conflicts played in the modern middle…</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: -10px;"><img src="http://cdn.tdfimg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/dawkins-on-religion-95x125.jpg" class="alignleft wp-post-image" alt="Dawkins on Religion" title="" width="95" height="125"/></p>
<p>An interview with the world’s most famous atheist, professor Richard Dawkins, on whether religion is good or evil.</p>
<p>Muslims riot and protest against the truly awful film demonizing Islam. Dozens are killed. Christian pastor in Florida tries to burn a copy of the Quran and ignites global pandemonium. Even Buddhists are at it, attacking the Muslim minorities in Western Burma.</p>
<p>And of course the conflicts played in the modern middle east are often blamed on ancient hatred between the children of Abraham. Remember 9/11? Was this religiously inspired terrorism? Thousands died.</p>
<p>Yet, here is the thing, societies without faith haven’t fared much better. Communism banned all religions, as Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong systematically slaughtered millions of their own country.</p>
<p>Is science any better? Since Galileo and Darwin scientists have sought to stomp out ignorance and unravel the mysteries of the universe. But science has also poisoned the environment, unleashed killing on an industrial scale, and now threatens our entire planet.</p>
<p></p>
<p><object width="853" height="480" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="false"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="never"></param><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U0Xn60Zw03A?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="false"></param><embed wmode="opaque" width="853" height="480" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U0Xn60Zw03A?version=3&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="false"></embed> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"></param></object>
</p> The Thinking Atheisttag:12160.info,2012-12-25:2649739:Topic:10759252012-12-25T14:10:16.799ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
<p><img alt="The Thinking Atheist" class="alignleft" height="125" src="http://cdn.tdfimg.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/the-thinking-atheist-95x125.jpg" width="95"></img> <u>From the author</u>: Using satire, research and some common sense, we explore common-sense questions about God.</p>
<p>A former Christian of 30 years, I ultimately found that religion, faith and scripture lacked any true answers, especially in the (bright) light of scientific discovery and the truth of Evolution by Natural Selection.</p>
<p>Having an insiders perspective of Christianity, I use my skills as a producer to stir the pot of debate and, hopefully, make it…</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn.tdfimg.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/the-thinking-atheist-95x125.jpg" alt="The Thinking Atheist" width="95" height="125" class="alignleft"/><u>From the author</u>: Using satire, research and some common sense, we explore common-sense questions about God.</p>
<p>A former Christian of 30 years, I ultimately found that religion, faith and scripture lacked any true answers, especially in the (bright) light of scientific discovery and the truth of Evolution by Natural Selection.</p>
<p>Having an insiders perspective of Christianity, I use my skills as a producer to stir the pot of debate and, hopefully, make it uncomfortable for anyone to be a mere spectator in the arena of ideas.</p>
<p><u>Note</u>: This is not a documentary film in a strict sense. These are professionally edited short clips gathered from a YouTube channel named <em>The Thinking Atheist</em>.</p>
<p></p>
<p><object width="853" height="480" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="false"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="never"></param><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U8E0pRA9qxw?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="false"></param><embed wmode="opaque" width="853" height="480" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U8E0pRA9qxw?version=3&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="false"></embed> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"></param></object>
</p> Mockery outweighs piety after pope's Twitter debuttag:12160.info,2012-12-13:2649739:Topic:10661112012-12-13T02:38:00.511ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
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<div class="article-header-title">Mockery outweighs piety after pope's Twitter debut…</div>
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<div class="article-header-title">Mockery outweighs piety after pope's Twitter debut</div>
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<p><b>AFP -</b> Pope Benedict XVI's debut on Twitter got off to a bumpy start on Wednesday, with mockery outweighing piety in reaction to the first tweets from the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.</p>
<p>The pope's second tweet -- "How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?" -- prompted a string of tongue-in-cheek- answers.</p>
<p>"With some nice cold chocolate milk. And the Lord?" wrote one user tweeting in Portuguese with the handle @tensoblog.</p>
<p>Another distinctly sin-minded user, @binnie, joked: "Hookers and blow."</p>
<p>Along with the absurd, there were also serious answers like that from @francagiansol, who tweeted: "With humility and charity and by setting an example."</p>
<p>A formal-sounding @RoyalBlueStuey wrote: "The Rosary and the Mass".</p>
<p>"By preaching more acceptance Your Holiness. The Church has lost its footing in adapting to the times," wrote @klubbkiddkl, an avowedly lapsed Catholic.</p>
<p>Fast-paced tweeters replied so quickly that many did not realise the pope's question was rhetorical.</p>
<p>A few minutes later the pope tweeted: "By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need."</p>
<p>The Vatican has emphasised that it welcomes all kinds of reactions to the pope's tweets as it regards social networks as a democratic forum.</p>
<p>Vatican officials say they believe the risks of mockery are outweighed by the importance of spreading the Catholic message to a younger global audience.</p>
<p>There were some bizarre requests as well, with @johnnypalomba on the pope's Italian account asking the Vatican to celebrate the Year of Faith by including a column on the Roma football team in its official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20121212-mockery-outweighs-piety-after-popes-twitter-debut" target="_blank">MORE Popeness</a></p> “God is here, I’m going to repent,”tag:12160.info,2012-09-09:2649739:Topic:9820912012-09-09T05:04:10.717ZCentral Scrutinizerhttps://12160.info/profile/H0llyw00d
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<div class="wl-title-block"><div class="wl-title"><h1>It takes a Taser to stop naked knife-wielding woman's rampage</h1>
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<div class="wl-byline">By <a href="http://jacksonville.com/authors/dan-scanlan-0">Dan Scanlan</a></div>
<div class="hnews hentry item"><div class="entry-content"><p>With a yell of “God is here, I’m going to repent,” a woman swung a butcher knife Wednesday afternoon at someone inside Teen Challenge at 3333 Philips Highway, according to the…</p>
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<div class="wl-title-block"><div class="wl-title"><h1>It takes a Taser to stop naked knife-wielding woman's rampage</h1>
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<div class="wl-byline">By <a href="http://jacksonville.com/authors/dan-scanlan-0">Dan Scanlan</a></div>
<div class="hnews hentry item"><div class="entry-content"><p>With a yell of “God is here, I’m going to repent,” a woman swung a butcher knife Wednesday afternoon at someone inside Teen Challenge at 3333 Philips Highway, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.</p>
<p>She next stabbed a table before stripping down and attacking two cars. She had chased children with the blade before a Taser stopped her rampage, police said.</p>
<p>Cheri Dana, a 42-year-old transient, has been jailed on charges of aggravated assault and criminal mischief. She remains in the Duval County jail on $90,000 bail, according to jail records.</p>
<p>The woman walked into Teen Challenge, an addiction treatment center, just before 1 p.m. and grabbed the knife off a counter, according to the report. Yelling as she swung, she stabbed a table before running to the Jaguar Car Wash at 3366 Philips Highway, stripping as she went. Two men were inside a car there when she stabbed it, but were not injured.</p>
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<p><a href="http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-09-07/story/it-takes-taser-stop-naked-knife-wielding-womans-rampage#ixzz25whIZhHr" target="_blank">MORE</a></p>